How to Convert Atheists


Christians who post tips for converting atheists, in my experience, give useless advice. They attribute to atheists what Christians want to believe about atheists. Once they think they have mastered the mind of the atheists they are ready to close the sale. Here are some of the attributes assigned to atheists and advice on how to convert them:

Atheists are unreasonable. Show them the reasonable basis for our faith, the Bible, and they will convert.  The atheist does not find it reasonable to believe in invisible gods and miracles.

If you can persuade the atheists to experiment with prayer, they often will convert. As with all of these statements, I have never heard of an atheist converting after experimenting with prayer. I've wondered what will convert the atheists if he/she prays and nothing happens.

Persuade the atheist by historical study of the Gospels. Atheists usually know the Gospels are not considered good sources of history. They are religion, not history.

 Honest philosophical reasoning will leave the atheist no alternative but to convert. Honest philosophical reasoning is exactly how atheists lost their faith if they ever had any.

Point the atheist toward modern science and he/she will convert. Modern science has provided no evidence that the Moses story, the Noah story or the Jesus stories ever happened.

Evidence of the resurrection will bring the atheist around. The resurrection is a religious story. There is no evidence it happened.

 Beautiful music, painting and sculpture came out of Christianity. Art came from both believers and non believers.

 Many people convert from nonbelief to belief every year. I know a few such people. A few days ago I had a long visit with one, a distant relative. He had rejected church life decades ago. Then he went through a bitter divorce and found support and comfort in his former faith. His experience is far more typical of people who find the faith--it filled a need. (By the way, I encouraged him to stay with his faith.)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maybe the "Original Sin" Should be Reassigned

Image
We can all agree most Catholic priests are fine people and not guilty of sexual abuse. What Catholics must face, however, it that their church harbors executives who are dishonest . There is an incredible story about the Argentine Bishop Zanchetta. The Pope worked with him in Argentina and they are considered friends. Around 2015 Zanchetta sent nude pictures of himself and they began circulating world wide. He also was too friendly with young seminarians and some left because of him.  Three different officials say they made formal complaints to the Vatican about Zanchetta between 2015 and 2017. Yet, in 2018, the Vatican claimed it was unaware of any complaints about Zanchetta. This might be a good time to repeat the Catholic hierarchy claims to have the sole authority handed down from Jesus to what the faith stands for. It condemns as sinners those who practice birth control, have abortions and gay sexual relationships. Handing the hierarchy this responsibility would make som
Read more

The Religious Capitol Invaders May Yet Win

Image
So much about U.S. society and religion can be learned from the Civil War and what happened afterwards. After its defeat, the South started a myth about the unethical soldiers from the North. The South fought for principles of God and states rights. The North did not. It was the South, this propaganda told the country, that had the high moral ground.  The Capitol invaders, encouraged by Trump, swallowed the myth that Biden's election was stolen. Thus, they think they held and still hold the high moral ground. This was reinforced by the cross and prayers during the invasion. Even with Trump is gone, we will see political opportunists like Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley stroking crowds and feeding the same lies as Trump. Like "the South will rise again" these gullible followers will talk of victory over the unclean. After the Civil War the South rallied around the phrase, Lost Cause. For decades, and maybe to this day, there are ceremonies remembering fallen martyrs, Re
Read more

Father Frank Pavone, the Ultimate Crook

Image
Recently, the Vatican defrocked Frank Pavone. His diehard fans are outraged. This is because he cleverly manipulated his fans and the press all the while living well from donations and, apparently, abusing some women. By making abortion the "sin" of the century, and himself the main opposition to this one sin, he himself could get away with any sin he pleased.  As the link points out, Pavone was the perfect priest for the Trump era. Trump is so self-important laws have no role in his life. He felt accountable to no one. Women were there to be had. Pavone and Trump are interchangeable.  Pavone was very successful raising money. In his mind, abortion was so important in Catholic beliefs and he was so important in anti-abortion the money he raised opposing it was his to do with what he liked. The Catholic Church, the brand name he used to raise this money, thought the money belonged to it. When he gave the Vatican the bird, it gave him walking papers. With polls showing the majo
Read more