#STRask

Questions about whether there’s such a thing as an atheist argument, whether one can ask a nonbeliever to prove a negative, and how to respond to an atheist who says morality is determined by consensus in a society and may change over time.

• There’s no such thing as an atheist argument. We don’t have to make an argument against the Loch Ness Monster either.
• Is it a fallacy to ask a nonbeliever to prove a negative? How much time would I have to spend disproving flying pigs if someone believed in them? Isn’t it that person’s burden to argue for them?
• What do you say to an atheist who says morality is determined by consensus in a society and may change over time?

Questions about how we know the universe isn’t eternal and whether there are theological implications to evolution being true or false.

• If you think God wasn’t created and is eternal by nature, how do we know the universe isn’t eternal by nature and men just created God because they were struggling to understand the eternal nature of the universe?
• Are there theological implications to evolution being true or false?

Questions about whether most Christians are only Christians because they were indoctrinated at a young age, whether getting pregnant out of wedlock was “just God’s plan,” underlining text in books, and whether we should always find something new in the Bible when we read it.

• How would you respond to someone who argues that since 60% of American Christians came to their faith between the ages of four and fourteen, that means most people in the church are only Christians because parents and churches indoctrinated them at a young age?
• How should one respond when someone who got pregnant out of wedlock says, “I guess it was just God’s plan”?
• Do you ever underline or highlight text in a book you’re reading, or do you always use pencil to allow for changes?
• Preachers say the Bible is a living book wherein you always find something new, yet I seem to only keep hearing the same thing.

Questions about how to navigate a conversation with someone who insists “faith” is not based on proof, how to use apologetics without sounding like you’re avoiding the question being asked, and how to respond to the statement “Certainty is a sin” logically and tactically.

• How do I navigate a conversation with my friend when we can’t agree on what “faith” means? He’s using a dictionary definition that says it’s not based on proof.
• How can I use apologetics without sounding like I’m avoiding answering the question being asked?
• How can I analyze the statement “Certainty is a sin” logically and respond tactically?

Questions about whether we can conclude from John 10 that Jesus speaks to us today, whether 1 Samuel 3 means we have to learn to hear God’s voice, and how to respond to someone who says God communicated a message to him when he saw clouds cover the moon and then dissipate.

• Can we conclude from John 10, where Jesus speaks about his sheep hearing and knowing his voice, that he speaks to us today?
• What would you say to someone who uses 1 Samuel 3 to show that we have to learn to hear God’s voice?
• How should I respond to someone who says God communicated a message to him when he saw clouds cover the moon and then dissipate?

Questions about what to do about a friend who is actively serving in his church but is living with a married woman and says he has peace about it and whether Matthew 19:27–29 incentivizes leaving your spouse if you feel “called” for the kingdom.

• What should I do about a friend who is actively serving in his church but is living with a married woman and says he has peace about it?
• Does Matthew 19:27–29 incentivize leaving your spouse if you feel “called” for the kingdom?

Greg and Amy chat about Greg’s new book, Street Smarts: Using Questions to Answer Christianity’s Toughest Challenges, discussing the goal of the book, how this new material differs from and adds to the original Tactics book, how using tactics will help you have clearer, more personalized conversations with others about what they believe, and more.

Questions about whether atheists read the Bible more literally than Christians because they don’t have to make up excuses for what it says and how to make a case for the attributes of God by arguing from cosmology rather than the Bible.

• How would you respond to an atheist who says nobody reads the Bible more literally than atheists because they don’t have to make up baloney excuses when it says something they can’t allow it to mean?
• When arguing from cosmology, how do you show what attributes God has without using the Bible?

Questions about what to do if someone uses the Columbo tactic against you, why some Christians say that only some doctrines matter and should be defended, and whether the extent to which one spends time and resources looking for answers to apologetics questions can become wrong.

• What should we do if someone uses the Columbo tactic against us?
• I have a high respect for truth, but my Christian friends tell me that only some doctrines matter. Why not defend all that has been taught for the past 2,000 years?
• Can the extent to which one spends time and resources looking for answers to apologetics questions become wrong if other parts of one’s spiritual life are beginning to suffer?

Questions about whether the aliens people encounter are really evil spirits, whether the supposed biological pieces of crashed UFO pilots could be biological evidence of demons or angels, and what impact true evidence of aliens would have on the faith of Christians.

• What are your thoughts on aliens? Are they really evil spirits of Satan?
• Could the supposed biological pieces of crashed UFO pilots be biological evidence of demons or angels?
• What impact would true evidence of the existence of aliens have on the faith of Christians?