Beating the Atheist
“WHEN I SEE GOD, I WILL TELL HIM THAT HE’S A NUT JOB!” said Rich the Atheist during a conversation I had with him on a college campus.
Why would Rich utter such blasphemous words? Because he got so frustrated with the way I argued my points using what’s called “presuppositional apologetics.” Don’t be intimidated by that phrase, it simply means that I defend the Christian faith (apologetics) by presupposing that God exists and that the Bible is valid and true having the ability to change lives.
When talking with skeptics, Christians do not need to know about every scientific theory or secular doctrine that comes down the pike; they do not have to be well-versed in Quantum Physics, evolutionary biology or abiogenesis hypotheses. That’s the unbeliever’s game. All a believer needs to know is the Word of God.
David Wright from “Answers in Genesis” clarifies further: “When explaining their beliefs, Christians often feel they must first prove the Bible or prove the existence of God. This approach reveals that they do not yet understand the Bible’s approach, known as presuppositional apologetics.
“Presuppositions are simply beliefs that everyone has that affect how they think, view the world, interpret evidence, and read the Bible. Apologetics is a reasoned defense of beliefs. Presuppositional apologetics is a reasoned defense of Christian beliefs based on recognizing our presuppositions.
“For instance, my presupposition is that God exists and He has given us His Word, (the Bible), that is absolute truth. So, I use the Bible as the basis for how to think, interpret evidence, explain the world around me, and read the Bible. An atheist’s presupposition will most likely be that there is no God and that truth is relative. An atheist believes that man decides truth, and so he thinks, interprets evidence, and views the world and Bible accordingly.”
Said another way, atheists presuppose there is no God. The Bible presupposes that they do.