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Can Atheists Be Saved? Surprising Biblical Data

Can Atheists Be Saved? Surprising Biblical Data

Last updated on: June 13, 2026 at 1:07 pm by Dave Armstrong

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Can Atheists Be Saved? Surprising Biblical Data 2026-06-13T13:07:43-04:00 Dave Armstrong

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This is the transcript of the initial portion of the video, “Can Atheists Be Saved? The Biblical Answer Might Surprise You!” (9-4-25), minus our spontaneous discussion afterwards.

Human Ignorance and God’s Mercy

The key concept in this matter is that we can’t fully know whether a person’s atheism stems from an outright rebellious spirit – in a word, sin — or from lack of knowledge. In my long experience in debating atheists, I almost always find – at least from my perspective — that it is the latter. We can’t “know” the heart of any given atheist, or what they have experienced: up to and including sadly frequent reprehensible hatred and hostility expressed by Christians.

They could very well be in a place where, according to all that they know and have experienced, and the hurts and suffering that they have gone through, as all of us have, they truly believe that they don’t know whether God exists or not, or flat-out assert that He doesn’t. We must assume – in all people – good will and good faith and sincerity.

The Bible has a lot to say about these sorts of things. It frequently refers to those who do not know because they are unable to without God’s grace and the proper understanding, that has to be taught and learned. To put it another way, God gives a big “pass” to those who are merely ignorant:

Mark 9:24 (RSV) . . . “I believe; help my unbelief!”

Luke 12:48 But he who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, shall receive a light beating. Every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required . . .

Luke 23:24 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” . . . [when He was being crucified]

John 9:41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.”

Acts 3:14-15, 17 you denied the Holy and Righteous One, . . . [15] and killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. . . . [17] . . . I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.

1 Corinthians 2: 14 The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Timothy 1:13 I formerly blasphemed and persecuted and insulted him; but I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, (cf. 1 Pet 1:14: “your former ignorance”)

Jude 10 . . . these men revile whatever they do not understand . . .

Rebellion and Responsibility

The Bible certainly refers to a category of people who know the truth and reject it (that is, willful rebellion or obstinacy). This is flat-out rebellion against a God that they know to exist. Here are several passages along those lines:

Proverbs 1:29 . . . they hated knowledge . . . (cf. Hos 4:6: “you have rejected knowledge”)

Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, . . .

Matthew 13: 15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are heavy of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand . . . (cf. “stiff-necked people”: Ex 32:9; 33:3, 5; 34:9; 2 Chr 30:8; Acts 7:51)

John 8:45. . . because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.

John 12:37 Though he had done so many signs before them, yet they did not believe in him;

Romans 1:18, 21, 25 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth. . . . [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 senseless minds were darkened. . . . [25] . . . they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, . . .

2 Thessalonians 2:12 . . . all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Titus 1:15 . . . to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure; their very minds and consciences are corrupted. (Cf. Heb 3:12-13: “an evil, unbelieving heart . . . hardened by the deceitfulness of sin”)

The Bible also states that all men, down deep, and even subconsciously in some cases, know that God exists:

Romans 1:19-20 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. [20] Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. . . .

So how do we harmonize both of these biblical themes, and how do we apply them to atheists and agnostics? As so often, the Bible presents paradoxical views: not contradictory, but at first glance seemingly at odds with each other in some ways. It really comes down to the individual’s heart, and what only God knows about its true state. Human beings don’t possess all of that knowledge, and so we must exercise charity. I have used the description of “God-Rejecters vs. Open-Minded Agnostics.” Some people are obstinate, and reject what they know to be true. Others have a lack of knowledge. The Bible verses above describe these contrasting states of mind and heart.

Charity and Judgment

One way we can learn how to regard and approach atheists is the example that the Apostle Paul gives is, in preaching to the intellectual, skeptical Athenians:

Acts 17:22-30 . . . “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 an 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 shrines made by man, [25] nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything. [26] And he made from one every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their habitation, [27] that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after him and find him. Yet he is not far from each one of us, [28] for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your poets have said, ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ [29] Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the Deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, a representation by the art and imagination of man. [30] The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent,

Paul didn’t condemn them to hell or look down on them. To the contrary, he commended them for their religiosity, and understood that they simply didn’t know many things about God. Therefore, he took the opportunity to present to them the gospel. These people were ignorant about God (hence their altar and its inscription). They were more like agnostics. The text refers to “ignorance” and how God takes that into consideration. Paul treated them with respect, to the extent of even citing two of their own pagan writers (17:28), namely, the philosopher-poet Epimenides (7th or 6th c. BC) and the poet Aratus (c. 310-240 BC).

Another similar instance is when Jesus encountered a Roman centurion (Matthew 8:5-10) who asked Him to heal His servant, saying, “only say the word, and my servant will be healed” (8:8) Jesus didn’t condemn him and tell him he must believe in God. He commended him, saying, “not even in Israel have I found such faith.” Then right after that, He makes the point that not just Jews would be saved (by extension, I would say that this also implies that not only Christians will be saved):

Matthew 8:11-12 I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, [12] while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness [i.e., hell]; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.

Differing levels of unbelief and/or understanding isn’t some concept pulled out of a hat in the last 60 years, where ecumenism and tolerance have been relatively more stressed by the Catholic Church, in light of the emphases of the Second Vatican Council. It’s in the Bible, per my analysis above, and arguably the greatest Catholic theologian, St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) expressly taught it; drawing the following distinction in his masterwork, Summa Theologica:

a) “Unbelief by way of pure negation” (infidelitas secundum negationem puram) in case a man may “be called an unbeliever merely because he has not the faith” “in those who have heard nothing about the faith”; this Unbelief is not a sin -and
b) “Unbelief by way of opposition to the faith” (infidelitas secundum contrarietatem ad fidem) when “a man refuses to hear the faith” (II II, 10,1 c); this Unbelief is a sin.
c) “Nobody would believe if he doesn’t see he must believe” (non enim crederet nisi videret ea esse credenda –II II, q. 1, a. 4 ad 2).

Nor is the fact that certain kinds of unbelief are not sinful, only a Thomist concept. It’s also a truth of the Catholic faith: Pope St. Pius V, who reigned from 1566-1572, condemned the proposition, “Purely negative unbelief, in those whom Christ was not preached to, is a sin” (Infidelitas pure negativa in his quibus Christus non est predicatus peccatum est) (Denzinger 1068).

There are plenty of real biblical “fools” out there, who know God exists and reject Him. I’m not denying that in the least. If they do that, we believe that they will wind up in hell by their own choice. I’m not modifying any traditional Catholic or even broad Christian understanding. All I’m saying is that there is also a less culpable category of those who do not yet believe in God; and that we ought to approach atheists and agnostics with the utmost courtesy and charity and grant them the benefit of the doubt and good faith and sincerity: believing the best of them, not the worst.

Christians who are hostile to atheists – up to and including literally hating them – and these are sadly not few in number, are wrong and guilty of serious sin. Their behavior can’t be biblically justified. They are commanded by Jesus and Paul to exhibit love, so as to try to convince nonbelievers that there is a better Way.

But can the proclaiming atheist be saved? It depends on how much they truly know about God and the gospel, and what they do with that knowledge. If they really do know it and deny it, they can’t be saved. But if they don’t have sufficient understanding, they are judged by what they know and do, according to Paul’s teaching of Romans 2:1-24 (particularly 2:13-15):

Romans 2:11-16 For God shows no partiality. [12] All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. [13] For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. [14] When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. [15] They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them [16] on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

I believe that the theistic proofs for God’s existence are compelling and that atheism is untrue and implausible, yet I believe at the same time that the “psychological” aspects of belief (all sorts of belief, i.e., epistemology) and the many complex influences that cause one to arrive at what they believe, sometimes work against the clearness of what are “objective” proofs. And we must never forget the biblical truth that one must necessarily receive God’s grace in order to be able to believe the fullness of what the Bible teaches, and to have true saving faith.

Every person “comes to the table” with a host of prior belief-paradigms and theoretical frameworks, and experiences, including the emotions and the will, which are not to be underestimated, either, in their effect on beliefs, in all people, of whatever stripe. There are no “empty slates” so to speak. Skepticism and hard-nosed rationality and desire to see things proven is fine, as long as they aren’t excessive and closed-minded.

I do not think – as sadly, many Christians seem to assume – that all atheists are inherently dishonest and willfully blind or wicked, etc. (though some are, of course, as in any group of people). I simply believe in Romans 1 and 2 and the other passages I have highlighted and try to apply them to atheists in the most charitable, unassuming (and biblical) way I can.

Once I do that, it seems to me, as a student of the Bible these past 48 years, and a Christian apologist for 44 years, that it is possible for a professed atheist to “perhaps” be saved, according to the Bible (particularly, Rom 2:15): based on what they know and don’t know and – most importantly — what they do with what they know. Only God knows in the end who is saved and who isn’t. Our duty as Christians is to pass along His good news of joy, peace, hope, and meaning in life that the fullness of that truth and His grace and love and Jesus’ death on the cross make possible for all who are indeed saved in the end

The Word Set in Stone: “Volume Two”: More Evidence of Archaeology, Science, and History Backing Up the Bible (2024, free book with 163 sections and possible future additions)

Science and Christianity: Close Partners or Mortal Enemies? (Oct. 2010, 301 pages)

Inspired!: 198 Supposed Biblical Contradictions Resolved (free book, June 2023)

Christian Worldview vs. Postmodernism (Sep. 2002, 218 pages)

Related Web Pages

Atheism, Agnosticism, & Secularism

Philosophy, Science & Christianity

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Summary: I bring up several biblical passages about unbelief due to mere ignorance, as opposed to willful rebellion due to wickedness, obstinacy, or deliberate rejection of a known God.

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