Help Explaining to My Brother Why We Evangelize, If So Many Could End Up in Hell Anyways?

[purpleflowers1123]

Hello,

I need help answering a question my atheist brother asked me. He was talking to me about a youth group that comes to his school, and asked why they do community outreach and evangelization, if so few people adhere to the faith. He told me he only knows a couple of kids he considers sincere Christians, and that the rest of his classmates will claim to be Christian, but then he witnesses them using drugs, talking about premarital sex, etc. Although he is an atheist, my brother has somehow developed a Catholic concept of salvation, and believes that it involves practicing the faith rather than simply calling one’s self a Christian. He’s disheartened by his belief that 98%+ of people may go to Hell, including people who claim they are Christian.

I was wondering what sources, both within scripture and outside the Bible, I could use to help my brother? I briefly told him (this was maybe a 10 minute conversation), about Sister Lucia’s vision of Hell, and St. Augustine’s writings on original sin in “The Confessions”. Since my brother can’t really seem to grasp the concept of mysteries or miracles, I’m trying to find sources such as letters and books of a philosophical nature. I was in a religious lit class last semester, and when I mentioned statements from Corinthians or the Gospels, he never refuted them.

I would really enjoy sharing works from the Saints and Popes with my brother, but I’m afraid that he won’t be able to understand them because of their sophisticated language. He’s a senior in high school, but I’m looking to at least start off with things that would be closer to 6th-8th grade reading level, because while he can talk about abstract ethical and philosophical concepts, having untreated ADD while growing up delayed his reading skills.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I’m trying to handle his question delicately, since most of our family are lapsed Catholics or atheists, and I won’t officially start RCIA until this fall, so I feel like a bad example to him. But I feel like I need to provide him some compelling material, since I know that right now I’m the only one he has to talk about this sort of thing.

 

[Talitha712]

Why do we evangelize if so many people end up in Hell anyways…

Once there was a man walking along a beach. It was covered in star fish that had washed up after a storm. A little boy was by the water’s edge, hastily throwing as many as he could into the sea before the tide went out. The man watched for a while, then called to the boy:

“There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of star fish on this beach. You can’t possibly make a difference!”

The boy listened politely. Then he threw another into the sea and called back:

“But for that one, it made all the difference in the world.”

Edit: I realize there was more to your question than just the title. I’m coming back to address the rest of it in a minute

 

[Thom18]

The most important reason we do it is because Jesus told us to. Perhaps the most obvious reason is that we want to lead people out of sin and make the world a better place. Think about it: one of the most common atheistic mantras you will hear is, “How can God exist when there’s so much evil in the world?” Why should we be silent about God and the opportunity He gives us for a better life when the world is as evil as atheists say it is? The first step in ridding the world of evil is showing people how they can do better.

Another reason is for our own salvation. Evangelization isn’t optional, it’s a command. How will God judge us if we didn’t bring the gospel to someone who needed it? If they reject it, it’s on them- we can’t succumb to the heresy of low expectations, refusing to share the gospel because we don’t think people will change, in hopes that their ignorance will save their souls.

Finally, we evangelize because it’s safer for everyones’ souls. Some people will reject the gospel, and that’s a given- but we can very well save people in our efforts because they’re receptive to what they hear, and choose to live out the gospel mission with us.

Don’t count on ignorance to save, I’d say. It’s rare for someone to survive electrocution because no one told them it’s fatal.

 

[Talitha712]

Although he is an atheist, my brother has somehow developed a Catholic concept of salvation, and believes that it involves practicing the faith rather than simply calling one’s self a Christian. He’s disheartened by his belief that 98%+ of people may go to Hell, including people who claim they are Christian.

So wait, he does or he doesn’t believe in God? I can see why he’s upset if he believes so many are lost.

I was in a religious lit class last semester, and when I mentioned statements from Corinthians or the Gospels, he never refuted them.

How familiar is he with the Gospels? Would he be interested in starting with them instead of jumping right to popes and saints? I don’t know what kind of a foundation he has.

Since you said he is at a lower reading level but engages well in conversation, I suggest you take a look at The Diary of St. Faustina. Make yourself familiar with Divine Mercy. Then you share this with your brother. If his belief that so many are lost is what’s holding him back, this may give him the hope to have faith.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I’m trying to handle his question delicately, since most of our family are lapsed Catholics or atheists, and I won’t officially start RCIA until this fall, so I feel like a bad example to him. But I feel like I need to provide him some compelling material, since I know that right now I’m the only one he has to talk about this sort of thing.

I applaud you for this. I just want to add that one of the best things you can do is let Christ’s Love shine through you. Love and honor God, and love and honor your neighbor. Do your work cheerfully. Accept all good things with gratitude, and all bad with good grace. And pray all the time. Your prayers and your example are the best tools you have to convince him.

You’re already a good example to him - that you love him is clear by what you’re trying to do. As Padre Pio said “Pray, hope, and do not worry.”

May the dear Lord bless and keep you!

 

[fhansen]

Ourselves and our world brighten and are elevated to the extent that we believe that the universe is based on goodness, love, order, truth, meaning and purpose. Without God life is ultimately empty and futile, a place to try to fulfill our latest desires at best, and people tend to act accordingly, trending towards chaos and negativity as they’re desires are never finally satisfied anyway and they can’t find any real purpose to life.

But reasons for not believing also actually include a preference for unbelief as this grants us the freedom to experiment with chaos if you will, or with libertinism to one degree or another. Either way we hold out; we’re not quite ready to surrender, even to love, just in case something out there, outside God’s will, might possibly be better. Unbelief is not so strictly about a rationally based objection to God as we might think; there can be a quite irrational motivation for it in fact.