We're All Atheists Now?

When you atheists understand why a jury can convict one particular person for a crime and not any of the other 7+ billion people on the planet who are technically eligible suspects, then you will understand why I am a Christian believer. The available evidence points to the Christian God, not to Zeus, Thor, or Quetzalcoatl.

If one were to live by the logic presented in this uncompelling meme, our judicial system would collapse. A lawyer for a likely murder suspect could simply say to the jury, "Surely you would agree that all these other people in this courtroom are innocent of this crime. I'm simply asking that you go one suspect further and declare my client innocent of these charges."

We are confident in the Christian God because that is where the evidence points regardless of the other options.

[This response is adapted from the work of Andy Bannister in Chapter 3 of The Atheist Who Didn't Exist.]

Can We Give Evidence for Our Faith?

So, giving historical facts as evidence for our faith in Christ is entirely biblical. Not only that, but it is helpful for two reason: 1) The evidence encourages the faith of Christians that what we believe is actually true, and 2) it gives the non-Christian something to chew on. If it turns out that the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus is strong, then non-believers that we interact with can be challenged by it. The Holy Spirit can then use this evidence to work on that person's heart.

Demonstrating that there are good reasons to believe what we believe is encouraging to Christians. Skeptics and non-believers in our culture tell a story that they have reason on their side and that Christians foolishly believe in spite of the facts. But this couldn't be further from the truth. The Christian faith is entirely reasonable. Good reasons abound for being a follower of Christ.

Emotions are also a huge part of following Christ, but I'm not focusing on our emotions because the modern American evangelical Church is so tuned in to our emotions that we sometimes get the idea that following Jesus is all about our feelings. But there is more to it. Jesus said that we should love God with all of our hearts, souls, and minds (Matt 22:37). God is worthy of being worshiped by all of our being, including our minds.