“And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?” – Job 26:14
The agnostic person believes that the existence of God, or the supernatural in general, is impossible to know and will remain a mystery. Many of these people have accepted a false view that we cannot know anything beyond our own physical experiences. Agnostics often shrug their shoulders, claiming the spiritual realm is not knowable. This probably stems from the presupposition that all knowledge must first be determined by science. If you can’t prove it in the material world (a.k.a. empirically), then most agnostics would probably claim it’s not real or true. However, one can’t prove the existence of a non-material entity in a materialistic fashion.
Yet, Christians claim all the time that we can “know God” personally. Notice in the Book of Job… (scripture reference above) that God often “faintly whispers” to our souls. Although God can demonstrate His awesome power visibly, He usually ‘woos us’ quietly with inspirational thoughts and/or feelings. We can either dismiss these as “coincidences,” or we can train ourselves to discern these moments. It’s like learning a new language. It takes time and must be rooted firmly in Scripture. If it does not align with the principles outlined in the Bible, then you can probably assume you might not have “heard” something correctly.
Having a “personal relationship” with God is one way of knowing God, and it is a spiritual discipline that many skeptics simply dismiss as foolishness. Yes, it’s not always easy to discern how God ‘whispers to our souls’, especially if our inner thought life is too loud. We need to meditate on the Word of God, and learn how to focus on His truths as revealed in Scripture. This is God’s primary way of communicating to us, and it’s most reliable for discerning His voice.
The Bible shows that God is knowable yet unknowable. This is the great paradox of Christianity. Yes, we can know God personally in Jesus Christ as the God-man, but there are aspects to our Heavenly Father that are far beyond any person’s capacity of understanding, i.e. that God is un-created… (how does that even work? Brain strain on that concept, to be sure!)
We can know many things about God by observing creation (natural theology), studying the Bible (revealed theology), and living our lives with a desire to apply what we’ve learned (practiced theology), but we do not know everything about Him. How can the finite comprehend the infinite?
So, the agnostic thinks we cannot know anything about God’s existence. The Christian believes we can know many things, and the best place to start is by learning about Jesus.
Think Divinely: God’s ways are knowable yet incomprehensible. He is so supreme that the Bible describes Him as “unsearchable.” (Ps. 145:3.)
Excellent post, Lisa! I appreciate how clearly you explain terms like “agnostic” and then provide thoughtful Biblical reasoning to help us meet unbelief with sound Christian belief. God bless you in your powerful ministry!
Thanks, Melissa! You’re such an encouragement to me. Blessings!
I would like to add that some atheists, like Richard Dawkins, consider themselves “agnostic atheists.” They do not think God exists, not because they can prove that he doesn’t, but because they don’t see sufficient proof for his existence.
That’s fine. It seems people these days like to redefine terms to better fit their perceptions of themselves. I’d still call Dawkins an atheist because he thinks that there’s not enough evidence to think there’s a God. So he concluded there’s no God – that’s atheism.