Apologetics

So in trying to defend the gospel to someone who is atheistic or agnostic, you kind of need to establish that there is a god, whether or not that god is the Christian God. That can be accomplished with the arguments/proofs of Aquinas or others similar to his. Because if you can't establish a supernatural creator, then the idea of that creator in a human form is just dumb. But I think, for the most part, if people actually consider the origin of matter, that will lead to a belief in a supernatural power because something cannot come from nothing naturally. Once a god is established, this leads to a consideration of Yahweh as well as other gods. I think it's important that you do not refuse them to consider any other religion's god(s) but let them ponder them then inform them about the history of the Old Testament God and how this is the God that exists. Easier said than done. It takes a lot of studying to be able to do this and to refute the other religions, but it can be done. This opens the door to the New Testament and Jesus. I think it would be best to discuss the historical evidence of the existence of Jesus first. Before proving Jesus is God, prove that he was an actual person that actually existed. Then you can move on to His divinity. In order to do this, you need to be able to discuss the reliability of the New Testament documents. If they think that the gospels are not reliable then nothing you say that is in the scriptures will mean anything. But if you can prove that what the gospels say is reliable then they will be more inclined to believe the claims that the gospels make. You also need to know how to defend the resurrection because although they may believe the gospels, it doesn't mean that they will believe everything the gospels say, especially the resurrection. There is historical evidence that supports the resurrection but it takes a lot of studying to defend it. That leads to the transition from history to theology. And you can take it from there.