The Hypocrisy of Atheists

I'm a Christian who has had many conversations with atheists, over the years. Throughout that time, our conversations have evolved. Now, a typical exchange goes like this.

Atheists say that there is no sufficient evidence for the existence of God. I ask them:

"What would count as sufficient evidence? Would a supernatural voice from the sky suffice? What if someone came down from Heaven, and walked among us? Would that do it?

Of course if someone claimed to be God's messenger, we couldn't just take their word for it. We'd expect them to prove that they did, indeed, come from God. We'd expect them to perform supernatural, impossible acts, that could only be performed by a deity. We'd expect to see miracles."

When I bring this up, atheists start to get a little uncomfortable, because they know I'm talking about Jesus.

The fact is that we have a known, historical record of God making himself known in the most blatant way possible. Virtually all historians, even atheist historians, agree that the New Testament is composed of a collection of historical documents. They recognize that the historical record tells us that Christ performed miracles.

It's not an exaggeration to point out that, even atheist historians, recognize that historical records tell us that all of the people, from Jesus' day, agree that he was performing miracles. Even those who killed Christ, agreed that he was performing miracles. We have a historical record which shows unanimous agreement, from the people of that day, concerning this claim.

So, what do atheist historians, like Bart Ehrman, do with this historical account of miracles? It's simple, they choose to say that, as historians, they can't be in the business of talking about miracles. This is because miracles are impossible.

Wait a minute. On one hand, we have atheists demanding that God show himself, via supernatural means; such as miracles. This isn't an unreasonable request, by the way. On the other hand, when he does what is expected, they say that they can't entertain the notion that those things took place, because those things are impossible.

What I've just described is the conversation that isn't being mentioned enough among Christians, and to those who struggle with their faith. Few Christians make this argument, and I want to change that.

I've been on a quest to point out the dishonesty of the atheist view. The goal isn't to make atheists feel bad, but to cause them to come to terms with what they claim to value most; which are facts, logic, and evidence.

In John 15:22-25, Jesus says the following:

"They would not have been guilty of sin if I had not come and spoken to them; as it is, they no longer have any excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. They would not have been guilty of sin if I had not done among them the things that no one else ever did; as it is, they have seen what I did, and they hate both me and my Father. This, however, was bound to happen so that what is written in their Law may come true: ‘They hated me for no reason at all.’"

-John 15:22-25

In this passage, we see that people and skeptics aren't wrong to expect miracles from God. After all, Jesus says that, had he not performed miracles, people wouldn't be guilty for choosing to reject him. However, Jesus DID perform miracles. He did it in order to prove his deity status, and to prove that he came from Heaven.

As Christians, we should always be ready to point out the hypocrisy in such an atheistic view. Don't allow them to employ the "Heads, I win. Tails, you lose" strategy. They can't demand miracles, but, at the same time, reject recorded history, due to miracles. Remind Christians of this, should they start to struggle with their faith. It's the most blatant form of evidence that God has chosen to give us.

If you're a skeptic, and are choosing to ignore historians and the fact that the New Testament is composed of historical documents, then your dishonesty is already starting to show. Feel free to click here, and ponder the Kryptonite question that no atheist can answer with sufficient detail. These are the realities and observations that separate the honest skeptics, from the dishonest ones.