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I don't know if anyone has posted a thread like this one before.
I'm still new here (on CF) and I don't know what I'm doing. I don't even know if this is in the right forum.
Here goes:
I know that many Christians (myself included) enjoy having heated debates with atheists and other non-Christian people.
After hanging around this site looking at some of the debates and talking with a family member about it,
I have come to the conclusion:
Debating an atheist, or other person who believes a lie and is fully convinced that it's the truth, is completely pointless and hopeless.
They will never accept that what you are saying is true simply because you can prove it or argue for it well in a debate.
Debating someone, is not going to in any way help win them or other people to Christ.
You can present the truth in the best, fullest, most convincing way possible, but a person who wants to be an atheist is going to stay an atheist no matter how many times you disprove their beliefs or prove the truth of yours.
If one the main commands from God that Christians have is to try to win people to Christ, maybe we should stop trying to save people by proving them wrong (because it's not working).
I think that being "the light of the world" does not mean telling people how wrong they are.
I don't mean we're not supposed to tell people that they are wrong, I mean that once they've been told once or twice, they don't need to be told again and again in different ways that we believe they're wrong.
Whether they admit it or not and no matter how much of a "logical thinker" they are, all humans think and reason on an emotional foundation. Therefore it makes since that the best way to win atheists and other unbelievers to Christ is by showing them the love of Christ.
It really bothers me that some (I think most) Christians start name calling and bullying when they get angry in a debate. That's not at all going to win people to Christ.
Instead of doing things the same way our non-Christian opponents in debates are doing, maybe we should try doing things differently. Be in the world but not of the world.
Just a thought.
I'm still new here (on CF) and I don't know what I'm doing. I don't even know if this is in the right forum.
Here goes:
I know that many Christians (myself included) enjoy having heated debates with atheists and other non-Christian people.
After hanging around this site looking at some of the debates and talking with a family member about it,
I have come to the conclusion:
Debating an atheist, or other person who believes a lie and is fully convinced that it's the truth, is completely pointless and hopeless.
They will never accept that what you are saying is true simply because you can prove it or argue for it well in a debate.
Debating someone, is not going to in any way help win them or other people to Christ.
You can present the truth in the best, fullest, most convincing way possible, but a person who wants to be an atheist is going to stay an atheist no matter how many times you disprove their beliefs or prove the truth of yours.
If one the main commands from God that Christians have is to try to win people to Christ, maybe we should stop trying to save people by proving them wrong (because it's not working).
I think that being "the light of the world" does not mean telling people how wrong they are.
I don't mean we're not supposed to tell people that they are wrong, I mean that once they've been told once or twice, they don't need to be told again and again in different ways that we believe they're wrong.
Whether they admit it or not and no matter how much of a "logical thinker" they are, all humans think and reason on an emotional foundation. Therefore it makes since that the best way to win atheists and other unbelievers to Christ is by showing them the love of Christ.
It really bothers me that some (I think most) Christians start name calling and bullying when they get angry in a debate. That's not at all going to win people to Christ.
Instead of doing things the same way our non-Christian opponents in debates are doing, maybe we should try doing things differently. Be in the world but not of the world.
Just a thought.