Agnosticism has been defined as “the view that the existence of God can’t be KNOWN.” The Agnostic doesn’t “deny there is a God”; he simply says, “NO ONE CAN KNOW or prove that there is a God.” The word itself comes from the Greek prefix “a” (without) and “gnosis” (knowledge).

The problem with dealing with a firm agnostic is there is no “common ground” in which to argue from. An agnostic does not believe that the Bible is a “revelation from God that was given to mankind so that they may KNOW that He is God.” If we can’t use the Bible to “prove there is a God” we aren’t able to persuade them from the only REAL AUTHORITY that can change their view about the existence of God.

Having said that, I still engage agnostics and quote Scripture to them. Why? Because I know the POWER of God’s Word! I will tell them that I too was once an agnostic; in fact, at one time I was trying to “prove the Bible was just written by men to make people feel good and to give them some hope in life.” But in my attempt to prove the BIBLE WRONG, the Bible proved ME WRONG! Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and POWERFUL, and sharper than any two-edged sword…. and is a DISCERNER (Judge) of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” There was a real irony in my experience, for I was “sitting as a judge over the Bible” and as I read it “the Bible became a judge over me.” It convicted me of my lost and sinful condition, and I became convinced there was a God that I would have to give an account to someday. But I was also reading that God wanted to save sinners (1 Timothy 2:3-4) so eventually I had an intense desire to be saved. Soon after that, God used His Word to show me that He had given His Son to take my place in death on the cross to pay for my sins (John 3:16; Romans 5:6-8; 1 Corinthians 15:3 and 1 Peter 3:18) and by the grace of God I BELIEVED THAT CHRIST DIED FOR ME. The Bible says in Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” This is what the Word of God did for me; as I read the Bible “it produced FAITH in God and His Word!” If my agnostic listeners have been willing to listen to my testimony this far, I then encourage them to “read the Bible for yourself with an open mind” and God’s POWERFUL WORD can bring you to faith too!

Besides telling agnostics of my salvation and encouraging them to read the Bible, I also like to give them verses in Scripture which speak of how you can KNOW you are saved and have eternal life. One of my favorite passages is 1 John 5:11-13, “And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” This ASSURANCE of having eternal life comes from God’s Word to us. It is not based on FEELINGS but on God’s Word alone. And once we have eternal life given to us, we have the capacity to come to know God personally in a deeper way. Jesus spoke of this in John 17:3, “And this is eternal life, that THEY MAY KNOW You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” If your family is willing to listen to you as you quote the Word of God (even though they don’t yet believe it is God’s Word), they may very well be impressed that His Word speaks so clearly of how we can KNOW we are born again and we can KNOW God. This is the absolute opposite of Agnosticism! I have prayed for you as you witness to them, and I have prayed they will indeed come to KNOW the Lord Jesus as their Savior. This should be your prayer too before speaking to them. In closing, Jesus said in John 10:14, 27-28, “I am the good shepherd, and I KNOW My own and My own KNOW Me…. My sheep hear My voice, and I KNOW them, and they follow Me, and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish.”  (DO)  (731.3)