How do we witness to those who say, "God is Dead?"

[Joseph_Botwinick]

I witness to them the same way I do to any lost sinner. I preach the Word of God to them and pray for them. It is only the power of God which will change their minds and save them.

Joseph Botwinick

 

[SuperBaptist]

Interesting; I don't "preach" and they appreciate it. I share my experience, strength and hope. They see my example of love and they want to be a part. They come to church with me and they, at some point, hear the voice of the Holy Spirit.

 

[Joseph_Botwinick]

Do you use the Word of God? Tell them about their condition as a lost, sinful man? How about salvation as the free gift of grace through the blood of Christ? Or are you still trying to convince them that God is not dead?

Joseph Botwinick

 

[DeclareHim]

I think we place a lot of emphasis today on what I must do while forgetting that the Holy Spirit is the one that will take care of the convicting.

 

[Jim1999]

If they think God is dead, they hardly believe anything in the Bible. Just sometimes one must start outside the Bible. Hence, taking them back to the historical Jesus and eventually the empty tomb..work forward historically, and then present what the Bible has to say about this Jesus, man's lost estate and the way of redemption.

Cheers,

Jim

 

[Joseph_Botwinick]

Is that going to convince them that God is not dead? Nope. Only the power of God will save them.

Joseph Botwinick

 

[Jim1999]

Joseph, these types are into philosophical thought. It is the time to continue along philosophical lines in order to lead them further on. I quite agree, that apart from the power of the Holy Spirit nothing can be done. Still, we must use all means that we may reach one. My solid calvinism does not prevent me from working as if it all depends on me, in my feeble mind anyway.

I have seen it work at the university where many students are locked into their own minds.

Cheers,

Jim

"by all means, that I might win some..."

 

[PastorSBC1303]

Originally posted by DeclareHim:
I think we place a lot of emphasis today on what I must do while forgetting that the Holy Spirit is the one that will take care of the convicting.

I think this is a huge point that we all must remember.

 

[Johnv]

Originally posted by SuperBaptist:
Interesting; I don't "preach" and they appreciate it. I share my experience, strength and hope. They see my example of love and they want to be a part. They come to church with me and they, at some point, hear the voice of the Holy Spirit.

I think that constitutes preaching in accordance with the Great Commission. It's a falsehood to think that the GC is referring exclusively, or primarily, to the words that come from the mouth. Most preaching, imo, is not done with the mouth, but with the hands. Since scripture tells us to be doers (not just hearers) of the Word, that makes complete sense.

 

[D28guy]

"How do we witness to those who say, "God is Dead?""

By sharing with them that we know God personally, and He isnt dead.

We know God the Father, we know Jesus Christ, and we know the Holy Spirit.

The one who says that there is no God has a better chance of convincing me that the Sun in the sky is just a figment of my imagination than convincing me that there is no God.

Mike

 

[SuperBaptist]

Originally posted by Jim1999:
If they think God is dead, they hardly believe anything in the Bible. Just sometimes one must start outside the Bible. Hence, taking them back to the historical Jesus and eventually the empty tomb..work forward historically, and then present what the Bible has to say about this Jesus, man's lost estate and the way of redemption.

Cheers,

Jim

Outstanding, Jim. Clearly, they are not going to be swayed by the Word of a God they believe is Dead or never existed.

This is why I try to live by example of what Christ has done for me and how he has taught me to live. My testimony is sometimes not scripture at all, but a demonstration of Love.

And, true, the Holy Spirit is left to "convict" them.

It works. It just breaks my heart when it doesn't.

 

[Filmproducer]

Makes perfect sense to me. You cannot force someone to acknowledge the existence of God or the infallibility of the Bible, just as they cannot force you into denying the existence of God. You'll both be talking till your blue in the face, or red in some cases depending on your level of civility. If you are not living your "Christianity" it really won't matter what verses you show someone. Only the Holy Spirit can convict. The best way to show them Jesus is to live for Jesus. Show them your personal testimony, and yes I mean show. Show them your faith. Faith is the essence of our Christian life, and it should shine through our everyday lives.

 

[Dustin]

I used to read Nietzsche, he was quite disturbed. He believed that men could evolve into supermen. If I remember right he had an incestous relataionship with a relative and was a drug addict too. Quite cracked. On another board someone had once posted this:

"God is dead." - Nietzsche
"Nietzsche is dead." - God

As to how to witness to them, I used to read that guys stuff and listen to music that was inspired by him. It is brainwashing stuff. I thank God that He pulled me out of that pit! The only thing you can do is give them the TRUTH and pray the Holy Spirit will prick their hearts. I think they think that the world is too "grown up" for God. Does anyone here know what I mean? Like they think "we have all this knowledge and technology so whats the use for this ancient book of morals?"
That's the trap of human reasoning and philosophy. They try to dismantle the spiritual side of life. One of my former good friends is swimming in that now, Lord help him. He says things like "You can't prove or disprove God's existance." Basically people who are of like mind do not want to admit that there is a Higher Authority. They're full of themselves. All you can do is show them truth and pray.

God Bless,
Dustin

 

[Petrel]

First let's note that the author of the OP is really a troll, in case anyone was taking him seriously.

Secondly, atheists aren't necessarily opposed to morality, in fact many of them think morality is a very good thing. They are opposed to what they see as baseless superstition.

Thirdly, unfortunately you can neither prove nor disprove God's existence.

 

[Filmproducer]

Petrel, many disagree with SB, but that does not make him a troll. I have had some interesting discussions with him.

Dustin,

First of all, as Petrel stated. No one can either prove or disprove God's existence. That is why Christianity is a FAITH based religion.

Secondly, which of Nietzsche's works are you referring to? (Where he says men can evolve into supermen) Nietzsche is not for everybody, but you have to understand that a majority of his work uses epigrams and metaphors. He loved to use plays on words. Also, many groups have claimed portions of Nietzsche's philosophy, but it is very hard to glean any succinct position that he himself might of held. For example, atheists claim his writings, but he never once denied the existence of God. He knew the Bible backwards and forwards, not to mention that his father was a Lutheran clergyman. To be sure he had problems with the "church", but that does not prove he denied the existence of God. His philosophy breaks with religion, in that it focusses on the existential not the metaphysical. his works can be taken as an individual challenge, not as an arsenal of arguments to prove or disprove something.

Also, what type of music do you consider inspired by him, as he died in 1900, and in his early years was an avid listener of Wagner.

 

[Petrel]

No, what makes him a troll is that Gina backtracked from his picture on his profile to his website to his blog, which said that he is agnostic and is going to conservative religious sites pretending to be Christian so he can see how long he is allowed to say outrageously unorthodox things before he is banned.

Definitely a troll.

 

[Dustin]

not so much music inspired by him, but lyrics, of punk bands. I know of a few bands that lifted straight from his writings for lyrics. (cuz it's the "punk" thing to do). Troll or not, just sharing my thoughts, as I used to be a person who said things like "God is dead." To be honest, I probably wasn't really studying his works, I was more interested in getting drunk and playing really fast punk music. But I do know that certain bands I was fond of back then did read heavily into Nietzsche and Scientology and (suprise suprise) mind control. And I totally disagree with you, you can completely prove God's existance because it is written! Think about it, all these people believe all these different things, but there is only ONE TRUTH! I don't think Christianity is a religion it is truth. But some are easily decieved (like I was) by Satan. I certainly fight everyday overcoming my past, as I'm bombarded by doubts which I brought upon myself because I let myself bbe fooled by that stuff. But I KNOW that victory is through Christ alone. You know if you can trust the weather forecast or trust the mailman or trust what you read in a textbook in school, but for soem it's too much to trust the Bible. I'll never get it. I'm not trying to get any trouble started I just never would have imagined that someone on this messege board would say that you couldn't prove or disprove God's existance. Maybe this should be a whole other topic. At any rate, God bless you all, I'm off to church.

Dustin

 

[Petrel]

Originally posted by Dustin:
I'm not trying to get any trouble started I just never would have imagined that someone on this messege board would say that you couldn't prove or disprove God's existance.

Ehh? You can't. Multiple people have tried and none have succeeded.

 

[Dustin]

Maybe I have stronger faith than I thought...

 

[Petrel]

Perhaps, but faith does not count as proof.