We often hear from uneducated atheists that there is no evidence for God. This silly claim is easily refuted by the mere existence of apologists, whose job it is to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3). Slightly more sophisticated atheists (emphasis on slightly), however, alter the statement. Rather than claiming there is no evidence, they instead allege that there is not enough evidence.
All too often, atheists shift the goal posts in this regard. Indeed, atheists can often be observed changing their standards as and when those standards are met. But just as not all humans are the same, not all atheists are the same. Each man has their own standard of evidence, and their own purposes for having set those standards.
In the header image, you see three former atheists who, upon studying the evidence, became Christians. These three Christians are investigative journalist Lee Strobel (top left), psychopath turned philosopher David Wood (bottom left) and cold case detective J. Warner Wallace (bottom right). Each of these men began as atheists, and yet now, they are very popular Christian apologists.
Following his wife's conversion to Christianity, Lee Strobel set out to investigate Christianity, with the intention of proving it wrong so his wife would return to atheism. Through his investigation, he discovered that Christianity is, indeed, true, and that the evidence for this is sufficient to hold up in a court of law. He presents much of this evidence in his famous book "The Case for Christ", in which he interviews various experts in their fields of expertise.
J. Warner Wallace was an exceptionally successful cold case detective. As an atheist, he knew only two types of Christian: His fellow police officers, who could not defend their faith, and the criminals whom he brought in, who of course weren't living out their faith. However, he eventually obtained and examined a Bible, and upon studying the Gospels specifically, he discovered that they bore all the hallmarks of a reliable witness testimony. He now runs a successful apologetics ministry by the name of Cold Case Christianity.
David Wood is the most interesting of all cases. One would hardly expect a psychopath, of all people, to become a Christian. And indeed, with the way he treated Christians prior to becoming one, you would think he was beyond hope. He was not only a troll, but the worst kind of troll: The kind who would make disgusting sexual remarks about the sister of a Christian, then mock that same Christian as being hypocritical for reacting to his disgraceful comments. But praise be to God, Wood began to study the evidence, and eventually realised that Intelligent Design alone is just common sense, of course coming to the final conclusion that Jesus Christ is Lord. I often marvel at the fact that David Wood, who by all reason has some excuse for his irrational behaviour, is still far more capable of taking Christianity seriously than the more "normal" atheists I have met throughout my life.
So many ex-atheists have been convinced by the evidence to become Christians that time would fail me to mention them all. The fact is, evidence is not the problem: The heart is. It is easy to go through life seeing more and more evidence, yet insisting it is still not enough, but I will never understand the mentality that leads people to do so. I will never understand why people insist that God should personally show up (again) rather than delivering His message through scriptures written by His prophets. I will never understand why people demand natural evidence for the supernatural. I will never understand the extreme stubbornness that convinces some atheists to flat out admit that if God personally stood in front of them, they would still need more evidence! The part that especially confuses me is that these same people who would not believe even if they had seen Jesus walk out of His tomb are so quick to accept Evolution, of all things!
Of course, this is not a trait that is unique to atheists. For 6,000 years, mankind has been in such rebellion against God that not even a personal encounter is enough to thaw our frozen hearts. What can we expect from a species that hates the truth so much that when Jesus healed people without the use of medicine, they blamed the devil for helping Him, persecuted His patients, and even nailed Him to a cross? How well the Lord spoke when He said "A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it..." (Matthew 16:4).
But that isn't where His phrase ends. He continues, with the words "...except the sign of the prophet Jonah." And what is this great sign, which the Lord promised to give, even to those who were still too stubborn to accept even His most impressive miracles? "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Matthew 12:40). Just as Jesus promised, He was betrayed by His own disciple, arrested under cover of darkness, forced to endure the most bogus of trials, brutally beaten, nailed to a cross, and left to die in the most agonising way imaginable. After His death, He was laid in a tomb, but He did not stay there. Just as He promised, He got up and walked the Earth once more, staying on the Earth a further 40 days before returning to the Father.
The resurrection is Jesus' most impressive miracle, and is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Not only is it our chief evidence, but our central message, for through it, we who have rebelled against God can be reconciled to Him. If we believe. Therefore, if you are an atheist reading this, I strongly encourage you to take the same journey as many before you have. Examine the evidence for the resurrection, and you will soon find that the evidence is very strongly in its favour. Once you have discovered this, you have a choice to make: Deliberate ignorance, leading to the second death, or surrender to the King of kings, reigning with Him forever.