In her fascinating new book, Atheists Finding God, Dr. Jana Harmon writes:
The former atheists in this study reported seeking answers from religious people or authorities for their doubts and uncertainties (50%) or unanswered questions (52%). In their view, religious discussions with Christians seemed to foster movement towards disbelief than belief. Although exposure to informed, articulate Christians prompted reconsideration for some, the overall quality of many Christian interactions left a perception of ineptness. Jacob said: āWhen I would ask hard questions, no one seemed to have an answer. At the same time, if I had cogent answers for things and no one had a response to them, then I would just assume that I was right.ā
Only one-fourth (24%) found Christians to be āinformed regarding the content of Christian beliefs and worldviewā and a small minority (14%) saw Christians as āable to substantively respondā to their questions. More than half (56%) felt these discussions were met with an impression of the Christianās inability to adequately respond. Overall, there was a perception of general ignorance of Christians regarding what they believed or why they believed it. Half of them thought Christians lacked knowledge and understanding of scientific evidence (52%) or were uninformed regarding content of Christian beliefs and worldview (40%). James stated, āI was amazed to find them to be quite pleasant people albeit very ignorant of facts.ā Justin stated, āI didnāt know any real Christian and those who still professed Christ didnāt seem to be very confident, and I didnāt press them because embarrassing them wouldnāt have brought about much of value.ā
In addition to content, Christians were also perceived to be conversationally defensive or inept when it came to discussing important questions and issues. Regarding personal interaction, Amanda stated, āMost evangelical Christians I have known in the past seemed to lack significant knowledge of science and tended to be defensive when questioned.ā One-fourth of respondents negatively characterized Christians as āclosed to and/or avoiding interactive dialogueā (28%), ādefensiveā (26%), āmore prone to talk than listenā (26%), or were unable or unaware of the need to ask good questions (48%). Some also perceived Christians as socially āoddā or āweird.ā Dennis commented, āI did not formulate a significant view of Christians. I was uninterested in them and did not have any positive or negative views about them other than I thought they were a bit socially odd.
As I reflect on Dr. Harmonās research, it mirrors my personal experience with Christians. Perhaps 25% of Christians take the time to be well-informed about what Christianity teaches, and even fewer, perhaps 14%, study apologetics in any sustained manner? Without wanting to be too negative about it, those numbers might even be a bit high.
It breaks my heart that so many atheists found conversations with Christians to push them more towards disbelief than belief. As much as some loud voices blame atheists, I wonder if perhaps it would be far more effective to seriously train ourselves as disciples of Jesus, and invite others to do the same? Unless we are eager to take our own faith seriously enough to know what the Bible teaches, and why it is true, and live it out ourselves, why should we expect anyone else would want to do this?
I want to ask: is your experience similar or dissimilar to what Dr. Harmon found in her research?
And what do you see as the solution?