An Atheist Makes The Case For Sharing The Faith

Penn Jillette is a well-known, outspoken atheist but he says something interesting about the idea of sharing Christian faith.  He uses the word “proselytize” but we can think of it as sharing the faith. 

Here’s the quote, “I’ve always said that I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there’s a heaven and a hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward…how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”

Again, Jillette is not a believer.  But he is just expressing a simple and fairly undeniable logical thought process.  If you are a Christian who really believes in the God of the Bible and you believe heaven and hell are real then it only makes sense that you would want to help people come to know Christ.  In fact, Jillette is basically saying that to believe these things and NOT tell people about them reveals—in his words—something like hatred for the person.

It’s an intriguing comment because we don’t normally have well-known atheists making the case for the logical consistency of Christians attempting to share the faith.

Jesus talked about sharing the faith, too.  He challenged His followers this way…

“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’”  Matthew 28:18-20