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Atheist needs help from christians

lunakilo

lunakilo

Well-Known Member
I have resently re-found a friend I haven't spoken to for many years. She is a very good friend of mine, one of the best I have ever had.
She was very religious when I met her, and she is even more so now.
I wasn't very religious when I met her and I am even less so now :)

She seems to be worried about me for this reason.
She wants me to find Jesus so that I can be saved and we can hang out together in heaven.
My friend keeps telling me that I should "Love God" and that I "must put my trust in Jesus-Christ and have Him in my heart" and other things like this.

I think it is very nice of her that she wants to save me, but I really don't understand how this could possible work.

I don't believe in God.
Jesus, to me is some guy who (probably) lived about 2000 years ago and and started a cult, but I see nothing divine about him.

Any claim from me that I love God or have Jesus in my hart would be a lie, since I don't believe in either of them, and I consider lying to be a very bad thing.

So this is how I see the problem:

  • God = good guy
  • God needs me to be a believer in order for me to be saved.
  • For me to be a believer I need to be convienced that God is real.
  • I can't convience myself of this (I have tried but had no success) thus I will stay a non-believer and suffer eternal torment unless someone or something intervenes.
It seems to me that one of the following must be true:

  1. God is a good guy and he will convience me of his existence so that I can be saved in time.
  2. God is not a good guy in which case I refuse to worship him.
  3. God does not exist and the above is irrellevant.

Whichever is true, I don't see how I can at present influence whether I am saved or not, so what am I expected to do?
 
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n4my4h01

New Member
Had a similar experience when I started a face book page. Had relatives I have not seen or heard from for decades friend me. It took two emails to get to jesus and their testimony. I avoided any mention of god. I guess that was enough for them to figure out I wouldn't be worth the time since we won't be together for all eternity. They still have me as a friend and I see their constant barrage of god posts. I have an uncle who has to be 65 or a little older who constantly post about keeping god in the pledge. I want to tell him that god wasn't in the pledge when he was in school in his early years but I am not ready to go public due to my job.
Nothing divided families and nations like a god.
 
Copernicus

Copernicus

Industrial Strength Linguist
Ask her to consider the possibility that, if God were truly good, he would not punish you for your lack of belief. Some modern Christians actually believe that reasonably good (or even all) non-believers will get into heaven, but they are not in the majority. I suspect that they have arrived at that opinion because it isn't clear why a benevolent being would be that concerned with the beliefs or worshipful behavior of its creations.

If she believes in the devil, you might suggest that the devil has corrupted Christian doctrine with the false view that belief is essential in order to be "saved". That is a logical possibility, given that God and the Devil really do exist.

In the end, though, she probably will keep trying to convert you, because she might feel that it would reflect badly on her if she didn't try. So it isn't just about you, but about her, as well.
 
jmvizanko

jmvizanko

Uber Tool
You shouldn't be expected to do anything. You could insist that her preaching to you is as annoying and pointless as it would be for you to preach to her against her religion. And along those same lines, throw my signature at her. But whatever you do, make sure she knows there is no point whatsoever in trying to convert you, and that it is going to be a problem for your friendship (unless you don't mind) if she continues to do so.

Abd believe me, you can be friends without having Jesus in the shared picture. I'm an atheist married to a fundamentalist Christian.
 
lunakilo

lunakilo

Well-Known Member
My friend lives on the other side of the atlantic.
I found her on facebook resently.

I have told her my views, but I guess I am afried to dig to deep into the issue when I write to her for fear that she will she will stop responding to my messages. Written messages can so easily be misunderstood. :(

I just wish I understood her way of thinking.
 
ninerbuff

ninerbuff

godless wonder
This would be like trying to change me from a 9er fan to a Raider fan. It wouldn't happen regardless of how great the Raiders would be! You can be a fan of your "team" and still be friends.
 
H

hadzo

Member
Your friend sounds very much like the typical strong believer. I my self find it very difficult to understand why anyone invest so much time and energy to convince others that the path they have chosen is the righteous one. Most people like your friend will usually dismiss you as a friend unless you comply with their requests, with that said you should just tell her the truth. Gently though, tell her your position and that it does not affect your friend ship with her. If she so chooses to dismiss you as a friend, well than, she was never a friend to begin with.
 
sojourner

sojourner

Annoyingly Progressive Since 2006
lunakilo said:
I have resently re-found a friend I haven't spoken to for many years. She is a very good friend of mine, one of the best I have ever had.
She was very religious when I met her, and she is even more so now.
I wasn't very religious when I met her and I am even less so now :)

She seems to be worried about me for this reason.
She wants me to find Jesus so that I can be saved and we can hang out together in heaven.
My friend keeps telling me that I should "Love God" and that I "must put my trust in Jesus-Christ and have Him in my heart" and other things like this.

I think it is very nice of her that she wants to save me, but I really don't understand how this could possible work.

I don't believe in God.
Jesus, to me is some guy who (probably) lived about 2000 years ago and and started a cult, but I see nothing divine about him.

Any claim from me that I love God or have Jesus in my hart would be a lie, since I don't believe in either of them, and I consider lying to be a very bad thing.

So this is how I see the problem:

  • God = good guy
  • God needs me to be a believer in order for me to be saved.
  • For me to be a believer I need to be convienced that God is real.
  • I can't convience myself of this (I have tried but had no success) thus I will stay a non-believer and suffer eternal torment unless someone or something intervenes.
It seems to me that one of the following must be true:

  1. God is a good guy and he will convience me of his existence so that I can be saved in time.
  2. God is not a good guy in which case I refuse to worship him.
  3. God does not exist and the above is irrellevant.

Whichever is true, I don't see how I can at present influence whether I am saved or not, so what am I expected to do?
Click to expand...
I'm going with #1. God will show you in time.
 
9-10ths_Penguin

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
lunakilo said:
I have resently re-found a friend I haven't spoken to for many years. She is a very good friend of mine, one of the best I have ever had.
She was very religious when I met her, and she is even more so now.
I wasn't very religious when I met her and I am even less so now :)

She seems to be worried about me for this reason.
She wants me to find Jesus so that I can be saved and we can hang out together in heaven.
My friend keeps telling me that I should "Love God" and that I "must put my trust in Jesus-Christ and have Him in my heart" and other things like this.

I think it is very nice of her that she wants to save me, but I really don't understand how this could possible work.

I don't believe in God.
Jesus, to me is some guy who (probably) lived about 2000 years ago and and started a cult, but I see nothing divine about him.

Any claim from me that I love God or have Jesus in my hart would be a lie, since I don't believe in either of them, and I consider lying to be a very bad thing.

So this is how I see the problem:

  • God = good guy
  • God needs me to be a believer in order for me to be saved.
  • For me to be a believer I need to be convienced that God is real.
  • I can't convience myself of this (I have tried but had no success) thus I will stay a non-believer and suffer eternal torment unless someone or something intervenes.
It seems to me that one of the following must be true:

  1. God is a good guy and he will convience me of his existence so that I can be saved in time.
  2. God is not a good guy in which case I refuse to worship him.
  3. God does not exist and the above is irrellevant.
Whichever is true, I don't see how I can at present influence whether I am saved or not, so what am I expected to do?
Click to expand...
Maybe you could tell your friend to trust in Jesus herself.

If the all-knowing, all-powerful ruler of the universe really does want you to believe in him and worship him, he's more than capable of making this happen.

If her beliefs are true, then there's no need for her to worry - God's on the case already. If they're false, then she's worrying over nothing.

If giving her some scripture would help, try Matthew 6:25-34.
 
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