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7 Questions Skeptics Ask - Radio Transcript \\ \\ /Rusty Wright/
Questions of Faith
Picture the scene.
Youre discussing your faith with a coworker or neighbor, perhaps over lunch or coffee.
You explain your beliefs but your friend has questions:
/How could a loving God allow evil and suffering?
The Bible is full of contradictions.
What about people whove never heard of Jesus?/
How do you feel about these questions and objections?
Anxious?
Confused?
Defensive?
Combative?
Sensitively and appropriately answering questions that skeptics ask you can be an important part of helping them to consider Jesus.
Peter told us, 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.{1}
This series looks at seven common questions skeptics ask and gives you some pointers on how to respond.
Consider first a story.
As the flight from Chicago to Dallas climbed in the sky, I became engrossed in conversation with the passenger to my left.
Aimee, a French businesswoman, asked me about my work.
On learning I was a Christian communicator, she related that a professing Christian had signed a contract with her, attempted to lead her to Christ, then later deceitfully undercut her.
How could a Christian do such a thing?
she asked.
I told her that Christians we aren’t perfect, that some fail miserably, that many are honest and caring, but that it is Jesus we ultimately trust.
Aimee asked question after question: How can you believe the Bible?
Why do Christians say there is only one way to God? How does one become a Christian?
I tried to answer her concerns tactfully and explained the message of grace as clearly as I could.
Stories I told of personal pain seemed to open her up to consider Gods love for her.
She did not come to Christ in that encounter, but she seemed to leave it with a new understanding.
Hurting people everywhere need God.
Many are open to considering Him, but they often have questions they want answered before they are willing to accept Christ.
As Christian communicators seek to blend grace with truth,{2} an increasing number of skeptics may give an ear and become seekers or believers.
As you interact with skeptics, compliment them where you can.
Jesus complimented the skeptical Nathanael for his pursuit of truth.{3}
Listen to their concerns.
Your listening ear speaks volumes.
It may surprise you to learn that your attitude can be just as important as what you know.
Dealing with Objections
How do you deal with questions and objections to faith that your friends may pose?
When I was a skeptical student, my sometimes-relentless questions gave my Campus Crusade for Christ friends at Duke University plenty of practice!
I wanted to know if Christianity was true.
After trusting Christ as Savior, I still had questions.
Bob Prall, the local Campus Crusade director, took interest in me.
At first his answers irritated me, but as I thought them through they began to make sense.
For two years I followed him around campus, watching him interact.
Today, as I am privileged to encounter inquisitive people around the globe, much of my speech and manner derive from my mentor.
Consider some guidelines.
Pray for wisdom, for His love for inquirers{4} and for your questioners heart.
If appropriate, briefly share the gospel first.
The Holy Spirit may draw your friends to Christ.
Dont push, though.
It may be best to answer their questions first.
Some questions may be intellectual smokescreens.
Once a Georgia Tech philosophy professor peppered me with questions, which I answered as best I could.
Then I asked him, If I could answer all your questions to your satisfaction, would you put your life in Jesus hands?
His reply: [Expletive deleted] no!
Okay.
This first objection is one you might have heard:
1.
It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are sincere.
I once gave a speech arguing /for/ this proposition.
Later, I reconsidered.
In the 1960s, many women took the drug thalidomide seeking easier pregnancies.
Often they delivered deformed babies.
Sincerely swallowing two white pills may cure your headache if the pills are aspirin.
If they are roach poison, results may differ.
After discussing this point, a widely respected psychologist told me, I guess a person could be sincere in what he or she believed, but be sincerely wrong.
Ultimately faith is only as valid as its object.
Jesus demonstrated by His life, death and resurrection that He is a worthy object for faith.{5}
Focus on Jesus.
Bob Prall taught me to say, I dont have answers to every question.
But if my conclusion about Jesus is wrong, I have a bigger problem.
What do I do with the evidence for His resurrection, His deity and the prophecies He fulfilled?
And what do I do with changed lives, including my own?
I dont have complete answers to every concern you will encounter, but in what follows Ill outline some short responses that might be useful.
The second question is:
2. Why is there evil and suffering?
Sigmund Freud called religion an illusion that humans invent to satisfy their security needs.
To him, a benevolent, all-powerful God seemed incongruent with natural disasters and human evil.
God, though sovereign, gave us freedom to follow Him or to disobey Him.
Oxford scholar C.S. Lewis estimated that eighty percent of human suffering stems from human choice.
Lewis called pain Gods megaphone that alerts us to our need for Him.{6}
This response does not answer all concerns (because God sometimes does intervene to thwart evil) but it suggests that the problem of evil is not as great an intellectual obstacle to belief as some imagine.
Pains emotional barrier to belief, however, remains formidable.
When I see God, items on my long list of questions for Him will include a painful and unwanted divorce, betrayal by trusted coworkers, and all sorts of disappointing human behavior and natural disasters.
Yet in Jesus life, death, and resurrection{7} I have seen enough to trust Him when He says He causes all things to work together for good to those who love God.{8}
3. What about those who never hear of Jesus?
Moses said, "The secret things belong to the LORD.{9}
Some issues may remain mysteries.
Gods perfect love and justice far exceed our own.
Whatever He decides will be loving and fair.
One can make a case that God will make the necessary information available to someone who wants to know Him.
An example: Cornelius, a devout military official.
The New Testament records that God assigned Peter to tell him about Jesus.{10}
A friend once told me that many asking this question seek a personal loophole, a way so they wont need to believe in Christ.
That statement angered me, but it also described me.
C.S. Lewis in /Mere Christianity/ wrote, If you are worried about the people outside [of faith in Christ], the most unreasonable thing you can do is to remain outside yourself.{11}
If Christianity is true, the most logical behavior for someone concerned about those without Christs message would be to trust Christ and go tell them about Him.
Heres a tip: When someone asks you a difficult question, if you dont know the answer, admit it.
Many skeptics appreciate honesty.
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