To download a printable version of this transcript, click here.
 
 
iQuestions Faculty, June Hunt 
 
 
Question: 
 
How do I communicate with someone who is an atheist? 
 
Answer: 
 
Many people genuinely believe there is no God. They don’t see any 
rationale for that, and they specifically say, “I’m an atheist.” I 
remember talking to a nephew, who was an atheist. I said, “I’m very 
interested in your conclusion. Why do you think you’re an atheist? 
Could I talk with you about this?” and he said, “Yes”. I said, “Are you a 
sincere atheist?” and he said, “Yes”.  
 
I said, “Are you a seeker of truth?” and he said “Yes”.  
 
“Are you a close-minded atheist, or an open-minded atheist?” and he 
said, “Well, I’m an open-minded atheist”. By the way, I’ve never heard 
of anybody ever saying, “I’m close-minded”. 
 
I said, “Well, since you say there is no God, I understand. What I’d like 
you to do is to draw a picture of a round circle that we’ll call—all the 
knowledge in the world.” So, I had him draw this very large circle. I 
then said, “Now, I want you to imagine that this circle is filled with all 
science, all history, all math, all geology, all languages”.  I mentioned 
all these various facets of life. “Could you tell me, how much of your 
knowledge would represent all the knowledge in the world? And, would 
you draw another circle that represents all of your knowledge?” And he 
did [drew a circle]. I said, “OK. Since this represents your knowledge, 
tell me, is it just possible that God could exist outside of your 
knowledge? Meaning, you know that God does not exist here [in your 
 
 
circle]. You are sure. Is it possible that God could live outside of your 
circle of knowledge?” “Well, yes, I suppose so.” 
 
I said, “Thank you for being sincere, thank you for being open-
minded; because that’s true. You know your knowledge does not hold 
any knowledge of God, so He could exist somewhere here [in the 
larger circle]. So, you’re really not an atheist, are you? Instead, you’re 
an agnostic, you’re saying, ‘I don’t know.’” “Well, OK. I guess so.” 
“By the way, since being an agnostic is not going to be an end 
position, in other words, just saying, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know’. 
Either there is a God, or there isn’t a God. Isn’t that true?” “Yes.” 
 
“Well, if there should be a God—now, did you say you were a seeker of 
truth?” “Oh, yes.” “OK. If there could be a God, then would you be 
willing to find out why there are so many people who do believe. And, 
why they are absolutely sure there is a God. Would you be open to 
seeking out the truth that they have found? You did say you were a 
seeker of truth?” “Yes. Well, I suppose so.” 
 
This is an approach that has been very successful. In fact, I would say, 
it’s interesting that in Psalm 14, the first verse says, “The fool says in 
his heart, ‘there is no God.’” Let’s be aware that there are many 
people who really just want truth. They really want to be on the side of 
truth. It’s not that they want to believe a lie. Perhaps because of you 
they would be open to hear the truth, unlike before.  
 
If we could help you in any way, we’d want to do so. We have God’s 
Heart on Atheism and Agnosticism, with many different approaches for 
presenting the truth that there is a God, a personal God of intelligent 
design. A personal God Who changes people’s lives. 
 
Page -2- 
To download a printable version of this transcript, click here.