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Holly3278
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Hey everyone. I am having a discussion with an Atheist about the existence of God. I am trying to convince him that God exists but I have no idea how to do that. Can anyone help me?
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belorg
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Well, why would you try to convince him?
And if you really want to convince him, start by explaining what convinces you that God exists. If the argument is strong enough, it will convince him.
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Holly3278
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I want to try to convince him because I am trying to evangelize him. I feel called by the Great Commission to evangelize other people. The Great Commission is a Biblical concept and I feel that we are all called to evangelize.
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danserr
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reasonablefaith.org/site/PageServer
This website is by the Christian philosopher William Lane Craig; if you are new to giving arguments for belief, then I would suggest starting with the popular articles section, which is very valuable and give evidence for theism based on philosophical and scientific evidence for the origins of the universe, the fine-tuning of the universe for life, the existence of objective moral values and duties, and historical evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus among others. I’ve found it a useful site.
-Second he has a pop level apologetics book, called On Guard, which you can also take advantage of.
Another site I have heard listed by people here sometimes, which you might also find useful to read through is by the philosopher Peter Kreeft.
peterkreeft.com/featured-writing.htm
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RainbowNight
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By providing shocking evidences that an intelligent design exists, the next step is proving this intelligent design is the Catholic one, after that try to prove that this god is just and fair considering the existence of pain in the world, if you want to talk about free will, then try to explain it the best way you can do, because there is lots of things in our lives where free will is not an enough answer for them. also try to give evidence to dismiss his scientific, historical or logical reasons for not believing… Can you? Well best for you…
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Prophesy
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The primary thing is to let God convince him on his own terms. Do your best to be a loving and joyful person and he may start to want that for himself. And if he does, answer questions that he brings to you truthfully and charitably.
Conversion from atheist to theist isn’t usually an overnight kind of ordeal.
I recommend praying for him a lot too if you haven’t already started.
-Prophesy
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CountrySteve
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i would bring him to a mass and pray for him let him feel God’s presents at the Mass
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Edward_H
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With your charity, with the simplicity and joy and love of God that you have.
Do not attempt evangelization on an intellectual level with anyone unless you are their true and dear friend.
Pray for them. Offer sacrifices for them. But don’t try to intellectually convince them.
Be their sincere friend, and deepen your own interior life, such that it spills out all around you in sincere love/charity.
They will slowly take notice…(all humans are naturally attracted to Charity Himself) and this may open up opportunities for small conversations about the permanent things…more substantial things.
I posted this elsewhere…if it’s any help.
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=7937473#post7937473
Do not attempt evangelization on an intellectual level with anyone unless you are their true and dear friend.
Pray for them. Offer sacrifices for them. But don’t try to intellectually convince them.
Be their sincere friend, and deepen your own interior life, such that it spills out all around you in sincere love/charity.
They will slowly take notice…(all humans are naturally attracted to Charity Himself) and this may open up opportunities for small conversations about the permanent things…more substantial things.
I posted this elsewhere…if it’s any help.
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=7937473#post7937473
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Prophesy
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tonyrey
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You cannot convince everyone but you can get them to think more deeply. Ask:
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- Would you kill you anyone unnecessarily? (If Yes you are wasting your time!)
- Why not? (Because life is valuable - or something to that effect)
- So it’s reasonable to believe there is a reason why we are alive? (If No you are wasting your time!)
- **Why we are alive? **(Any answer that refers to things is not a reason but a cause!)
- Does reason come from things cannot reason? (If Yes you are wasting your time!)
- Is life valuable just because we think it is valuable? (If Yes you are wasting your time!)
- **Why is life valuable? **(Any answer that refers to things leads to the next question.)
- Why do those things exist? (If they answer “I don’t know” or “They just do” go to the next question.)
- Why is it evil to torture a child? (Any answer that it is just a human belief means you are wasting your time! The best solution is leave them to think about it because you will have sown the seeds of doubt. It will reveal whether they are open-minded or not. Your parting shot can be:
- **Do you think the teaching of Jesus that we should love one another is nonsense?
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cerad2
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Perhaps you try sort of an opposite approach.
- Prove that Zeus (or some other god of your choice) does not exist.
- Show how the arguments used in step 1 do not apply to your particular god.
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Prophesy
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That could take a while if you have to go one by one for various polytheistic gods, at least Zeus and other old-time superhero gods aren’t the hardest.
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Robertanthony
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Or say that, strange but true, the material world, or simply matter, has always existed, which is kind of puzzling except to many atheists, then state as seriously as you can that a cosmic explosion that nothing/no-one caused but happened out of its own volition, I guess, brought this orderly universe out of total chaos. An atheist’s worldview is that of someone who finds a watch on the floor and thinks all the tiny parts came together over a long period of time, and that it’s pure coincidence that it’s working. That’s very intellectually advanced, dontcha think? That would be the intellectual elite. I’ve a question for you RainbowNight and since you quote André Gide, I assume you must be thoughtful and wise: I don’t like dogs, never have, never will, I’m absolutely indifferent to them, now there’s this forum that I heard about for people who like dogs or want to discuss things that have to do with dogs, should I join?
To OP, if you don’t sense an openness, some intellectual honesty/integrity, most likely no amount of evidence will work. Think of the Pharisees in Jesus’ time, think of all the wonders/miracles they witnessed or were told about by direct witnesses, you’d think they would all get it. Bless your heart for wanting to bring this wanderer home.
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tonyrey
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Welcome to the forum!
It’s never advisable to **start **with a negative approach. It suggest that you have a negative outlook! Can you think of anything positive?
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tonyrey
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In your zeal you are exceeding the brief designated by the OP! The topic is simply:
“How do I convince an Atheist that** God exists**?” The attributes of the Deity are irrelevant at this stage…
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cerad2
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Well, I suppose one could be positive that Zeus does not exist. But that’s probably not what you meant.
The first step to convincing me at least would be to define your God and lay out in unambiguous terms exactly what it is you are trying to prove the existence of.
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DPMartin
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Holly
I have found when talking about the existence of Life, or what is the source of Life. The fact that life requires instructions, and where does the instructions come from. Can be effective to the point of put up, or shut up. It is a fact that they know is true.
But some thing that has dawn on me recently might help depending on the conversation at hand. Was there darkness first or Light first?
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Elements of the universe. But there was no order nor Light nor form. Until God moved upon the waters in the universe and made His Presence known, revealed, by saying Let there be Light. Therefore we understand that the existence of Light was first but was not revealed in the universe until God’s Presence came into the universe and spoke.
We can forget that God made the universe and set order in the universe to accommodate the Presence of Life, His Presence and His Will therein. Hence Life comes from God, through His Word revealed in His Presence that gives Life in the universe. And that Life is not of the universe.
Life is because of the Word of God in the Presence of God not because there is a universe.
Just because Light was not revealed, does not mean there was no Light. This is the same with those who still walk in darkness.
But don’t let yourself be frustrated in conversation. For a man in darkness is not a fool because he is in darkness. But it is the man that refuses the Light that is the fool.
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tonyrey
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stevicus
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One thing that kind of struck me while looking into the debates and arguments often put forth by atheists was the concept of multiple dimensions and multiple universes.
You may have already seen this video: youtube.com/watch?v=aCQx9U6awFw
It’s somewhat mind-boggling, and it doesn’t actually prove the existence of God. It doesn’t even mention God. But it does show how small, finite, and limited our own existence truly is. I find it interesting that many atheists can believe in the 10th dimension and theories surrounding multiple universes, yet can’t seem to accept the idea that there is an overriding Intelligent Being which oversees the whole shebang.
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Robertanthony
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A prideful mind abhors simplicity, if creating this orderly and awe-inspiring universe out of naught is indeed simple
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