Atheists are a rare breed, and thankfully, they’re becoming rarer every day. Due to modern scholarship and robust Christian apologetics, it’s becoming more difficult for people to outright deny the existence of God. Nevertheless, there are still a few that do.
Despite their disbelief in God, these people can be quite charming! You might have even found yourself enchanted by one of them, perhaps because of their edgy and counterculture stances on various issues. But now you’ve discovered that they don’t believe in God, and that brings up an important question: Should a Christian date an atheist?
The answer to that question comes from examining atheism and seeking biblical guidance to make a decision.
What is Atheism?
Atheists claim that atheism is the lack of belief in God. They tend to shy away from words like “believe” and “faith” because of their religious connotations. Unfortunately for them, this lack of belief in God is itself a religious belief of its own. God is an inescapable reality.
With the atheist’s own definition in mind, a Christian could rightfully reword it in a way that makes a bit more sense. Atheists believe there is no God. You can see how this would be troublesome to any believer of any religion.
Typically, atheists will chastise believers of any religion for being foolish. They see science as the pinnacle of truth and find all types of religious morals and traditions to be nothing more than superstition. However, the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures turn the tables by calling them the real fools.
The Bible on Atheism
The Bible has a number of passages that are somewhat related to atheists and their fate. We only want to focus on two of them for the purposes of this article, but believe it or not, the Bible actually has one incredibly specific verse about atheists. News flash, it’s not the best of comments…
“Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!” -Psalm 14:1, NLT
As you can see, that’s not the most flattering of comments. No one takes kindly to being called a fool, but when God calls these types of people foolish, it should give us pause and is a cause for concern. It helps orient us to how God thinks about atheism and the “believers” that subscribe to that particular religious philosophy.
The last book of the Bible reveals the end outcome for these types of people. Revelation 21:8 records the fate of the faithless: “…they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
It should come as no surprise that atheism is a losing bet. That would seem to be common sense, but it seems sense isn’t so common anymore. Nevertheless, the Bible takes away any remaining doubt and makes the destiny of atheists quite clear.
Who Can Christians Date?
Christians are actually given specific instructions about who they are supposed to marry. The teaching comes from God through the Apostle Paul in 1Corinthians 7. By extension, this rule about marriage also applies to the people Christians are allowed to date.
Paul seems to believe singleness is better than marriage, but he understands that sort of lifestyle isn’t for everyone. In 1Corinthians 7:39, if not called to a life of singledom, Paul instructs Christians seeking marriage to be married only to other believers in Christ. By extension, that means Christians are to only date other Christians also.
This might sound like a bummer at first, but ultimately, these instructions are meant to keep us spiritually safe. It might not seem likely (to yourself) that by dating or marrying an unbeliever you would lose faith in God. However, we’re willing to bet king Solomon said the same thing, and that didn’t work out so well for him (1Kin. 11:1-13).
Solomon’s story is a warning to us. We may feel like our faith is unshakable, but as it turns out, even the wisest king of Israel could be led astray by marriage to an unbeliever. We are no different, and our hearts are just as corruptible as his.
Find Christians with Online Dating
There’s good news when it comes to Christian dating! Finding a Christian to date has never been easier. So, since we’re called to obey God’s command through Paul, we can at least streamline the process.
That’s where the strategy behind online dating helps out. Almost every online dating site gives its users the ability to list their religious affiliation on their profile. So, you can find out if the person you’re interested in is a Christian from the start.
No more investing time in a person just to find out they’re atheists. Now, you can know before you even meet up! You can even filter your search results by only matching with other Christians on the dating site.
It really has become that easy nowadays. If you haven’t given online dating a try yet, we want to encourage you to try it out at least once. There are even dating sites specifically made for Christians.