A Counter Reply To The Atheist

[Magenta]

1 Peter 3:15 Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.
.

1 Peter 3:15

 

[tourist]

Of course Luke was a Jew, after all he was a doctor! (note the lump formed by the tongue in my cheek.)

If the patient was not in the preferred network of doctors his fee would be higher.

 

[Deuteronomy]

Hey is your profile picture your foreal face? Just wondering because he looks like a wise sage of Biblical truth.

LOL, no. When I began posting online about 20 years ago (on science and Christian forums), my wife made me promise her that I would keep a fairly high level of anonymity whenever I did so (because she was uncomfortable with the whole idea .. we didn't grow up with computers or the internet, rather, we had dial, landline telephones, black and white TV, with news and big-time wrestling ONLY, and there were only 48 States in the United States).

Oddly enough, I do look like this guy now (minus anything that makes him look like a "wise sage" )

~Deut

 

[Deuteronomy]

How we communicate says everything. What we say is not nearly as important. In fact content is often a bluff. Look how the argumentative Pharisee tries to draw in Jesus. Trap him. Make him look like a fool. Jesus knew their intentions werent honourable. The obsessive intellectual can play word games. Their attitude and behaviour is the key to who and what they really stand for.

Hi morefaithrequired, are not both, a good attitude/behavior AND Biblical truth, very important to witnessing (see post #18 above).

There are Christians who (on the one hand) are nice and kind and helpful to others, who always "act" like Christians are supposed to act around others, but who (on the other hand) never bring God's truth to bear in the lives of the lost they are being "nice" to (hoping that if they just "act" like Christians it will be enough somehow).

The problem is, just "acting" like a Christian is supposed to act is never enough. We ~must~ use words at some point with the lost (even though we know that it will probably become uncomfortable for both us and them), because, "faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" .. e.g. Romans 10:13-15, 17.

I will be forever thankful to God for my colleague (who chose to talk to me and lead me to Christ almost 33 years ago now), who chose to take the uncomfortable path of telling me the truth of the Gospel, which included both the "Good News" and the "bad news" too

~Deut

"Saying, 'preach the Gospel daily, use words if necessary',
is like saying 'feed the hungry, use food if necessary'."
~Ligon Duncan~
.​

 

[Roughsoul1991]

How we communicate says everything. What we say is not nearly as important. In fact content is often a bluff. Look how the argumentative Pharisee tries to draw in Jesus. Trap him. Make him look like a fool. Jesus knew their intentions werent honourable. The obsessive intellectual can play word games. Their attitude and behaviour is the key to who and what they really stand for.

Also though we are not Jesus. I believe Jesus was divinely more intelligent than me. I can learn from him that asking good questions can often times show the flaws in the opposition's thinking. But I also look at Stephen who went to great lengths in explaining how Jesus was the Messiah at the same time while they was preparing to stone him.

I also look at Paul who did the exact same thing that led to beatings, stoning, imprisonment and also eventually death. They asked good questions but also gave long speeches defending their beliefs.

 

[morefaithrequired]

Hi morefaithrequired, are not both, a good attitude/behavior AND Biblical truth, very important to witnessing (see post #18 above).

There are Christians who (on the one hand) are nice and kind and helpful to others, who always "act" like Christians are supposed to act around others, but who (on the other hand) never bring God's truth to bear in the lives of the lost they are being "nice" to (hoping that if they just "act" like Christians it will be enough somehow).

The problem is, just "acting" like a Christian is supposed to act is never enough. We ~must~ use words at some point with the lost (even though we know that it will probably become uncomfortable for both us and them), because, "faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" .. e.g. Romans 10:13-15, 17.

I will be forever thankful to God for my colleague (who chose to talk to me and lead me to Christ almost 33 years ago now), who chose to take the uncomfortable path of telling me the truth of the Gospel, which included both the "Good News" and the "bad news" too

~Deut

"Saying, 'preach the Gospel daily, use words if necessary',
is like saying 'feed the hungry, use food if necessary'."
~Ligon Duncan~
.​

We help others best by listening to them. The more empathy we are able to have, the better. Often thats all we need to do as the person learns to sort out their own issues. The less we quote the Bible the better. Now these are the circles I move in. Maybe where you live, Bible quoting to atheists is seen as helpful.
Bible quoting needs to be used with discretion. Lots.

 

[Deuteronomy]

Hello again @morefaithrequired, I agree that we must use discretion in our witnessing, but that could mean that we need to quote the Bible 'more' than we normally would instead. Each person and their needs are different, so we always need the Holy Spirit's help to be discerning.

This is true for atheists too, because if the atheist we are speaking to is using Scripture incorrectly to make his/her point(s), as they so often do, we will probably need to offer them a correct exegesis of the Scriptures they are misusing to help them understand how and why they're wrong, yes? So again, it almost always comes down to the individual and the situation.

Of course, if you mean that we shouldn't beat people over the head (so to speak) with our Bibles, I agree with that, of course, as extremely aggressive Bible-thumping is normally not the best way to promote the Christian faith

~Deut

 

[morefaithrequired]

Different circles.

 

[Roughsoul1991]

We help others best by listening to them. The more empathy we are able to have, the better. Often thats all we need to do as the person learns to sort out their own issues. The less we quote the Bible the better. Now these are the circles I move in. Maybe where you live, Bible quoting to atheists is seen as helpful.
Bible quoting needs to be used with discretion. Lots.

In context I was asked a a question about is it possible for a theist to win a debate against a atheist if all the burden of proof was on the theist. The questioner believed the theist had no evidence or proof of God.

So I responded to his question but the atheist I quoted responded to my answer. His main issue was the Bible was full of errors. Which is a typical belief. So I asked him what error if he could name 1. Some will copy and paste websites that list 100s of so called errors, so I was trying to avoid that.

He responded with the objection in the OP. The Bible is to be the Holy Word of God, the truth, and God is omniscience. So if the God of the Bible is truly God then you wont see things like the Quran saying the sun sets in a giant pool of water or that a mans sperm comes from somewhere in the back. These statements wasn't poems but actual beliefs. In fact anything related to science in the Bible just keeps being proven true. Same with any subject like history. Over and over again we find more evidence every year that show its truthfulness.

So when someone claims the word of God is full with errors. That is the type of belief that can destroy belief or keep people from belief.

Why would anyone want to follow a book you cannot even trust?

 

[Nehemiah6]

Also, as an aside, do we know for a fact that St. Luke was a Jew?

It is more than likely that Luke was a Hellenistic Jew. We should keep in mind that the Gospel was first preached to the Jews, and on the day of Pentecost thousands of Jews were gathered in Jerusalem from all over the Roman empire. Luke may have been one of them.

And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians* against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. (Acts 6:1)

*Strong's Concordance
Hellénistés: a Hellenist (Greek-speaking Jew)
Original Word: Ἑλληνιστής, ου, ὁ
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: Hellénistés
Phonetic Spelling: (hel-lay-nis-tace')
Definition: a Hellenist (Greek-speaking Jew)
Usage: a Hellenist, Grecian Jew, a Greek-speaking Jew, that is one who can speak Greek only and not Hebrew (or Aramaic)