Is it possible for an Atheist and a Christian to have a good, successful, fulfulling relationship?

Answer 1

I have a very close friend who is a devout Christian, and her husband is an Atheist. They have been happily married for 32 years and have a 30-year-old son. She is a regular church-goer, and he respects her beliefs, even though they are not his beliefs.

He is a good, kind person, and she loves him for that. She doesn't force her religious beliefs on him, nor does he criticise her for hers, and it works very well.

What is most important is that two people love each other. Religion doesn't have to dictate that, and as long as you "live and let live", you should be fine. Discuss it, though, and whatever your beliefs, first and foremost you have to believe in each other. If you do, there is absolutely know reason why you cannot have the good, successful and fulfilling relationship you long for.

Answer 2

Improbable. They do not share the same foundational beliefs and world view. When children come, what will they be taught? This is never a good scene.
The bible instructs a believer not to be "unequally yoked with an unbeliever." It isn't that a believer is "better than" an unbeliever. The illustration is of two very different animals harnessed to plow a field. One knows where it wants to go and may attempt to plow straight, one may may be very attentive to following the farmer's signals and tries to plow straight. The animals are of different kinds and different sizes and really can't pull the plow "straight" for very long. The field is a mess.
The "Christian", by name, is a follower of Christ. They are obligated by their belief in God and Jesus as Savior to strive to obey and follow God as expressed in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.
The atheist may be a moral and "good" person, but doesn't believe they are under any such obligation. Their conduct is based on what they believe apart from religious moral codes and on what they decide is right for them.
Rarely do these paths closely parallel over the course of a lifetime.

Caveat - if a Christian and an atheist are already married, the apostle Paul admonishes that the believer should not leave the unbeliever over this issue. But, if the unbeliever leaves the believer, they are to let them go.

Your question is a simple yes or no question, but has such huge implications I couldn't let it go at that. Christians should have friends who are atheists or are of other faiths, but should not have intimate relationships that interfere with their relationship with God.

Answer 3

No, because if you are an Atheist, you are unaccepting of a Christian's views. If you are a Christian, you will try to convert the Atheist. I am a Christian, so I don't know which one is you. If you think the relationship is going to work, I'm sorry to say you are wrong. Either the husband or wife would have to give in to the other, because you're supposed to submit to your spouse. If you're thinking about marriage, you should consider how harmful this would be to the marriage, and how it could easily cause divorce. Sorry if this sounds harsh. If you are thinking of a bf/gf relationship, even that couldn't work, because morals have to come up some time.

Answer 4

NO! To truely be a Christian is to be as Christ like as you can be. Our duty in serving the Lord is to bring others to the saving knowledge of the true and living God. If you are dating and/or married to an atheist and are not trying to bring them to the Lord, you are not serving Him. You can not "agree to disagree" with your spouse and claim you love him. If you know Christ then you also know your mate's disbelief will send him to hell and if you are ok with that, you do not love him or the Lord. If you are trying to teach him of God's saving grace, you will be completely heartbroken and terrified for him until he accepts Jesus Christ and he may resent your efforts after a while. Nobody is very happy. DO NOT EVER TURN YOUR BACK ON THE LORD FOR HUMAN COMPANIONSHIP BUT WORK ON BRINGING THIS PERSON INTO THE FLOCK BEFORE YOU TRY A RELATIONSHIP! my husband was not an atheist but also was not saved until this summer. After 10 years of marriage, the last 3 monthes have been the best of all .

Answer 5

Well of course an atheist and a christian could probably have a good time together in bed but they could never possibly spend there lives together. When you are married you are supposed to share the same morals and religion and politics are the number one things to argue about. How would you raise the children of these two people? The lives that these two people would lead would be complete turmoil and it would be very argumentative.

Answer 6

No. The Bible says that Christians are to be equally yoked. That means that a Christian should marry a Christian. From experience, this will cause much grief and heartache for the Christian. This will definitely NOT work. If you are the Christian, you need to understand that someone who does not have Christ in their lives does not have the same built in "morals" as someone who is not. Understand that I said "built in". They might have morals, might be nice, seemingly honest, whatever, but they do not have the same internal conviction mechanisms that Christians have. They are worldly instead of Godly. I hope this makes sense. I am not trying to put down the person that you love. I am sure that they are wonderful. I still think that you are making a HUGE, LIFETIME OF SORROW mistake to go against advise from God (the Bible, not me).

Answer 7

Yes. As long as they stay away from the topic of religion and respect each others' beliefs. Agree to disagree.

Unless they're theology majors and willing to have a rousing debate over it, in which they will call a draw.

Why do you say Atheist and Christian? Why not Atheist and Jew, or Atheist and Muslim?

Answer 8

Yes, but like any relationship when you have conflicting views on religion. You both have to be comfortable with speaking on and supporting the other person's views. Even if you dont believe in it, you can't put the other person down or insult them for having a certain belief system. As long as you respect eachother, it should be ok.

Answer 9

Sure it is! My aunt and unlce are a great example! She's a methodist and he's an atheist. It's no big deal for them. She goes to church every Sunday, he stays home and sleeps. They basically just had to set up two rules.

1. No attempting to convert one another to their personal religious beliefs

and

2. If a religious issue does arise, talk about it objectively and keep the other persons feelings in mind

In my personal opinion, it doesn't matter who you worship, if anyone at all. God doesn't care if you have ALL the answers. If He wanted man to be perfect, He wouldn't have given us free will. As long as your religion makes you happy and doesn't hurt you or any other people (or any living thing really) then you should belive what makes you happy. That's all He really wants. He wants you to be happy. That's why he sent Jesus, his only begotten son, to atone for our sins (this is sticking with Christian beliefs... non Christians have every right to believe in what the do). If you are a good person and you are happy, God will love you and forgive you, even if you are a little bit wrong about him. Everybody makes mistakes, and He understands that.

Besides, if God sent this person to you, don't you think He had a reason? ;) Maybe you're meant to be together, even if your beliefs don't match.

Answer 10

This is very impossible because in order for a successful relationship God has to exist in it and an Atheist does not accept Him so it is not going to work.