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Answering Objections to the Gospel: A Self-Study Course

“That’s fine that you believe in Jesus; but that’s not truth for me.”
“Oh, a Christian? So, you’re a mythologist!”
“The Bible is just a bunch of words written by monks in the Middle Ages to keep society under control.”
“You know, I used to go to church, but I stopped going. Everyone there was a hypocrite.”
“You’re so brainwashed! Jesus was just a good man. How can you believe he was God?”

Every Christian, if serious about walking with God, will come up against statements like these at some time or another. Every single person outside the family of God has one or more objections to the Gospel. Some objections, like those above, are obvious and easily articulated. Some are deeper within the person – perhaps ignorance to the person of Jesus, or rooted in a hurtful encounter in times past. Either way, it is the duty of the sincere believer to answer any encountered objections with truth, tact, and wisdom.

In this self-study course, we will look at principles for dealing with objections that non-believers may have to the Gospel. Because individual objections could well number in to the thousands, we will deal with two main categories – intellectual objections, and personal objections. Each of these categories encompasses many more objections, but each category has broad strategies and techniques useful for addressing any questions or attacks that may arise. In addition, we will examine some tools that are useful in answering objections. However, first we will start by looking at a passage of Scripture to set the tone.

Scriptural Foundation

One of the best-known and well-stated passages about dealing with objections to the Gospel is 1 Peter 3:15. It reads, “…in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” We will briefly mine this verse for the truth it contains, and see what we can learn.

First, we are to set apart Christ as Lord. This clearly means that we must be in right relation to Christ in order to adequately deal with the objections of others. We should have submitted to his Lordship by confessing our sinfulness and asking him for his free gift of salvation. Furthermore, we should be in a state of fellowship with Christ, rather than indifference or rebellion.

Next, we are to be prepared to give an answer. We should know Scripture, what it says, and what it means. We should know evidences and apologetics. We should also be regularly engaged in answering questions about the Gospel. All of these things prepare us more and more. Further, it is important to be prepared with truth. A sound and full knowledge of the truth is the best way to spot and counter error. Studying error itself has some value, but much less value than studying truth!

Moving on, we should give an answer to everyone who asks us to give the reason for the hope that we have. We are not limited to answering a certain type of person; we are told to answer everyone. Furthermore, we are not told where these people are or what their objections will be. It could be anyone, and they could have any objection. The believer who seeks truth and seeks to defend truth will assuredly hear some strange objections. Even so, we are told to give an answer!

Finally, we are to do this with gentleness and respect. Our reputation is not at stake when we are called to give an answer to an objection. Jesus said, “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” (Luke 10:16) This gives us freedom to be gentle and respectful. We do not need to argue, threaten, or convince. A close reading of 1 Peter 3:15 shows that it say we are to give an answer, not to make someone else believe or agree with our answer. And, as we will see shortly, gentleness and respect are in fact incredibly powerful tools to use when dealing with an objection!

Text Questions to Consider

What are the most frequent objections you have heard to the Gospel? How have you answered them in the past?

Why should we be prepared to answer objections?

Write two pages on some instances where Jesus dealt with objections the Gospel.

Bonnie Bradlee studies graduate level theology online from home. She pays No tution, gets all her textbook free, and yet the course is unmatched in quality and depth. Visit her school online NOW! Trintiy Graduate School of Apolgoetics And Theology

“I just don’t believe that the Bible is inspired.”

“I could never believe that the Bible is inspired.”

Are these two statements the same? On the surface they may seem to communicate the same message, but do they? Can you spot a subtle difference, other than the different word choices?

A Christian who has a lot of experience talking about the Gospel may have learned to discern the difference between the two. The first statement expresses a certain belief, or lack thereof. The second statement expresses the inability or unwillingness to believe. You should see by now that the two statements do not in fact say the same thing, but rather they are saying very different things.

When speaking with non-believers, it is important to discern for yourself whether their objections are intellectual objections, or objections of belief or knowledge, or if they are personal objections, or objections due to a deeply held emotion or prejudice. While there is much crossover between the two, it is useful to take a look at each type and see how best to discern and deal with them. We will first broadly deal with the two types by looking at some examples from Scripture. Later we will examine how to handle them.

In John 20:24-29, we see the story of Thomas. Jesus has died and resurrected, but Thomas is a little behind in his knowledge. The disciples, others of whom were also skeptical like Thomas, have encountered just encountered the risen Christ, and are trying to tell Thomas about it. Thomas, for whatever reason, is unwilling to believe them. He says in verse 25, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” Thomas has an intellectual objection!

It is worth our time to pause a moment and see the world from Thomas’s perspective. He has spent many months on the road with Jesus. He has lived with Jesus closely, and has seen many wonders. He has seen people healed, the dead raised, and sinners forgiven. He has seen Jesus outsmart the Jewish authorities time and again. He has come to love Jesus dearly, and even see Jesus as an invincible ruler. Now, a few days earlier, the very people Jesus has outsmarted for so long have killed Jesus. Thomas’s good friend is gone, and he is hurting.

So what does Thomas do? He creates a defense in his mind that he will no longer get his hopes up unless he has some hard evidence. It is a totally natural response, one for which Thomas should not be faulted by us. Several days later Jesus appears to the disciples, and first addresses Thomas with the proof Thomas had required. Jesus even calls Thomas ‘blessed’ for seeing and then believing.

This interaction between Jesus and Thomas shows us that an intellectual objection to the Gospel is something to be understood and addressed. As long as a person wants to believe, and is responsive in the face of contrary evidence, we should gently and purposefully expose them to facts and arguments tailored to address their concerns. We will deal more with a specific strategy in a later section.

Contrast Jesus’ response to Thomas, which while firm, was also loving and meaningful to Thomas, with Jesus’ response to the Pharisees. In Matthew 23, Jesus has nothing but woe and warning for the Pharisees. In fact, from earlier interactions between Jesus and the Pharisees, one might notice that Jesus rarely answers the questions of the Pharisees directly. Rather, Jesus answers with other questions, or with parables, or with words of woe! Why is there a difference between Jesus’ answer to Thomas and Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees?

The difference may be found in the nature of the Pharisee’s objections, versus the nature of Thomas’s objections. Both Thomas and the Pharisees saw Jesus at his most powerful and most inspiring, but they came to very different conclusions about who Jesus was. In the end, Thomas doubted because he lacked knowledge. The Pharisees doubted because they refused to believe.

Why did the Pharisees refuse to believe? What was their objection? They were in positions of power and influence and were used to the perks and admiration that comes with such power. This blinded them to who Jesus was. In short, their objections were not intellectual, although some Pharisees masked it as such. They knew the Scriptures and its prophecies well; they witnessed Jesus’ wisdom and power; they saw people healed. And yet, in the end, their personal reasons for doubting Jesus won the day.

That is the nature of personal objections. Put simply, they are objections that arise from some experience, belief, or opinion that are not subject to rational scrutiny. They are probably emotional in nature, making them very difficult to counter with reason. They may be the result of a deeply help bias or prejudice. The Pharisees objected based on fear of losing their power, and a contempt of those not educated in their tradition, demonstrating both emotion and prejudice.

Test Questions to Consider

Think of one example of an intellectual objection and one example of a personal objection that you have faced. What things were useful in countering each one?

Read John 4 and the story of Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well. Write two pages on her objections to Jesus, both intellectual and personal, and how Jesus countered those objections.

Bonnie Bradlee studies graduate level theology online from home. She pays No tution, gets all her textbook free, and yet the course is unmatched in quality and depth. Visit her school online NOW! Trintiy Graduate School of Apolgoetics And Theology

“How do you know Jesus really existed?”
“Genesis is just a compilation of manuscripts from several different sources. It isn’t authoritative.”
“What about the people who never hear about Jesus? What happens to them?”

Every Christian at some time or another has had somebody ask them a question about their beliefs. For many people who do not know Jesus, Christians are a curiosity. They think they know what Christians believe (although they don’t; if they really did know about grace, forgiveness, and eternal life, more of them would be believers!), but have heard so many negative perspectives, oversimplifications, and attacks, that what they know is incomplete.

We live in a time where evidences for the veracity of the Christian message are not readily available to the general public. Those who look can find them easily enough, but they are not highly visible. As such, a professing Christian will draw frequent questions. In the same way that Jesus did not fault Thomas for needing evidence, we should not fault non-Christians for needing evidence.

Answering intellectual objections can be as easy as referring someone to a book or website about apologetics. It can also be more involved, requiring much patience and many conversations.

Here are some strategies to make the most of dealing with the intellectual objections of others:

1. Ask questions. Before giving a detailed answer that may miss the intent of the question, probe a little bit to get a clearer picture of what is being asked. Ask the person where they heard that fact, or why they hold that particular objection. Ask them if they have read any books dealing with the topic, and if so, which ones? Find out their church background, and how that has influenced them. Getting a good picture of the person, the nature of their question, and their background will help tremendously to avoid wasting time or falling victim to miscommunication.

2. Don’t argue. Remember from 1 Peter 3:15 that we are not charged with convincing someone, but with giving him or her an answer. God and His word will change a person’s heart and beliefs. Choosing to not argue is a very powerful stance to take. Many non-believers stereotype Christians as pushy and argumentative, and are surprised when we are not that way. Besides, arguing is rude, causes people to get defensive, and communicates that the aggressor is coming from a point of weakness that requires opponents to be attacked in order to win.

3. Admit if you don’t know an answer. It is OK not to know something. To be ready to give an answer is not the same as being omnipotent. No one is all knowing. Besides, the humility demonstrated when someone says they don’t know an answer is very appealing to many people. Always make sure to find out the answer to that question, though. Simply stating, “I’m not sure. Can I look in to it a little and get back to you in a couple days” is a great way to handle a question that you don’t know.

4. Be familiar with several different resources. There are numerous good books and websites available that deal with issues that may be encountered when dealing with an intellectual objection. One should familiarize oneself with some of these resources, so that the honest inquirer can be directed there for further investigation.

5. Beware of ‘rabbit trails’. Rabbit trails occur when the discussion goes off on a tangent, or when inconsequential issues take the forefront, or when a person asks the next question before the last question has been answered. Don’t follow the rabbit trail, because it is confusing and counterproductive, and many times leads to argument. Stay on track, and politely insist that one point is made before another one is taken on.

6. Know the truth. The truth is the most powerful weapon we have to counter error. Many people think that if they know all the answers to any question that may be asked, that they will then have command over the facts in a discussion. A better plan is to have a command over the truth, and deal with the errors as they arise. To study every erroneous view of Scripture is nearly impossible; to acquire a solid understanding of Scriptural truth takes much work, but less time. After all, truth comes from one perspective, whereas error comes from many.

7. Know when to end the conversation. If a person begins mocking, or arguing, or talking in circles, or putting up smoke screens, or if the person is unreceptive, it may be the time to end the conversation. Many Christians fear this, as if ending the dialogue will somehow damage the other’s opinion of Jesus. But again, we are charged with giving an answer, not with changing someone’s mind. If the answer is not sufficient to change their thinking, it can be counterproductive to continue. Simply thank them for their time, mention that you enjoyed talking with them, and move on.

8. Pray. God loves the head as well as the heart. God hears when we ask Him to illuminate truth to another person.

Answering intellectual objections can be fun and rewarding. It is a time a great growth, when faith and knowledge are challenged. Keep in mind that God loves it when people seek truth, whether that person is in Christ or not. A person apart from Christ must seek truth to find Jesus, and we can help him in his search!

Test Questions to Consider

What are some ways to know if a conversation has become unfruitful? How should you respond?

What intellectual objection has caused you to read and study the most? Write two pages on how you would answer that objection if you came across it today.

“How can you really believe that Jesus is God?”
“I used to go to church, but not anymore.”
“Yeah, my parents believed that stuff.”

Answering personal objections can be much more involved than answering intellectual objections. A person who has a personal objection likely has put it in place as some type of defense mechanism to protect them self from harm, real or imagined. To further cloud the water, a person might hold on to a personal objection in the form of an intellectual objection. How is one to know the difference?

Thankfully, according to James 1:5, God freely gives wisdom to those who ask for it. So, we can be assured that God will give us the wisdom to recognize personal objections and the best course of action to counter them.

The first thing that is important to keep in mind when encountering a personal objection is that successfully countering the objection may not in fact even lead to a full Gospel presentation. Rather, success may be merely identifying what is causing the objection in the first place.

For example, a conversation with a classmate reveals that he hates Christians and thinks they are deceived and foolish. In this case, would success be convincing him that Christians are not foolish? Not likely. Better yet, success might be finding out why he thinks Christians are foolish. Perhaps he grew up in a cult-like environment, and saw people swindled and deceived all the time. If that forms the basis of his impression, suddenly we can better empathize with his objection, and more effectively target our interaction with him to overcome this objection.

Here are some strategies to overcome personal objections:

1. Take the long view. If someone has an objection based on something that happened to him or her a long time ago, it could take a long time to overcome those feelings of hurt, etc. Of course God can and does work in an instant, but we should be patient and wait on the Lord and not get frustrated if nothing happens right away. It can take time to for someone to change his or her core assumptions.

2. Ask questions. When faced with personal objections, it is appropriate to ask personal questions, within reason of course. Ask about their religious background, and how that has shaped them today. Ask them what they have seen that causes them to think the way they do. People are generally surprised when someone asks them why they think the things they do. It shows that we care about them, rather than just trying to convince them to think like us. There are numerous questions that can be asked and scenarios that may be encountered. The principle here is that good questions help us to know more about the person and their assumptions, allowing us to better target their objection.

3. Empathize. Empathy is the ability to feel what other people feel. When we empathize, it shows the love of Christ to others. A person who has a deeply held objection usually has been hurt or mislead by someone they trust. This makes it hard for them to trust other people, and God. By showing sorrow for what happened, or feeling what they feel, we show people that we really do care. Empathy is a powerful vehicle to establish trust with others. Do not be afraid to apologize for wrongs done to that person by someone else.

4. Remember – don’t argue. Arguing likely caused the objection in the person in the first place. More is less in this situation. We are not to convince, we are to give an answer. We need to trust that God will work in that person’s heart through our answer.

5. Know when to quit. We see this principle in the way Jesus dealt with the Pharisees. Their hearts were so hardened with jealousy and hatred that they were no longer capable of seeing the truth. As a result, Jesus turned to the poor and lowly to receive the kingdom. Likewise, when someone’s heart is hard, no amount of empathy or logic can penetrate. It is a good idea at this point to disengage the conversation and pray in earnest for that person.

6. Pray. Prayer accomplishes much to soften the heart and weaken the objection. It is a powerful weapon that we should never hesitate to use.

In summary, personal objections usually run deeper than do intellectual objections. But if we take to heart Peter’s words of using gentleness and respect, we can do a lot to counter those objections by modeling the character of Christ.

Test Questions to Consider:

Is there anyone in your family who has a deeply held personal objection to the Gospel? Why do they have that objection? How can you begin to counter it?

Write one page telling the story of how you or someone close to you overcame a deeply held personal objection to come to a relationship with Jesus.

Hopefully the tools and strategies given so far are useful. A question that often arises is, “When I meet someone, they are a blend of all these things. They have deep personal objections, as well as intellectual objections, and some ignorance too. How do I unravel the knot?”

To start with, it should be said that a sound grip of theology and apologetics is very helpful. Those two topics are inclusive of most of the questions that anyone would ask. Great Christian thinkers and scholars have been wrestling with the hard questions non-believers ask for centuries. We can learn much to equip ourselves to engage these discussions too.

But, in the end, theology and apologetics have limitations. They cannot change a man’s heart, nor unravel its knots. Certainly they can change what a man thinks or believes, but the person or thing that man worships in his heart and the objections and barriers that hold him back is a matter between him and God. Recognizing this limitation gives us great freedom to get about our business of giving answers for our hope, not trying to convince people we are right or figure out everyone’s problems and motives.

The sovereignty of God cannot be ignored when we deal with objections to the Gospel. When we rely on the Lord to transform someone’s life, we are free from failure. If we conduct ourselves with gentleness and respect, and represent our Master well, He is glorified and we have served Him faithfully. He is powerful enough to untangle the human heart. He is powerful enough to strike down an objection. He is powerful enough to convict of sin. He is powerful enough to illuminate the truth in a person’s life and lead them to Jesus. We should be glad those things don’t fall on our shoulders!

If God is sovereign and powerful to do those things, why should we try to do them without Him? Or, why should we represent Him in any manner other than what He calls us to, with gentleness and respect?

So it falls to us to bear witness to Christ and His resurrection, and to learn and study and love and grow in our relationship with God. He will use us as His instruments to magnify Himself and draw others to him. When barriers or objections come along the way, He has given us the wisdom and the tools to give answers and bear witness in a way that gives God much glory.

Questions to Consider

How does God’s sovereignty free us to serve Him?

Write a two-page summary of what you have learned from this course.

Lesson Five — Ignorance As An Objection

Sometimes the follower of Christ, while seeking out others to tell of the Gospel, will encounter someone who doesn’t have objections as such, but really does not know or understand a key piece of the Gospel picture. This is in reality more common than most Christians realize. It is not in itself a conscious objection, but it does create a barrier which must be dealt with in pursuit of the Gospel.

Those of us submerged in the Christian culture for any length of time develop an intuitive understanding of the ‘language’ of the Gospel. However, for those outside of the Christian community, this can lead to confusion or apathy. It is important that we address for a moment how to speak with those who are ignorant of all or parts of the Gospel.

It is first important to identify which pieces of ‘information’ are essential for someone to come to a point where they can truly know Jesus. Volumes have been written on this, and make for healthy reading for any believer. For sake of space, let a few essential points suffice. A person must know God is real and involved in the lives of men, and that He cares for them. They must know that all mankind has sinned and become separated from God. They must know that Jesus freely provided himself as the sacrifice to reconcile men to God. And they must know that we need to humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness in order to obtain that salvation. These facts make for a good starting place to point someone to Jesus. If understood and believed, a person can truly ask Christ into his or her life.

But what if someone is ignorant of one or more of these points, or of other issues like the Bible and its accuracy and inerrancy? Here are some strategies to deal with a person’s ignorance:

1.    Keep it simple. Remember to whom you are speaking. A person with little exposure to the Bible may not know even simple concepts, so don’t try to dazzle them with advanced concepts yet. That will come later, as they mature in the Lord. Do we teach physics to first-graders? No, and there is a reason we don’t! Also, resist the temptation to start in Genesis and work through the whole Bible from the beginning. Use one of the many excellent outlines available to present issues of the Gospel in a simple, direct way, without jumping around.

2.    Define the key words used. Do not assume that a non-believer knows what ‘grace’, or ‘faith’, or ‘saved’ means. Again, as we are surrounded by these words and terms, we can take their meanings for granted. But those who are not surrounded by those words often find them confusing, or worse yet think the words mean something else. Asking most non-Christians what ‘faith’ means will in many instances receive ‘blind faith’ as the answer. That is not what faith means, but if we are not careful to define terms, those we communicate with will hear ‘I placed my uneducated assumption backed up with no evidence in Jesus’ instead of ‘I placed my faith in Jesus’.

3.   Take care not to use too much ‘Christian-y’ words. When speaking to a non-Christian, try to use words or terms that he or she will not find foreign. Instead of saying we just ‘spent time in the word’, we should say we read from the Bible. Rather than saying we were out ‘witnessing to the lost’, we should say we were talking about Christianity with other people. There are so many words used in the Christian culture that sound strange to those not familiar. Don’t let those words become a barrier. Make a conscious effort not to use them, or change them so others more easily grasp their meaning.

4.   Use Scripture whenever possible, but put it in context. Scripture speaks most    powerfully for itself. Use it. Keep in mind the above cautions, and carefully and patiently explain what is meant in the passages being read. God will illuminate people’s hearts though His word.

In the face of ignorance, the Christian should always pursue truth. Truth is on our side, and God will use truth to bring people to Jesus. We must remember that ignorance is not necessarily the opponent of truth, but rather the absence of truth. It falls to us to make the truth known to all who would know it.

Questions to Consider:

1. In what ways has ignorance been a barrier in your life? How have you seen it overcome?

2. Talk with five non-believing friends about the words ‘grace’, ‘faith’, and ‘saved’. Ask them what they think those words mean, and write two pages about your findings, including what ways you found useful to help your friends understand the words.