Storehouse Student Resources is a post about what students learned on  Wednesday nights during our gathering in the Storehouse. The main goal is to better equip our students to be bold witnesses for Christ.

Atheism

In today’s society, there are people who simply do not have faith in God, or believe that he exists. Those who simply deny the existence of God are labeled atheist.

Atheism is described as being a “disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods.”  The word atheism comes from the negative ‘a’ which means ‘no,’ and theos which means ‘god.’ Hence, atheism is the lack of belief in God, a god and/or the belief that there is no God.” (Matt Slick, Carm.org) Simply put, the atheist has what some would call no “God beliefs.” Contrastingly, Theism is the belief that there is a God, He is knowable, and He is involved in the world. The foundation for why believers holds this view is simply based on the Bible. The Bible is God’s Word, and it is to be trusted, believed, memorized, shared, and lived out in believer’s lives. For the believer, the Bible is the authority on our beliefs about the existence of God. For example, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) That verse is simply states that God is the Creator. He is the Inventor, Architect, and Visionary of our world. He is the One behind it all. Another Bible verse, Psalm 14:1 says, “The fool says in his heart there is no God.” For the atheist, belief in God, or any gods for that matter, just do not exist. In fact, one of the arguments that an atheist may pose to a Christian is, “if there is a God, then prove He exists.”  Our hearts should break for our family members, friends, coworkers, and acquaintances who simply deny God’s existence. He offers hope, provided salvation, and loves us. So, with that in mind, what are some good ways to share truth with our atheists’ friends?

Recommendations for witnessing to Atheist (Greg Stier)

• The first thing you need to ask an atheist is “do you really seek to discover the truth – even if it costs you your reputation, and even your friends?” If the answer is no, then realize that he/she is not willing to go where the evidence leads; you won’t be having an honest intellectual dialogue, but your conversation may still have a spiritual impact.
• Don’t talk about sin with an atheist. In their worldview, morality is generally dependent on the situation and neutral, so there is no reference point in their minds for a concept of breaking God’s universal laws.
• Don’t get dragged into arguments about what God did or didn’t do. Focus on the evidence that Christ existed, died on the cross, and came back from the dead. As well, your personal testimony can be a powerful tool, because it’s very difficult to ‘disprove’ the real and lasting change that Christ has brought to your life.
• Bottom line with an atheist (or anyone else for that matter) – you cannot argue someone to faith in Christ, but you can (and should) live such a Christlike life that those around you sense something different, which opens the door for you to explain the ‘evidence’.

Resources

https://www.dare2share.org/worldviews/share-gospel-atheist/ (Dare to Share Ministries) A ministry of Greg Stier who is a youth evangelist.

Seanmcdowell.org (Atheism) A ministry of Sean McDowell who is a Bible teacher, professor, and apologist.

carm.org (Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry). Matt Slick writes for Carm on world beliefs.