I have a really good friend who doesn't know Jesus at all! And she says horrible things about him and I talk to her sometimes about how it bugs me and I brought her to youth group a few times but the thing is, I want to know if there is anything I can do to make her believe because she gets so nasty about God and she says that she wouldn't want to be with him if he were real. But I tell her she doesn't know what she's talking about. Please help!
Also how can I prove to her that evolution isn't real??
Answer
Perhaps 1 Peter 3:1-2 can be used as an answer to your question, although it talks about husbands/wives and you are asking about friends. It says, "Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the way of life of the wives; While they behold your chaste way of life coupled with fear." The principle Peter is presenting is that people who are close to us, be it spouses or close friends, can be taught by our lives more easily than by our words. If we act as a Christian should act, people will notice. And if we show the joy of being a Christian, others may want it. I am not saying never to talk to your friend about Jesus. That is important too. Just don't drive her away by being too overbearing about it.
You can not make her believe. That is something she will have to develop on her own. You can make it clear that you want her to respect your beliefs, even if she doesn't agree with them. That would require that you also respect her beliefs. You might also try to find out why she says what she does about God. If she says she wouldn't want to be with God even if he were real, is that because she doesn't know about the God you believe in or is it because of some other reason? Is she just afraid she would be miserable giving up some of the things she is doing now? Is there some other reason she doesn't want to believe in God? If you can't answer her objections, there is probably someone in the church there who can. But it may take time and patience. Or you may never be able to convince her.
The same is true about evolution. Even the strongest arguments against it have not convinced people who refuse to listen. There are a number of good books about evolution and the Bible. Your preacher may know of some, or be able to loan them to you.
You can not use the Bible to argue against evolution, because the other person probably rejects the biblical account of creation without question. The basic arguments against evolution are:
- It is an unproven and unprovable theory. Nobody has ever shown that evolution is still happening, nor have they shown any evidence of "missing links" between kinds of animals.
- There are as many theories of evolution as there are religions. Scientists can't agree on when, how, or if evolution happened.
- Scientists use unscientific arguments to support evolution. For example: "this rock is a million years old. How do I know? It was found in a place where the rocks are all a million years old. How do I know they are all a million years old? Because this rock is a million years old and it was found there."
- It takes as much faith to believe in evolution as it does to believe in God. Maybe even more. Since it can't be proved then believing in it is just a matter of faith.
- Even evolution doesn't answer the basic questions. Where did the stuff from which people are supposed to have evolved come from? How does evolution account for religion? How does evolution account for man's better feelings, such as caring for the sick or unfortunate?
Again, though, she will have to be willing to listen to both sides of an argument before you can convince her to change her mind. Even then you may not be able to. Fortunately God hasn't said that a belief in evolution or a disbelief in evolution is going to be one of the points on which we are judged. Compared to the grace of God, evolution is a relatively minor issue.
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