Talking to a believer
It happens to all of us. We are in a conversation with a believer and we end up in an argument, frustrated and upset that the believer walked away with even stronger convictions about their faith then before. Many of us have given up trying to talk to believers. It seems hopeless and pointless. After all, they all drag out the same tired arguments.
Evolution is just a theory.
You can’t prove there is no God.
Atheism is also faith.
We couldn’t have just come from nothing
I know God exists from personal experience.
These are just a few. How do we speak to someone with these certainties? It appears as though they are unable to be persuaded. Possibly it could be that our approach is wrong. Many times we find ourselves trying to inform them with our knowledge of the facts, instead of acquiring knowledge of the believer’s knowledge of the facts.
The first thing you always want to do when talking to a believer is to allow them to express to you what their understanding of the subjects that will come up in the conversation. It is always important to know what the believer’s foundation of knowledge is. Before even getting into a discussion ask the believer to give you a brief summary of their knowledge of the following:
Scientific Method
Evolution
History of Religion
Once the believer tells you what their knowledge of these three subjects is, then you must follow up with asking them what the source of that knowledge is.
By following these steps before you begin to make an argument, you have made the believer comfortable by not attacking them and allowing them to speak first. You have also just gained valuable insight to their thinking and the source of it. You can greatly improve the tone and direction of the conversation.
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