QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT CHRISTIANITYListening To The Skeptics If you want to improve as a Christian, then you need to listen to constructive criticism and be able to question all the beliefs you hold dear to make sure you are being 100% honest. Jesus said to his disciples; "Be perfect, even as my Father in heaven is perfect". We should always seek to better ourselves. And when you don't have a truly good answer then be humble and tell the inquirer that you don't know. I'm so tired of Christians arrogantly thinking they have all the answers and that all of them are "the final word". It took me 30 years as a Protestant Christian to finally be able to step out of the confines of orthodox beliefs. And I think that any honest person should love that I am being completely honest in my search for the ultimate truth. Here’s some important questions to Protestants and Catholics and my thoughts in response: A. If God
is so loving, then why does he permit so much suffering on the
Earth?
Admittedly, if there is a God he does seem to be somewhat aloof to the suffering of mankind. Maybe it is because he is pure spirit and without flesh with a nervous system that causes sensations of pleasure and pain. Humanly speaking, it takes experiencing the same thing that others experience in order to have compassion and empathy towards them. God the Father, who Jesus said was a spirit without flesh and bones, cannot feel physical pain. He is not human. Historically man has always been guilty of anthropomorphism, which is trying to understand God in purely human terms and giving God human attributes. So we have experienced some goodness from God and therefore have said that he is “loving”, which is a term that can only be understood in human terms. But really, the apostles and prophets should of just stuck to the facts instead of trying to interpret them. Saying that he is “caring” and “loving” as a result of seeing the good side of the cycles of nature and of seeing prayers seemingly answered has only created Him in our image. We are guilty of anthropomorphism. We need to repent and just let God be God, however mysterious and unknowable he is. We can’t truly understand god right now. The apostle Paul rightly said that “we see through a dark glass now, but later we will know even as we are known”. So my response to this hardest of questions is that God is the greatest of mysteries which cannot be understood until after we die. Spiritual wisdom definitely can save people from poverty and disease. The ideals of humanitarianism, hard working, not wasting money on worldly pleasures, striving to perfect yourself, etc are all biblical ideals that will improve individuals and whole societies. B. Why are
“Christians” responsible for so many atrocities? (Crusades,
Inquisition, Spaniards conquering Indians in the name of the church,
George Bush
starting a new anti-Muslim crusade)
They aren’t true Christians. I know that sounds like a bold but far-fetched excuse but hear me out. There are two types of Christians, the Christ-like ones and the religious ones. Religious ones have their doctrinal beliefs and are ready to fight for them, thinking they are fighting for God. True Christians are imitators of Christ, who said “blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God” and “If my followers were of this world then they would fight” (but of course he always said that the people of the light (enlightened) were of God’s kingdom, not of this world). He said we should offer “the other cheek” after being struck on the cheek. He set the ultimate example for us in letting his opponents kill him, without resisting. To a true Christian it is a blessed release to be able to leave this crazy dark world. So “Christians” are responsible for many atrocities, but they aren’t true Christians. C. Why
should anyone believe in God, a belief which is
something from the bible
which is an obviously flawed book?
The bible isn’t perfect. It does have its errors. (see G) But that doesn’t mean we should throw the baby out with the dirty bathwater. The idea of a heavenly God didn’t originate with the Jews. Many of the Jews ideas came from the Babylonians when they were held captive by them the first time. The Babylonians had their own idea of God, how to honor him, etc, including their own creation story (which probably influenced the Jews creation story which was added to scripture (the “priestly documents”) at that time, which wound up being very similar). Practically every culture that has ever existed has had their own beliefs about a creative overseeing supreme being. Many modern day scientists believe in God because of the acknowledged impossibility of all these super complex organic systems (humans, plants, animals) having created themselves without any external creative influence. And around 10% of the human population has had a near-death experience, and resultantly has acquired a new or newly reinforced belief in God after their out-of-body experience. But who or what God is remains a mystery. I personally think that God, if he/it exists, is intelligent life force itself, not a person. D. Why
should we believe in Jesus as the Savior of sinful humanity?
Doesn’t that fall into the category of superstition or even "white
magic”?
It could if you believe that just by believing you will be transformed into something more heavenly. Paul the apostle did have an over-emphasis on belief, but James wrote that “faith is dead if it isn't accompanied by corresponding action". In other words, if your belief is truly transformative, then your consequent actions will show that transformation by your love and charity. James wrote that true religion is helping widows and orphans and keeping yourself spiritually clean in this dirty world. Jesus becomes “savior” each time someone leaves behind his old ways to follow in the loving footsteps of Jesus. His example “saves”. Before the writings of Paul, that was the major idea concerning getting “saved”. Their salvation was in forsaking their worldly ways and living to love God and others as Jesus set the example for us. The word “saved” means “delivered from”. So when our belief and actions deliver us from the mentality and lifestyle of non-believers, and delivers us to the kingdom of God’s love, peace, and joy, then we are “saved” (with the help from above to make such drastic changes). E. Why
did the Jews identify God as a male figure when Jesus said that God
is spirit without flesh and bones (in other words, not a male or female
human)?
This is another instance of anthropomorphism obviously. I guess they figured that God had to be male because he is powerful. Their culture was patriarchal, so of course their god had to be male. Most of the previous religions were matriarchal because they had figured that God, like a woman, had “birthed” all of creation and continually nurtures it. The bible shows that man’s understanding started out very simplistic and immature. Over time mankind has learned and understood more. Maybe now we can start acting and talking with a mature understanding and not cling to the immature past with its many “errors”. I believe that Jesus was trying to elevate our understanding in this also, although according to scripture (written by Jews) he kept to the old tradition of referring to God as male despite his belief that God was pure spirit. F. Why
are churches just Cadillac-driving bible-thumping social clubs?
For one, it was predicted by John in the book of the Revelation that the last church age would be materialistic, thinking that they were OK because God had “blessed” them materially. Jesus said that the blind following the blind would fall into a ditch. He also said to leave the “dead” to bury the dead. Light has no harmony with darkness, so if you have the light (enlightenment) then live accordingly and focus on the positive in order to stay positive. The true church is not an organized group of people who meet in a designated “church” building, but rather it is all those who live in the light. Find them and associate yourself with them and leave the ignoramuses to wallow about in their ignorance. G. Why do Christians worship the bible despite it being very
flawed?
For one, the same thing was going on with the Jews during Jesus’ days. He told them “Search the scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me”. Note the sarcasm. It’s true that Christians seem to worship a book instead of the creator of all life. It’s a problem, but like all problems there is no solution without accepting a more mature understanding. If Christians would accept that there are numerous “errors” in the bible, then maybe they would be totally humbled and then seek God so that he would totally be their support instead of a book. After 30 years of being a Christian I finally came to accept that the bible is in error in the following examples: 1. The gospel writers have many discrepancies concerning the account of Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crucifixion. 2. 2nd Samuel 24 and 1st Chronicles 21 have the same story of David’s counting the Jews but have different numerical results (and one story says that God told him to do it, and the other story says that the devil influenced him to do it). 3. In Genesis God told Adam and Eve that in the day that they ate of the forbidden fruit that they would die, but they didn’t. 4. The bible says that Eve was the “mother of all living” although her son Cain moved away from her family, married in a foreign land, and founded a city for the local people who obviously weren't children of Eve. Click here to read a more complete listing of bible errors and contradictions. Probably because the first five books of the Old Testament (supposedly the books of Moses) were not written by Moses, but mostly by the priests many centuries later during the first Babylonian captivity of the Jews. In the gospels you can read how controlling, cruel, and narrow minded the priests were. It was that kind of mentality that formed the mental climate of cold and hard rule by law with cruel punishments for all who disobey. (For example; a woman found grasping the genitals of a man fighting with her husband was to be punished by having her hand cut off.) So of course they would paint a picture of God as being cruel and always ready to punish. Personally, for me, the only parts of the Old Testament worth reading is Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and all the prophets. Hosea, one of the prophets, wrote that God told him “I desired mercy, and not sacrifice” which shows he isn't all-concerned about the religious law. He's more concerned with heart attributes. I think Jesus was always trying to redirect peoples hearts and minds away from the strict legalism of Moses to compassion and love. I. Why
are most Christians “hawks” (militaristic, not “doves”) who think
president
Bush was right in waging war against Muslims?
Because most all religious Christians believe that the bible is perfect and that God endorses war against all “infidels”. In the bible, God supposedly had the Jews enter the promised land (from Saudi Arabia after leaving Egypt) to kill all men, women, and children of heathen religions. Ohhh! It is that mentality of cruelty and war that infiltrates the minds of everyone who wholeheartedly believes the bible is the infallible word of God. It is just a cloak for imperialism, where the dominant country edges out the inferior countries for the goods that they want. Patriotic “hawks” believe that it is OK to wage war to preserve “the American way of life”. The fear is that they will be cut off from the oil supplies in the MidEast. Like Paul said, “the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Tim 6:10). They also have been brainwashed into believing that Arabs (that couldn't even fly small planes correctly) commandeered huge airline jets into the twin towers and the Pentagon. All the facts point to an inside job by those in high places who wanted the support of the populace so they could go to war. Click here for more on this. J. Why,
if God is loving and forgiving, did Jesus die as
willingly accepting the punishment
from God for the sins of the world? Couldn’t God just forgive all those
who repent and
ask for forgiveness? Why the necessary punishment, especially of his
own son?
Christians think that Isaiah 53 says that
Jesus was wounded for our
transgressions. (Isaiah 53:4-6
"Surely he has
carried our griefs, and our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of
our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are
healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to
his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 10.
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he
has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for
sin"). But verse 9* makes it clear
that it wasn't Jesus. The idea of Jesus’ death being
taking on the punishment of the world from God doesn’t exist in the
four gospels
(other than an exclamation by John the Baptist that Jesus was the lamb
of God
come to take away the sins of the world which some scholars say was
added hundreds of years later to promote the churches beliefs) or the
book of Acts.
Before Paul wrote down this idea, I think Christians believed that
Jesus had died just because of
the cruelty of the priests and Romans. The idea that God has to punish
sin is
completely opposite to the idea that God can forgive sins. Jesus talked
about
God’s forgiveness and gave the parable of a businessman forgiving the
debt of
someone who begged him to do so, instead of having him thrown in jail.
(Matt
18:23-34) His
stories of punishment from God was always only for the unrepentant
people. Keep
in mind that Paul was a converted Pharisee, the worst of the Jewish
priesthood.
Although he had been converted to "The Way", he still had a lot of
that old Jewish thinking in his head concerning laws and sacrifices for
sins. Of
course he would of seen Jesus' death as a sacrifice to God for the sins
of the
world. The question is whether or not believing in
"the cross" is essentially believing that God is cruel and dead set on
punishment, not on forgiveness and mercy for those who request it. To
me the cross
symbolizes the cruelty of the Romans against all who wouldn't live by
their
laws. The early Christians used the sign for the fish as their
representative
symbol, not the cross. The Catholics, who are heavy on legalities, use
the cross
as their symbol. Should the sign for death and punishment symbolize
Christianity? Jesus "broke the law" of the Jews at least
3 times. He was trying to show that it's all about spirit, not strict
laws and
their punishments. When the Pharisees brought an adulteress to him to
test his
adherence to the law (and its punishment of death for adulterers) he
said "He that is without sin
among you, let him first cast a stone at her." He demonstrated love,
forgiveness, and mercy to her when he said to her "Neither do I condemn
you. Go and sin no more". (John
8:11) So why did Jesus have to die such a
cruel death? It wasn't by happenstance either. He was forewarned about
it and he
was preparing himself to go through it. It did seem to be pre-planned.
So why
couldn't God just let Jesus not go
through all that? Why couldn't of Jesus just lived a long life and died
peacefully in his sleep? Good question. Looks like another conflict of
ideas in the bible. *Isaiah 53:9 "And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death". According to the gospels Jesus was laid in a single unused tomb. His body was alone in that tomb, not "with the rich". (see Luke 23:52-53) K. Why do all the churches require members to
give 10% of their income to their organization? Isn’t that proof of
their
coercion and greed?
In many cases, yes. But many of the pastors truly believe that requiring 10% (called “tithing”, giving a tenth) from all members is endorsed by the bible, although that is not true. In old testament times (before Christ's death) God required 10% in the form of food for the Levites (the priestly tribe). But the new testament standard was stated by Paul in 1 Cor 16:2 as being giving “as God has prospered you”. In other words, if you are not financially prospering then you shouldn’t give. God doesn’t require poor people to give. Paul said there is no necessity to give: 2 Cor 9:7 "Every man according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver". Where it talks about tithing in the new testament letter to the Hebrews (chapter 7) it is talking about orthodox Jews and their orthodox old testament system which they were still practicing. It was not talking about it in relation to followers of Christ. Click here to read a complete discussion about the topic of tithing. Even worse than the pastors requiring members to tithe is the sin that they don't make a good portion of these gifts freely available to the poor, which is part of the old testament tithing laws. If they are going to act like Jewish priests they should at least carry out the Jewish laws correctly. In Deuteronomy 26:12 tithes were to be given "to the LEVITE, the STRANGER, the FATHERLESS and the WIDOW". (The Levites were the Jews serving in the priesthood.) In Deuteronomy 27:19 it reads "Cursed is the one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the fatherless and the widow." [Refer to Deu. 14:27-29] L. Why are Protestants so intolerant of contrary religious beliefs? Didn't Jesus teach the importance of tolerance? He didn't teach directly about tolerance of different beliefs, but it can be implied when he said that we should love others as we love ourselves (Luke 10:27) and that such love was a requirement to inherit eternal life*. But the story Jesus gave there (Luke 10) does include religious tolerance because the Samaritans believed differently from the Jews and they generally had nothing to do with each other because of that difference. But the good Samaritan ignored those differences in order to show godly love to the injured Jew. Also in Matthew 5:44 Jesus taught "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you". I was once kicked out of a Christian housing for the poor in the middle of winter because I expressed doubt in the belief in Jesus' supposed virgin birth. I didn't hate them though because I knew their hatred and intolerance would exclude them from entering eternal life upon death and they would have to be returned to Earth for another chance to get it right. (poor souls. they have to re-experience potty training, puberty, public school, etc.)
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