The Battle Belongs to the Lord (talking with Atheists)

Published: Oct. 8, 2008, 6:30 p.m.

b"The Bible declares that the man who hears Christ's words and rejects them for the superior value of his own - or other men's words - is a fool. A fool does not make God and His revelation the starting point of his thinking and will not submit to the Word of God or base his life upon its teachings and principles. The fool must be answered by revealing his foolishness. In an interaction with an atheist or agnostic, there is a method of apologetics that enables the believer to do such a task while also fully obeying the mandate given to all Christians in Peter's first letter. While atheists and even many Christians teach that we must put the Bible on the shelf when debating the atheist, it is foolishness to relinquish the most powerful weapon that we have in an attempt to pander to the unbeliever under the false assumption that he is entering the fray on neutral ground that we sully with our theistic biases. Instead, it must be acknowledged that there is no such thing as neutrality in the thinking of a believer and a non-believer. What one takes to be factual and how one interprets those facts is governed by one's underlying philosophy of fact \\ufffd\\ufffd\\ufffd\\ufffd\\ufffd\\ufffd\\ufffd\\ufffd\\ufffd one's presuppositions. The debate over the veracity of a fact will eventually work itself down to the level of one's ultimate authority. Once this point is reached, the real argument can begin \\ufffd\\ufffd\\ufffd\\ufffd\\ufffd\\ufffd\\ufffd\\ufffd\\ufffd which presupposition best explains reality, the ability to reason, the existence of morals, and our common experiences?"