gnosticism is the view that the truth values of certain claims – especially metaphysical and religious claims such as whether God, the divine, or the supernatural exist – are unknown and perhaps unknowable. Agnostic people that I have talked to on the streets often say that they think there could be a God, but they are undecided and don’t want to look into it any further. They can sometimes appear to be happy to remain on the fence. They may believe in a higher power of some description but are not convinced that this power takes one nature. They believe it is impossible to know for certain based on the evidence and are therefore content to live with that uncertainty.

I can understand this position. It seems all embracing and it can allow people who are agnostic to be both tolerant and open to the views of people of different religious faiths without choosing a specific one for themselves. I often find that people who have not prioritised spiritual discovery are those who describe themselves as agnostic. According to the philosopher William L. Rowe, "agnosticism is the view that human reason is incapable of providing sufficient rational grounds to justify either the belief that God exists or the belief that God does not exist.”

So if you are an agnostic, you probably think that it is impossible to reach a conclusion on spiritual matters such as God and afterlife so you continue to remain undecided.

What I want to suggest to you is that this issue is of too much importance to remain undecided about. Surely, if there is such a thing as God, heaven and hell these are issues that are of primary importance in a person’s journey of discovery in life.

He uses a story to illustrate His point: “Hey mate, did you know that your house is on fire?” someone could ask me. I can respond by telling him that I did not know (I am agnostic), and then I tell him to get lost because I am in the middle of watching a great match on TV. I don’t want to be bothered by something that may not be true and I may not know about. That is foolish agnosticism, because it is a big deal if my house burns down. An intelligent agnostic would go to check… If what the Bible says might be true, it is surely worth checking. Can there be a bigger deal than God, heaven, hell ,life, beauty, truth, renewal, forgiveness, and all the other themes tied in with Jesus Christ?” (David Robertson: Magnificient Obsession)

I encourage you if you are an agnostic to go on a discovery for truth. Try to see if there really is something to the claims of Christianity, which so many others have discovered. Christianity stands up to intellectual and historical scrutiny so I dare you - go and do some research!!!

Some years ago an intellectual man called Frank Morrison decided to research the historical accounts and evidence surrounding the event of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He described himself as having ‘a very definite feeling that Jesus’ His history rested on very insecure foundations.’ He set out to write a book called ‘Who Moved the Stone’ as He felt that it would be entirely possible to disprove the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As he conducted his research he became instead entirely convinced that Jesus was resurrected from the dead and was converted to Christianity becoming a believer in Jesus Christ. You can read his work at this web address if you are interested https://www.gospeltruth.net/whomovedthestone.htm

So what else can you do if you believe that there may be a God but are undecided. The first thing I would challenge you to do is to pray : ‘God, if you are real, please reveal yourself to me in a way that I can understand and I promise to follow you uncompromisingly if you do.’ I dare you to do that. If you are truly seeking God, you can be sure that He also wants to reveal Himself to you. You were born with an innate desire for relationship with God. The Bible says that God has set eternity in the hearts of man. This means we have a longing and desire for eternal life, and a relationship with our creator. God is faithful to draw near to those who humbly seek Him.

The second thing I would encourage you to do is to get a hold of the Bible. I challenge you to read the New Testament and ask yourself the question : ‘Was Jesus a liar, a lunatic or the Son of God.?’ The reason I say this is because Jesus made some huge claims about Himself. He healed the sick, and He called God His Father. He told people that He forgave them of their sins, and claimed the authority to forgive the sins/wrong-doing of the people He came into contact with. He said, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life and no-one comes to the Father except through me.’ He claimed He was the Son of God, and told people in advance that He would die and rise again from the dead. He was killed by the religious authorities of His day for the crime of blasphemy on an instrument of tortuous death -a Roman Cross. You see, Jesus was either a liar, or completely mad, or truly the person He claimed to be. Popular opinion among people I speak to on the street today is that He was a moral teacher who was misunderstood and therefore killed. However, Jesus did not claim to just be a good teacher or a Rabbi. He claimed equality with God and the authority to heal, forgive sins and conquer death itself.

If He was lying, how could He be a nice moral teacher? If He rose from the dead and performed miracles as many eye-witnesses of the time claimed, how could He simply be a moral teacher? If He was not lying, then could He be indeed the Son of God? I implore you to read the Bible for yourself and ask these questions. I suggest starting in either the Gospel of Mark, or the Gospel of John.

I was an atheist when I began to read the Bible myself with a desire to disprove it. I read through the gospels : Matthew, Mark, Luke and then half of John. By the time I got to Chapter 15 of the Gospel of John I was convinced that Jesus was truly the Son of God, and my whole life changed. My parents thought I had been brain-washed and some of my friends thought I had lost the plot. Many thought I was going through a religious fad aged 19, but I am now 34 years old and I still have no doubt that Jesus is the Saviour of the world.

I believed that there was no evidence for God and that the Bible was fallible at best. When I actually read it for myself, I was convinced by the accounts of the eye-witnesses who had surrounded Jesus during His public ministry and also after His death and resurrection.

If you take up my suggestion to read the New Testament for yourself, I want to suggest another challenge. As you read the Bible, pray regularly a simple prayer like this : ‘God if this is genuinely real, and you are real, please convince me and show yourself to me as I read this Bible.’

There are many religions in the world, but they can’t all be right. I have known people from Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu and Jewish backgrounds who have all found faith in Jesus Christ. They have all told me that they discovered something in Christianity and relationship with God our creator through Jesus, that their own religions had never offered.

You see, all world religions tell us that we have to earn our way to God. But Christianity is completely different. The Good News of the Gospel is that God has done everything to ensure that we can know Him and know His forgiveness if we turn to Him and ask for His forgiveness. God can freely offer us forgiveness because Jesus took the punishment for our sins on the cross. We don’t have to earn His love and we cannot earn His grace and kindness. You see, God’s grace is a free gift. It is an offer of salvation, freedom, healing, forgiveness, mercy and love. I encourage you to seek God out, and ask Him to reveal His love to you. Jesus has done everything for you, so that you can know the living God. I encourage you to seek out the truth today.

You could remain on the fence for the rest of your life, but if you are undecided when you die, you will deeply regret it. Human beings either live forever in heaven, or forever in hell. God has done everything to enable you to escape the consequences of rejecting God. Please don’t continue to remain in undecided ignorance on the most important question in life. Seek God today, and I promise if you seek Him, you will find Him. The Bible says that those who seek find and to those who knock, the door will be opened to them. God wants you to know Him not to doubt His existence or be unsure. Reach out to Him today!!!

Back