Atheism and The God Experience

There's a group of people I never gave a second thought about. 

Atheists. 

And by second thought I mean, seriously contemplating that there are some people that absolutely do not believe God exists.  They've never experienced Him at all, on any level.  Not one time.

In 1989 I devoted my life to Christ, and we're talking the whole nine yards here; A born again, speaking in tongues, raising hands in worship Christian.

But it wasn't until the last year or two that I started running into individuals that were atheists and I began having the most amazing conversations with them.  The majority of atheists I've talked to have been respectful, thoughtful and kind.  Most are very passionate about their beliefs, but all that I've spoken with have one thing in common.

I have found that dedicated atheists highly value knowledge and a positive evolution of humans through education and science.

I think that's a priceless trait to have.

An atheist I met by chance through twitter sent me a link to an article called The Theist's Guide to Converting Atheists: What would convince an atheist that a religion is true?

This article was written by an atheist and I think it's one of the most thoughtful, intelligent posts I've ever read on the existence of God.  I found I agreed with 90% of it.

But when I speak with atheists face to face, I find my head starts to spin and I get distracted because I'm afraid my head is actually going to just fall off.  With that kind of distraction, it's hard to provide a decent argument to the existence of God.  Hey, I love science as much as the next guy.  Ask anyone who has been to my house.  There's a gigantic portrait of Albert Einstein in my living room and you'll find The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking, as well other science books, on my shelves.  

But these guys?  Atheists?  They are on a whole different level when it comes to science and education.  And it's one I can't compete with.  About 2/3rds into these verbal debates I usually just start nodding my head (hoping that it doesn't fall off).  Not in agreement, but in saying "Yes, I understand where you are coming from." and "Yes, I completely see why you would come to that conclusion."   And by the end of the conversation I end up wondering if with all my nodding they think I'm one of these three things:

1. A Moron 
2. Condescending  
3. Distracted with how I'm going to color my hair next month.

Now 37% of the time if you do see me staring off into space, most likely I am thinking about how I am going to color my hair the next time around.  But whenever I find myself debating Christianity with an atheist I can't seem to get my thoughts together in my head and make it all come out through my mouth in an intelligent fashion.

And why is that?  I think it's because, coming from such a different point of view, I never feel like I'm able to get where I'm coming from into the flow of the conversation.

So, without further delay, when I'm speaking with an atheist, this is what I'm thinking:

The first thing I do when I talk to anyone is look down and check out their shoes.  So, I have a shoe fetish?  Judge not, I say.  And I think either "Hey, nice shoes." or "Hmmm..."  Then I look back up at the person's face and catch up on their last two sentences.

I usually wonder, can the existence of God truly be debated and is it an argument to be won?  I don't think so and I'm not sure it should be.

 

Two valid points usually get brought up by atheists.  I want to address them quickly and then focus on one subject in particularly.

   

The two points are:

1. There is not one book, that is considered scripture by any religion, that is consistent and infallible.
2. All religions have good and bad people in them, and every belief system includes people that have committed the most heinous atrocities in the name of God.  Shouldn't the true religion, following the true God, be made up of individuals that are good? 

I can't speak on all books considered scripture by other religions, but I can speak on the bible.  I've read it through from cover to cover more than once.  I've studied it in the Hebrew and Greek and it has impacted my life in many ways.  But here's something interesting about the bible.  It's pretty much made up of four things. 

• Prophesy
• Teachings
• History
• Opinions

And that can make discussing the bible interesting, to say the least (even between Christians).  Here is what is most important about the bible.  It's a testament.  Whether through prophesies in the Old Testament or teachings in The New Testament, it's a testament of Jesus Christ.  It's saying, here is all this information about Jesus.  Check it out.  Think about it.  Pray about it.  Search it out and see for yourself if this happens to be true.  Don't just believe because others do.  God is real and alive and can be found through Christ.  This is life, this is your peace, He is your salvation. 

So if Jesus Christ is the way to God, if He is our salvation, then why are there people who are not remotely good claiming to be Christians?  Why are there immoral, dishonest and unethical people in the church?  I would say judge Christianity by what it says it is.  The bible is very clear that there will be people in the church claiming to be Christians, but do not act accordingly (and these people are the ones God is the least happy with).  I'm not saying an atheist should believe in the bible.  I'm saying if you are an atheist, look at where a religion gets its doctrine and judge it from that.   With that said, how important is it as Christians that we should live our lives in a way represents our loving, compassionate and merciful God?  

   

As I stated, I wanted to address these two subjects and move on to one subject in particular.  So what is this "in particular"?

100% access to God, through Christ.

That's a pretty ballsy claim isn't it?  

And this is what the majority of my thoughts are about when I'm speaking with an atheist.  Isn't that what the above article I referenced (The Theist's Guide to Converting Atheists) is asking for?  Atheists want hardcore facts.  "God is real?  Okay, show me.  Prove it to me." is all an atheist is saying.  What's wrong with that?

Are there things that are real but cannot be proven by science or mathematical equations?  Or more accurately, we don't know how to prove them yet?  We are still evolving as human beings, yes?  We haven't learned everything there is to know.  Each generation learns and passes knowledge on to the next generation.  That generation builds on the knowledge passed down from the previous generation and passes it to the next.  We are continuously growing and changing as a species because of this.

Gut instinct.  

Most of us know what that is and we kick ourselves when we don't follow it.  It's just a feeling, but we know it's real.  You could argue that with a millennia of evolution our instincts as humans has evolved and that is gut instinct.  It's still just a feeling and a thought though.  How do you prove gut instinct?  Can you touch it, put your hands on it or track it?  It's still real.  Can you break it down into a mathematical equation?  Well, if you could prove it, maybe it would look something like this?

(Z=Z²+c)*(g=GM/r²) = Gut Instinct

On different note, how do we KNOW someone is looking at us when we are not even looking at them?  Many of us have experienced this.  You get this feeling someone is staring at you.  You look up, and immediately look at the person eyeballing you.  Scientifically, how do we feel someone staring at us clear across a room?  Sometimes even in a crowded room.  Or reverse that.  You're staring at someone and you just know they are going to look up and catch you staring.  You know they felt you staring at them.  How on earth do you prove something like that is real?

((3.14/π)+^)/c = Hey!  Someone's looking at me!

Am I saying God is just a feeling?  No, but maybe the spiritual world is not something that can be proven with science.

Yet.

So when I say 100% access to God, through Christ, what exactly do I mean?  Well, I mean exactly that.  Knowing God, every day of your life, with all five senses.  

Am I talking about being late for work and praying that as I drive to the office I don't hit any red lights?  MIRACULOUSLY all the lights were green that day and THAT was God!  Or, something was bothering me.  I prayed and prayed that the circumstances would change.  Then everything changed!  It all worked out for the best!  THAT was God!  Atheists out there, you just need to see God in everything!

Ummm, no.  That's not what I'm talking about.

The bible says, "Taste and see that The Lord is good."  The scriptures talk about the lovely aroma of God and that His voice is as the sound of many waters.  Jesus said, "My sheep shall know My voice."  The Presence of God is a on-going topic in the bible.  The bible talks about visions and REAL miracles.  I'm speaking about tangible things here, and no they haven't stopped happening.

In the Old Testament there was the Tabernacle of Moses.  The Tabernacle of Moses teaches us many things, and it's worth looking into, but let's look at two rooms it contained; The Holy Place and The Holy of Holies.  Those two rooms were separated by a very thick, large curtain.  The Holy of Holies housed the Ark of the Covenant and the Presence of God.  After specific sacrifices, the High Priest could only enter this closed off room once a year.  Now these sacrifices may seem gruesome and barbaric, but let's look at what they represent.  When Jesus died the curtain in the temple, that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, ripped in two.  It signified that the way to God was now open, that through the sacrifice of Christ, God provided a way that we could have full access to Him.  

About a year or two I was praying and I had an experience with Jesus that I'll never forget.  The days leading up to this, when I would pray, I would feel this warm, aching, sweet love in my heart that was so intense and I couldn't explain it.  I kept asking God, "What is happening?"

 

A few nights later the room was dark, but with no warning everything changed (no, I didn't fall asleep).  It was like watching a movie in black and white on a little TV and all of a sudden I was in 3D Imax.  Everything opened up to blue sky, clouds and Jesus came closer and closer to me.  Now believe me when I say, I'm not Catholic and the topic of The Sacred Heart of Jesus is not something I ever once contemplated, but so gently He opened up His chest and showed me His heart.  It was surrounded by this warm, fiery glow.  His heart was so full of and exuded so much sweet love that it had expanded to the point that it was sweating out these little beads of moisture that dripped off like gentle, loving tears.  

The most wonderful part of this experience was knowing that this is how He feels about every person on earth.  No matter where you are in your life, whether you are happy, content and satisfied or feeling so helpless, desperate and unworthy of love, this is how He feels about you.

But how do I prove this and countless other experiences that I've had with God are real?

(∞*v) - (a²+b²=c²) = Really, it's true!

I can't prove that God exists to an atheist, but I know God can. 

 

I started reading a book called Tortured For Christ: By Pastor Richard Wurmbrand.  The author was an atheist.  There came a point in his life when he said if there was a god it was God's responsibility to prove His existence to him, and that it wasn't his responsibility to find God.  I thought that was beautiful and the events that happened in his life were truly inspiring.

I know God is not insecure about people questioning His existence, and Christians shouldn't be either.  Maybe He is more impressed with someone who truly wants to know whether the existence of God is a fact before they believe, as opposed to someone who just believes a set of doctrines because that is how they grew up and they never had the courage to challenge those beliefs.

Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.  There is no true religion.  There is no true denomination. 

There is only Christ.    



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