Combating the Atheist Part #3

This is the last article in the three-part series Combating the atheist! I have enjoyed getting to share with you some of the tips and knowledge I’ve learned about sharing the gospel! If you have anything else you would like to add to what this article said, please tell us in the comments below or in our community! As a quick note, this article is intended for an already Christian audience, and I am NOT trying to convert anyone with this! 

In this article, we are going to be finishing up some of the evidence that you can bring into a conversation with an atheist! In part two of the articles, we began to mention some of the evidences in the Bible, so we will start where we left off! 

Evidence #6- Scientific facts in the Bible

Although this is the last evidence I’ll be talking about before listing some more common questions atheists ask, I wanted to talk about it this week to go with the question below! The Bible records several scientific facts that were not discovered for hundreds, even thousands of years after they were written. You can use these few that I’ve gathered as an example to the person you’re talking to. 

“Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep?” Job 38:16

It wasn’t until recent years that scientists have been able to reach the bottom of the sea, but somehow Job, who lived early in the world, was able to write about the recesses and active springs in the sea? This was considered revolutionary information! And another reason to believe the Bible was divinely inspired. 

“The birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.” Psalm 8:8

The paths in the sea, are very real, and form currents that move the water all around the world. For thousands of years, sailors thought that the sea was just unpredictable, and there were no direct paths to navigate. It wasn’t until the early 1800s when Matthew Fontaine Maury decided that if the Bible was accurate in all the other ways, it must be right about the paths of the sea. So, after doing years of research, it finally paid off, and He began to discover the charted paths of the sea, exactly how the Bible had said. 

“Do you not know?

    Have you not heard?

Has it not been told you from the beginning?

    Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,

    and its people are like grasshoppers.

He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,

    and spreads them out like a tent to live in.” Isaiah 40:21-22

It was the popular belief in ancient times that the world was flat, and you could sail off the edge. Isaiah says something entirely different that can be missed if the reader wasn’t paying attention. But he calls the earth a circle, directly disagreeing with the fact the world was flat. Now perhaps a well-read atheist might bring up this verse to counteract this: 

“After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back its four winds so that no wind would blow on land or sea or on any tree.” Revelation 7:1

But there is honestly nothing to argue with. All you have to know is the time and culture when that verse was written to understand. When anyone references the four corners of the earth, they are not literally saying they think the earth has four corners. They are referencing North, South, East, West, popularly called back then, and even used now, as the four corners of the earth. If they try and fight you on this, consider asking: “Are you willing to pin your entire salvation on this verse that you’re taking out of context?

The Issues with Science

Science can be helpful, as stated above by showing that science doesn’t disagree with the Bible but only credits it further. But the important thing to remember is science doesn’t ever say ANYTHING. The scientist does. Someone might say ‘well science says,’ but the science says nothing. Science is a tool, just as much as a hammer is, and no one is going to go around saying ‘my hammer told me.’ 

The definition of science can be summed up as a search for causes. We want to discover the whys and hows to why certain things happen. Science is only the interpretation of what we are trying to understand as inherently flawed human beings. Everyone has a different worldview, so even though we might look at the same evidence, we are going to make mistakes. Why are we taking ‘science’s’ word for it, when that science is coming from other humans just as flawed as we are? People’s opinions, emotions, and feelings can change the conclusion they come up with. 

But science can be amazing, and it helps us look at the natural forces and see how the universe works in harmony. No matter how amazing the universe is, it just didn’t appear out of thin air but is proof of an intelligent designer. Use the tool of science to point people in the direction of a creator. 

Another thing to note: If someone claims to be an atheist, they can’t believe in objective truth, as referenced in the previous article. Because of that, they are unable to say science is objectively right. Science can tell us if an action might hurt someone, but it can’t tell us if we should hurt someone. It can’t tell us the standard of morality. Only God can make that objective reality. 

Miracles Aren’t Real

As an atheist, they are required to believe that miracles can’t happen. Everything supposedly has a reason behind it. I would start by asking whoever you are talking to why they don’t believe in a God, just like we talked about in the first and second articles. If there was a God and He created the whole universe, couldn’t He make miracles happen whenever He wanted? He did set the rules of the universe after all. 

And if they are still iffy on that point, perhaps consider asking them if miracles didn’t exist, how did thousands of people see them? After Jesus rose from the dead, the greatest miracle of all, He was seen alive again by hundreds of people. And so was Lazarus whom Jesus rose from the dead. All throughout His ministry He did public miracles, seen by thousands. 

Miracles still happen today, but they just look different than they did back before Jesus. I’ve witnessed many myself. Every breath is a miracle. They are blind to God’s goodness without Jesus, but it’s there, and challenge them to look for it. They will be surprised. 

Did God Murder His Son?

This question recently came up in the comment section of one of our YouTube videos, and I thought it worth the time to mention it here. The person asking this question had an issue with the supposed fact that in order to ‘rescue’ all of us, He murdered His son, actively breaking His own law. 

This is a great question, but one that begs that the person who wrote it to take the time to know the Bible they are arguing against. But the more I began to think about it, the more I wondered how many other people viewed Jesus’s sacrifice like this. Jesus wasn’t murdered; He chose to die for us. It is because of that choice that makes His dying for our sins so incredible. He was 100% human and 100% God at the same time, and knew what had to be done, but it didn’t mean that it was easy for Him. He could have just left us in our sin. In the garden, Jesus even pleaded with God to take the burden of dying from Him if there was another way. 

“He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Matthew 26:39

But He was asking that God’s will ultimately be done, and because our punishment demanded death, Jesus willingly took it from us. He set aside the 100% fleshly desires and chose to die for us so we could live with Him in eternity. He cared about us more than He cared about escaping the pain. At any moment He could have stopped it and gave up on us. 

“Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” Matthew 26:53

Make sure whoever you’re talking to understands that Jesus dying for them was His choice because He was thinking about THEM. He did it out of love for them. Make sure they don’t take away the power of the choice in His sacrifice for them by saying He was murdered. 

I hope you found all of these articles helpful to you and your confidence in sharing the gospel! Comment below any thoughts you have about these articles! If you want to hear our personal gospel-sharing stories, sign up for our notification list!

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