How Do You Evangelize an Atheist?

It’s hard to start proclaiming the kerygma, “God loves you and has a plan for your life”, when someone doesn’t believe in God. Dave “All Thriller No Filler” VanVickle and I wade into the world of apologetics as we address a listener's question about how to evangelize an atheist.

Our faith is rational. Don’t fear questions about what we believe, because at some point over the past two thousand years, that question has already been asked and answered. We just have to find it.

We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave.

Snippet from the Show
“Catholic students need to understand that faith is not irrational. We don’t leave our minds at the door. That’s the Catholic tradition, it’s OK to question.”

SHOWNOTES

• Christianity has reasons for its beliefs. Start with Jesus as a man, his birth and resurrection.
• Pray and ask others to pray with you for conversion.
• Ask: What is your moral absolute? What do you base your morality on?
• Look into metaphysics. Teaching even a little bit of it helps people look into things and start thinking.
• Keep the conversation about their relationship with God, but also learn about apologetics.
• Have material around that they can “stumble on.”
• Make sure they understand we welcome and encourage questions about our faith.

5 Practical Tips

1. Think about how you would change your testimony if you knew there was an atheist in the audience.
2. Memorize names and facts about your community members to show that you care about them.
3. Pray with us for the conversion of the boys at this high school.
4. Build a database of online answers to atheism.
5. Practice reverse mentoring. Ask someone younger than you to teach you something.

Resources from the Show
The Handbook of Christian Apologetics - Peter Kreeft
The Handbook of Catholic Apologetics - Peter Kreeft, Ronald Tacelli
Fundamentals of the Faith - Peter Kreeft
More than a Carpenter - Josh McDowell
Apologetics and Catholic Doctrine - Archbishop Michael Sheehan
Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis
The Reason for God - Timothy Keller
Making Sense of God - Timothy Keller
Memorare Prayer
Magis Center website- Fr. Robert Spitzer