The Philippines is called the only Christian country in Asia, although this is because a big majority of Filipinos are members of the Roman Catholic church and not because they have repented of their sins and have placed their trust on Jesus Christ. But even if most Filipinos have embraced Catholicism, you can expect that there will be very few atheists in the Philippine society as Catholics also believe in God. So whenever a Christian would share the gospel to a stranger here in the Philippines, stumbling across an atheist is most of the time, the least of his concerns.When I committed myself actively to the ministry of evangelism about three years ago, it took months of regular witnessing sessions before I faced my first ever atheist. Three years after, the chance of me unknowingly already witnessing to an atheist has been happening more often. I've seen how this group that blatantly deny the existence of the Creator have grown in just three years. This is a very sad news for a country that has boasted itself as "the pearl of the orient seas".
The main culprit for the increase in the number of atheists in the country from my conversations with several of them is the educational sector. Colleges and universities here in the country, when it comes to General Education subject, Philosophy, take two roads... a philosophy that acknowledges the existence of God, and a philosophy that denies the fact of a Supreme Creator. The biggest State-ran university in the Philippines where most college-bound Filipino dreams of attending, for most of their Philosophy professors, takes the dangerous second road. 
I also know that even in Catholic universities, there are also a few Philosophy professors that subscribe to the No-God road that are brainwashing their students towards this big lie. One time, I preached in the open-air to about twenty atheist students. I asked them where they got their belief. They told me that it was the administrator of their college that influenced them to be atheists. I believe this is one big reason why we, as parents, must have a hand in choosing which school our children will be a part of.
There are also a few Filipino atheists that subscribe to this school of thought that were not influenced by the educational institutions, but instead, came to the conclusion that there is no God because of the things they see around them. They can't seem to understand why a powerful and loving God could allow evil and sufferings to happen. And so, if these things are prominent in our world (evil and sufferings), then there must be no God for if He does exists, He will, for sure, not let these things happen. Atheists like this failed to understand that we, ourselves, allowed evil and sufferings in this world when we allowed sin to rule our lives. They forgot that the original world that God gave us was perfect, void of evil and sufferings. It was sin that cursed our world. Let these atheists go through the mirror of the Law and they'll understand why all of these things are happening.
I have witnessed to one such person in the past. She was sexually harassed by his stepfather and could not understand why God, if He was truly out there, could allow that to happen to her. While spending the whole day in a park crying and questioning God why He allowed what happened to her, she just made the decision not to believe in God's existence anymore. I explained to her the role of sin in this and her part in making the world more sinful using the mirror of the Law. After that, I spoke about what Jesus did to rescue us from the bondage of sin and what she must do to receive His gift of salvation. This teenage girl was in tears when she left my office after deciding to again believe in God and get right with Him through repentance and faith. A few weeks later, she visited me and told me how she has been reading her Bible and how God has been making her realize so many things through His Word.
The fact that atheists in the Philippines has been increasing in number should not scare us away from sharing the gospel just because we're afraid that we might cross paths with them and be engaged in a heated debate about the existence of God. One reason is because we are sure about the truth (that there is a Creator). Secondly, this Creator is with us during these witnessing encounters. Another reason is because, from my comparison with the witnessing encounters with atheists that Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron show in the Way of the Master TV show and my own encounters with several atheists, I've observed that Filipino atheists are still not yet well-versed when it comes to arguments used by atheists in the West. Most Filipino atheists don't even have a firm grasp of Darwin's theory of Natural Selection and the Big Bang Theory. Yes, there are also some atheists there who can overwhelm you with the scientific jargon that they use in defending their belief, but believe me, there are so few of them. You just need to know what they mean when they use their terminologies and you'll be okay. But for most Filipino atheists, we can easily understand what they're saying and answer each of their arguments clearly in defense of their stand. I once asked an atheist I was witnessing to why he can't believe that a building just appeared without a builder, but he can't accept that all of creation has a Creator. He answered me with this... "I'm sure that there's an answer to that. I just don't know it yet."
To explain why they can't place their faith on Jesus Christ, an atheist told me that the Bible was silent about Jesus' life from age 13 to age 30 which maybe a time when He learned some black magic to explain His miracles, making the fundamental Christian belief that He is God a big hoax. I answered him with another question.. "Why do you believe in Jose Rizal (the national hero of the Philippines) when not all about his life was chronicled in books?" I then explained that the Bible only wrote what was significant in Jesus' life here on earth. Jesus 'ministry years was only in His last three years on earth, and so, the Bible focused more on the events of these years. The same goes with biographies about Jose Rizal.
The reality of atheists increasing in number in the Philippines should make us work double time in sharing the gospel. They can be as passionate as you convincing people to get right with God in convincing others to be atheists as well. Before they get to them, let's get to them first. Before they go to their next prospect, let's convince them (the atheists) that their belief has no basis compared to ours that has the whole of creation as proof. In the school that I help manage, I've made it my goal to give the proofs about the existence of God to our students. In my articles in the school's paper, I've written about atheists' arguments against the existence of God and explained why each of them are wrong and illogical. Before that, I've written proofs about the Bible as the divine Word of God using science and history. The prospect is scary if these students get influenced someday by intellectuals to their atheistic beliefs in the colleges they will choose to enroll in. Before that happens, I'm doing my part in establishing in them a rock-solid foundation to a theistic belief.
The truth is that every non-believer has an atheistic mentality within him/her even if he/she believes the existence of God. Why? Because they engage in sin as if there is no God who will someday judge them. Both the atheist and the non-atheist will experience the wrath of God one day if they will not repent of their sins and trust in the saving-grace of Jesus Christ. Their salvation is our duty, us who have already proven He exists because after we got right with Him (by repentance and faith on Jesus), we embraced His commandments (John 14:21). Unless we do something (like swallow our fears), these people will continue to unknowingly line themselves to the mouth of Hell.
(To learn more on how to witness to atheists, please get a hold of the Intermediate Training Course and the book by Ray Comfort with the title "God doesn't believe in atheists" available at our online store.)
I also know that even in Catholic universities, there are also a few Philosophy professors that subscribe to the No-God road that are brainwashing their students towards this big lie. One time, I preached in the open-air to about twenty atheist students. I asked them where they got their belief. They told me that it was the administrator of their college that influenced them to be atheists. I believe this is one big reason why we, as parents, must have a hand in choosing which school our children will be a part of.There are also a few Filipino atheists that subscribe to this school of thought that were not influenced by the educational institutions, but instead, came to the conclusion that there is no God because of the things they see around them. They can't seem to understand why a powerful and loving God could allow evil and sufferings to happen. And so, if these things are prominent in our world (evil and sufferings), then there must be no God for if He does exists, He will, for sure, not let these things happen. Atheists like this failed to understand that we, ourselves, allowed evil and sufferings in this world when we allowed sin to rule our lives. They forgot that the original world that God gave us was perfect, void of evil and sufferings. It was sin that cursed our world. Let these atheists go through the mirror of the Law and they'll understand why all of these things are happening.
I have witnessed to one such person in the past. She was sexually harassed by his stepfather and could not understand why God, if He was truly out there, could allow that to happen to her. While spending the whole day in a park crying and questioning God why He allowed what happened to her, she just made the decision not to believe in God's existence anymore. I explained to her the role of sin in this and her part in making the world more sinful using the mirror of the Law. After that, I spoke about what Jesus did to rescue us from the bondage of sin and what she must do to receive His gift of salvation. This teenage girl was in tears when she left my office after deciding to again believe in God and get right with Him through repentance and faith. A few weeks later, she visited me and told me how she has been reading her Bible and how God has been making her realize so many things through His Word.
The fact that atheists in the Philippines has been increasing in number should not scare us away from sharing the gospel just because we're afraid that we might cross paths with them and be engaged in a heated debate about the existence of God. One reason is because we are sure about the truth (that there is a Creator). Secondly, this Creator is with us during these witnessing encounters. Another reason is because, from my comparison with the witnessing encounters with atheists that Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron show in the Way of the Master TV show and my own encounters with several atheists, I've observed that Filipino atheists are still not yet well-versed when it comes to arguments used by atheists in the West. Most Filipino atheists don't even have a firm grasp of Darwin's theory of Natural Selection and the Big Bang Theory. Yes, there are also some atheists there who can overwhelm you with the scientific jargon that they use in defending their belief, but believe me, there are so few of them. You just need to know what they mean when they use their terminologies and you'll be okay. But for most Filipino atheists, we can easily understand what they're saying and answer each of their arguments clearly in defense of their stand. I once asked an atheist I was witnessing to why he can't believe that a building just appeared without a builder, but he can't accept that all of creation has a Creator. He answered me with this... "I'm sure that there's an answer to that. I just don't know it yet."
To explain why they can't place their faith on Jesus Christ, an atheist told me that the Bible was silent about Jesus' life from age 13 to age 30 which maybe a time when He learned some black magic to explain His miracles, making the fundamental Christian belief that He is God a big hoax. I answered him with another question.. "Why do you believe in Jose Rizal (the national hero of the Philippines) when not all about his life was chronicled in books?" I then explained that the Bible only wrote what was significant in Jesus' life here on earth. Jesus 'ministry years was only in His last three years on earth, and so, the Bible focused more on the events of these years. The same goes with biographies about Jose Rizal.
We should also remember that in witnessing to anyone, not just with atheists, our goal is to bring the discussion to the realm of the conscience. We should only spend a few minutes in the realm of the intellect. We will only be there to engage the person in a conversation. As soon as the person gets comfortable talking to us, we should right away deliberately shift to the spiritual by asking the person, "Do you think you're a good person?" Then have them face the mirror of the Law which will later make Jesus' sacrifice at the cross of Calvary make sense for the person. Staying too long in the intellect may only remove the chance of talking about sin, righteousness and judgment, and may only leave both of you bitter with each other. Your purpose for talking to the person will be left unattained if you stay too long in the intellect.
The reality of atheists increasing in number in the Philippines should make us work double time in sharing the gospel. They can be as passionate as you convincing people to get right with God in convincing others to be atheists as well. Before they get to them, let's get to them first. Before they go to their next prospect, let's convince them (the atheists) that their belief has no basis compared to ours that has the whole of creation as proof. In the school that I help manage, I've made it my goal to give the proofs about the existence of God to our students. In my articles in the school's paper, I've written about atheists' arguments against the existence of God and explained why each of them are wrong and illogical. Before that, I've written proofs about the Bible as the divine Word of God using science and history. The prospect is scary if these students get influenced someday by intellectuals to their atheistic beliefs in the colleges they will choose to enroll in. Before that happens, I'm doing my part in establishing in them a rock-solid foundation to a theistic belief.
The truth is that every non-believer has an atheistic mentality within him/her even if he/she believes the existence of God. Why? Because they engage in sin as if there is no God who will someday judge them. Both the atheist and the non-atheist will experience the wrath of God one day if they will not repent of their sins and trust in the saving-grace of Jesus Christ. Their salvation is our duty, us who have already proven He exists because after we got right with Him (by repentance and faith on Jesus), we embraced His commandments (John 14:21). Unless we do something (like swallow our fears), these people will continue to unknowingly line themselves to the mouth of Hell.
(To learn more on how to witness to atheists, please get a hold of the Intermediate Training Course and the book by Ray Comfort with the title "God doesn't believe in atheists" available at our online store.)
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