Debating with an Atheist

I heard a guest atheist on a local christian radio station last night. He answered questions and challenges from callers, the host and a guest pastor. There were lots of good arguments and evidences presented for the truth of Christ. I would hear one and think, "that's a good one" and wonder how the atheist would respond. He would inevitably explain it away or give a reason why it was not convincing. Then I would hear another argument in favor of the truth of Christ and think, surely this one will make him pause or think. I always ended up disappointed, however.

When I really think of it in a general sense, I see the Bible seeming to teach that unbelief, like belief, is more than merely intellectual. It is spiritual in nature--a matter not only of the mind but of the heart. "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned"
(1 Corinthias 2:14).

I always forget this truth and somehow hope that I can see a skeptic won over by clever presentation of the evidences of Christ. But apart from the power of the Spirit of God, the unbeliever remains committed in his heart to unbelief. Like the atheist I heard on the radio, he will start out with the assumption that it is not true and when challenged with evidences to the contrary will take those arguments and use his intellectual faculties to explain them away.

What the Bible refers to as being lost or estranged from God is a state where the soul naturally does not like the God of the Bible. It is offended by the claims of God's transcental holiness and the corresponding obligations to worship, love and obey Him. It is hostile to the threat of judgment and assumes that God is cruely and falsely accussing people of being unrighteous instead of justly responding to men's sin.

Consequently, like the atheist on the radio show, the natural response of the unbeliever is to reject the love, mercy, forgiveness and eternal life offered through the cross of Christ. What is the use then, I think? But then I also have to remember that "with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible". The gospel is called the power of God. It is through the message of Christ that the Spirit of God changes hearts from darkness to light, from unbelief to faith. No heart is beyond the reach of the strong arm of the Lord. My part is one of prayer and support of the preaching of the gospel of Jesus with the hope that God will grant repentance and salvation to those who hear. Then when they hear the many true evidences of Christ, they will be convinced.