Satan knows that he can keep you in frustration if you are not faithfully being fed by the Bible.
If you have not read Stories Versus Truth, you may want to read that before reading this. It is the proclamation of the Gospel, not argumentation, that transforms minds. See Give Them the Gospel.
It is best to ask them a few questions first and to listen to their answers. You will want to know if they are being honest or simply trolling. Be patient, but be wise.
Ask them this question: “The kinds of animals are probably roughly the same as a families, like dogs: collies, wolves, foxes or cats, kitties, lions, tigers. Can you give any examples of one kind of animal turning into another kind of animal?”
Remember that every argument that is brought against God is merely a story that is designed to compete with what God says. God reveals, in real time, His majesty. He does this through the Bible, the conscience, the creation, and many other means. We believe Him or we do not. An alternate story to God’s story may sound realistic, but it is unreal. If you look well into it, you will find the flaw. Remember Eve. Satan told Eve a lie. She believed Satan rather than believing God. As a result, much sorrow has followed.
Debate is mostly fruitless and stupid. It may massage an ego here and there, but it cannot change reality. It may reveal ignorance, but it rarely resolves an issue and rarely changes a mind. A discussion is different. As soon as there is a contest, the egos get involved, and it is very unlikely that you will influence anyone.
They may want to set up a scenario where they go to websites that have thousands of fictitious “errors in the Bible” and copy-paste one in, then you need to go out and find the answer on the Internet. Then, they just go copy-paste another one in. They like this because they have to work a lot harder than you do and they can keep you busy for a year and resolve nothing. All this is just a smoke screen because they don’t want to acknowledge Jesus Christ, their Creator God. After several questions, especially if they use bullying, intimidation tactics, sarcasm, vulgarity, or things like this, you may find that they are simply trolling.
Let them know you understand
“I can understand how you would feel that way.”
“I actually can relate to how you feel.”
“I’m hearing what you are saying, and I think I understand.”
Relate to them
“When I first heard this question, it seemed to challenge what I know to be true.
“I used to feel the same way.”
“At first glance, this gives the appearance of being a problem.”
Tell them what God has shown to you
“Then, I discovered…”
It is then good to ask an open followup question (not a “yes” or “no” question) to allow them to process what you have said.
“How do you see this as applying to your life?”
“What are your thoughts?”
“Where do you see this as different from your point/question?”
A More Complete Answer
Satan is happy if we will simply agree that it is impossible to know the will of God. He does not care by how much we miss the mark. He only cares that we miss it.
We do not worship the Bible. It is not the Bible that we believe but the writer and revealer of the Bible. Christ works in real time to reveal Himself and our place in Him through the Bible. God uses the Bible to reveal Christ to us. The Bible has no power to directly reveal Chist to us. In fact, the Bible is called the dead letter when it is not brought to life by the Holy Spirit. “The letter killeth” 2 Corinthians 3:6
God reveals through the Bible, but so does Satan. Satan speaks through the Bible. Most cults use the Bible. There would be no denomination if it were not for the fact that Satan speaks through the Bible. Satan quoted the Bible when tempting Jesus. Satan will quote the Bible when tempting you.
Those who truly desire to do the will of God will not be fooled. Christ’s sheep know His voice. Those who think that Christ does not speak are not His sheep. In fact, faith comes by the utterance of God. Those who have a faith that is not by the utterance of God do not have the faith of God. They have a manufactured false pseudo-faith.
An easy way to handle hardened trolls is to tell them the truth:
Every evidence that is used against God consists of made-up stories (lies), arbitrary assumptions (lies), or irrational statements (insanity). We have not followed cleverly designed made-up stories, arbitrary assumptions, or irrational statements. Rather, we follow the Living Christ, Who leads us and speaks the Utterances of absolute, genuine fullness of Life to us. (“When evolution is seen as a storytelling game rather than a serious attempt at scientific explanation, it suddenly makes sense.”)
Whatever they come back with will consist of made-up stories (lies), arbitrary assumptions (lies), or irrational statements (insanity). This is true whether they say “Evolution is science,” “There is no God,” “God doesn’t speak to you,” “You are stupid,” “You don’t understand science,” “I don’t have enough evidence to believe,” “There is no evidence for God,” “The Bible has errors,” or any other thing, so just say some variation of the following:
Thank you for providing an excellent example: Every evidence that is used against God consists of made-up stories (lies), arbitrary assumptions (lies), or irrational statements (insanity). We have not followed cleverly designed made-up stories, arbitrary assumptions, or irrational statements. Rather, we follow the Living Christ, Who leads us and speaks the Utterances of absolute, genuine fullness of Life to us. (example using this on an blog)
Biblical Contradictions
