I Always Lose Debates With Non- Believers

[glenninindy]

Dear Brothers and Sisters; I have been called, but I'm not very smart. Whenever I try to witness, I eventually get run over by the intellectual non-believers and then I feel and look foolish. They are very, very, intelligent. They tell me things about the Bible being false etc. They hurt me so much when they say that my Lord does not exist. So, I then do as Christ Jesus instructed and turn the other cheek and walk away from the discussion with my tail between my legs and head down. I do not like to debate. Poor example of a good witness I am! I will never be a good pastor or Scripture lawyer, I'm too stupid. I have no clue why I was called to spread seeds of The Living Word, but I still try.

 

[.Mikha'el.]

Dear Brothers and Sisters; I have been called, but I'm not very smart. Whenever I try to witness, I eventually get run over by the intellectual non-believers and feel foolish. They are very intelligent when they tell me things about the Bible being false etc. They hurt me so much when they say that my Lord does not exist. So, I then do as Christ Jesus instructed and turn the other cheek and walk away from the discussion with my tail between my legs and head down. I do not like to debate. Poor example of a good witness I am! I will never make a good pastor.

Please don't waste your time with that sort of thing. Trying to enter into any kind of debate on any topic with the aim of winning your opponent to your view is a fool's errand.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Dear Brothers and Sisters; I have been called, but I'm not very smart. Whenever I try to witness, I eventually get run over by the intellectual non-believers and feel foolish. They are very intelligent when they tell me things about the Bible being false etc. They hurt me so much when they say that my Lord does not exist. So, I then do as Christ Jesus instructed and turn the other cheek and walk away from the discussion with my tail between my legs and head down. I do not like to debate. Poor example of a good witness I am! I will never make a good pastor.

Just what I have discovered:
Don't try to approach them on an intellectual level. Just give them scripture. That is all that matters anyways.
The word is what changes people, not arguments. Sometimes it will seem that you are avoiding their comments and points. That is ok. Just hit them with saving scriptures.

"Yes, but did you know that Jesus died for your sins according to the scriptures? Did you know that God raised Him from the dead?"
​

Remember you have the Holy Spirit as a partner in this. If you put forth the word, He will convince their hearts. Faith comes by Christ speaking a word into their hearts. So just use the word.

"Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved, and He does not lie? That is really all that matters."

"But you know that He is Lord of all, including you, and if you call on His name, He will save you?"​

Just keep hitting them with the Word. Try to work it into the discussion in ways that will not insult them because it might seem you are ignoring them.
The point of witnessing is not to win the argument. They will likely walk away thinking that they have "won" something. That is ok. You got the word into them. Let the Holy Spirit do His work!

 

[Aussie Pete]

Dear Brothers and Sisters; I have been called, but I'm not very smart. Whenever try to witness, I eventually get run over by the intellectual non-believers and feel foolish. They are very intelligent when they tell me things like the Bible being false etc. It hurts me so much what they say about my Lord being non-existent. So, I then do as Christ Jesus instructed and turn the other cheek and walk away from the discussion with my tail between my legs and head down. I do not like to debate. Poor example of a good witness I am! I will never make a good pastor.

Don't put yourself down. Let Jesus who lives within you be the witness. Most of the apostles were uneducated, so much so that people were amazed at their eloquence. Lord Jesus has given us His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our power to witness. The Holy Spirit is not hindered by our limitations. God's strength is made perfect in our weakness!

The gospel, not our natural ability, is God's power to save. I am reasonably well educated, reasonably intelligent and I've studied the Bible a great deal. I have no more ability to save than you do. I've never argued someone into being saved.

We use a tract called "Knowing God Personally". It covers the fundamentals of the gospel. It's only of value if people are open to hear. Even Paul could not lead the uncaring to Christ. If you get the opportunity, sit down with the person and go through it with them. Let the Word and the Spirit convict and lead people to Christ.

 

[childeye 2]

Dear Brothers and Sisters; I have been called, but I'm not very smart. Whenever I try to witness, I eventually get run over by the intellectual non-believers and feel foolish. They are very intelligent when they tell me things about the Bible being false etc. They hurt me so much when they say that my Lord does not exist. So, I then do as Christ Jesus instructed and turn the other cheek and walk away from the discussion with my tail between my legs and head down. I do not like to debate. Poor example of a good witness I am! I will never be a good pastor or Scripture lawyer, I'm too stupid. I have no clue why I was called to spread the Word, but I try.

You probably just need to know the terminology of scripture.

The term God in scripture means the source of the energy that created all things. The term is axiomatic. In other words, God by definition has to exist because we exist. Anyone saying that God doesn't exist doesn't know what the term means according to scripture. Anyone saying God is mythical doesn't know what the term means and they're changing the meaning of the term and then saying God doesn't exist based on their changing the meaning.

The next thing to know is the word "image". Image means what a person imagines God to be like. That is, imagines what the source of the energy that made all things is like. Jesus is the True Image of God sent by God, through which mankind can believe and be saved. All other images are false images. Believing in Jesus is the same as believing in a perfect Love/compassion that lasts forever and is forever faithful. Faith means God is trustworthy. And that is our faith, that Christ is faithful. Faithful and trustworthy is the Spirit of God, the Father, seen in the son, who suffered the cross and gave his life, so that sins may be forgiven.

One last thing. Please don't lord it over anyone, what I showed you. Don't embarrass people with it. And pray to God about this, because we all have different gifts. A Christian needs to be instructed by the Holy Spirit. I just felt for you, so I wanted to help.

 

[Ignatius the Kiwi]

Not everyone is called to be an intellectual and you shouldn't feel compelled to have in your mind at perfect reference a systematic defense of your beliefs. Study on your own with humility, listen to what more learned Christians say in response. A majority of people don't go around interrogating their beliefs to the utmost scrupulosity. That's a minority of people that ever do that.

 

[The Liturgist]

Please don't waste your time with that sort of thing. Trying to enter into any kind of debate on any topic with the aim of winning your opponent to your view is a fool's errand.

Indeed, we can’t harrangue people into Christianity but we can intrigue them with the beautiful wondrous mystery that is God the Holy Trinity and win them over with pure Christian love, a radical, transformative love for our neighbor, manifested through faith, hope and charity.

 

[The Liturgist]

Not everyone is called to be an intellectual and you shouldn't feel compelled to have in your mind at perfect reference a systematic defense of your beliefs. Study on your own with humility, listen to what more learned Christians say in response. A majority of people don't go around interrogating their beliefs to the utmost scrupulosity. That's a minority of people that ever do that.

Indeed, very good.

 

[ElCamino]

Dear Brothers and Sisters; I have been called, but I'm not very smart. Whenever I try to witness, I eventually get run over by the intellectual non-believers and then I feel and look foolish. They are very, very, intelligent. They tell me things about the Bible being false etc. They hurt me so much when they say that my Lord does not exist. So, I then do as Christ Jesus instructed and turn the other cheek and walk away from the discussion with my tail between my legs and head down. I do not like to debate. Poor example of a good witness I am! I will never be a good pastor or Scripture lawyer, I'm too stupid. I have no clue why I was called to spread seeds of The Living Word, but I still try.

Don't put yourself down. Being a good debater is not so much about intelligence; it's more about eloquence.

A charismatic or persuasive person will often "win" debates even if the facts are not on their side.

Just avoid debating altogether. Debates rarely change people's minds; it's mostly a waste of time, but a great way to create bad blood.

 

[disciple Clint]

Dear Brothers and Sisters; I have been called, but I'm not very smart. Whenever I try to witness, I eventually get run over by the intellectual non-believers and then I feel and look foolish. They are very, very, intelligent. They tell me things about the Bible being false etc. They hurt me so much when they say that my Lord does not exist. So, I then do as Christ Jesus instructed and turn the other cheek and walk away from the discussion with my tail between my legs and head down. I do not like to debate. Poor example of a good witness I am! I will never be a good pastor or Scripture lawyer, I'm too stupid. I have no clue why I was called to spread seeds of The Living Word, but I still try.

You are being way to hard on yourself. So you put pearls before swine and they rejected them, just as God said they would, God also told us that the fool says there is no God. There arer methods you can use to evangelize but debating is strictly for those who have been blessed with that talent, you are you just be who you are, when people are ready for the word you will be there for them. Let your actions speak volumes about what being a Christian is all about, when people see that you are happy and kind, and not experiencing the fear that they experience they will come to you to find out how they can have what you have, that is the time they are ready for you to tell them about God and your experience with God.

 

[Mink61]

Dear Brothers and Sisters; I have been called, but I'm not very smart. Whenever I try to witness, I eventually get run over by the intellectual non-believers and then I feel and look foolish. They are very, very, intelligent. They tell me things about the Bible being false etc. They hurt me so much when they say that my Lord does not exist. So, I then do as Christ Jesus instructed and turn the other cheek and walk away from the discussion with my tail between my legs and head down. I do not like to debate. Poor example of a good witness I am! I will never be a good pastor or Scripture lawyer, I'm too stupid. I have no clue why I was called to spread seeds of The Living Word, but I still try.

While I respect those who have advised you to not even enter a debate with a non-believer, I come at this issue from a different point of view.

First of all, please don't put yourself down and think that you're "not very smart." A lot of people started out their journey with little knowledge of the Bible, and in a short time, became very well-versed. You can obviously read, write and use a computer. You have the tools you need.

There are a few things you can do in order to "arm" yourself just in case a subject comes up. You don't necessarily have to debate, but you can learn to hold your own in a discussion:

1. Get a good Bible, if you don't already have one. Get one that has footnotes, cross-references and even commentaries, if available.
2. Read the Bible daily, even if only for a few minutes.
3. Read up on Christian Apologetics. There are plenty of videos and websites run by the top Apologists, such as John Lennox, William Lane Craig, Frank Turek, Lee Strobel and Paul Copan, to name a few.
4. Realize that virtually ALL of the objections to Christianity have already been addressed. In other words, there's nothing new that a non-believer will object to that a believer can't respond to, as long as the believer knows the answer. And the answers are not difficult to find.

About three years ago, I was in a similar situation as you are. The first time I tried to discuss an issue with a non-believer, I too, limped away. But I didn't think of myself as "stupid." More like, uneducated. So, I set out to educate myself...

...And here it is, three years later. I'm no longer rattled by a non-believer's objections. I still have a long way to go, but it's worth the effort!

 

[Matt5]

Dear Brothers and Sisters; I have been called, but I'm not very smart. Whenever I try to witness, I eventually get run over by the intellectual non-believers and then I feel and look foolish. They are very, very, intelligent. They tell me things about the Bible being false etc. They hurt me so much when they say that my Lord does not exist. So, I then do as Christ Jesus instructed and turn the other cheek and walk away from the discussion with my tail between my legs and head down. I do not like to debate. Poor example of a good witness I am! I will never be a good pastor or Scripture lawyer, I'm too stupid. I have no clue why I was called to spread seeds of The Living Word, but I still try.

You just need a little more prep.

Here is the real problem: They hide their religion while attacking yours. You need to attack their religion. Then you need to work from the top down.

What is their religion? It is the religion of equality, aka Church of Woke. This is what most atheists believe. You need to learn to attack the ideas of equality. The ideas of equality are like putting out all the fires in the forest. That works great for about a hundred years then everything burns down to the ground.

Christianity has stood the test of time by creating the places that the world wants to live in - the West. While it is no longer Christian, the (Christian) West is where many in the world want to live. It does this by fostering better cooperation between people.

The religion of atheists fosters hate between groups and distrust.

Atheists can't just attack Christianity. They have to come up with something better.

 

[Tolworth John]

They tell me things about the Bible being false etc. They hurt me so much when they say that my Lord does not exist.

I aplaud your courage in being willing to witness.
Please back up your courage with knowledge. Follow sites like coldcasechristianity, watch/listen to his lectures.

Learn some basic tactics.

Someone says the bible is not true. OK, now you ask them to prove it?
You don't need to know everything about the bible, you just need them to prove their claim. Ask who said it, what achademics back them up, remember the coldcasr detective has the evidence that says they are wrong.

Someone says there is no God, again ask them to prove it.

Three statements to remember.
What do you belief?
Why do you believe?
What evidence do you have for that belief?

Just besure you can answer those questions yourself.

 

[Paidiske]

If this way of doing things doesn't work for you, then maybe try something else. I have not found debate, or trying to prove points, to be fruitful ways of witnessing, in general. But being a living example of the good news, being willing to share and teach as you can, being willing to respond to the needs of those around you with loving service, being willing to challenge injustice and pursue peace, all of these might be much more fruitful ways to live out your calling.

 

[Philip_B]

One of the things I learned from a very wise old Canadian Bishop was that "the faith is caught, not taught". The cleverness of argument in debate does not bring people to faith, and I am not suggesting that there won't be those among us who should be prepared to challenge things and assertions made by those who are without faith. St Francis is regularly invoked for something he probably did not say, however, the message is still good, "wherever you go, preach the gospel - if necessary use words".

 

[Daniel9v9]

On one hand, I want to say don't worry about it, because being in Christ means to suffer for Him, and ridicule and rejection are certainly a part of it. Furthermore, it's not sharp apologetics or philosophical debates that bring about repentance and faith, but rather, the Holy Spirit, through God's Word.

On the other hand, though, if apologetics is something you're interested in, I can encourage you by saying that most debates that exist have already been debated extensively. So this means that the Church already has a wealth of wisdom and insight into commonly debated topics, and it just means we need to be aware of it and know where to find it.

Perhaps I can add to this that, at least in my experience, most arguments against our faith, though they may appear compelling, are in reality very shallow and confused. It's often emotionally loaded and comes from a place of Biblical illiteracy. And although many like to claim to be neutral or to strictly believe in science, they are not. Everyone believes in something. There's really no such thing as objective neutrality, and there are many things in life that hard science cannot answer, that people make assumptions about. As for us who believe in Jesus, we have every good reason to do so, and we can be comforted with that truth is on our side, because Christ is Truth.

God bless!

 

[RileyG]

Do not be discouraged. Pray they make be brought to the light of the gospel.

 

[Belinda Cooper]

The Pharisees thought they were smart and boy were they wrong. Being smart is nothing if we are not wise. God has allowed you to know truth and as far as you being a witness, you are by saying you are comfortable not having all the answers and truth in God who does. Pray for them and walk away. God does not need you to defend Him as creation itself is proof of God.

Stay in faith and God will bless you.

 

[actionsub]

We were called to witness. I consider it a win getting in a debate in the first place, win or lose, because I'm just satisfied to get to share my beliefs!

 

[Sophrosyne]

We were called to witness. I consider it a win getting in a debate in the first place, win or lose, because I'm just satisfied to get to share my beliefs!

Not necessarily a good thing to lose a debate as it can further harden unbeliever's hearts against God by feeding their egos. I've learned at times to not debate or try to convince people who are already hostile towards God.