I will attempt to answer my own question by arguing for the following points: 1. God wants to be sought and found. 2. God loves humanity and wishes the repentance, conversion and salvation of every sinner, including skeptics. 3. God has the capacity to draw skeptics to Himself, even if by only granting a particle of faith, as the gift of saving faith originates from God, who takes the initiative. 4. Everyone, including skeptics, can synergistically cooperate with God's grace by taking practical steps to increase their faith. 5. Natural theology and Apologetics can be helpful to dispel fallacious objections and at least create some epistemic space for the possibility of God's existence, even if some margin of doubt and uncertainty still remains. --- #### 1. God wants to be sought and found. | Passage (ESV) | Content | |-|-| | Acts 17:26-27 | 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 **that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him**. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us | | Proverbs 8:17 | I love those who love me, **and those who seek me diligently find me**. | | Jeremiah 29:13 | **You will seek me and find me**, when you seek me with all your heart. | | Isaiah 55:6 | **Seek the Lord while he may be found**; call upon him while he is near; | | Deuteronomy 4:29 | But from there **you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him**, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. | | 2 Chronicles 15:2 | and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him. **If you seek him, he will be found by you**, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. | | Matthew 7:7-11 | “Ask, and it will be given to you; **seek, and you will find**; knock, and it will be opened to you. <sup>**8**</sup> For everyone who asks receives, **and the one who seeks finds**, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. <sup>**9**</sup> Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? <sup>**10**</sup> Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? <sup>**11**</sup> If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! | | Hebrews 11:6 | And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that **he rewards those who seek him** | #### 2. God loves humanity and wishes the repentance, conversion and salvation of every sinner, including skeptics. | Passage (ESV) | Content | |-|-| | 1 Timothy 2:3-4 | 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 **who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth**. | | 2 Peter 3:9 | The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, **not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance**. | | Titus 2:11 | For the grace of God has appeared, **bringing salvation for all people**,| | John 3:16 | “For **God so loved the world**, that he gave his only Son, that **whoever believes** in him should not perish but have eternal life.| | Romans 5:8 | "But **God demonstrates his own love for us** in this: **While we were still sinners, Christ died for us**."| | Ezekiel 18:23 | **Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked**, declares the Lord God, **and not rather that he should turn from his way and live**?| #### 3. God has the capacity to draw skeptics to Himself, even if by only granting a particle of faith, as the gift of saving faith originates from God, who takes the initiative. | Passage (ESV) | Content | |-|-| | Ephesians 2:8-10 | 8 **For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God**, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. | | Romans 12:3-6 | 3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, **each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned**. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 **Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us**, let us use them: if prophecy, **in proportion to our faith**; | | 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 | 4 **Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit**; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 **to another faith by the same Spirit**, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 **All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.** | | John 6:44 | No one can come to me **unless the Father who sent me draws him**. And I will raise him up on the last day. | #### 4. Everyone, including skeptics, can synergistically cooperate with God's grace by taking practical steps to increase their faith. | Passage (ESV) | Content | |-|-| | Matthew 17:20-21 | 20 He said to them, “**Because of your little faith**. For truly, I say to you, **if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed**, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” 21 **But this kind never comes out except by prayer and fasting** | | Romans 10:17 | **So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ**.| | James 1:2-4 | 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 **for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness**. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. | | Jude 20 | But you, beloved, **building yourselves up in your most holy faith** and praying in the Holy Spirit, | | Mark 9:23-24 | 23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, **“I believe; help my unbelief!”** | #### 5. Natural theology and Apologetics can be helpful to dispel fallacious objections and create some epistemic space for the possibility of God's existence, even if some margin of doubt and uncertainty still remains. Some passages that may lend credence to this view: | Passage (ESV) | Content | |-|-| | Psalm 19:1 | **The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork**. | | Romans 1:18-24 | 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 **For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them**. 20 **For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse**. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. | | Acts 17:22-29 | 22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: **‘To the unknown god.’** What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 **The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth**, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 **for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’** 29 **Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man**. | | 1 Peter 3:15 | but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, **always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you**; yet do it with gentleness and respect, | On this matter, it is essential to recognize that a skeptic might contend for the legitimacy of their skepticism by citing scientific and philosophical reasons, which include: - Prevailing scientific perspectives on the origin of the universe and life, including [physical cosmology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_cosmology), [abiogenesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiogenesis), and [evolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution). - Philosophical contentions, such as the [problem of evil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_evil) and the [problem of nonbelief or divine hiddenness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_nonbelief). That said, responses, along with counter-responses, exist for each of these points, fostering highly intricate debates on the subject. In these debates, there are smart people on all sides, arguing convincingly for and against different views. For example, philosophers like [Graham Oppy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Oppy) make strong points for atheism, while thinkers like [Willian Lange Craig](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lane_Craig) and [Alvin Plantinga](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_Plantinga) bring up complex ideas supporting theism. In this mix, a sincere and intellectually honest skeptic should be open not just to doubting others but also to doubting their own doubts. Recognizing the complexity of these discussions and the limits of our knowledge, such a skeptic should be epistemically open to the possibility that God might exist, even if clear-cut proofs do not exist. Being intellectually humble and willing to question one's own assumptions is key. This openness provides an opportunity for the skeptic to genuinely explore and make an honest attempt at seeking a personal encounter with God, and it makes sense that God, in His benevolence, would respond to such sincere efforts by unveiling glimpses of His presence or guiding the seeker toward the path of salvation and the gift of saving faith.