I was an atheist once…so here are some questions that would have (and eventually DID) get me thinking about the possibility that indeed, God created everything:
1. What’s your view on how the universe started?
I like this one because we ALL believe something seemingly impossible. There are really only a few possibilities here:
- God created the universe
- The multiverse created the universe, and an infinite set of others
- Something came from nothing completely without cause
- The universe is cyclical and has always existed
The latter two simply aren’t logical/factual, so let’s focus on the first two:
The universe looks designed…
The universe looks designed, so concluding that it probably had a designer makes sense: This is NOT simply “God of the gaps” (aka “I don’t know, therefore [assumption]”. We come to this conclusion multiple times a day when we interact with anything man-made.
The multiverse?
If the universe were created by the multiverse…well, how did THAT start? THIS more seems like “God of the gaps” much more so than assuming that God did it. But aside from that, a multiverse offers no explanation for objective morality that we all eventually must agree exists, and it doesn’t explain away the fine-tuning because a multiverse capable of creating our universe must necessarily be even more fine-tuned.
2. I know you don’t believe in God, but since I know you hate unfalsifiable negatives…what evidence would force you to change your position?
An unfalsifiable negative is a belief which, no matter what evidence is presented against it, will NEVER change. In other words…no matter what is said, the person believes he can never be wrong.
Pro tip: Make sure you’re not doing the unfalsifiable negative thing yourself!
If the answer is “no”…it’s a futile conversation.
3. If you were to discover that there IS a God…would you worship Him?
This one is telling. Again here, it’s a futile conversation if the answer is “no”. What good is it to prove to someone that God exists if that person is already prepared to spit in His face? This person may not be a basket case but will probably respond better to the way you live than the way you argue. Just my experience, and also backed by Bible (1 Pet. 3:15)
