“So why don’t you believe in God?”

“I just don’t see any evidence for it.”

“What are you looking for? What would it take to convince you that God was real?”

“I dunno. What would it take to convince you that the sun sets in the north?”

“The sun sets in the west.”

“I know. But what would it take to convince you that it sets in the north?”

“It doesn’t set in the north, it sets in the west.”

“So your mind is made up? There’s nothing I could say that would convince you that it sets in the north?”

“Of course not.”

“So you’re closed-minded then.”

“I’m not closed-minded! That’s just the way it is!”

“Suppose I told you a really convincing story about the sun setting in the north?”

“It wouldn’t be a true story.”

“How do you know?”

“Because the sun sets in the west.”

“What if you saw it setting in the north. Would that convince you?”

“Ok, if I saw it actually setting in the north, that would convince me. But that will never happen, because the sun sets in the west.”

“So it’s a pointless question then?”

“Pretty much.”

“Then you can understand why there’s not much point in asking me what it would take to convince me there’s a God. If God actually showed up in real life, that would be a much more astonishing event than the sun setting in the north. And if He loves me enough to die for me, then He ought to be willing and able to show up in the real world where I can see Him. Unless and until He starts behaving like a real, loving God, I have no reason to believe He exists.”

“The thing is, though, He actually did show up in real life.”

“So men say. I’ve heard that story too, and I know that a lot of people think it’s a convincing story. But like you said, the sun sets in the west, not in the north. No matter how convincing the story is, if we don’t see it happening in real life, it’s not a true story. The only reason it’s convincing is because Christians have spent 2,000 years finding out what it would take to convince people. And that’s not a good reason to believe that it’s really true…”

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