My wife Debra M. is interested to become Christian Martyr so.
2006-10-30 14:06:54 · 48 answers · asked by WhyNotAsk Holy Ghost 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Love!!! Are you jealous of Debra cause you want to be just like her but your heart is pure evil..
2006-10-30 14:07:58 · answer #1 · answered by I give you the Glory Father ! 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
I'll bite -- I can play devil's advocate... ;)
This is a serious answer though, so I hope I convey it well. It's not often I play on the flipside of this debate...
The best way to challenge an atheist is to postulate a very liberal version of the Christian God. This watered-down version must have very few, if any, referents in reality. And none of them can be verifiable, even in theory. For example, you say that Christ didn't LITERALLY rise from the dead, but that the apostles felt his spiritual presense -- that it was some sort of spiritual rebirth. By removing all ties to physical reality, and using only the most basic non-mutually-exclusive desciptors, the religion becomes simultaneously impossible to refute and irrelevant. You basically strip god down to the deist version, and throw in some extremely liberal interpretations of scripture.
Step 1 complete.
Next, you show that this watered-down version of god, when accepted, can give a person hope or strength in times of need. In other words, you show that an impossible-to-prove/disprove idea has a pragmatic purpose when accepted. It has no predictive power, but it provides comfort and strength when times are rough. Therefore, while the ACTUAL god in this case is irrelevant, the IDEA of god has a relevance to humans insofar as it inspires them. Still with me?
Step 2 complete.
Lastly, you hide from the atheist the fact that meditation and other non-religious practices can also be a source of the same kind of strength.
Step 3 complete.
Tada! A pragmatic, impossibly obscure religion. It's not rational, but it is no longer irrational. It's actually just non-rational now. There is a subtle difference between those last two.
Anyway...
It didn't convert me, but it certainly came the closest. (I should get a check as an evangelist now...) :-p
Cheers.
2006-10-30 17:51:32 · answer #2 · answered by Michael 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I will say this one last time. People must mature before making such a decision. Your probably past your 30's so that dosen't apply to you. If an athiest wants to become a Christian.....get baptized I guess but do not force any religion on them. Let them make the choice themselves. Also never try to convert anyone who is not mature enough and open to other ideas. Like most of the people, Christian and athiest, on this forum.
2006-10-30 14:10:03 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Through lots of love and scripture. If you're not well versed in the scripture I would say take a bible study class together where she can be open about how she feels but not shunned.
God loves all of us, and it truly saddens Him when we turn away, but you can never escape the long arm of the Lord... meaning that wether you like it or not, He's always with you.
God bless! I'll pray for the both of you!
2006-10-30 14:16:18 · answer #4 · answered by Amanda L 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
show christ more then tell christ.if you want to get in a verbal arguement(which it will)you can tell the atheist how stupid his or hers belief is.atheist can't EVEN defend there position.they believe there is no god,but they can't say there is no god.this is an absolute statement 'there is no god.mankind knows about 1 to 2 percent of all the knowledge in the universe. can god exist in the other 98 percent? if your a rational person you have to say yes or maybe.so the atheist is really a agnostic but he or she won't admitt it.
2006-10-30 14:23:37 · answer #5 · answered by ronbo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don, you can't. You can try all you like. We all have our different beliefs, and you shouldn't change. Like your bible says "Thou Shalt Not Judge" And trying to convert someone is another way of judging if you look at it logically, and not through some words that have shrouded your vision as to what is going on. There are so many different beleifs out there that aren't christian, but if you look at it, there isn't war, strife, grief or anything like that. Look and the Hindus. They long for piece. Look at America, now. There is alot of anger, fear, stress, all because of people trying to change peoples religion. Be your religion, and don't try to change anybody elses. Would you want someone else to repress you like that? That is, in essence, what you're doing to us. You are repressing what we believe and making our thoughts insignificant. I'm sure you don't want us to do that to you. I'm one pagan that actually respect every religion as they are, and have no beef with anything else. This is the path I chose because it made more sense to me. If you want to continue this conversation, feel free to email me.
2006-10-30 14:12:37 · answer #6 · answered by Kim W 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Being a martyr will not convert anyone. In fact, it will not accomplish anything...leave the Atheists alone...
2006-10-30 14:09:55 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
In my religion, recruitment is God's job. Living His teachings is my job.
This is another area where Christianity falls at odds with the rest of the world's religions.
2006-10-30 14:15:14 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why worry about "converting"??
Why don't you lead by example and
live as a "true" Christian and not worry
about making yourself feel better by
changing people into your way!
Free will is given to everyone, no need
to take it away from those that don't agree
with your lifestyle!
Take Care!
2006-10-30 14:12:00 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Do you know the definition of Martyr?
2006-10-30 14:08:16 · answer #10 · answered by spirenteh 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Christ is the all-sufficient sacrifice for our faith. From time to time, martyrdom is bestowed, not sought. We convert athiests to Christians through extraordinary i.e. holy love which witnesses to God's love.
2006-10-30 14:09:49 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋