Christians, Have you ever examined the hypocrisies and atrocities of your faith before buying into it?

Question

Why do you believe on faith only, and make your decision based on one source, which is the Bible? To me, it's sort of like making a major purchase or investment. I certainly wouldn't buy a house without making sure I knew it from the inside and out, and if It had a shaky foundation I wouldn't buy it, nor would I invest in a market without getting several opinions from different sources. Why is something as important as your soul any different?

For further clarifications, I spent 12 years in catholic school and 2 years in a convent, and two years at Bob Jones U. I bet all my money in the bank, I can quote the bible better than the majority of you. It has been these experiences that have shown me the what a terrible thing Christianity is. Once you really understand the bible and how life works, only an idiot could believe the Bible.

I don't have time to rationalize everything I have learned over 38 years. I've spent the vast majority of my life studying christianity and world religion. I highly recommend checking out the book called "Letter to a Christian Nation"
Try it. Maybe you'll understand.

I don't doubt the possiblity of God, but I do doubt the bible and how Christians and many other religions have interpreted it.

Answer 1

Faith cannot be hypocritical.
Christianity not be hypocritical. The believers of the religion can be hypocritical.

I know all about the Christian history. The Council of Nicaea, the crusades, the burning of heretics. What does this mean to me, as a Christian. The believers as human erred. Chose to believe their interpretations of the religion, and gave in to the times, instead of actually following the teachings of Christ.

I agree with you that no one should go by 'blind faith' (meaning that they were raised to believe a certain thing about Jesus and the Bible and never actually researched it themselves).
But after researching all the history, it is OK to have faith in Jesus. To accept him and his teachings as the truth. One that is going into the research with out God's guidance, and without a bit of open-mindedness, aren't going to find the 'proof' they are searching for, unless it is just ways to use that info as an anti-Christian tool.
God said he people wouldn't believe unless he performed miracles right in front of them, and even then they would doubt.

Answer 2

There are many more sources than just the Bible that we can rely on (although the Bible is more than sufficient on it's own).

1. Geography
2. Texts
3. Toponymy
4. Archaeology

Geography- If you study the geography of Israel you would see how it affected the settlement patterns, routes of travel commerce, econmy, politics and thus the history of that time. The geography of the Biblical Israel confirms what we read in the Bible.

Texts- There are extra-biblical texts (texts outside the Bible) that also confirm what is written in scripture. Egyptian sources are primarily from the 2nd millenium BCE. There are 4 types.
1) Expedition journal and topographical lists- example is Thutmose III.
2) Literary papyri-example, Journey of Sinuhe
3) Execration texts- 2 sets (ursing)
4) Coorespondance archives- El Amarna letters
Other Extra Biblical texts include Mesopotamian sources, from Syria the Ebla texts, from Transjordan the Mesha Stele, from Israel the Tel Dan inscription.
Also look at authors like the famous historian Josephus, Tacitus, Pliny the younger, Julius Africanus, and the Talmud.

Toponymy- the study of place names. If you study the cities and other names in the Bible you will see that they have the Principles of Location which prove they really did exist. Those are:
1) Near a water source.
2) Defensible.
3) Continuity of the name through the centuries.
4) It fits with the geography described in the text.
5) Check data from archaelogical surveys.
No one would settle in a place that did not have these Principles of Location.

Archaeology- If we dig in Israel and find ancient sites that are consistent with where the Bible said we would find them, that shows the Bible's history and geography are accurate. One prominate archaeologist carefully examined Luke's references to 32 countries, 54 cities, and 9 islands, finding not a single mistake. These are only some sites that have been excavated: The Pool of Bethesda in John 5:1-15, the Pool of Siloam from John 9:7, Jacob's well from John 4:12, even Pontius Pilate's identity has been confirmed by archaeology! John McRay PH. D. was asked if he had ever encountered an archaeological finding that blatantly contravene a New Testament reference he responded, "Archaeology has nto produced anything that is unequivocally a contradiction to the Bible. On the contrary, there have been many opinions of skeptical scholars that have become codified into 'fact' over the years but that archaeology has shown to be wrong."

Answer 3

Very good question. Because it is the only belief that makes sense. It is the only belief that answers all the important questions such as "Who am I?" and "Why am I here"? No other belief does this in a way that makes sense, to the mind or the heart.

It is based on only one book, the Bible, which Christians know is the Word of God. It proves itself as authentic and from God, through the prophecies in it which by their fulfillment prove that it could only have come from a true and real God. No other book or written work can make that claim.

And finally, the Holy Spirit that works within us, convinces us that it is the truth, and that all else which leads one away from this truth is an enemy to be fought against on the spiritual level. One of these enemies is the claim that the faith and religion of a true christian, the one based on the Bible, is filled with atrocities and hypocrisies. Anyone who commits atrocities is not following what the Bible says and therefore is not a true christian. This is contrary to Islam, for example, where the Quran encourages atrocities to be commited against all non-Muslims (infidels). This by the way, proves the god of the Quran is someone other then the God of the Bible. As far as hypocrisies, you have to be specific as I do not know of any hypocrisies within the truth we know as the Bible.

Answer 4

I love this question... The asker wishes to make Christians appear unreasonable, so she decides to make the assumption that the Christian faith is full of "hypocrisies and atrocities." Unfortunately, assumptions cannot replace reason, despite how much people like the Asker wish they could.

Indeed, the Asker is correct in stating that choosing a faith is like making a major investment; one should deeply investigate their faith to determine whether or not it is true. The truth will bear scrutiny, after all.

The silly thing about this question is that it reveals the Asker's bias against Christianity, as well as the same lack of the investigation that the Asker wishes to condemn Christians for. There have been no atrocities of the Christian faith; only atrocities committed in the name of the Christian faith. Believe it or not, it's actually a bad idea to judge a religion (especially one like Christianity, which has no defining set of standards by which one can tell if a person is really a Christian) based on the actions of people who claim to adhere to that religion. Was the Inquisition cool? Certainly not! But to call that an "atrocity of the faith" is, quite frankly, rather silly because it was not in any way condoned by the faith. It was the actions of man that committed that atrocity, even as they unwittingly went against the tenets of the religion they claimed to practice.

Similarly, you can not show me a single example hypocrisy within the Christian faith itself. You can show me hypocrites among those who claim to follow the faith, but the faith itself cannot be held responsible for their actions. The faith must be judged for what it is: An ideology. What people do with that ideology may never match up with the ideology itself, but you can't blame that on the ideology; it is the fault of the people.

So, have I examined my faith before I bought into it? Most certainly; I could never believe something without having seen proof. However, the difference between my investigation and yours is that I investigated what the faith itself had to say, while you investigated what people had to say in the name of the faith. That is illogical because it is the same as saying that being Pro-Life means being in favor of bombing abortion clinics, or being Pro-Choice means being in favor of infanticide as well; just because a few nutjobs blow up abortion clinics, or think that newborn infants can be legitimately killed, that doesn't mean that the ideology they claim to support is to blame.

Answer 5

It is bad the things that have been done in the name of lots of religion. One thing to remember is that my Faith is not based on how you or that Jim Jones or priest in the Inquisition acted or interpreted scripture but instead based on my belief in Jesus and the acceptance of His Loving Grace.
Just as all Muslims don't want jihad.
Let me assure you that most people base their Faith on The Man himself and not his followers. Like the guy who started AA. He said that Christ was great but his followers didn't follow much of what He said or stood for.
I mean look at Jesus what He said and what He did and don't you need a friend like that. I guess if I were able to be a better person without Him and I didn't need someone to judge my own actions by then I wouldn't need Him. I however do need some help being better. Forgiving others, being kind, and self sacrificing when it is needed. I'm really nothing like Him but I am much better than when I first met Him.
Anyway a lot of things have been done in the Name of God. But that does not mean God endorses it.
I don't know where some of these militant Christians come from but I'm sure their inspiration is not from my Lord. He never lets me feel right inside about that kind of conflict. He is the Prince of Peace. People get mixed up though.

Answer 6

Those are hypocrasies and atrocities of people.

They are also there to serve as a message and example.

There is not a SINGLE NATION nor a SINGLE belief system in the WORLD that can stand up and say I/WE are SIN FREE and pass a jury made up of the world's people.

Try it.

Quote me on country, one religion who can say THEIR KIND is TOTALLY and ABSOLUTELY no guilty of anything wrong in absolute terms.

Right now Buddhist and Muslim forces are shooting at each other in Thailand.

Hindus and Muslims clash in India.

The Maharish Yogi sexually harrassed what's her face, that celebrity.

Atheists have their Stalins, Maos, Hi Chi Mins

The nations of the world throughout history have taken their TURNS being imperialists and colonialists.

YOu can certainly name me a few INDIVIDUAL pasificsts or humanists, but you can't name a COLLECTIVE body of any significant mass that is and has always been totally meek, mild, pacfistic and humantarian and pass a must of YEAH or NAYS from the world or here at Yahoo.

Try naming one and I'll wager someone here will CITE a situation that shows their flaws.

Hence Jesus observation is correct when they were stoning Mary Madeline. He among you without sin, cast the first stone.

I have YET to meet a TOTAL SAINT or read a biography of one.

They MUST be 100% PURE as the virgin snow.

Answer 7

First of all, you're making a blanket statement about hypocrisy within the "faith" as you call it. What exactly is hypocritical? If you mean some of the people within the church, then, yes, there are some hypocrites. You need to be more specific about what you're getting at. As far as the atrocities you mention, I'm assuming you mean the Crusades, which the Catholic Church has openly taken the blame for what DID go wrong there.

Secondly, I believe in what the Bible and what the Catholic Church teaches. That's about two thousand years worth of experience in Christian matters. The Church has its problems, but it constantly works to fix them. I don't know what religion (if any) you are, but you need to check your facts before making proclamations such as the ones in your question.

Answer 8

I researched my faith completely. I was raised Catholic, became agnostic, then wiccan, and I chose to be Catholic again. I didn't just come to this descision on blind faith but on what I knew in my heart was right. I'm always reading up on aspects and doctrines of my faith. You obviously don't appreciate Christianity when you insult it by saying it has a shakey foundation. By lasting as long as it has, through everything it has endured, merely proves the strength of it. It is a strong faith and has proven itself to me over the years and in everything I've ever read.

REligion isn't something you pick and choose at a store. It's more important then stocks and bonds. It feeds the soul and nurishes you. The bible is merely a starting point and there is much more out there to read.

Why not trying to study something before you deem it unworthy of your time.

Answer 9

the bible is what christians base their faith on. it is the story of God revealing Himself in history through action.

whether or not someone should have faith in Christ, should not be based on the atrocities and wrongdoings that historical and present people do in the name of "Christian Religion."

the only true way to find out whether or not the foundation is shaky or sturdy, is to actually read the bible. not read what people say about it, or what some people have done in the name of christianity. if you are open to seeking what Christianity is all about, read the Bible and the answers will be there.

Answer 10

No, that would be before buying OUT. When one is buying in, one looks at the insights and wonders.

Most Christians were raised in their faith and never took the trouble to look closely at all. For that matter, every organization that admits humans is subject to hypocrisy and atrocities. It's up to the the individual to behave decently, whatever their creed.