To the discerning all of [the words of wisdom's mouth] are right; they are faultless to those who have knowledge (Proverbs 8:9).

Have you ever heard about the Richard Dawkins bus campaign in England?  A couple hundred buses were going around with a brightly-colored advertisement claiming:  "There's probably no God.  Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."  It's a particularly spirited maneuver by atheist apologists to bring their point of view to the public.  Perhaps it's a bit provocative (though, in their defense, I've heard that the advertisements were originally devised in response to some pretty provocative bus ads posted by Christians) -- and of course I have a hard time going along with the campaign's premise -- but I have to say that there's something I can appreciate about the campaign.  In fact, the biblical text of Proverbs 8:9 helps me to better understand their mission!

Of course Dawkins and his associates are radical in their ideals!  They're totally devoted to their cause because to them, believers really do seem totally misguided.  Christians' faith in God and the Bible seems absolutely ridiculous -- even wrong.  Because they simply don't know any better.  They have no frame of reference with which to interpret the facts at hand in any other way.

Basically it all comes down to this:  it takes faith to find faith.

Now, I'm not saying that the Christian faith cannot stand up to logical and scientific scrutiny (I actually believe quite the contrary).  Still, it's true for anyone -- even the most die-hard skeptic-turned-believer -- that a degree of faith IS required to cross over from disbelief to belief.  This initial step of faith may be very well-informed and deeply researched -- but in the end, faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1).  So yes:  it takes faith to find faith.

Of course, to those of us who have discovered the life of faith, it all makes sense.  It's right.  It's perfect.  It's faultless.  But to those who have no personal knowledge of God -- no intimate relationship that has been established by faith -- it just doesn't make sense.  I've become convinced, through my own interactions with atheists along the way, that no amount of arguing, debating, or intellectualism will have any effect until a person is willing to at least temporarily suspend disbelief.  It's essentially changing from one system of belief (faith in science, logic, humanism, or whatever) to another system of belief (faith in God).  Once that step toward faith is made, God can work in powerful ways, and he can personally reveal the truth of Proverbs 8:9.  But until then, it's just going to be a lot of bantering, bickering, disbelief, and ridiculous dueling bus campaigns.