Theology Thursday: My Conversation With An Atheist

(I apologize in advance for this extremely long post! )

Over the last 3 years, I have received many emails and comments that are less than kind.  Mocking blog posts like this (by a blogger who has over 163,000 twitter followers) and forums that have devoted threads to attacking me,  have brought a lot of angry emails into my inbox.   In the beginning, I attempted to dialogue with angry commenters.  I found that it always was a deadend road.  Now I hit the delete button on every mean comment (ie. swear words, name calling, threats). I leave up people who disagree with me in a respectful manner because I am comfortable with honest dialogue.

My older Youtubes on marriage have brought a lot of criticism.  I think it’s because my videos, taken out of the context of my blog, can easily be misunderstood.   I’ve had to delete comments and block viewers on Youtube regularly. 

So this week, I got another one of my typical comments and I chose to engage in the conversation. I want to acknowledge that sometimes my tone was a bit stronger than may have been best and my answers could have been more thorough.  But I humbly share it in hopes that it could help someone who may be in this dialogue with a loved one.

This comment came in under my video titled “Learning To Submit.”

*****Commenter:  Grow-up and get an education in History. I can not believe there are so many ignorant people here in the U.S. – If you would just take the time to look very closely at the Historical facts/events surrounding that era, you would understand how metaphorical writing was very popular and the illiteracy rate at that time was near 90%.

Me: Your comment reveals a heart issue. This is how I have chosen to live my life – and I invite you to click the red X if it bothers you. I have great peace and joy in my life that has come from knowing God – I wish you peace and joy also 🙂

Commenter: Saying you are ignorant is like saying you breath oxygen, everyone does it and everyone is ignorant. It simply means ‘You don’t know something’. The problem comes when we choose to believe in things that are factually not true. Religion isn’t about faith, its about ‘Blind Faith’ – believing that something is true without ANY evidence, Zero!”Not knowing” facts that do exist, which overwhelmingly disprove a belief is a type of ignorance humanity can not much longer afford.

Me: No evidence? Are you sure about that? 1) Jesus did walk the earth, the calendar proves that = B.C. (Before Christ) A.D. and no one has his bones – he rose from the dead proving he was God; 2)Creation speaks to a creator; 3) your conscience speaks to you to tell you right and wrong – that’s God’s law on man’s heart 4)hundreds of prophesies from the Bible came true – no other book can make such claims & 5)changed lives of people including mine. You do not lack evidence you lack faith.

Commenter: Courtney, There have not been ANY prophecies from the bible come true. There is No evidence of any ‘divine’ Jesus. There may have been “A” Jesus. The people who wrote the gospels never met Jesus. All of the gospels were based on Paul’s writings which were 20 years after Jesus ~died~ and other earlier Mythology, Paul wrote 80,000 words, yet had no concept that Jesus ever walked the Earth, No Birth, No Miracles, Nothing except some vague concept of a spiritual realm – DUBIOUS IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT!

The Story of Noah’s Ark, Hell, The evil Serpent, were all borrowed from Gilgamesh and later literature. Moses’ Baby in a basket story, set adrift in the river to escape infanticide, and drawn from the water to be raised by Royalty was borrowed from Sargon of Akkahd who lived 1200 years before the make-believe Moses. – Don’t tell me you believe the Earth is 6,000 years old, too? The bible has gotten everything Dead Wrong! The Age of the Earth, The Origins of Life, The orientation of Earth..,

Me: So what you are saying is you have chosen to place your faith in Gilgamesh, Sargon of Akkahd, and later literature…I have chosen to place my faith in the writings of the Bible – how is that different? You still have placed your faith in man’s writings. Your man’s writings say I’m wrong and my Bible says your wrong. Who’s right? If you’re right – I lose nothing – I soul sleep. If I’m right – you lose everything and end up in hell. Creation, Conscience, changed lives – point to God

Commenter: I have Faith in myself, in People who, through experiences and observation, I believe will do the right thing, I have faith that the Sun will Set tonight and Rise tomorrow through observation and inductive reasoning. You are putting BLIND FAITH in some bronze age allegorical literature, that has been re-written, misinterpreted, and manipulated by men in power. Without the SocioPath Emperor, Constantine sanctioning christianity (300 years post Jesus)- You would certainly have a different belief.

Me: Sounds like you have it all figured out. So if you die tonight – where will you go?

Commenter: The reality of it is is that NOBODY knows what (or where), if anything happens after we die. And just because Science hasn’t found any answers doesn’t give religion the luxury of making it up! Religion has historicall gotten everything dead wrong! And religion ensures that every single person on Earth is born with millions upon millions of instant enemies who want to either convert you or Kill you! The Judeo-Christian-Islamic god is the same god, they are all Abrahamic. That’s an idiotic god!

Me: Nobody knows…so U don’t quite have it all figured out…you are placing your faith in science – man’s study of the physical world. I am trusting in the spirit world – something you cannot study with science because you cannot see it. Just because you say ZERO evidence or I have Blind Faith doesn’t make you right. I do have evidence. Historically Jesus did live – non-Christian historians say this. So where are his bones?

The crux of Christianity all lies in whether Jesus was JUSTa man or was GOD in the flesh. If he rose from the dead – he was God – because no other man can do this. Over 500 witnesses said they saw him alive after he was crucified. So you believe Scientists-mere men. & I believe 500 witnesses-mere men. How is this different? You have to have just as much faith to believe what you believe as I have to believe what I believe.

Commenter: Where are his bones? Nobody has ever known EXACTLY where any of the death, burial or supposed ressurrection actually happened. There are locations that religious officials “believe” he was buried, crux, Ressur.. There is a Roman record of a person by that name being crucified, that’s ALL! That’s all your non-Xian historians have! I have a faith in the “Scientific Method” because it is PROVEN literally millions of times over to be correct-Observe, Test, Verify, Duplicate.

Me: Evidence#1-Bible’s uniqueness: written over 1500 year span by more than 40 authors from every walk of life-kings, fishermen, poets,scholars. It was written in different places-wilderness, prison, palaces, in different times of war & peace, during different moods of despair & joy, on 3 continents-Asia, Africa, Europe, in 3 languages Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, addressing hundreds of controversial topics with an amazing degree of harmony. Find me 5 men who could do this with harmony

 The Bible is the #1best selling book of all time. No other book in history has been translated retranslated & paraphrased more than the Bible. The Bible has been translated into over 2,200 languages. No other book comes close to it’s unique influence on civilization including calendar dates (B.C. Before Christ) If you are an educated person you will read the one book that has drawn this much attention in your search for truth.

Commenter: #1 The Xian Bible is not 1500 years old – It is well verified that anybody who wrote the Xian bible lived after Jesus and Never met him! The Dead Sea Scrolls are only dated to about the 2nd Century B.C.- You think ‘IT’ is true because IT SAYS SO! Somebody could do that with any book! That’s just gullibility! And as far as the various locations of Authorship, there is NOTHING to support it! Just “The book says so!” Of course its translated to so many languages-The Crusades made it Viral

years ago I set to understand what is TRUE of life, and I started by reading the ENTIRE bible. It proved then to be hypocritical and nonsensical, but since then, the multitude of FACTUAL Historical and Scientific knowledge has completely exposed the absurdities, and that it is nothing more than a Astro-Theological Hybrid of various ealier religions and writings. The slightest inquiry by anyone would show this! 

 Me: Many of your arguments are false but it’s hard in this little box to disprove you. One example is the Septuagint dates back to 250 B.C. and scribes wrote and rewrote scripture with perfect accuracy or the document was thrown out. Capitalizing NOTHING doesn’t make you right. “Evidence Demands a Verdict” by Josh McDowell has 750pgs of evidence. Do you believe in a spirit world or only that which you can test with science? How do you explain your own soul, spirit, and conscience?

Commenter: Evidence demands a verdict” does not contain evidence, it only contains philosophical circular reasoning. It’s well argued as for its philosphical approach to an argument, but nothing can be taken from it that can be concidered evidence. – What I believe..? There is no evidence for a soul or spirit. Your conscience has been developed thru Evolutionary processes. Generations of developing Social and Personal order from personal and social chaos – That is where morality came from.

Me:  But if you trace morality back, you end up at God. If there is such a thing as evil, then there is such a thing as good, if there’s such a thing as good & evil then there’s a moral law, if there’s a moral law – there’s a moral law giver – unless you prefer to throw out Newton’s law that says for every action there’s a reaction and there’s no moral law giver – therefore there’s no moral law and we can all go out & kill one another. What is the meaning to life? Do you have hope? In what?

Commenter: You have hope in a perposterous fairy tail, that again, has no evidence to support it. Your Newton reasoning is that same circular reasoning that doesn’t add-up. So what is your cause and what is the effect in your morality arguement? That because there’s morality that all moral judgement was just dumped on primitive humans in one fail swoop. No. It happened just as our current system does, with gradual, incremental steps over time, using observation and determining the greater good.

Me: If we are evolving morally then man would be becoming more moral as time progresses…yet our jails are full, the statistics of women abused and used (especially in other countries) on the rise, harsh rulers oppress their people in other countries – how is man becoming “more” moral?  Are you happy? Full of love, joy, peace. Your faith sounds empty, dark, angry and hopeless.  Why would I want that?  Why are you on my youtube channel?

Have you watched my other videos – I’m a happily married woman of 14 years – with 2 beautiful children, a fabulous church, wonderful friends and family, I love God and reading my Bible daily and sharing what I have learned. I have peace and a hope of heaven. What do you or your science and belief system have to offer me that I don’t already have?

 I think you are missing out so much on knowing the creator of science. You’d love knowing Jesus – he rocks! He sees you, he knows your every move & he loves you. But your sin has separated you from him – you have to first see that you are a sinner and that you need God…but I see that you are very far from needing or wanting God or what he has to offer in your life. I think you have chosen a hard road in life. Your lack of faith will have consequences 🙁 in this life and the next.
 
 Commenter:Expect morality from the Judeao-christian god?: “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty (insert list of terrible things I just can’t put on my blog  🙁 ) Only delusional fools would find morality in that!
 
if you want to argue that he is a loving and forgiving god, then you have been spoon fed all the feel-good parts and taught to ignore all the rest. And if thats what you do, then you don’t really respect him.   
 Me: You spout so many falsehoods that it’s impossible in a typed form to take each line by line apart and disprove you – but to be honest I could if we were in person. But alas, I’m a homeschooling mommy who has dinner to cook. So I’d like to close this conversation and agree to disagree. Feel free to look over my other youtubes or blog. You will find a blessed woman who sees through all your words to emptiness, despair, hopelessness & meaninglessness. Your path leads no where.
 
 Commenter: I can assure you there are no falsehoods in what I say. I am quite happy, and plenty hopeful in this life. Atheists are the fastest growing group on Earth and has been since Jan. of 2010. Now over 1,000,000,000. Rational thinking and reason will ultimately win out and get humanity on a truly purposeful track.  Enjoy your Dinner! 😉
 *************************************************
 
Why am I sharing this conversation? 
 
I Peter 3:15 says: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”niv
 
God has called his children to contend for the faith.  If you feel ill equipped, I want to recommend that you get your hands on the book titled: Evidence Demands A Verdict by Josh McDowell.  I read it in high school and it helped me in my public school. I have kept it on my shelf as a reference book all these years and it has come in handy time and again.  I also find Ravi Zacharias and Kirk Cameron’s materials helpful.  Keep spreading truth till the whole world hears!
 
 
Walk with the King,
Courtney

Update: The blogger that I mentioned in the 2nd sentence of this post, apologized in the comment section of this post!  Kudos to her – I am *humbled* and heartily accept it! Thanks Jill!  I respect you for this!

101 Comments

  1. Thank you for sharing this conversation, Courtney. It’s pretty evident to me that this person’s heart is simply not prepared to receive Truth. I think you did an excellent job answering questions and they continually dismissed the proof you gave them. It’s so unfortunate. 🙁

  2. Courtney, I love you even more now!! I’ve been struggling lately with “friends” who are atheist bashing my faith in God, saying not so nice things and questioning why I believe the way I do. The Lord gave me the 5 minutes to actually read a whole post today, and yours was it!! I should always “be ready.” Would you mind if I linked back to you from my blog?

  3. Courtney,
    Thank you for sharing! It’s tough to remember to speak from the right place when someone’s words are so harsh. I think an important thing to remember is “doing our homework”–as if we were from the opposite side of the issue. I.e., as Christians, we have to know the facts for and against evolution (or whatever the issue at hand may be). This person, although decidedly atheist, may want to consider looking into Christian resources–at least for diversity of information’s sake, if nothing else.
    Have a wonderful day!
    Clarissa

  4. Excellent post! Thank you for you bravery in responding to this person. I need to become more equipped myself and will be ordering the resources you mentioned.

    Have you read, The Way of the Master, by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron? Big eye opener for me years ago.

    Blessings+

  5. Courtney, thank you for being the example you are! You and your blogs have encouraged me and countless others. Thank you for walking with our King!

  6. Wow, Courtney! First, I did click over to the sarcastic blog. Why waste the time? Doesn’t anybody have anything better to do? Second, you handled this conversation a lot better than I would have. I’m not good at arguing my point for anything. *blush* But it’s a good point that we need to be ready to explain our faith at any time. Even without using the Bible. Thank you so much for sharing this!

  7. Great responses, so many things running through my head. We need to engage, stand up more. His anger and all his absolutes were sad. He so badly wants to know God yet he is so blinded by false teaching/religion (evolution/science) and mad at G-d my heart felt sad and fearful for him. Praying his blinders are removed and he keeps on seeking!

  8. Courtney,
    I think going back to not engaging the commenter’s nonsense is the best way to go. People will always hate, especially things they cannot understand. The delete button is your friend!

    Pax Christi

  9. Oh girl, please don’t ever let people get to you. -It sounds like you generally don’t, but I hope this tiny email (from me) continues to encourage you! Your website does so much good:))) Like you said, I would just hit delete and let those comments roll off. -Spend this precious time doing whatever you like. Your site is so good for me and I am sure that is true for many others. Satan will do anything he can to get to you. Please know that so so many love your site!!! I read it a few times a week.

    He/she is telling you to “grow up” at the beginning, but at the end they are telling you they are “quite happy”? I’m not trying to make them feel bad, it is just somewhat telling. I will pray for this person.

    I said a prayer for you this morning:) Hugs and have a good day!

  10. Courtney, thank you for standing up for Him like that. If nothing else, you’ve planted a seed there and that’s all God asks of us, we can’t save anyone. Thanks for sharing this with us, it was very encouraging!

  11. We already know it. God’s truths are counter cultural. I’m so sorry you’ve had to endure such hateful and mean comments. It is obvious that God is strengthening you through this. Wow, Satan continually sends us lies and I guess sometimes they are more blatant than others. Keep up the good work. “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ” Col 3:15. Don’t let broken people discourage you from God’s work. Just wanted to send a bit of encouragement your way.

  12. Thank you for sharing this! I often get into similar “discussions” with my father (a full on atheist) and my husband (whose somewhere between agnostic believing in many imperfect gods, and a Deist believing in just a singular god). So it’s very encouraging seeing things like this. You didn’t change their mind, but you used many great examples and showed an example of how to show them concern while sticking firm to your beliefs 😀

  13. Courtney,
    Jesus was guiding you through that conversation with all the right words! It may not be today but God will surely leave that person bothered with the true words you spoke and he may reach out to you again someday! You have planted a good seed and it will never be left unwatered!
    You have also blessed alot of your Christian sisters (like me) to never be afraid to speak of my faith and defend our Lord Jesus Christ who died on that cross for us! Your a true gift from God!
    Have a beautiful day 🙂

  14. In a society that promotes and tells us, using the ends of consequences if we do not, to accept everyone and their differences, treat everyone equal and ALWAYS try to understand them….it seems to me as though this person doesn’t believe in THAT part of ‘mans law’ in his life either. There will always be people who must crush others in order to feel their own self worth (christians included). The 1 billion atheists in this world should be a challenge to us as believers. This line of thinking is promoted thru our own laws and trying to make everything equal and that “just because your a sinner doesn’t mean you need to go to hell”. I think your exactly right putting this blog out there, because most of us do not get this level of anger or disrespect in our daily lives. Allowing us to read this, reassures me as a believer, that I have so much more to do in my own small community and be a ‘mustard seed’ for others. Thank you for opening my eyes and thanks my Lord for opening my heart!!! I truly enjoy your blog and read it as often as possible – you are definatly inspiration to me…and in turn to MANY others.

  15. Writing that post, (which I would not do again today, for the record,) taught me a lot.

    I still don’t believe what you do, not even close, but I really came away from it struck by your grace and strength. I think you are a pretty remarkable person, and I do apologize if I caused you grief.

    Sometimes, it’s hard to remember that there’s an actual person behind a post or video. A lesson I learned from that post and the fall out.

    I hope you continue to do well!

    1. if you were the commenter in the above blog…I give you a LOT of credit for saying this! We may not agree on this or maybe other things, but you are a stand up woman for taking the credit (and the heat also) for your beliefs. We (as christians ) are meant to have adversaries to our beliefs, but Courtney was wonderful in her knowledge of the Bible, and I know that my knowledge is not as in depth as hers, but it will inspire me to keep learning. I still wish for God to bless you in ways that you may not understand.

    2. OH Jill!!!! 🙂 Thank you for this comment!!! *blush…I hesitated giving that link above…but trust me you are not alone in your feelings…most people that blog about me have a much smaller following – so yours stood out. I am grateful I am no longer on your list of “Most Popular Posts” because the visits from your site went down exponentially! lol!

      Your apology here is remarkable also!!! Thank you SO sincerely much!!! I am humbled that you took the time to comment and care.

      I honestly can see how my videos are a little “out there” taken out of context of my blog and can laugh at myself. Trust me – IF I had known that video would be seen by so many people with a critical eye – I would have chosen my words a little better ( I never write out what I am going to say in a video – I just wing it! That taught me a lesson! lol!). But – at the end of the day – I stand behind it because the principles I shared are from God’s word and it is the truth I live.

      Thanks for reaching out here – I respect your strength in doing so. There is one comment that troubles me – if you consider deleting it?…it’s the one that says “I vote kill Courtney.” That has troubled me…other than that – I am able to laugh at the situation 🙂
      Lots of Love,
      Courtney

      1. That awful comment is gone, I’m sorry I hadn’t noticed it before or I would have removed it on my own!

        I have the utmost respect for you Courtney. You really changed my outlook. (But, you might not want to read the second post on my blog.) 🙂

        1. Thank you so much for deleting that comment :)! I appreciate it and lol!…your September 4th post…ummmm…yes – we write as polar opposites.

          Thanks for the friendly exchange here! You blessed me this week !
          Courtney

      2. What a nice apology. We live in a time when so many people say things and never give it a second thought. It impresses me so much to see when somebody thinks about their words/actions and offers up an apology if they feel it is in order. Well done “scary mommy”. 🙂

    3. What a gracious apology.

      The vastness and often impersonalness of the world wide web seems to have created an environment where people say what they want to say about whomever they want to say it and they typically don’t ever see a need to offer any apologies for doing so.

      You reaching out this way is really very cool and shows that you are also a very remarkable person.

      Hallee

    4. To “scary mommy” : What a most humble apology! Do you know how many ladies you surely have praying for you! 😀 Myself included. Please do come back to comment when our gracious Lord and Savior comes into your life. We’ll all be thrilled to hear about it!!

      Courtney, you are a blessing to us all! Thank you for taking time to share this! You seed planter, you!

  16. This is what I love about you! You can be strong for your faith but humble at the same time. What’s really ironic is that it’s pretty clear he’s just spouting “proof” against faith that he read in an atheist book somewhere, using the same evidenceless, circular reasoning that he accused you of using. I used to be an atheist/humanist. God brought the change about slowly, providing proof as I yielded to faith. The seeds you planted today in love may very well sprout one day. I envy your graciousness and hope you have a fantastic day!

  17. Good Morning dear Courtney!
    This is an enlightening post for all of those that dispute God. The reader simply took the ‘wrath’ of God from the New Testament and has forgotten how many times God showed his people ‘mercy’, over and over again He forgave. He only punished when they were so dark and evil that the people would no longer listen to God or the prophet. They were given many opportunities to turn back to God they continued to choose their sin. We also just went through a series at church about creation and how to answer questions / disputes on evolution. Amen! We must prepared to answer, with love as you have done. Sometimes the negative feedback is best to not read for this is Satans way to bring you down, how do you know which ones have an angry heart that you could help?
    As the first comment says.. ‘ this person’s heart is simply not prepared to receive Truth’ And no one can change a heart except God. We can only bring the Word, the rest is up to the Lord. Prayers for you this morning as the Lord leads you.

  18. Courtney,
    It was so encouraging to read your post. To have people come against you so strongly can be a bit of a discouragement, but you handled this one very gracefully. Being someone who is a passionate scientist and has chosen to pursue a degree in science I am constantly, at least it seems so, coming in contact with those who disagree, and most are very strong almost angry. You do have to be ready to give a defense. And now I teach my daughter to be ready.
     
    I Peter 3:15 says: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”niv

  19. Thank you for sharing this conversation! I’ve encountered once such occasion in my Christian walk. I mentioned a faith in Jesus, and *wham!* he went on the attack. Something to note is that athesists are often very well researched- on our side. They’ve read the Bible and other books or documents. They’re prepared to go on the attack. What about us? Are we prepare to stand firm or run away? I’ve struggled with how to relate to someone who believes in no spiritual realm of life the deep stirring within my soul by a God I know so truely to call Father? In some cases, I feel it may be best to simply not provide fuel to their fire. When they’re so set on their argument and stance, their hearts are closed to all else. They’re actively looking for inconsistencies or evidence in what we’re trying to convey. A hardened heart cannot be molded for God by us, in these instances- it must be by God alone. He has the power to soften their hearts and allow them to be responsive to a new understanding of faith. We certainly would want to guard our hearts from partaking in unnecessary quarreling. What would that make us if we, too, launched into an argument when approached with opposing views? A gentle, quiet and loving spirit we would not be. I’m not a conflict oriented kind of person, as God has certainly created me with a meek and mild spirit. Instead of my words, I depend on love. How can I demonstrate a more full love to an individual, and thus show them God? The world is full of individuals like the one you had conversed one- angry and with hardened hearts. Can I love even these? Can I interract with nonbelievers as I do with fellow believers? It’s hard! When they go so fully on the attack as above, then their not open to love or anything else. Again, God’s power is greater. Perhaps I’m wrong, but sometimes the best action to take is to simply offer these individuals up to God in prayer. The last thing we would wish to result is to allow Satin to tear into our faith. I appreciate your willingness to share your conversation on your site! It demonstrates that there are individuals beyond our fellowship circles that are prime and ready for us. It also shows how studied they are in their arguments, and that we would be of benefit to be as informed as well. 🙂

  20. Way to go Courtney. You handled this amazingly. This person is forsure in a dark place and pray that the Lord can get ahold of her before its too late. Thanks for sharing this conversations, it will forsure help us when we need to chat with someone. I would also highly recommend Lee Strobel “Case For Christ”, this is a really good book where he tried to prove Jesus did not exist however got save in the process. He also has books for children helping them to understand.

  21. Courtney,
    You are a remarkable woman who loves God. I do not think I would have had the grace to comment back to that person without getting angry. I was angry just reading it! We live in a world that is not our home so I guess we can expect this. It’s just so ironic that we are told to be accepting of all the sin that happens in this world but we as Christians are mocked and not shown the same respect. Jesus said we would be persecuted and this is a good example of it. I really need to be more knowledgable in this area so that I can defend my faith if this situation ever arises. Thank you so much for being a Godly woman and an example to us as a mother and wife. Love you sister-in-Christ. Stay strong and courageous!

  22. Criticism comes with standing up for the Lord and His truth!

    Your blog is one of the few that really speak to me about God’s call for women. I’ve been married for 16 years and the first 1/3 was terrible! Why? Because I treated my husband like he was less than dirt. I have learned so much over the last several years. Funny thing is, I thought being submissive was a terrible thing, but once I started doing it biblically, then I started seeing changes in not only my attitude and views, but also in my husband’s character and behavior. It’s amazing. Step aside, and let God do the changing!

    Being a submissive wife — not perfectly submissive, but working on it — God has really blessed me and my marriage! I have a better husband because of it. It’s quite surprising how God works!

  23. It is comforting putting trust the one & only God whom we can’t figure out or totally explain – if we could He would just be a very smart man. Sometimes people assume that Christianity came along after acient religions. But if we knowcreation and mans sinfullness it’s easy to see how all these other “gods” mistakenly came about. We are one generation away from being heathen, so although our conscience lets us know the law, w/o the Bible we don’t know our saviour – I guess thats where man made gods or lack of one came from? I just encourage to actually read God’s word for yourself and NOT rely on what you hear on TV. (faith comes from hearing the message) You are a great inspiration and a perfect example of God’s grace!

  24. Courtney – I loved how your heart shifted subtly from solidly *defending* the faith, to directly confronting that individual’s own hope. Who knows what that will do, or where it will lead for her? God bless you, evangelist! His Word bears fruit.

    Scary Mommy – You’re so right about how easy it is to forget the person behind the screen. What a gracious response to a difficult learning experience! 🙂

  25. You handled this really really well. I think I would’ve asked how I was supposed to know this commenter has a brain? I can’t see it. I can’t touch it, but I chose to believe its there, though ill functioning. tee hee 🙂 I think you handled it better than I would’ve! Keep it up, the victory has already been won!
    Blessings, Tonya from 4littleferguson

  26. I remember reading that mocking post you linked to by scarymommy. I was thoroughly unimpressed by her skills at mockery. Really, if you’re going to try to satirize something, you should attempt an absurd twist that shows you understand what you are mocking. All I saw was a inept restatement of what you believe written without a hint of intelligence.

    I guess that wasn’t a very gracious thing to say, though, was it? I rarely have the time to reach out to commenters the way you did, and if I were to ever get that kind of attention from a hostile blogger, I’d be more likely to ignore it entirely than to link it. Why bother? You are a very gracious person to take each point so kindly. I’m sure that’s thanks to the Holy Spirit, so I won’t say I could NEVER be so kind as you are, but I tend to the snarky side of things, so I just keep my mouth shut and delete, lest I hurt my own cause. ;0) Bless you for trying so hard to help this person understand.

  27. I think you did a great job defending the faith, Courtney. I’m not sure I would have spent time engaging with someone that’s obviously just wanting to argue – my experience is that neither has much effect on the others’ beliefs, and both sides usually end up mad (I think you’re already doing a great job presenting yourself as a witness and being prepared to give an answer for the faith that is in you). I really like the point about atheists that a friend pointed out once: “nobody is smart enough to be an atheist.” Assuming the smartest person in the world obtains (and retains) 50% of all knowledge that exists here on Earth (obviously a very generous assumption), there’s still 50% out there that he doesn’t know. So, to assume that there is no God assumes that you know everything. I, for one, am glad to not have to worry about that (because, like you pointed out, I’d sure hate to be wrong!)

  28. You go Courtney! I must say it must be exhausting to deal with all those comments though..LOL! Have you seen The Truth Project that Focus on the Family put out? Our Wednesday night service is studying this so we can learn better how to give an account to those that present just the arguments you have encountered. I am learning so much through these videos!

    Blessings,

    Suzanne

  29. You are doing so much good through this site… I think you did all you could to dialog with the person. Hopefully you have shown him that his logic is false but we know the Gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing.
    As for Scary Mommy, I knew there was a reason I couldn’t get into her blog. I’ve been aware of her blog-celebrity for over a year now but I just could never get into reading… now I know why. I am glad she apologized and I’m sure there have been things on my own blog I wish I could take back but making fun of another person for the world to see is awful.
    At least with all of the criticism you know you are doing something right! 🙂

  30. Courtney –
    Thank you so much for sharing this conversation. This is something I have been trying to learn more about because these conversations can be so trying and it is hard not to lose your temper when people are insulting the most precious thing in your life! Once again you set a wonderful example of how to share your faith! I often go back and watch some of your old youtube videos when I need a little extra encouragement!

  31. Courtney – I loved this! I usually avoid theological arguments because emotions get in the way of truth. You were able to reply with both strength and grace. I wish I could be more like that. =)

    The one thing that stood out to me in this whole exchange was the commenter’s complete trust in science. But how many times over the years has science gotten it wrong? A whole lot! So if science can get vastly important things wrong – like the earth being flat – can’t it get creation and morality wrong, too? Scientists eventually realized that the earth was round. Who knows? There may be a day in the future when they begin to realize that someone outside of the human realm is running the show.

  32. Courtney,
    You are such an inspiration.
    My father-in-law made the comment the other day that atheists have turned themselves into god, there is no higher power than man himself.
    I also like the phrase “The greatest thing Satan ever did for himself was convince the world that he does not exist”.
    You handled yourself beautifully and you should be proud.
    I will pray for the commenter.
    Have a great Jesus-filled day,
    Becky

  33. Dear Courtney,

    Well Done! I feel so sad that you face this but what you do for so many of us is priceless in my humble opinion.
    Many people (I include myself) throughout the ages have been blessed with real life experiences of God’s supernatural presence. We must pray that those with hardened hearts eventually get a spiritual or intellectual revelation or a supernatural experience. Scientists cannot discount evidence that stems from personal experience as to do so is, well, simply unscientific! surely?
    Keep up the good work, you are changing lives, my family has been so blessed by your blog.
    God Bless, Katherine

  34. Courtney, I wish I would have known you a few years ago, when a friend/coworker of mine who happens to be an athiest and I had a conversation similar to the one above. We talked about God-incidences verses coincidence. She told me of a time when she was about 12 and lost her house key and could not get into the house. She sat on the front porch until her parents arrived home. Only to find out that while she was sitting on her front porch, robbers were emptying her house through the back door. As witnessed and reported to the police by a neighbor, who didn’t realize my friend was sitting on the front porch. She knows how lucky she was that she lost that key. Who knows how differently things would turned out had she entered that house. Anyway……Our conversation turned to blind faith, versus faith in the world and on and on.. I just could not understand how she did not see that God provided intervention in all of that. I was not walking strong enough with God myself to provide a good arguement, and this still bothers me to this day. God Bless You for giving words to encourange and stregthen us and give us a better/clearer understanding. You are doing amazing things with your blog. Keep up the good work.

  35. LUV your responses! The folks at No Greater Joy get the same kind of mean people talking trash about them too and trying to thwart their ministry as well. I’ve been attacked recently for talking positively about them and their books I’ve read. I do believe, just as you’ve experienced, that people are slandering them, I know it! because people have said untrue things about them on my Facebook page!

    The bible says that if we live godly we will face persecution. Consider these hateful attacks evidence that you are walking with the King, Courtney! Thank you for sharing and praying for you 😉

  36. Courtney-
    Praying for you. Attacks like these can be overwhelming at times. I know because me brother is an atheist. With some people, I believe the ability to have faith truly must come from God. I once heard a pastor say Satan laughs when we try to reason with people and he trembles when we pray. So now I spend very little time arguing, and more praying. Thank you for your blog and your ministry. You are very encouraging and inspiring.

  37. Courtney you are such a well spoken woman! Thank you so much for this post. As a college student it’s sometimes hard for me to deal with my peers that are so very critical of my beliefs. I think you handled yourself very well in responses and you have taught me so much in all of your blog posts. I appreciate all the great lessons you have to share! Thanks for extra guidance in my walk with the King! Best Wishes xo

  38. As a follower of your Blog who doesn’t always agree with you 100% but finds you incredibly inspiring, it kills me that some people can’t “just click the red x”!

    Your poor atheist friend can’t even spell, let alone cite fact and date. Several of the things she brought up (the Bible being a “new” book, NT being written by people long after Jesus died, etc.) are all actually factually incorrect. She also brought up mythology (which apparently she has studied?) and how Christians “borrowed” stuff from it. But, uh, there’s no proof that they didn’t “borrow” from us. So we’re at a stalemate.

    I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, I have a science degree and my husband also has a science/engineering degree, and neither of us have ever found anything but evidence IN FAVOR of a Creator God. In my extensive anatomy and physiology classes (and even biology) I was continuously amazed at how you can look at a cell and not think “someone” had a blueprint for how it should work.

    The truth our atheist friend failed to mention is that the scientific method (based on observation) cannot account for the creation of the world or the rhythm and harmony with which it functions. Science cannot observe, test, verify, or duplicate the earth’s age, the evolution of human beings, the origin of life, and cannot give purpose to life. And yet, the problem is not Science VS. God. Science and Creator go hand-in-hand. They are not mutually exclusive. You do not have to choose. Sure, my worldview and my observations in science are colored by my “Biblical glasses,” but that is no different than any other scientist. Everyone is colored by their worldview, religion, or lack thereof.

    I usually choose not to engage in these battles, because people will always be able to find evidence for what they choose to believe. And in the end, if I’m wrong (which I am not, I loose nothing. But if I am right, I gain anything. How can you argue with that? 🙂

    1. Aaaand apparently I can’t spell either, but there’s no way to modify my comment. I am imperfect as well!!! *gasp*! 😉

  39. Courtney,
    I had to stop reading your post I was getting so upset from the comments. How can someone not look around and realize that there is God. I run into people once in a while who have this attitude and I don’t deal with it well. Your answers were all dead on RIGHT! I love your blog and thank you for inspiring and sharing with us. Hugs, Bobbi Jo

  40. Courtney,

    I think this scripture correlates with your post. At church we just finished up with a series in 1 Peter and I feel led to share. Continue on! Keep glorifying God you are doing His will and thank you! ~God Bless, Katie

    Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened. But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God’s will to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 1 Peter 3:13-17

  41. Dear Courtney,
    I just want you to know that I am out here and that I LOVE your web-site and your sweet messages. I come here often to feel encouragement in my goals to be a righteous woman, wife, mother and daughter of God. I am not of your religion, but I think you exemplify the qualities and virtues that I espouse so well, that you truly lift me up. I have done several of your challenges and I am better for them. I just wanted you to know that someone out here in the west LOVES you, your family and ALL that you stand for and represent. Thank You!!
    Shelly

  42. Great job, Courtney! You have to ask yourself why this person (and others) felt the need to attack you. If there is no God, then why does he/she care what a Christian blogger writes, what harm can possible come of it! It really seems to rile this person up that you are secure in your faith, Satan hates that! I never understood the phrase in the Bible, “if you are not with Me then you are against Me”. In more recent years I have come to understand it pretty well, I believe. It seems that those who do not believe will not leave those of us who do alone. But Satan is playing a dangerous game, because the evidence is there and there have been several atheist-turned-believers because of their bent on proving God does not exist only to find out tha He does. I have to admit I have the book “Evidence That Demands a Verdict” and have not read it all. I am inspired to open it up again. God Bless You!! Thank you for being a fine example of a Christian woman.

  43. Hi Courtney,

    I have been following your blog for a year or so now and I am always impressed with you and your dedication to your faith and family. I am a fairly newlywed lady who hopes to start a family soon. You are an inspiration of the woman I’d like to be.

    It is hard to deal with the anger and critism of others when they come down on you because of your faith. For me it is in dealing with my LDS family. The arguments come and they are not fun. But I have to remind myself that a.) God calls me to stand up for Him and His truth no matter what anyone may say about me, and b.) you don’t know how the conversation is going to affect them. They may not agree with your statements at first but maybe years down the line they will think about it and God may open their eyes to see.

    I just read an article this morning by Chuck Colson and he said the the atheists claim that their movement is growing, but the statistics show that it is not. They are still at 4% (in the U.S.) and have not moved. Although the article talks about more and more people being churched, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are saved. That is why we need to hold our ground and continue to speak the truth in love to others, believers and unbelivers alike!http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/17798

    One thing that I think makes people not believe the Word is that they think that science or the ideas of man can answer anything life throws at them. They see the bible as being an outdated fairy tale and think all the information and stories are false. The only thing is that way of thinking is false. They see the bible through worldly glasses and we see the bible through our christian glasses. Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis has some amazing resources to share and learn from about the creation account and how it all fits with the way things are in the world. If you haven’t already, I’d highly recommend picking up their videos or using their website. It has invaluable information!

    That is one thing that blows me away and that is when I read the bible and I learn about people like David and his sins of having Uriah killed in order to be with Bathsheba or the children of Israel and their complaining through the desert just days after God has rescued them from Egypt. I see them and their actions, their sins and their desires and I see us even in our modern day struggles. The sins and the feelings are the same we are just in a 21st century setting. There is truly ‘nothing new under the sun’, but unbelievers don’t see that. They just see an old book that they think isn’t true and doesn’t have the answers but in reality it speaks to us at the core of what is wrong with us, why we live in a messed up world and how we can come to God to escape that sin nature we have that will one day be gone forever!

    I’m rambling now, but I just wanted to say ‘you go girl!’ and I am praying for you and your ministry! You are an encouragment to me and so many others! God Bless!

    Kind Regards,
    Nicole

  44. Courtney – I’m really sorry you recieve hateful comments and email. You are an inspiration to me. Our lives look very different but you inspire me to do better with what I can. Thank you for sharing God’s wisdom and your own online. I pray you are truly blessed.

  45. Hi, Courtney,
    I’m not much of a commenter or reader of comments, but I’m coming around. Sometimes I can be so naive to not realize how many difficult comments you and other bloggers that have been called to this ministry might get. I simply don’t think about it. However, when I do stop and think it through, I’m not surprised at all. You are sharing truth and the Word of God. If you weren’t hated, there would be more question, and we should be more surprised.

    One particular verse that stands out to me right now is 2 Timothy 3:12, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

    That is a promise from the Word. I pray that you stand firm and cling to His promises that you will be blessed and grow in perseverance and hope and character. I am so thankful for your exhortation, encouragement and work unto Him. I am an advocate of what you share and have passed along many of your posts to my friends.

    I will pray for you sister and others that work hard to share and challenge and encourage women to be in the world and not of it; to be women that walk with the king.

    Much love, sister,
    Brandy

  46. Courtney,
    You have been persecuted in His name. He calls you BLESSED and we, your readers, are so very, very blessed through you. Courtney, I could just drive over there and hug you. THANK YOU for standing firm for our God and Savior and for the lost too. I have so loved learning from you and just love you all the more for sharing this with us. What a dear sister in Christ you are.

    My heart literally ached for this other person as I read your post. I have been praying for him/her even before this post (2 Pet 3:9). I have been slowly reading Stroebel’s “The Case for Faith” (slowly because it’s not a quick read; soooo meaty with much to mull over). This post has made me want to take it in all the more. I’ll be sure to read McDowell’s book as well (I have read “More Than a Carpenter.”) God bless you and your family and your ministry, Courtney.
    Blessings,
    Toni

  47. Courtney, what courage to be able to post this and to keep trying to share faith with this person. It is sad to me what blindness Satan has inflicted on so many, many people. Praying for the lost is a passion of mine since I have been praying for my own husband who came to faith back last December. He was not as strong as an atheist as this person, but he wanted nothing to do with God and with Jesus and was very scientifically minded. I prayed for him for 7 years after becoming a Christian myself and God opened his eyes to truth and that veil was removed. He was baptized in January and then proceeded to baptize our son the same morning. All glory be to God sister! There is no one beyond His reach and wouldn’t it be amazing if we all joined together and prayed for this person and God did something radical and completely changed their thinking 🙂

    Have a blessed day and thanks for your devotion to God, to this blog and to women,
    Brandee, TN

  48. I just wanted to say that it was the blog post from Scary Mommy, which I only stumbled across one day while poking around on BlogFrog, that led me to your blog and I’m very glad I found you. I thought it was sad the outrage that blog post caused, since it’s such a simple thing to treat your spouse with kindness and how far that can go in making for a better marriage and I think so many people misinterpreted that.

    As far as this conversation, you showed amazing grace and strength in your responses. I know all these things deep in my heart but am unable to come up with anything intelligent when so challenged.

  49. HUGS to you dear sister. You are gracious, good and a great example! I love that we are only responsible for what we say and do…not for what others say and do. So impressed that Scary Mom apologized, and will be praying for truth. Satan has blinded their eyes, their own desires have blinded their eyes (romans 1) and it is a pitiful state to be in. One thing we had to say in chapel at BJU many years ago was “The most sobering reality in the world today is that people are dying and going to hell today.” If we really grasped this, we would be more compassionate and vigilant to spread the good news of the gospel. You do that so well, Courtney. Love you!!

  50. Good for you for standing up to the commenter with truth and sharing the gospel with him (her?) Most of my family is unsaved and there are several atheists/agnostics among them with whom I have these conversations regularly. It is hard not to get fired up and emotional when they lob personal attacks at your intelligence, but you did a good job speaking the truth in love to this guy. As to the point the commenter made about the Scientific Method…. what he fails to mention is that by his own definition, the theory of evolution is unprovable via the scientific method. We can neither observe nor repeat evolution. Yet so many people (my own parents and siblings included) consider it proven and done and mock anyone who disagrees. Boggles the mind. Great job!!! Will be praying for you. I truly enjoy your blog.

  51. Courtney, thank you so much for sharing this post. I admit the conversation made me first uncomfortable and then upset. Uncomfortable because, even though I have been a believer almost my entire life, I would feel ill equipped to stand my ground in this type of situation. I know I would argue the Truth until I was blue in the face, but I wouldn’t have had nearly the facts at hand that you expressed here. So with that, I’m off to find Josh McDowell’s book and add it to my library. Thank you for that resource!

    And perhaps I wasn’t as much as upset as I was sad over this commenter’s failure to see Truth when it is right in front of his/her eyes. So right now I’m saying a prayer that God would use your dialogue to cause a stirring in his/her heart.

    Have a blessed day!

  52. Courtney your right…we should be ready to stand an account for why we believe what we believe. That is something I’m not as educated on as you. Sure glad to have ya..;) But honestly, i sometimes feel i don’t need to be so educated on the evidence…I just believe. I have gone through a period of doubt but constantly coming back to FAITH! The problem is we let our heads get to much in the way of our hearts. To think we are just blobs of flesh walking around that have evolved is a sad way of life. Then why am i so in love with my husband? Why do i cry tears of Pure JOy at Church all the time? One would have to consider themselves a spiritual being before a physical one. Are they afraid to offend their intellect or something? “I don’t know…because if their opening the bible they must be reading it upside down or something.” thanks..:)

  53. Gosh, Courtney! I thought “Scary Mommy” might have left you alone after the whole ridiculing of your “How to Satisfy your Husband” that you received from her last year! Seems she may have “learned her lesson” this time…I will keep this matter in prayer as that is the only “positive” response I can ponder since she did make the effort to apologize for her comments which may have been more harshly responded to than you chose to do. I applaud your patience and loving responses despite her difficult “attitude.” I, myself, was the target of a barrage of nasty, hateful and vulgar responses from her and her followers in a separate incident shortly after her blog post regarding you. I had made a comment in response to her using a crass and vulgar curse word on her Facebook “newsfeed” and was utterly stunned and horrified by the amount of people who proceeded to use the very same (and WORSE) word to describe my suggestion that she refrain from such language in the most “public forum” on Facebook as I felt it “tacky” to put it up where “Everybody” can see (vs. a blog entry where people “in the know” would go to read her full message/s). Look, we are all fallen creatures and I work very hard to maintain a “civil tongue” in these highly volatile times – but occasionally I, too, have been known to slip when it comes to “language”. The disappointing thing about Scary Mommy is that she failed to take the time (that you did choose to do) “hear” and discuss my reasons for making the suggestion that she refrain from cussing on a regular “status update” … over 400 (I think) comments on her blog in response told me “where I could go” and “what I could do with myself” once I got there. I immediately “disliked” her page and haven’t been back since. I, myself, fail to see how we are ever going to return to the time of “civil discourse” if people continue to use such “unfiltered” language in public – I believe it is inciteful and nourishes a general feeling of “anger” in the general population – seems to me that people who use such language tend to be angrier than most and those of us who wish not to hear such language are offended and angered when we hear it. Keep up your wonderful work – it is lovely to visit and never see (not one time that I’ve visited) anything but positive encouragement in our Walks with the King. Your words always engender a moment of peace in an otherwise hostile and frenzied world. God bless, Courtney!

  54. If God is with you who can be against you? NO ONE! Your blog has blessed me beyond measure. Thank you for standing up and speaking the truth……in love!!

  55. Hi Courtney- I’ve emailed you before about how much you impress me , even though I don’t agree with everything (much 😉 ) you have to say. I started writing a post last night about misapprehensions that Christians have about Atheists; given that I’m somewhat in the middle at the moment, I think that I understand the perspective. Atheists aren’t selfish, nasty people who think the worst of Christians- honest!
    Although the post is turning into ‘5 things atheists think about Christians’- not sure how it will turn out 🙂

    Eva@ http://theaspirationalagnostic.wordpress.com

  56. WOW! Just what I needed to read today. Courtney, you are SUCH a blessing. I always read your blog and this is why. Not only are you SO encouraging, but you are so honest about your faith and a very good leader/teacher. My hubby and I are newly saved (march of this year) and are soaking up as much as we can from church, our bible and bible studies. I am a part of GMG and cant wait to start the fall session. My mom is saved and raised myself and my 2 older brothers on her own.They got divorced when I was 4 after my mom received the Lord and my dad wanted nothing to do with it. I was raised Christian however moved as far away from Christ in my teenage years through my twenties. I knew it was wrong but did it anyway. It wasn’t until march of this year that I came full circle and back to the Lord. that’s a long story….. The reason I am writing is because for the first time last night i was approached (in a not-so-nice way) from my oldest brother about my faith. He point blank called me out on it and ridiculed me. I didn’t know what to say so I said nothing. He said to me he was told by several people that “you’re becoming like mom all crazy and religious?!?!” He is not on facebook but he said he was told by several people that I’ve been putting up bible verses and he wants to know why. All I was able to mutter was that I had read them and I liked them so I passed them onto facebook. Any advice as to how to deal with disgruntled family members/friends. I just froze. And not because I am ashamed, but because I do not like conflict at all.
    Sorry this is so long….Thanks for all you do…
    Leah

  57. Courtney,
    What a blessing you are to me! I have faced these same questions by family members and always feel so upset that I did not change any of their thinking. But standing up for what is the most important to us – GOD and our faith- is what truly matters. THank you SO much for doing just that. Who knows? You might have planted a seed that the Holy Spirit will water and that would be one less athiest out there (999,999,999) 😎 God bless you and your wonderful ministry!
    Tammy

  58. Courtney,
    I am so blessed to have found your blog. Just reading this post affirms my belief in God. Thank you so much for sharing your faith!!!
    Many Blessings
    Sue

  59. Courtney,
    You never fail to humble, encourage, and challenge me to be bolder in my faith! I thank God for you and pray His protection over you and your family–thank you for answering His call on your life so faithfully.
    Much love to you my sister!

  60. Thank you for your courage to stand up to this. We don’t share the same religion, but I appreciate anyone who will stand up for Christ. Thank you for your views of marriage. I feel like society is attacking the family, and the role of women within the family like it’s the enemy.

    Thank you for sharing your conversation.
    leah

  61. Courtney I know how hard it can be to shrug off nasty comments or ill conversations like you experience daily…but please know that for every ugly remark you receive you are also being lifted up to our sweet Jesus thorugh prayer by hundreds of women all over this nation. Your blog and sharing your beliefs on how God calls you to live your life is brave and bold …and going to be under attack from the enemy. Take heart in knowing that you are loved and you prayed for daily and no matter how many followers someones blog has …God will have the final word!!

  62. Courtney, I got totally pulled into this post…. I actually felt the spiritual battle….I am so thankful for Jesus and my faith. I have lived without it before and know how these girls think…oh I can just cry because I have been there stuck in the doubt .. nothingness..the sarcasm, feeling alone and disgusted with the world. I just want so badly to never remember how that felt. But, it’s times like this when I realize why God had that plan for me…to experience life without knowing Him for a little while. I praise Him for this new life I have …I have never been happier. As you know I have a very loving hubby of 10 years and 3 beautiful Jesus loving children. Life is life-but it is good because God is at the top of the list now. Love you, Janelle

  63. Courtney, thanks for posting this. It is so easy to get sucked into the “Bible bashing” because we are all so passionate about our beliefs, religious or not. As a Mormon, I, like so many other Christians and really anyone of faith, have felt persecuted and have been ridiculed for my faith and beliefs. So many times I find myself getting worked up about a post or a comment, and I have to just walk away. We need to remember that Satan is the father of contention. Thus, where contention is the Spirit cannot be. Thank goodness for the power of prayer, and how quickly we can invite that good spirit back.

  64. I was extremely impressed by your accurate and well put response to this commenter. I have also read a book form Josh McDowell and knew right off that you had too. Awesome job defending the Word!

    I also wanted to say I had no idea that you received so much negativity regarding your blog. Even a threat… WOW. I recently received a few small negative comments on my blog and I know how much that hurt so I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for you.

    Stay strong in the Word, draw strength from Him and know you testimony is a bright light in this dark world.

    Thanks for everything you do.

  65. when I feel that I am not prepared to argue a theological debate that will stand against someone who seems angry and looking for “answers”, I use on them what they can not disagree with: LOVE. And LOVE seems to be the best way for even “”unbelievers” to be silenced. I often ask, “do you have kids, a mother? Do you love them?” Of course their answer is yes, don’t be rediculous they say. and then I ask, “How do you know you love them?” They often say , I just know, I just do. “Thats my point exactly, Love is there, you know it because you feel it, you can’t see it, you can’t prove it to me, but you know it and feel it and know to be true. God is Love. Love-universally we all feel it, can’t see it, can’t prove it, but can’t live without it. God gave us the love of a child as a small glimpse of how he loves us and to show us how this is possible even though we can’t see it.
    Science is a tool not a faith. when your at your childs birth , a parents death bed, we all call out for God from somewhere deep inside us, and we all want a miracle when we can get one-why-because our faith and hope is not in a science of proof but in the hope and reality of miracles. We don’t need to understand to believe. Ignorance is thinking God having to proof himself to us! I don’t know it all, but I am educated and I have faith in Jesus Christ and 6 years of college have not satisfied my soul as one morning of prayer to my creator—–ALL of our creator-

  66. Thanks for being you, being honest, forthright and righteous. I know if it was me, I would have lost my temper more than once in that conversations. You could FEEL the commenter yelling at you and your calm responses. So glad I found you months ago, your message is uplifting and encouraging!

  67. Courtney, your knowledge and love of God just came shining through! I loved your responses and thank you for posting this. I only pray that I too could find a voice if I ever have to confront something like this. Recently our priest reminded us of our duty to speak the truth, even if it doesn’t win us any popularity awards. I continue to pray for the lost sheep.

    God bless!

  68. I am a medical doctor, with my first degree in science. Thank God for my now dearest friend who totally annihilated me in a theological debate – I thought I knew about evolution, fossil records, carbon dating and the credibility of the bible. I was so wrong !!

    Thank you Courtney and all the brave Christians out there who go out on a limb and challenge people and their comments. Thank you for putting up with the rudeness, the ignorance, the anger and at times the slander.

    Bravo !

  69. Thanks for sharing this. I really admire you. You handled this very well speaking up for our Lord and Savior! I just love your blog. You have a gift. Keep doing what your doing!!!

    Love a sister in Christ.

  70. haha @Cindy!

    Courtney, the joke was kind of on ScaryMommy as it seemed that quite a few commenters completely missed the sarcasm (easily done) and talked about how excited they were about following your marriage advice. =)

    As for your conversation with the commenter – whew! That’s not something that I “know how to do” when it comes to defending my faith.

    And seriously, who attacks a person that is clearly SO happy and at peace?

    Thank you so much for your ministry and keep on keeping on!

  71. I would guess that there are times like this that it may be difficult for you to put “yourself” -your family, your faith, your struggles and your strengths – OUT THERE, for everyone to read and see, and to have your beliefs questioned. Sometimes, we are ignorant to aspects of our faith until a nonbeliever “forces” us to confront it, to learn, and to grow. I just want to say THANK YOU for doing it and persevering through the difficulty and negativity that may find you. To so many of us, you are truly a blessing and we are thankful for the gifts that God has given you!

  72. Thank you for sharing this with us.
    My sister is now an “atheist” and I was there at her baptism many years ago.
    I hear the same negative and argumentative words from her. Sad. We can only be light. The Holy Spirit is the heart-changer.
    I remember the parable of the sower when I am tempted to be angry at her. Sigh.
    Again, thank you.
    HUGS!
    ~me

  73. You {through God} did a wonderful job defending the Christian faith. To be completely honest with you, I was getting madder and madder as I continued to read what that commenter had to say. It comes down to do you have faith in God or do you have faith in man? {As you stated in the dialogue.) My question to you is this: how do you know which negative comments/emails to “entertain” and which to ignore? I probably would have given up half-way through the conversation because they usually end at a dead-end {no pun intended} anyway.

    1. Alana – good question. I delete 99% of the negative comments (or leave them stand without a response from me) here on WLW. Just yesterday alone I deleted 4 off of my blog in different comment areas. I have no desire to debate with the women who follow Women Living Well on my blog or facebook. But out on youtube it appears I have a completely different audience…people stumble across my videos and get enraged…so sometimes I delete and sometimes I defend the faith based on how much time I have that day and what I feel the Spirit leading me to do. It’s a hard decision to make but the one thing I know is I don’t want to turn my blog into a mud slinging place…so I would never have a conversation like the one I had on youtube here. Youtube is just a different atmosphere…it’s a VERY dark place. I am hoping to pierce the darkness with truth there and sometimes that means I have to follow I Peter 3:15.

      Courtney

  74. Courtney,

    Thank you for showing an example of how to be a Christian while stones are being thrown and come out sinless and blameless. As I was reading I remembered Christ’s temptation in the desert and how every time the devil tried to tempt him he quoted scripture. It is through the power of the Word that we will be victorious and this thought, inspired by your post, has reminded me that I need to go back to being more vigilant in my studies.

    I want to also say that I was quite disturbed by the negative image that commenter painted of God. “…the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty…” These are lies, as you said, and if I wasn’t clued in before that this persons heart is held hostage by Satan, I was sure when I read that. Unfortunately, that is an argument I have heard before, that God, especially in the Old Testament seems cruel. I think these people haven’t really read the Bible at all, maybe only snippets, because the God I have read about was a Creator, held a deep love for His people, the Earth, and all that is in it, protected, provided for, and forgave those who called themselves His people. Why was he under obligation to do the same for those who are against Him? When he did seem against His own people, wasn’t it for the purposes of changing their hearts and disciplining them? Once we reach the time of Jesus, he made an ultimate sacrifice, God became flesh and sacrificed himself for their sake so that ALL may have Grace. That doesn’t seem like a hate filled God to me. It is all too easy to only see God through our selfish, one dimensional reality when in fact God is Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient. How can we make such terrible claims against Him when we can’t see things from his perspective? Talk about narrow-mindedness!

    As Christians I know that we should expect attacks, but it always comes as a surprise to me that Atheists have the time to search out our websites and waste their day arguing theology and philosophy with people they have no use for in such a disrespectful way. It doesn’t change my mind in the least, it just makes me more secure in my belief that Satan is on the attack and I need to be ready for him.

  75. I believe in GOD. I do NOT believe ANY prayer has ever been answered. You pray to God for every other cancer patient and I will pray to a bottle of olive oil for every other cancer patient. The amount of people getting “well” will be the same. He does not answer prayer……..but I can not and DO NOT want to deny His existence. I am too scared to. The world had to have a CREATOR.

  76. I think this was my brother-in-law you were dealing with!! Lol. You did a wonderful job!! conversations with these people(no disrespect) can go on like that forever ! We can only pray some seed is planted!

  77. I was intrigued enough by this conversation and what it represents, that I thought it might be beneficial to all involved in this sort of discourse to see it from another perspective.

    Science and religion come from very different backgrounds, utilize very different language, and reflect very different perspectives on life. So much so are these differences that people, whether religious or not, can often get caught in a misunderstanding about what science is, and what we can know from experience.

    I particularly see this issue in atheists who desire to see religious belief as ‘irrational’ or ‘illogical’. They confound science for ‘fact’ and religion for ‘fiction’, while never actually asking themselves what those two words imply.

    The fundamental difference between what science is and isn’t, derives from the inadequacy of inductive logic. Induction is the process by which we oberve an event, and then draw some conclusion from that event. If I see enough swans that are white, I might construct a universal statement saying that “All swans are white”. However, I can never prove my universal statement, because the next swan I see might be a black one.

    It is this fundamental limitation, the impossibility of proving a universal statement from induction, that defines science. Science is not ‘truth’, nor is it interested in finding ‘truth’. Science is the method that pursues greater knowledge of the natural world through falsification of theory. Thus, our knowledge is advanced not by discovering new truths, but by showing our previous assumptions to be false.

    I noticed that in your conversation the person described their faith in the ever rising and setting of the sun. But this is not a certainty. It is a fallacy of inferance by induction. Just because you have seen the rising of the sun every day of your life, on and on for every generation that has passed, does not mean it will rise tomorrow.

    So a theory is scientific if it is falsifiable by some observation, or testable, or refutable. This is the fundamental difference between a theory that is considered scientific, and a theory that is not.

    When you have a theory that is not falsifiable, either explicitly or implicitly, you are saying that there is no observation that can be made that will show your theory to be wrong. Thus, implicitly you are stating that you assume your theory true a priori, and any and all observations will be corroborative evidence. In science it is not enough to have corroborative evidence. The only evidence that is counted toward the credit of a theory is evidence by a test that could have shown the theory to be false. And even then, we do not accept the theory as true. It is merely not yet false.

    There is nothing irrational, or logically inconsistent with accepting a non-falsifiable theory a priori, because it will never have bearing in experience. This is the mistake of the athiest who believes religion to be false, or ‘irrational’.

    I know some deeply religious who people feel threatened by ideas like evolution, just as their predecessors were afraid of earth not being the center of the universe. Yet these people have nothing to fear from experience, no matter its form. No knowledge gained from experience can touch their beliefs.

    So I think much of the misunderstanding between thiests and athiests lies in a lack of education about their own ideas, and not in an actual conflict between them.

  78. This post brought tears to my eyes and makes my heart ache. Thank you. My sister is about to marry a man with this same mindset. We were raised by God fearing parents and she has sacrificed it all for a man. She is now willing to deny her God to appease a man. I don’t know what to say when I talk to her. See they are both well educated and I have an associates and am “uneducated”. They have learned the answers to everything and all I have it this “old book”. I struggle when she laughs at my homeschooling my kids. When she says she doesnt want mention of God at her wedding. No prayers, no blessings. The debates with my brothers and her fiancé have gotten heated lately and leave us all so upset. Thanks for wisdom and faith on this post. Hopefully I can use some of it! I know you are busy, I understand that well! If you can though, please prayer for my family. Please pray for my sister. Thank you again.

  79. I watched your clip on Rachel Ray and bless her heart for giving you a forum as many Christians are brought on stage and the result is disastrous. I tried to get through the comments of this post, but I must say, it was deeply disturbing as I am currently embroiled in a Book Club reading Abolition of Man by CS Lewis and her thoughts and sentiments reflect very closely to Lewis’s 1940’s “prophecy” for man’s conquest over nature. A very small book that packs a one two punch to the stomach. Some would clap for joy at what we have become, I for one weep in distress at the larger masses suffering at their hand. Praise God you were raised to joyfully serve your husband and God has blessed your husband and you as well for setting the stage in your household for a model that your children can hopefully reproduce. I hope when the time comes, they will be able to find a spouse who shares your upbringing! I struggle in my role as my mother was practically Gloria Steinem and did not value family, marriage or children. I am her only. While she tried to exercise her beliefs onto me, it only left me feeling terrible about myself. I became a Christian at 34 and find the church a disaster as well, Christ is alive, but the church can be dead. Titus women are hard to find. I believe in all you say and pray that I am able to get there in my attitude as I know that my family suffers when I suffer. You are so right about the woman setting the tone. Thank you for your ministry, I pray for the Remnant to rise for the sake of our children!

    1. PS. What I mean by the church crumbling is I think world values have taken over the church too and women are playing traditional roles PLUS working outside the home PLUS PLUS PLUS and have no time or energy to disciple the crumbling faction of women raised by feminists. Not that it’s their job to do that, but I get a very mixed message from the congregation at times. I look to ministries such as your for encouragement.

  80. Courtney, as an agnostic with a bend towards atheism, I´m sorry to say not everyone who shares my worldview is interested in an honest dialogue with those they disagree with. Too many dismiss religion without knowing much about it, just as I am sure some believers dismiss atheism and it´s arguments all too easily. While looking over your site, I can say that while I disagree with you on a great many things, I respect your conviction towards your beliefs and your wish to engage those you disagree with respectfully.

    Merry christmas

  81. ありがとう!私はこれはかなりの時間のためのポストによって移動されていません!あなたはそれがブログにあらゆる手段を、それを持っています。人が聞く必要があると言うこと何かを持っているだけでなく、Y​​oureのは確かに誰か。良い仕事をしてください。人々を鼓舞し続けます!

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