i am in a similar situation. my take is this...be it right or wrong....

if people are arguing or bashing Christianity, I am not going to join the peeing contest. in other words, they don't want to hear what i have to say. in fact, they are probably hoping i will say something just so they can throw more mud and look cool and tough around their buddies. i figure that it is just a trap they are trying to set for me. no sense walking into it.

but what i do is this - i make a mental note of everyone in the conversation. if you listen and watch close you can see who the trouble makers are and who is just along for the ride. you know, the ones just smiling and "adoring" the ring leader. it is usually safe to say that they don't necessarily share the same opinion. so, i then make sure i stay open and alert as to when i can share my faith with that person when it is just the two of us. it is a much more peaceful setting and they aren't already biased to hate me as much.

again, not saying it is the best way to handle it...

TB's got good advice. But having studied world religions, cults, and atheistic philosophy, your co-workers are seriously ignorant.

Remind them of Pascal, who built his dad a computer at age 14 and if they've ever had a programming language named after them. Pascal wrote the Pensees in which is argued for God.

Newton, who invented calculus, believed in God.

Einstein was an atheist and upon seeing the evidence of Hubble was forced to admit that God existed.

I doubt that they're smarter than Anthony Flew, renounced atheist and expert on David Hume who recently became a Theist.

It's up to you how to deal with them, but if you engage in dialog, you might be more blessed than they in that you'll get a better understanding of your faith while trying to defend it.

When dealing with atheists, get books by Norm Geisler ("I don't have enough to be an atheist" would be my first choice), Lee Strobel (Case for Christ), Josh McDowell (Evidence that demands a verdict), and CS Lewis (Mere Christianity) to start with.

Thanks to both of you.

Perhaps I'll try to read some of the suggested reading. I would hope that given enough training, I'd be able to confront them on the intellectual plain and combat their ignorance. I'm not sure how long it will take to get to that point, but I'm sure God will let me know. The suggested reading is definitely a good springboard.

Thanks again!!

Hey djsindt,

I've been watching this thread for awhile, and was not quite sure on just how to weigh in. Although I fully acknowledge the benefit of study and being able to converse intelligently, please be certain to ensure your motive is pure.

I don't know you (and suspect I'm just reading this wrong) but words like "confront" and "combat" raise red flags for me. We are to speak the truth in love. I read that to say the only reason you have to talk to them is if you care about them. The temptation, at least for me, would be to learn a bunch of facts with the intent of crushing them in an argument. This serves little purpose. Even if you could win an academic debate, if it's done in a confrontational and combative manner you're going to come off looking like a jerk. Instead...study...and approach with a humble attitude. Perhaps you can address some of their issues, or maybe you can't (That's OK.). Listen. Share. Learn. Teach.

Peace!

-NP

well put nonprofit

Have them read this...

http://www.guitartips.addr.com...

You're right NP, I don't intend to crush them by acquiring vast knowledge. I often feel that the battle has been brought to my front door and the majority of the time I shy away because I feel inadequately equipped. As geeks we typically value intellectual debate and value any conclusion reached by solid logic. Up until now I've just known that I believe in God because I do. It is an area that I've struggled with in my Christian walk. I feel that God has given me intelligence to question things, but in my limited knowledge, God falls short. I know that I'm supposed to have faith and simply believe, but I just have so many looming questions that the secular world seems to have answers to.

I've been reading "I don't have enough faith to be an atheist" as BishopBooyah suggested. I have to admit, that I've learned so much in the first three chapters that I feel I could easily begin converting atheists to Christianity. FYI, I don't intend to begin "confronting" people on the streets and "combating" their ignorance. I promise to be more tactful.

I have to say that although I didn't understand much of the scientific evidence that supports Christianity prior to staring this book, I've learned that the guys at my work are likely as ignorant in their beliefs as I was in mine. The only difference is that they are more confident in what they believe and have a sounding board to speak their beliefs against.

The major thing I have learned so far from this book is that the "Big Bang" is not fully understood by many people. I had once believed that the Big Bang theory basically stated that a bunch of matter in the universe gathered together, exploded and began creating all life. That is not how the theory works at all. In a nutshell, the theory states that the universe is expanding and therefore had to have a beginning, the Big Bang. No one really knows where this beginning came from, but the source had to exist outside of time and space since time, space and matter were all created as a result of this big bang. That leaves a big gaping hole that God seems to fit perfectly in (although many people refuse to admit that point).

This book has begun to put at peace all the burning questions I've had about my religion. God requires that we have faith, but unfortunately, I'm like Thomas. As much as I want to believe, I am unsettled until I have the evidence that my logical brain requires.

Derrick,

God does require us to have faith, it's a matter of the heart not the head. That being said, being an analytical person (an engineer), I require evidence. That's what I see in Acts. The first sermon Peter gave was: you saw Jesus die, you saw Jesus raise from the dead, now based on the evidence, believe and have eternal life. Jesus claimed to give us eternal life and demonstrated he had the power by raising himself from the dead.

Now, I'm not say you need evidence to have faith, but for many of us, we do appreciate the evidence and, based on that evidence, we have faith for what is to come (eternal life, new heavens/earth, etc). My faith is built on evidence but others have faith without evidence.

I think you did hit on something regarding the atheists: In the old days, atheists had arguments for their disbelief. Hume, Russell, and others gave arguments for why they didn't believe in God. Today, atheists rely on emotionalism (the "I don't like God because he's mean," or "Christians are stupid" type arguments) rather than logical, well thought out, arguments (Hume's argument against miracles, Russell's existence of evil argument, etc).

Regarding the big bang, I wrote a paper for Dr. Geisler on the cosmological argument using Einstein's theory of relativity demonstrating that relativity points directly to God. Relativity (e=mc^2) describes a relationship between energy, time, and matter. When you rewind the video tape of the universe back to t=0, all the laws of physics break down. It's why physicists say that nothing existed and then exploded. Well, using relativity we know that whatever kicked started the universe had to have immense energy to infuse it into the universe (we call that omnipotence). The first cause also needed to be timeless since time is a physical property (we call this eternal). The first cause also needed to be massless because all matter came into existence at the big bang (God is spirit).

Note, this is also what Moses wrote in Genesis 1:1 - "In the beginning (time), God created (with immense energy) the heavens and the earth (matter)."

A really good book on this subject is Robert Jastrow's book "God and the astronomers."

I think the cosmological argument for God is the strongest argument in that you can't argue with mathematics and logic.

However, the most effective argument for God is the moral argument (see CS Lewis book "Mere Christianity").

But my favorite argument (versus the 12 steps in "I don't have enough faith") is the resurrection. There is more evidence for the life, death and resurrection of Jesus than for any thing in ancient history. Visit http://garyhabermas.com/video/... and watch the debate Habermas had with Flew. Geisler is a 12-stepper as laid out in the atheist book. Habermas is a "1-stepper" in that he always goes to the resurrection.

Like I said, you might not win your workers to Christ, but you can give a defense with meekness and respect for the hope you have. God will also bless you in your walk by making your faith more substantial to you via the evidence that exists.

In Peter 3

<13Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear[b]; do not be frightened."[c] 15But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. /blockquote>

Luke 21

12"But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13This will result in your being witnesses to them. 14But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17All men will hate you because of me. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By standing firm you will gain life.

So I have just finished a degree in physics with philosophy. I've done some reading (but not studying) into the philosophy of religion. I'm surrounded by lots of clever atheists with lots of good reasons to hate christianity and pretty much I find that I haven't really "lost" an argument. I haven't necessarily won any arguments but most arguments start with them hating christianity and end with them being interested in at least me. However, not one in the 3 years I've studied has actually "converted" even if they get to a point where they think I'm right about most things.

On the otherhand my Grandma who was a missionary to Japan. She was one of the first women at Cambridge University and studied Natural Science. She was both atheist and communist and would go to the christian union just for fun so that she could argue with all the christians there. Apparantly she pretty much never lost an argument. What really got her though was a doctor friend of hers who would argue with my grandma. Everytime she argued the doctor would lose and go away, she'd then come back and try a new argument with my grandma. The thing that got her was "I know my doctor friend is clever? But she keeps losing? Why does she come back?" When my grandma was baptised she saw it as God just got her, she was actually quite depressed because she could prove God didn't exist but KNEW that he did!

(Incidently my Grandma's book is out this year!)

The point about all these verses and stories I think is this. It says that we ARE supposed to defend ourselves. But this verse does not really tell us to go into "combat" what it means, i think, is we take these atheists' challenges are serious and search ourselves, search the bible and search the holy spirit for real true answers to these questions. I think if you ever catch yourself finding an atheist "Stupid" you've already lost. You need to really take their criticisms seriously and put them to god so that you have an answer. You might never use it but you need to have it.

Secondly when you actually go into "combat" you don't need preparation. The preparation is for your own benefit to help you understand God. In "Combat" you need God, you need him to give you the right words. The thing is the "right words" may not be the best "logical" answer. They may be something that relates on a more humble level.

So I'd say listen to them, and bring their challenges to God. Then if you feel called to engage with them, do with gently, in confidence with God on your side (not preperation)

Finally look at how Paul interacts with the Athenians.