Drawing attention to the second group represented in the readings, the Pope observed that they are the “intellectuals, who came to Jesus in the temple: they are the doctors of the law” with whom Jesus frequently had problems.
This is “because they never arrived at understanding: they always came back to the same point, because they believed that religion was a thing of the mind, of laws” he continued, adding that they saw the faith as “fulfilling the commandments and nothing more.”
“These people had no heart; there is no love or beauty, there is no harmony” the pontiff went on to say, noting that these people “only want explanations” but that once they are given, they are “not convinced” and “they return with more questions.”
And “This is their way: they spin round and round,” just as they did with Jesus until they were able to kill him, the Bishop of Rome recalled, adding that “These people do not open their hearts to the Holy Spirit!”
Explaining how they “believe that the things of God can be understood only with the head, with ideas, with their own ideas,” the pontiff emphasized that “They are proud. They think they know everything. And what does not fit into their intelligence is not true.”
“You can raise a dead man in front of them, but they do not believe.”
Doesn't summarize the typical atheist-believer debate on the Internet?
I've decided that when an atheist wants to engage with me on God's existence, I ask him this question: if God exists, are you willing to obey him?
Because if they're not willing to obey, if the whole question is just an abstraction to them, it's not worth spending the time to demonstrate he exists. It's like the pope said: you can raise a man from the dead, and they still won't believe. They don't want to because it would mean they would have to change.
You cannot believe in God if you're not willing to change.
