WHEN IS AN ATHEIST NOT AN ATHEIST?

"ALWAYS BE PREPARED TO GIVE AN ANSWER TO EVERYONE WHO ASKS YOU FOR THE HOPE THAT YOU HAVE, AND DO SO WITH GENTLNESS AND RESPECT." - Peter, the follower of Jesus. 1 Peter 3:14

ATHEIST STORY

Dave had been my friend for a few months when, in a lunch conversation, I casually mentioned something about my church.

'Church?', he said. 'You're kidding? You go to church?'

'Yeah. And you?'

'Hell no, I'm an atheist," he said.

We're good friends and he was in a playful mood, so I decided to push him a little.

'Are you an atheist or an agnostic?'

'Er, what's the difference again?'

Dave had blitzed his science degree, he's a brilliant marketeer and a lethal opponent in Trivial Pursuit, but his philosophical jargon was a bit rusty.
I said, 'An atheist says there is definitely no God anywhere in the universe. That's actually a huge truth claim. It's like me saying there are no coins anywhere on this shopping centre floor. I'd better have checked, and know for sure there are none hidden anywhere under any cover, or I lose my credibility.'

'Right', he said, 'So what's an agnostic?'