Using the Bible to reason with unbelievers

As a disciple of Christ, the Bible is more and more becoming my source for life, encouragement, perspective, and even logic. But when we’re arguing issues with unbelievers, we need to keep in mind that the Bible isn’t their source, however much it ought to be, and that unbelievers’ minds aren’t (yet) the product of its enlightening power. We can’t settle very many arguments with them simply by saying, “the Bible says so”. They need to change their thinking about the Bible before they will be able to really see the Bible as a reason to change their thinking.

It’s a circular problem, and it’s not hard to understand why many Christians have stopped using the Bible in their conversations with the unsaved.

On the other hand, the Bible is the very instrument God uses to defeat darkness and lies (Eph 6:17; Heb 4:12; 1 Pet 1:23). It is the seed of all truth, faith, and life, whether they know it or not. The Bible is the light unbelievers need in order to see themselves for who they really are, and to see Christ as the one they need. It’s the word that reveals the Word.

So how do we use the Bible to reason with unbelievers when, on the one hand, they don’t recognize it as a valid source, while, on the other hand, it actually is the source, whether they recognize it or not? Let’s see how the apostles approached this conundrum as the gospel went out to people who knew less and less about the Scriptures.

Start with verses they already appreciate

Philip noticed a man in a chariot headed back to Ethiopia who was poring over Isaiah 53, having no idea what it meant. The fact that the passage didn’t use the words ‘Jesus’, ‘cross’ or ‘gospel’ didn’t deter Philip from springing off that passage and telling the man the good news (Acts 8:26-35).

The world quotes (and misquotes) Bible verses all over the place. Novels and movies make frequent use of Jesus’ statement that “the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Many unbelievers feel comforted hanging the Lord’s Prayer on the wall in hospitals and other places where people die, and they get warm fuzzies seeing “The Lord is my shepherd” on gold-plated plaques (Ps 23:1). And some are quite ready to throw “God is love” or “Judge not, that you be not judged” back our faces when they think we’re being disagreeable (1 John 4:16; Matt 7:1).

Since these unbelievers have some prior exposure to the Bible, why not start with what’s already in their heads? In God’s world, all roads leads to the gospel and to Jesus Christ; when talking to an unbeliever about your faith, see what Bible seeds are already planted and try to cultivate those first.

Wrap back around to Christ, especially his resurrection

The laser-point centre of the Bible is the resurrection of Christ—God, through his Son, has solved the cosmic problem of death. Jesus’ resurrection is the impossible but historical reality that makes all the difference. Without it we really have nothing substantive to offer the world (1 Cor 15:14). An argument from Scripture that simply leaves unbelievers feeling like it’s a book set out to waggle its nit-picking finger at them isn’t really a successful argument. Scripture’s voice screams, “Christ!”

The apostles understood that faith in Christ’s resurrection was the line that separated the saved from the unsaved, and they were constantly boiling their arguments down to that single point (Acts 2:24-36, 8:34-35, 10:39-42, 17:31, 24:15; Rom 10:9). Evolution, homosexuality, morality, politics—all these hot-button issues are symptomatic of unbelief, but aren’t the true dividing line. We fixate on these areas in our conversations with unbelievers, hoping to change their minds on one thing or another—but what difference will it make? These issues are only side-bars. Make them work for you by using them to point back to the Bible’s most pressing controversy of all: did a dead man really conquer our greatest enemy? 

Stay true to your source even if they think it’s invalid

Although the Bible isn’t the deciding voice for most unbelievers, we can be open about the fact that for us it is. Paul humbly acknowledged to Felix that he was a follower of Christ. He acknowledged that, in others’ eyes, his ‘Way’ was simply a renegade diversion from ‘normal’, but that didn’t change his commitment to it one bit, or his willingness to ‘confess’ that he believed every word of it (Acts 24:14). And he saw no need to change their minds about his own intelligence.

The world can sniff out a traitor immediately, and there’s almost nothing they hate more. Our humble willingness to stay openly faithful to Scripture even when others think we’re being dense will, in the long run, validate it in their eyes—especially if we can give them a sample of its fruit in the way we show meekness, peace, and love.

We can imitate Paul’s humility and diplomacy by saying something like, “I realize that the Bible is kind of a pointless book to most people. But I take its words really seriously. I only hope I can show you that it hasn’t closed my mind; it’s opened it. It doesn’t make me love you less; the Bible makes me love you more.”

Keep it short and sweet, and trust God with his word

Paul’s sermon to the Athenians is remarkably to the point. Unlike some of his lengthier synagogue addresses, this one summarizes biblical concepts from Isaiah and the Psalms and tags them with the Greek poetry the crowd would have been more familiar with. Get it? He’s using their own sayings to teach them the word of God. He knows he only has their ears for a moment, before they shuffle off to the next new thing (Acts 17:21) so he crafts his ideas in words that are memorable, familiar, biblical, and winsome—and that point them straight at Christ and the all-important issue of the resurrection. By the time he’s left, there is no question in anyone’s mind what impossible reality they must face if they are to satisfy their hunger to know God. He’s not ‘unknown’ anymore; he’s right in their face, in less than 300 simple words.

We don’t have to impart a full-scale Bible education before we can feel good about having shared the word of God with unbelievers. The word of God is guaranteed to work on people’s hearts in whatever way the Spirit uses it (Is 55:11). It’s the seed, the sword, and the light that unbelievers need in order to meet Christ, and the Spirit is fully capable of planting it, swinging it, and shining it through us in ways that make sense to others and represent him well. If he can do it for you and me, he can do it for them.