A True Story Of An Agnostic Confrontation

In simple terms, an agnostic is someone who claims to be without knowledge regarding the existence of God. Typically, they remain noncommittal in their beliefs to avoid any uncomfortable discussion. However, I encountered a man who claimed to be agnostic, mocked my faith, but he ended up listening to my defense of the Bible. He was a very wealthy man, but he was arrogant, condescending, and offensive.

During my real estate career, I worked in a particular neighborhood where I sold most of the homes. This man wanted to interview me about listing his house. He began the interview by opposing my religious beliefs and challenging me to a discussion. He stated that my religion was foolish, full of lies, and scare tactics. He then went on to say, “I researched all religions, and they are all the same, with no difference. They are all just a crutch and a lie.” I felt strongly led by God to answer him and defend the Bible.

1. His first comment: “All religions are the same. Why should I believe Christianity?”

I quoted Billy Graham from his book How to Be Born Again, page 2, who said:

“Most of the world’s religions are based on philosophical thought, except four: Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity. These four are based upon personalities. But only Christianity claims the resurrection of its Founder.”

No other religious leader rose from the dead.

I went on to say, “All other religions are based on one man’s vision or belief. One religion is even based on a fifteen-year-old boy’s dream and now has millions of followers. People can be gullible and embrace any religious belief that does not challenge their accountability to their Creator.”

I told him the Bible is not one man’s opinion or the work of one man. It was written by forty authors over a period of 1,500 years, in three different languages, on three continents. Yet there is not one disagreement or discrepancy among them.

I told him, “You can read the writings of hundreds of biblical scholars. You can look up Dr. Henry M. Morris, founder of the Institute for Creation Research.”

He lists many comments from professors who support the Bible. One book is called The Reliability of the Bible, and here are just a few professors listed:

Dr. John Warwick Montgomery, who earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree, a second doctorate, plus seven other graduate degrees, said, “I myself have never encountered an alleged contradiction in the Bible.”
Dr. Gleason Archer, who earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Harvard and taught fifteen languages, said, “I have dealt with one apparent discrepancy after another, and the trustworthiness of Scripture has been repeatedly verified.”
Dr. Robert Dick Wilson, who earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Princeton and spoke forty-five languages, said, “No critic has ever succeeded in proving an error in the Old Testament.”
Dr. Clifford Wilson wrote a seventeen-volume set on the archaeological findings of the Bible. He said, “The Bible stands investigation in ways that are unique in all literature. Its amazing ability to be proved right is staggering by any standard of scholarship.”

There are hundreds of scholars who all state that the Bible is completely accurate in its writings concerning archaeology, history, geography, and prophecy.

2. Next, he said: “If there is a God, He will not allow a good person to go to hell.”

I said, “That is the problem. There are no good people.” God said in Romans 3:10–12, 23; Psalms 143:2; Titus 3:5; Galatians 2:16; and Ephesians 2:8–9.

Job 15:16 says, “How much more abominable and filthy is man, who drinks iniquity like water.”

Isaiah 64:6 says, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.”

We are not good when compared to God’s holy standard.

3. Next he said: “Jesus preached love and acceptance.”

No. He preached repentance and obedience.

See Luke 8:21, John 5:14, and John 8:11.

4. Then he said: “If there is a God, He knows my heart. He knows I mean well.”

I said, “That is the problem. He knows all men’s hearts are wicked.”

Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.”

Ecclesiastes 9:3 says, “Evil and madness are in man’s heart.”

Proverbs 28:26 says, “He that trusts in his own heart is a fool.”

God has to give us a new heart.

Ezekiel 11:19 says, “I will take the stony heart out of their flesh.”

Ezekiel 18:31 says, “Make you a new heart and a new spirit.”

We cannot earn this new heart. It is given freely if we trust Him.

5. Then his next comment was: “Jesus never said anything about hell.”

I said, “He spoke of hell in forty-six verses. Listen to a few of them:”

Matthew 25:41 — “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”

Matthew 24:51 — “He will cut him in pieces and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Luke 12:47 — “He will be beaten with many stripes, or with few.”

Mark 9:47 — “If your eye offends you, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.”

Matthew 25:46 — “These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Matthew 22:13 — “Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Luke 19:27 — “Bring my enemies here and slay them before me.”

John 15:6 — “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”

Matthew 23:33 — “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?”

How is that language for the sweet, loving Jesus? Yes, He is loving, but He also warns us of the true reality that awaits sinners.

6. He then said: “I believe all the writers of the Bible were ignorant and unlearned men.”

I said, “Not so. Many were great leaders, statesmen, military generals, prophets, kings, a physician, and a trained scholar.”

Just look at five of them:

Moses:

Acts 7:22 — “Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds.”

He judged all the difficult cases of three million people (Exodus 18:13–26). He was called a friend of God in Exodus 33:11. Only two people in the Bible were called friends of God. His name is mentioned 848 times in Scripture. He wrote the first five books of the Bible, which form its foundation.

David:

The greatest king who ever lived. He conquered thousands. He wrote hundreds of Psalms. God will reign from David’s throne forever. God said that David was a man after His own heart.

Solomon:

The wisest and wealthiest man who ever lived.

See 2 Chronicles 1:12.

Daniel:

He possessed ten times the wisdom of all the wisest men of Babylon (Daniel 1:20).

He was made second in command over all of Babylon (Daniel 2:48).

The Apostle Paul:

See Acts 5:34 and Acts 22:3.

Paul studied under Gamaliel, the most respected teacher of his day. Paul wrote two-thirds of the New Testament. Many scholars consider Paul to be one of the greatest writers in history.

7. Then he said: “If God is love, He would not send me to hell.”

I said, “Your own words send you to hell.”

Jesus said in John 14:6,

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me.”

Revelation 21:8 says,

“All unbelievers shall have their part in the lake of fire.”

If you say, “I do not believe Jesus is the only way,” then you are ignoring His warning.

Jesus said in Matthew 12:37 that your own words will condemn you.

You send yourself to hell by your rejection of Jesus Christ.

Yes, God is love, and He proved His love by His death on the cross in our place.

But He is also a God of justice and judgment (Psalms 89:14).

He must punish us for our sins (Romans 6:23).

But He poured out that punishment upon Jesus on the cross so that we would not have to bear it (Romans 5:8–10).

If you deny Jesus, then you accept that punishment yourself.

He has given us a free will to choose.

Will we believe Jesus or not?

So, his final comment was:

8. “Then your God is mean for making hell.”

I said, “You mean the same One who suffered a horrible death on the cross to keep you out of hell? You think He is mean? He proved His love for you by dying in your place.”

Now he was very secure because of all his wealth, so I told him, “Your money cannot save you.”

Zephaniah 1:18 says,

“Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath.”

He scoffed at the Bible and said, “No one knows if there is a God.”

I told him that Romans 1 says all men are accountable. The evidence of design is everywhere. Look at the human body, a baby being born, the order of the universe, and the animal kingdom with its inborn abilities.

I said, “What causes the earth to turn so precisely and not vary, and at the exact rate of speed required for life to exist? What keeps the oceans from shifting onto the land?”

What is gravity, and why is it the precise amount required for life? If it were any greater, there would be too much tectonic activity, and if it were any weaker, lighter elements such as hydrogen and helium would escape the atmosphere. Who fine-tuned it?

And where did the morals of mankind come from if we came from apes? The animal kingdom has no moral law. Where did we obtain our conscience that enables us to know right from wrong and good from evil?

I told him, “It is obvious that there must be a Designer. There must be a God who designed all of this.”

I told him, “Romans 1 says you are without excuse.”

He still laughed at my belief in God.

I said, “Psalms 14:1 — King David said, ‘The fool has said in his heart, There is no God.'”

Then I read these two verses to him:

Zephaniah 1:14 — “The great day of the Lord is near. The mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, trouble, distress, wasteness, and desolation.”

Nahum 1:6 — “Who can stand before His indignation, and who can abide in the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire.”

I said, “Your knee will bow on Judgment Day.”

He decided to give me the listing on his home because he said he was impressed that I stood my ground.

Proverbs 28:23 — “He that rebukes a man afterward shall find more favor than he that flatters with the tongue.”

Charles Spurgeon said in The Soul Winner, page 178:

“You must go into the fire if you are going to pull others out of it. You cannot work a fire escape without feeling the scorch of the blaze.”

We have to be able to take the heat, develop a tougher hide, and not be intimidated by arrogant people. There are times when we should not waste our time with someone who truly does not care. However, I sensed that he genuinely wanted to hear a strong argument and a real challenge to his position. He wanted to see whether someone could give him reasons to believe the Bible.

My question for you as a Christian is this: Are you prepared to face those who challenge the Bible?

2 Timothy 2:15 — “Study to show yourself approved unto God.”

1 Peter 3:15 — “Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.”