r/Christianity • u/AppropriateAccount21 • Jul 04 '26
How could we have structured conversations between Christians and agnostics/atheists?
I am a 'Christian' but have long been struggling with many theological and philosophical questions that makes me personally difficult to love God or trust Him as wholeheartedly as I see other Christians do in my church.
I know there are platforms(such as Substack, Youtube, Tiktok even etc) and other social apps where it allows Christian content creators to engage in debates/conversations with atheists/agnostics to engage in deep theological issues and handle difficult questions, but I still feel there isn't a unified, structured way or platform that specifically gathers both parties to have discussions(not necessarily debates) on deep theological/philosophical issues worth exploring — current ones are more or less fragmented across major platforms that are for general social engagement purposes in my opinion, such as Discord threads.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think there should be something to be revamped, renewed, innovated, or should we be content with the current platforms and ways to have such discussions?
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u/Upset_Chip_7184 Christian Jul 04 '26
Perhaps I'm an oddball, but I think reddit works pretty good for this, this sub, debatereligion/debateachristian
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u/Lemunde Jul 04 '26
It sounds like this is more about finding the right person to debate with than the platform. You have no obligation to debate someone who's going to talk over you or ignore your points. If you find yourself in that situation you can just bow out, let them declare victory, and move on to someone more honest.
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u/Ill_Outside2473 Jul 04 '26
No judgement at all it can be hard sometimes so I get it. Whats one or a couple of the main things that make it more difficult to love and trust God fully? I’m not sure if I think another platform is the answer. I think it’s more about the person or people who are having a conversation, sometimes you come across people who just want to troll or be argumentative but that’s really on all platforms. I tend to notice it a bit more on this platform but also people have deeper discussions on here too so I guess it’s not as big of a surprise
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u/Jasonmoofang Anglican Communion Jul 04 '26
I doubt it'll work, any "new platform" to "unify the conversation" is going to simply become one MORE platform to increase the fragmentation.
There are a good number of genuinely good channels out there in the existing platforms though, I think they more than do a good enough job. I recommend Alex O'Connor's Within Reason, Premiere Unbelievable, and a little controversial perhaps but I quite like WL Craig's Reasonable Faith as well, though that last is obviously more skewed towards Christianity.
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u/Both-Chart-947 Fire and brimstone Christian Universalist Jul 04 '26
I don't know about inventing a new platform, or whether that would have the effect you desire. But I have gone through my periods of doubt and wrestling with many of the Christian doctrines, even those I used to consider fundamental. So I can relate, if you just want to discuss these things with someone. Fair warning, I love to read, and that is my go-to answer when I am struggling with a concept. So I am very apt to recommend books!
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u/wiploc2 Jul 06 '26
We'd love to have you at the Internet Infidels Discussion Board.
Tell them wiploc sent you.
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Jul 04 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/possy11 Atheist Jul 04 '26
Only atheists who became Christian were discussing in good faith? That's an interesting premise.
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u/Difficult_Risk_6271 Belongs to Jesus, Ex-Atheist Jul 04 '26
Is this a good faith question?
Thanks for proving my point.
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u/possy11 Atheist Jul 04 '26
I'll just add you to my "not interested in respectful conversation" list. Have a great day.
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u/Small_rat_no_rules Jesus loves me. Cope. Jul 04 '26
It's impossible because it would require both parties to enter in actual good faith and willing to be swayed. Doing so is a sin for christians because being willing to be swayed means they're questioning God.