Hello.<\/p>\n
I thank you again for the opportunity to ask questions and get them answered so promptly!<\/p>\n
I am debating with my close friends, so my question is how do I bring my agnostic friend to Christ? Here is a discussion we are having at the moment and please let me know if my response to him was good enough, even though the conversation is still ongoing. I feel that he is searching for truth so I don’t want to give up on him, on the other hand, he is really stubborn.<\/p>\n
Friend:<\/p>\n
“I just don’t believe that Christianity and Jesus is the correct path to finding a connection to our creator. It’s simply one path out of many that a person can take to ultimately end up in the same place. It takes more courage to forge a path that has not been laid out before you. I believe when I die and I meet my Maker, He will smile and say “I’m glad you did it your way and figured things out for yourself and not simply buy what’s put in front of you. I gave you a big brain and big heart and you have the courage to find things out for yourself and the intellect to make the best decisions for you.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Me:<\/p>\n
“The many ways to God that you’re thinking of is simply not true. They’re deceptive religions, e.g. Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, New Age. It takes more courage to deny yourself and repent than thinking I’ll do what I want, and God will congratulate me later. That’s just the kind of thinking that dooms us later. Just because those religions have been around for a while, even some before Jesus, that doesn’t mean they’re right. Jesus came to put in end to all that 2000 years ago. Read this and then respond to me; it’s only 10 verses: Acts 17:22-32”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Thank you!<\/p>\n\t
Answer:<\/h2>\n
Too often we only measure success as happening when the person we are talking to is convinced that we are right. We forget that our goal is to have opportunities to teach God’s word. What people do with it is their decision. We greatly desire them to be saved, but whether I have done my duty to God is based on whether I took the opportunities to teach when they were presented (Ezekiel 3:17-21). “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase<\/em>” (I Corinthians 3:6-7).<\/p>\n
Your friend acknowledges that God exists, but denies that God is involved with His creation. Why would he think that he is going to meet God after his death? What evidence does he have? How does he manage to know the mind of God without any communication from God? In other words, your friend lives in an imaginary world of a personally made-up religion; yet, somehow this is supposed to be an accurate representation of the God who made the universe.<\/p>\n
People cannot create their own religion. We are too close to our own problems. “O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps<\/em>” (Jeremiah 10:23). Courage has nothing to do with this problem. Your friend claims that God wants men to use their heads, but he appears not to have thought his position through. He is basically advocating anarchy in religious matters — everyone doing what they individually think is right. But when has anarchy ever worked in any system? “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths<\/em>” (Proverbs 3:5-6). How does a person claim to follow God when he is only following himself?<\/p>\n
The god of his imagination accepts people of all religions. Yet, those religions teach contradictory beliefs. Thus, we must conclude that his god doesn’t know what he wants or doesn’t care. Where is the motivation to serve such a god? Why does he expect anything from such a god?<\/p>\n
Don’t argue on his level. Don’t accept his terms and conditions. Demonstrate, instead, that Christianity is solid and reasonable. When he calls something “good” challenge him by asking how does he know what “good” is? Does his god care about “good?” How does he know? Plant seeds that may eventually grow into true faith in the real God.<\/p>\n\t
Response:<\/h2>\n
Thank you, Jeff. That seems to work.<\/p>\n
When I questioned the basis for what is good to him, he doesn’t seem to know and is confused. All I hear is gibberish about science. I always tell people I’d rather live my life for God and find out later there isn’t one than to not live my life for Him and find out He’s there. However, I still wish my friends would wake up, but I guess Jesus was right when he said it is impossible that offenses not happen.<\/p>\n
Thanks again, Jeff.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Hello. I thank you again for the opportunity to ask questions and get them answered so promptly! I am debating with my close friends, so my question is how do I bring my agnostic friend to Christ? Here is a discussion we are having at the moment and please let me know if my…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1088,451],"class_list":["post-34157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-agnosticism","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18552,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-friend-has-left-christ-how-should-i-handle-this\/","url_meta":{"origin":34157,"position":0},"title":"A friend has left Christ. How should I handle this?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a childhood friend who was raised in the Buddhist religion. Through the years I had made small presentations of the gospel to him here and there. At some point during our friendship, I had begun sharing my knowledge about the church Christ established and why it would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15681,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-you-teach-the-scriptures-to-an-agnostic\/","url_meta":{"origin":34157,"position":1},"title":"How do you teach the Scriptures to an agnostic?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 5, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have an agnostic friend who was raised Catholic and believes that 'something' is 'up there' and created all of this. But he is convinced that all religion is man-made, whose purpose is behavior control and extortion. I sense that he is searching for something to hope in. Where\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":84240,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-deal-with-a-boyfriend-who-wont-respect-boundaries\/","url_meta":{"origin":34157,"position":2},"title":"How do I deal with a boyfriend who won’t respect boundaries?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear brothers in Christ, I am writing to you because I need your advice. My soul is weary, and my heart is exhausted. I am a Christian girl in my mid-twenties. I worship in a church of Christ. I grew up in a Christian family. Only one of my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34217,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thank-you-for-sharing-searching-for-my-friend\/","url_meta":{"origin":34157,"position":3},"title":"Thank you for sharing “Searching for My Friend”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 16, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Just a note of thanks for sharing this post and the notes to your friend. I pray that he is still on the right path. There was much wisdom in your notes. I have a son who is headed down the same path that your friend was on. Your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44691,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-talk-to-a-friend-who-has-started-experimenting-with-sex\/","url_meta":{"origin":34157,"position":4},"title":"How do I talk to a friend who has started experimenting with sex?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good evening sir, Sadly I write to you seeking some sort of advice as I am not only troubled but do not know how to handle this situation. One of my friends throughout high school and now college (although she is closer to my girlfriend) just did something I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8372,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-convince-an-atheist-to-believe-in-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":34157,"position":5},"title":"How do I convince an atheist to believe in the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 5, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How do I convince my friend to believe in the Bible, as well as God?\u00a0 My friend doesn't believe in God, Heaven, the devil, anything that the Bible teaches.\u00a0 This friend told me that, to her, the Bible is complete fiction.\u00a0 I know that I cannot even begin to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34157\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}