Here are some more good questions that you can write down, or just try to remember for the next time you have the opportunity to start up a conversation about the Lord and the evidence for the Christian Faith:
"Do you think that Jesus was a real person?"
This is a question that gets right into the historical issue of the Person of Jesus. Due to popular novels such as "The Da Vinci Cod", historical misrepresentations of Christ in movies, and many atheists such as Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins doubting Jesus' historicity, many people simply assume that there really was no historical figure named Jesus of Nazareth. Even if there was, some argue, there's no way that we could possibly ever know it. This is where you ask them if they've ever heard of any of the 17 non-Christian historians, officials, and documents that mention the life and deeds of Jesus of Nazareth in specific detail. Some of these include Josephus, Tacitus, Suetonius, Emperor Trajan, Thallus, Pliny the Younger, Emperor Hadrian, the Jewish Talmud, the Koran, and the Gospel of Thomas. I will be posting all of these quotations and historical sources in the future on IF315, so don't worry! (If you'd like the complete list of these sources and the specific quotes that they've written concerning Christ, email me at jason@claycup.com , mention this article and I'll send it to you asap!)
"Do you believe that there's any evidence for God's existence?"
This question works well for someone you think might be an atheist or agnostic. This question is a terrific way to find out very quickly if the person you're talking to is an atheist, theist, pantheist, etc... Once you know what their worldview/philosophy is, then you can begin to address it in the appropriate fashion. If the person doesn't believe that there is any convincing/good evidence for God's existence, then you can introduce them to the Cosmological, Design, or Moral Arguments for theism. One can also use the Conceptual Argument, Ontological Argument, or Argument from Religious Experience. Individually, each of these arguments hold their own weight, but together, they form an intellectual chain-mail that is almost impossible to penetrate. I will continue to list more of these arguments on IF315 in the series "Good Arguments for God's Existence". (If you'd like them all in one shot, email me at jason@claycup.com )
"What do you think the purpose of life is?"
This goes right to the heart of the existential focus of the person you're talking to. Most people will answer with some version of "the purpose of life is to be happy". You can ask them why they think that, and then begin to bring up the subject of God. If God truly does exist, even secular thinkers agree, He is the Ultimate Reality. If this is the case, then the only logical answer one could give for the purpose of life, is to know Him and to please Him. If He is the Ultimate Reality, then knowing Him must become my ultimate goal and purpose in life. That is, if the person is rational and logical. If not, then be patient, talk with them, and lead them to the truth of God step by step, premise by premise, using loving arguments and good thinking!!
- Pastor J.
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