I ask this respectfully. Christians, why not look at the arguements against Christianity?

Question

If it's true it could stand examination, right?

I was asked to elaborate by Nikki. Ok - how about reading a few books by Atheists. Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris or Bertrand Russells short essay "Why I am Not A Christian." I don't know of one Christian, on the net or in my real life, who will even look at what they have to say.

http://users.drew.edu/~jlenz/whynot.html (Russell's essay - would take about 15 minutes to read, just in case a Christian might want to)

Answer 1

-puts fingers in ears- LA LA LA LA LA I'M NOT LISTENING LA LA LA LA LA

Answer 2

Many do, i.e. Lee Strobel, J.P. Moreland, Josh McDowell. Have you read them? I understand your logic and it is commendable. A judge is foolish to make a judgement by only hearing one side of the case. I spent years (like Strobel and McDowell) reading philosophers that are skeptical. The outcome of my study has only strengthened my faith. Bertrand for instance in "Why I am not a Christian" made some serious accuasations but they where all strawmen to those who know God's word properly. They are great questions but his assumptions where based on unproper understandings of Scripture. For example. He said that Jesus was a false prophet because He said that the end times will happen in the generation he was talking too:

"Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. "

Bertrand placed a heavy emphasis on "this generation" when all the signs of the end WILL TAKE PLACE.

The problem Bertand had would have been answered if He took the time to study the very good question in GREEK. The verb "will take place" in the Greek means just that BUT in Greek there is an understanding of "aspect" which does not translate over to the English (or any other language for that matter). It is the aorist "inceptive". The emphasis on the verb can mean the beginning of the action, the contiuance of the action, or the completion of the action, aslo in reference to the time of the speaker, before, up to, after. The inceptive puts the emphasis on the "beginning" of the action. Thus, it really means "This generation will not pass untill these things BEGIN to take place.

It is misunderstandings like this, that cause great thinkers to fall. Harris and the likes all had the same problems, sylogisms with a faulty foundation, that leads to intelligent but wrong answers.

Answer 3

I do look at arguments against Christianity all the time. On a daily basis. I enjoy religions though, all of them and I try to learn all I can about every religion I come across. But I am also not what any one would call a typical christian. I have a strong belief and if I can help some one understand then that is good enough for me. No body likes to have religion shoved at them. I think this is a fault for many religions, everyone has the right to believe what the feel is right, I have no right to try to take that. I wish more people could see that we must be tolerant. There is never going to be one religion so why be so hostile and hateful about it. That truly is not Christian.

Answer 4

I dare say that I might be more well read in anti-Christian arguments than the average R&S atheist, especially with regards to philosophy and textual criticism. I am familiar with non-belief from Lucretius through Bertrand Russell to Richard Rorty (and his student, Sam Harris). And I know the history of deconstructive analysis of the Bible from German Higher Criticism (like Bruno Bauer's influence on Engels and Marx) to today's Marxist-influenced Feminist critiques of biblical Patriarchy. I am also familiar with psychoanalytic theories of religion starting with Feuerbach, popularized by Freud, and rented out by Richard Dawkins but made respectable by Daniel Dennett. Yes, it stands examination rather well, actually.

Answer 5

When I was a child, I was told what to believe.
When I was a teen I challenged those ideas.
I wanted to know for myself what I believed.
I DID look at the arguments against Christianity.
Every Day I faced questions from my friends that forced me to stop and reconsider what I truly believed and what I only believed because my parents told me so.

And you know what?
Today, I am stronger in my faith than I EVER was as a child.
I KNOW what the truth is, instead of wondering if my "beliefs" might be right.
I have a PERSONAL relationship with Christ instead of a Christianity.

Answer 6

i have looked at arguments against Christianity for many many years and the summation of it is this: people who think the Bible or Christianity is wrong are usually holding it to a comparison of what they believe to be the truth which can differ from person to person. In essence they are making up their own faith based views and often are beliving a religious view of their own including athieists who believe their is no God without any real proof. Christianity is grounded in history which has been allowed to have certain events to happen to fulfill its ultimate purpose under God's Son's ultimate reign of a new kingdom of all who have faith in God and Jesus.

Answer 7

At times it seems that is all we do... "look at the arguments of others". To know the truth as a Christian at some point we made a leap of faith (pardon the cliche), irrespective of argument, through that we found irrefutable truth. It's important to be well grounded as a Christian and listen to all arguments, but in the end truth wins out for those of us who have discovered it.

Answer 8

We don't have to. They are shoved in our faces constantly. The rudest and most pushy religion in the world is atheism, which is a religion whether atheists accept the label or not. And yes, Christianity can and does stand examination in millions of people's hearts and minds on a daily basis. Anyone who blindly follows any religion doesn't have faith in anything, they're just being lazy.

Answer 9

I was a Christian and did just what you are describing. I can't fathom how anyone could carefully consider the arguments against Christianity and still believe in Christianity. The arguments against Christianity win hands down.

Answer 10

Arguments usually involve a measure of logic to win their point. Christianity is a religion, based on faith. Faith and logic are not necessarily compatible. Beliefs are not always "truths" in everyone's eyes.

Answer 11

Why do you think that we don't look at the arguements?? The Bible actually encourages us to check it out. To know the reasons for our faith. God is not against reason. He tells us to count the cost. I have been a Christian all my life and I have never seen anything that makes me not believe it is true. I personally know of at least 3 people who were athiests and set out to logically disprove God, and they all became Christians. These were very intelligent scientific men, one was a physics major.

Check out the book The Case For Christ by Lee Strobel. He set out to find the proof against God. He comes from the standpoint of the legal realm. He sought evidence the way a trial would look for it. Historical standards and psychology, all the angles he could think of, and the Bible stood up to all the tests.