​When it comes to learning about apologetics, there are certain books that I consider “essential”: books that thoroughly explain topics that normally come up in conversations where Christianity is being defended. I normally get several questions or objections about the God of the Old Testament. Richard Dawkins, one of the so-called leaders of the New Atheist Movement, put it very bluntly in his book The God Delusion:
 
“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 ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”
​
So if you were told this by an atheist, how would you respond? Is there a difference between God in the Old Testament versus the New Testament? Are there reasonable responses to such harsh challenges? Not only do I think so, I know so. Why? Because I read a book that I know consider one of my essentials. Paul Copan is an author, speaker and apologist, and a professor of philosophy and ethics at Palm Beach Atlantic University. His book, Is God a Moral Monster?: Making Sense of the Old Testament God is a great resource when providing an apologetic response.  
 
Recently, I participated in a friendly debate with someone who felt God allowed men in the Bible to treat women unfairly. If it were not for this book, I don’t think I could have provided a good response to her challenge, but I was able to give a well-researched answer. In biblical times, there was a certain hierarchy which included men at the head of the household, but for practical purposes, were equally influential in their marriages and beyond (pg. 103). The challenge in question was that women were nothing but property, and the young woman provided the verse in Exodus 20:17 which lists the wife as an item not to covet among other items like a servant, ox, donkey, etc. I used Copan’s answers provided in the book and explained five verses prior to that were required to honor our father and our mother. This verse definitely points to the importance of women in relation to God’s commandments. I was glad to have learned this from Copan, and I must say it caused a noticeable reaction in the young woman I was speaking with at the time!
 
Copan’s book takes several instances in the Old Testament and provides a cultural background for each verse or section that is normally challenged. He covers the sacrifices made to God, the covenants and God’s righteous anger, the treatment of children, women, foreigners, and other races. He also takes a few chapters and goes into detail about the strange laws of the Old Testament (i.e. Why is it wrong to eat shellfish?) as well as the issue of slavery and the killing of the Canaanites (both which are hot topics brought up in debates with atheists). All of these are important topics that will eventually come up in conversation with a non-believer.
 
This is one of those books that should be included in the foundation of your apologetic knowledge. The book is easy to understand and provides great insight into what it was like in biblical times. By reading this book, you will become more equipped to answer these questions when they arise, and they will definitely be asked. It is best to have read this one and demonstrate that God is a loving God just like he has always been and not the monster Dawkins and other atheists make him out to be. 
Faith Fortified: https://faithfortified.com/
Is God a Moral Monster?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004EPYPY4/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

5.Science and religion contradict
4.Who created God
3.You were raised that way
2.Religion is the source of the world’s    problems
1.Jesus never existed

​
The number of those who claim to non-religious or atheist is ever increasing. We live in a time where anti-religious objections (specifically toward Christianity) have been frequently proposed. Naturally, not all objections have been sound ones. In this article, I will be going through some of these objections that I label the top 5 arguments atheists should stop using.

Number 5: "science and religion contradict"
This is a very common misconception I often hear made by skeptics and atheists when it comes scientific evidence. This is the issue that religion cannot be reconciled or be consistent with science. However, the contrary is true. Starting from my position as a Christian, this is not the case. Apologists such as John Lennox give a very well rounded and concise position concerning this falsehood. For example, the existence of a jet engine is explained by what? The parts that make it and the laws of internal combustion, or the engineer? It would be bizarre to suggest that both these explanations conflict with one another. Rather, they complement each other and give a coherent picture as to “why the jet engine.” Those who subscribe to a faith and believe in God, view him as the causal agent behind what makes up our physical world. Just as a programmer is the cause behind the code in a computer program. I also hear people say, "I don't believe in god, I believe in science", so are they suggesting because I'm a Christian I reject the theory of gravity? Or the laws of thermodynamics, and so on? This simply is not the case with religious belief.
 
Number 4: "Who created God?"
God's existence has always been in debate among theists and atheists, but this tends to be a common objection. This question is usually posed as a type of conversation stopper, rather than with sincerity. This just shows a lack in philosophical understanding of who God is. God, according to his properties, is not a created being, this question would assume that we are proposing created a God. God can be defined by the following: immaterial, timeless, spaceless, changeless, infinitely powerful, eternal, personal, unconditioned, and endowed with freedom of the will, or ontologically speaking, the highest conceivable being. With God outlined correctly, we no longer have any reason to assume God needs to be created, unless we want to be guilty of making a category error. Since God is a metaphysical being, God can also be viewed as an abstract concept just like abstract objects in philosophy. Mathematics, numbers, shapes, etc. exist entirely on their own with no external explanation but become very axiomatic like the laws of logic. Often, this is a response towards cosmological arguments. This fails due do to not properly understanding what the premises convey. Only things that begin to exist require causes, this follows logically that God would not need a cause due to his divine property of being eternal and timeless.
 
Number 3: "You were raised that way"
When skeptics try to undermine the validity of a person's testimony, this is usually the objection that is raised. While yes, many theists were born into environments where religion is practiced, this does not logically follow that anyone's sole belief in God is only grounded in the fact that they were introduced to it where they were born. This would make the objector guilty of the genetic fallacy. The logical form: The origin of the claim is presented. Therefore, the claim is true/false. Even if the sole reason for a belief in God was due to the brain washing of a specific person, this does not in any way disprove their belief. If God truly exists, then the brainwashed individual has arrived at the correct conclusion. Using myself as an example, I was raised into a religious home, but affirmed my faith through facts and evidence, even though I was born and raised to already believe it. Santa clause, the tooth fairy, and many other myths are usually abandoned at adolescence, but a belief in God holds true for millions at any age, giving us good reason to assume that theistic belief is much more than one’s origin.
 
Number 2: “Religion is the source of the world’s problems”
This position is usually taken by those who are anti-theists and see religious belief as hazardous. A claim that is typically stated is that all major wars were religiously motivated ones and the gruesome atrocities committed in humanity can be ascribed to religion. While yes, certain inhumane actions were rationalized by religious belief, it does not logically follow that inhumane actions can be traced to just that. I can easily look to the history of the 20th century and demonstrate the data. We have enough non-religious ideologies being pushed at the time leading to the death of millions. We have: Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Adolf Hitler, Chiang Kai-Shek, Vladimir Lenin, Hideki Tojo, Pol Pot, and on I can go. All together coming to a grand total of 122,064,000 lives lost. That’s almost 130 million lives lost by the hands of non-religious peoples. Professor R.J Rummel writes in his book "Death by Government" that, "Almost 170 million men, women and children have been shot, beaten, tortured, knifed, burned, starved, frozen, crushed or worked to death; buried alive, drowned, hung, bombed or killed in any other of a myriad of ways governments have inflicted death on unarmed, helpless citizens and foreigners." In the light of this evidence, we can correctly conclude that religion cannot be the only responsible source for humanities atrocities and problems.
 
Number 1: “Jesus never existed”
The reason this is deemed as the worst argument on this list is because of its historically dishonest and scholarly inaccurate position. To claim Jesus of Nazareth never existed would be to deny historical consensus on the subject. It’s a scholarly debate whether Jesus rose from the dead, but to deny his existence is not scholarly. Josephus and Tacitus are often invoked on the matter writing about Jesus of Nazareth in their text. They were two ancient historians and scholars who affirmed the life of Jesus in their written accounts. Here is a link to the full discourse of listing sources: https://beliefmap.org/jesus-existed
​Even non-believing New-Testament scholars such as Bart Ehrman attack this radical view that Jesus of Nazareth didn't exist. The bottom line is that only minority groups hold to this view of Jesus not existing and are seen by professional and academic circles as being dishonest in their work.

Tim runs Invoking Theism: ​https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcXdCHoaSy0kNSv-KwjiSqQ 

The word atheist can be dated back to the 5th century BC, which was used by the Greeks (History of Atheism). The Greeks used it as a word meaning without Gods, since they were polytheists. Diagoras of Melos is considered to be the first atheist, along with Theodorus of Cyrene. They did believe in the God’s, but they did not believe they intervened in human affairs (History of Atheism). This is what we call classical deism which was developed during the enlightenment. Protagoras proposed the proposition of agnosticism, but is different from atheism (History of Atheism). It was a crime against the capital of Greece to be an atheist or deny the God’s. Socrates himself was executed for his lack of belief in God, but he himself denied the charge of blasphemy. Many of Greece’s citizens may have been “closeted atheists,” but did not share their lack of belief for the sake of their own lives (History of Atheism). The word atheist did not get it’s more modern meaning until the sixteenth century.
 
“The System of Nature” is the first book to publicly deny the existence of God. This was during the time of the of the enlightenment when religious thought started to be challenged. David Hume was a famous agnostic philosopher who coined that religious thought is irrational. Many still denied being atheists because of the capital punishments of being an admitted atheist (History of Atheism). The French Revolution was the event that was inspired by the American Revolution after America became an independent nation. The French Revolution happened from 1789-1794 and helped the spread of the atheism in Europe to this day. “(Between 1700 and 1750 thousands of atheistic clandestine manuscripts circulated across Europe (although still only read by a very small minority)” (History of Atheism). These documents ultimately help spread the antireligious thought from the French Revolution to the New Atheists in the modern day of western civilization. The enlightenment mainly targeted the Roman Catholic church of England for their attack on scientists, like Galileo. However, many scientists of this time were Christians and even apologists as well like John Locke, Descartes, and Pascal.  Many became antireligious and even against atheists who were okay with religion. The French revolution was against the tyranny of the religious king of France. If the French Revolution didn’t happen, then atheism would not be as well spread in Europe today (History of Atheism).
 
The Enlightenment was powered by skepticism, doubt, and uncertainty. 'If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him', wrote Voltaire" (History of Atheism). This meant that people were starting to doubt the existence of God and would ultimately lead to nihilism. Nihilism is simply the view that there is no ultimate meaning, value, or purpose to life. “Thoughts and Feelings of Jean Meslier: “Clear and Evident Demonstrations of the Vanity and Falsity of All the Religions of the World” was the first modern book to promote atheism with its critiques of the soul, miracles, and the existence of God. This marked the real promotion of die-hard atheism (History of Atheism). Hume was another contributor to the skeptic movement with his assertion of miracles and the historicity of Christianity. He was more of a hardcore agnostic in all reality. Hume and all the enlightenment atheists and agnostics were naturally naturalists. They believed that the universe has always existed and did not need a cause since it did not come into being (History of Atheism). The Cult of Reason terrorized religious sites and public practices. They ransacked churches and discriminated against religious belief. All though most of the advances made by the enlightenment were made by Deists and Christians, skepticism had its part in the enlightenment and would not be here without the enlightenment (History of Atheism).
 
Communism is inherently directed by atheistic ideology driven by Karl Marx. Karl Marx was a secular Jew, but only considered to be Jewish by descent. Karl Marx was the founder of Communism and Marxism. Marxism is an ideology influenced by all of Karl Marx ideas. Karl Marx believed that religion was a main factor of stopping society from becoming the ultimate Utopia. Karl Marx along with Friedrich Nietzsche influenced the rise of the Soviet Union with their antic-religious beliefs (History of Atheism). Friedrich Nietzsche in his book “Gay Science” announced the death of God. “God is dead and we have killed” - Friedrich Nietzsche. He predicted the genocide that would occur from taken God out of society. The twentieth century was the bloodiest century of all time due to the rise in secularism and communism. Stalin, Mao, Lenin, Pol Pot, Mussolini, and questionably Hitler were atheist leaders who oppressed religion. They killed millions with their crusades against religious people and religious thought. They were inspired by the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Nietzsche (History of Atheism). The twentieth century didn’t give atheism a good name just as the crusades didn’t give Roman Catholicism a good name.
 
The New Atheists are the most modern atheists. They are the most hostile atheist group to intellectually challenge modern religious thought. The four horsemen of the atheist apocalypse are Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens. They’ve all written books expression their anti-religious views and are very provocative to religious people. Richard Dawkins has written “The God Delusion” which has sold over 2 million copies, which has influenced this movement of new atheism. Christopher Hitchens has written “God is not Great” claiming that all religion and their God’s are immoral. These men were influenced by the events of 911 and the history of religious violence. They believe that religion is poisonous to society and must adapt to societies standards. If not, then religion must be wiped for society to evolve to the next stage. The claims of these men are influencing many people and we could have another French Revolution. These are the modern day atheists who have their agenda for religion (Mohler 2008:15-37; Taylor).
​
 Sources:
 Mohler, Albert Jr. Atheism Remix. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2008. Book.
 Taylor, James E. “The New Atheists.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Westmont College, www.iep.utm.edu/n-atheis/
 “New Atheism.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Oct. 2017,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Atheism.

​What Jesus says…
Jesus’ mission was to bring people back to God. So naturally He would have the answer, and most importantly be the answer on how to be forgiven and be returned to a right relationship with God.
 
“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” – John 5:24
 
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” - John 3:16-18
 
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”  - John 11:25-26
 
“Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come. This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’? But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.” – John 8:21-24
 
“On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” – John 7:37-38
 
“For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” – John 6:38-40
 
What the Disciples echoed…
After Jesus, the apostles took the commands and teachings of Jesus and obeyed His command to spread the good news. They echo the same things Jesus spoke of in receiving Him and forgiveness from God.
 
“And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.” – 1 Thessalonians 2:13
 
“They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” – Acts 16:31
 
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” – Hebrews 11:6
 
“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” - John 20:31
 
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” – Romans 10:9-11
 
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” – Ephesians 2:8
 
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.”  - 1 John 5:13
 
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” – John 1:12
 
 
What are works for then?
Some confusion has then entered on whether we still must do good deeds/works for salvation or to keep it, or whether it is unnecessary now since salvation. Scripture gives a resounding neither. First, let’s look at what Scripture says about salvation by works:
 
"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."  - Ephesians 2:8-9
 
""I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly."" - Galatians 2:21
 
"So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy." - Romans 9:16
 
"But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace."  - Romans 11:6
 
"What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS."" - Romans 4:1-7
 
"Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified." - Galatians 2:16
 
Scripture is clear here, that a man cannot be saved by his own merits and works. For if he could, then why would Jesus have to come to die in the first place? Man should just work harder. Scripture is adamant that man’s works are worth nothing to God in light of man’s sin:
 
“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away."  - Isaiah 64:6
 
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” – Hebrews 11:6
 
“Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” – Romans 10:3
 
“Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.” – Romans 4:4-5
 
“Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.” – Acts 13:39
 
Scripture therefore closes any route to salvation by the Law or works. So therefore, we do not do works to keep our salvation because it couldn’t even attain it; and to suggest doing works to keep our salvation attempts to claim that we can lose it. Scripture says:
 
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” –
2 Corinthians 15:7
 
Here Scripture calls those who are saved entirely new. Our old self is gone and a new creation in Christ is now here. It therefore seems impossible being entirely new and in Christ to return to our old self which is no more.
 
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” – Romans 5:1
 
Here we are formally declared justified once saved. This justification is to be completely righteous through Christ. It says we have peace with God. For God to revoke salvation is for God to go back on His Word and rescind what He formerly declared righteous.
 
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” – John 3:16
 
The most recognizable verse in the Bible also shares with us the eternity of one’s salvation. God tells us that whoever believes in Christ will have eternal life; and to claim God would take that promise away is to make God a liar.
 
“You also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory” – Ephesians 1:13-14
 
When a person becomes saved, he is marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit as a guarantee and a promise of their inheritance of salvation and life with God; once again, to claim God would revoke such a promise is to claim God lies and breaks His promises.
 
“for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.” – Romans 11:29
 
Here it is made clearer. Promises, gifts, and even life given by God cannot and will not be taken back.
 
“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:38-39
 
Once we are saved, nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God.
 
“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” – John 10:28
 
“And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.”  - John 6:39
 
Those whom God has will not be taken from His very grasp, for they are His.
 
So now that Scripture has established that no one will come to God through his own works, and that one who is saved cannot lose their salvation, what does Scripture say works are done for in terms of the Christian?
 
“Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.” – Romans 7:4
 
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”  - 1 Peter 2:24
 
“For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” – Galatians 2:19-20
 
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” – Matthew 5:16
 
“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness”, and he was called God’s friend.  You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” – James 2:14-26
 
Even here James says Abraham believed God, had faith in Him, and he was given righteousness only through faith. Here James is asking people who say they have faith but nothing to show for it: “how can you prove your faith with nothing?”  The works, as James says, proves our faith that already save us. This is why James says I will show you my faith by my deeds, not I will show you my work for my salvation from my deeds. The faith saves, the works stem from an already saving faith.
 
Jesus said you will know them by their fruits: "15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits." - Matthew 7:15-20
 
Here Jesus explains this concept further for us. An already evil tree, unsaved, will obviously bear evil fruit. A healthy tree, one who is already saved, will obviously bear good fruit and show that they are good trees already. Jesus then says you will be able to recognize true believers by their fruits/works. You can recognize if they are really saved from genuine faith. This is what James draws on here. He stems from Jesus's statements and explains that those who are saved will have works to couple their faith and prove it. The faith is already there or not, the works prove it.
 
 
Conclusion…
In the end, our faith is what saves and justifies us and our works stem from that faith and prove it. They are entwined and inseparable, which is probably why some people mistakenly interchange works for faith in salvation. Jesus did the works and lived a righteous life. He gives His righteousness to us and declares us righteous. We are then set free from the bondage of sin through our faith and become servants to God, loving His Word and hating sin. This love for Him will cause a natural gravitation towards obeying His commands, though not perfect still in the body of corruption, but being continually sanctified. That natural desire to obey Him is where our works flow from our already saving faith.