The Ultimate Christianity Challenge Part 1: Salvation?

Question

Welcome to Adia Arek's challenge to the Christians to answer these twelve provocative questions. First topic, Salvation.

For non-Christians, grab a drink or popcorn, see how the Christians shall answer. As for Christians, good luck and answer politely.

1. If it was agreeable with God’s Majesty to have sons, He could have created a million sons the like of Jesus. So what is the big clear deal about this only son?

2.Why does the Bible say that Jesus wanted to die on the cross, when the one on the cross was shouting "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" according to Matthew 27:45 and Mark 15:33?

3. If God had wanted to save us, couldn’t He have done that without sacrificing Jesus?

4. God is Just, and justice requires that nobody should be punished for the sins of others, nor should some people be saved by punishing other people. Doesn’t the claim that God sacrificed Jesus to save us because He was Just, contradict the definition of justice?

5. People sacrifice things they have to get something they don’t have when they can’t have both. Christians say that "God SACRIFICED His only son to save us". We know that God is Almighty; to whom did He sacrifice Jesus?

6. A real sacrifice is when you can’t get back what you have offered , so what would be the big deal about such a sacrifice if God could recover the same offering? (according to the Christians’ terminology)?

7. If all the Christians are saved through Jesus and are going to Heaven no matter what they do, then the teachings of Jesus are irrelevant and the definition of good and bad are also rendered irrelevant. If this is not so, then do Christians who believe in Jesus yet do not follow his teachings nor repent go to Hell?

8. How can Christians take deeds as irrelevant after becoming one when Jesus says in Matthew 12:36; "But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment. For by the words thou shalt be justified, and by the words thou shalt be condemned"?

9. Christians say that people go to Heaven ONLY THROUGH JESUS, yet Paul says in 1 CORINTHIANS 7:8-16 that the unbelieving husband is acceptable to God because he is united with his wife and vice versa, and their pagan children are also acceptable to God. So people can go to heaven without believing in Jesus according to this.

10. How come the Bible says that ALL Israel is saved although they don’t believe in Jesus? Doesn’t that contradict the claim in the Bible that the only way to heaven is through Jesus?

11. According to Christians, those who have not been baptized will go to Hell. So even the infants and babies go to Hell if not baptized, since they are born with an inherited original sin. Doesn’t this contradict the definition of justice? Why would God punish people for sins they never committed?

12. Are you satisfied with your answer?

Good luck, may God bless you.

Thank you James and starjumper, you have answered wisely and patiently. Though James get's teh best answer :P

Answer 1

Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
At the moment that Jesus said that He had the weight of all sins on Him. God cannot look upon sin.
John 3:16
John 3:16-21
John 8:54-58
John 12:20-26
John 14:6-7
John 14:9-14
John 19
John 20
Luke 23
Luke 24
Mark 15
Mark 16
Matthew 27
Matthew 28

Answer 2

1. Because it was his only son, that is why?
2. Tuff. But I'll try. This is the struggle between the flesh and the soul. The flesh didn't want to die and cried out. The soul knew that he had to be and what was to come.
3. When Adem and Eve sinned, God was going to destroy them but instead granted them life with some punishments and stated that he would sacrafice His only Son to pay for that sin. A death was the penalty of the crime and God does not break His word.
4. God didn't sacrafice someone else, He sacraficed Himself. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are One.
5. He was forfilling an oath, see #3.
6. The flesh died, the pain endured. That was not taken back.
7. The is a big division on this thoughout the faith of Christianity. Just believing in Jesus is not enouph. One has to continue to strive to be Jesus like. Each is jugded when it is their time.
8. If I understand the question right, the deeds before one becomes a Christian are forgiven when one truely accepts Christ in their lives. It is the deeds or words after that affect the outcome of the Judgement.
9. You misunderstood this passage. The unbeliever is not going to heaven but the children are holy through the marriage which was blessed by God. The children are not puniched because the father was not a believer.
10. That was a promise before Jesus, and God does not break His word.
11. We are all sinners because of the origanal sin. Baptism is a symbol, the ritual is not needed to be born again. It is what happens inside that counts. Many churchs don't do this until the age of choice because they believe that the choice to lead a life in Jesus is what creats the change in someone.
12. I see how much I still need to grow in the faith.

Answer 3

1. Jesus was the only creation directly from God. He made him first before all else. Jesus then took over for his father using the holy spirit. The bible calls him the 'master worker'.
2. Jesus did not want to die on the cross, but he did his father's will. When he cried out on the cross it was because God had to pull the holy spirit from him so as he could die. Sad, but now he reigns as king of kings.
3. We were sold into sin by one perfect man, Adam, and had to be redeemed by another equal perfect man. The mosaic law decreed an eye for an eye.
4. Jesus was not punished.

Answer 4

>just because you asked nicely, Ill give it a try...


1. If it was agreeable with God’s Majesty to have sons, He could have created a million sons the like of Jesus. So what is the big clear deal about this only son?
>The Word says Jesus is the only begotten Son... begotten, not made, of the same substance as God... is God...


2.Why does the Bible say that Jesus wanted to die on the cross, when the one on the cross was shouting "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" according to Matthew 27:45 and Mark 15:33?
>The Word says that Jesus was a willing lamb... (sacrificial lamb). The Word became flesh & dwelt among men, Jesus that is, has a mortal body but fully one with God (the Father) in heaven through the power of the third person of God (the Holy Spirit)... at the cross Jesus became the sin offering, becoming sin himself, but God & sin cannot be one, so the Holy Spirit had to leave Jesus, thus the reason for the cry... "why have you forsaken me"...


3. If God had wanted to save us, couldn’t He have done that without sacrificing Jesus?
>Yes, you could, but if God IS God & knowing the nature of God, He would have planned all that from the beginning & that IS what would have taken place...


4. God is Just, and justice requires that nobody should be punished for the sins of others, nor should some people be saved by punishing other people. Doesn’t the claim that God sacrificed Jesus to save us because He was Just, contradict the definition of justice?
>this seems like a roundabout question to me & because you are premising it to God sacrificing Jesus... you have to look at the answer to Q no. 5.


5. People sacrifice things they have to get something they don’t have when they can’t have both. Christians say that "God SACRIFICED His only son to save us". We know that God is Almighty; to whom did He sacrifice Jesus?
>the Word says God gave His only begotten Son... gave not sacrificed... gave to whom... gave to humankind... Jesus gave up his mortal body's life for all humanity



6. A real sacrifice is when you can’t get back what you have offered , so what would be the big deal about such a sacrifice if God could recover the same offering? (according to the Christians’ terminology)?
>If you are really into the sacrifice thing... maybe Jesus upon becoming flesh, He had sacrificed being God in heaven to being a mortal with the Holy Spirit living in planet earth & experiencing how it is to be human... if you look at it that way He did sacrifice some 30 odds years which He would not be able to recover (as a man)


7. If all the Christians are saved through Jesus and are going to Heaven no matter what they do, then the teachings of Jesus are irrelevant and the definition of good and bad are also rendered irrelevant. If this is not so, then do Christians who believe in Jesus yet do not follow his teachings nor repent go to Hell?
>you love God because God loved you first, & as you receive this love (when you first believe in Jesus) you are able to love God back & thus says the Lord, if you love me, you will obey my commands, only then will you be able to follow His commands (not before).


8. How can Christians take deeds as irrelevant after becoming one when Jesus says in Matthew 12:36; "But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment. For by the words thou shalt be justified, and by the words thou shalt be condemned"?
>nobody said deeds are irrelevant, for faith without work is dead.



9. Christians say that people go to Heaven ONLY THROUGH JESUS, yet Paul says in 1 CORINTHIANS 7:8-16 that the unbelieving husband is acceptable to God because he is united with his wife and vice versa, and their pagan children are also acceptable to God. So people can go to heaven without believing in Jesus according to this.
>acceptable is not the same as saved


10. How come the Bible says that ALL Israel is saved although they don’t believe in Jesus? Doesn’t that contradict the claim in the Bible that the only way to heaven is through Jesus?
>the Bible does not say ALL Israel is saved.


11. According to Christians, those who have not been baptized will go to Hell. So even the infants and babies go to Hell if not baptized, since they are born with an inherited original sin. Doesn’t this contradict the definition of justice? Why would God punish people for sins they never committed?
>the Bible does not say that (all those not baptized will go to hell)



12. Are you satisfied with your answer?
>No, not in this lifetime, because we are human we cannot possibly know EVERYTHING... we probably would in the next life...



Good luck, may God bless you.
>I dont believe in luck, I believe in God. Peace!

Answer 5

You don't seem to understand the nature or character of God. You don't truly believe that God created evil, devil and all chaos that we see and hear about in this world - do you? Well, if that your view of God, you need to see things differently - you need to have your thoughts rearranged. You need to be saved, you need to be born again. You need to see things as God sees them. Your sight is tainted with sin so that you don't see as clearly as you should.

You need the spirit of God to be the one that guides you. you get the spirit of God when you believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, he died for your sins and God raised him from the dead. You need to confess with your mouth. It is written "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe with your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." This is a true statement - it is in Holy Bible. You can take God at his word. He is not a man that he should lie nor a son of man that he should change his mind.

Answer 6

History of 'invention' of Trinity - The Pauline way....

Paul of Somasata was a Bishop of Antioch. He was of the view that Christ was not GOD but a man and a Prophet. He differed only in degree from prophets who came before him and that GOD could not have become man substantially.

Then we come across another Bishop of Antioch viz Lucian. As Bishop his reputation for sanctity was not less than his fame as a scholar. He came down strongly against the belief of Trinity. He deleted all mention of Trinity from the Bible as he believed it to be a later interpolation not found in the earlier Gospels. He was martyred in 312 A.D.

Next we come to the famous disciple of Lucian viz. Arius (250-336 A.D.) He was a Libyan by birth. Peter Bishop if Alexandria ordained him a Deacon but later excommunicated him. Achilles the successor of Peter again ordained Arius as priest. Alexander the next Bishop of Alexandria once again excommunicated him. Arius however had gathered such a large following that he became a headache for the Church. If kept out of the Church he could be a great danger to her but could not be accommodated within the Church as he wanted to establish the unity and simplicity of the Eternal GOD. He believed that howsoever much Christ may surpass other created beings he himself was not of the same substance as GOD. He was as human as any other man. The teaching of Arius spread like wildfire and shook the very foundation of the Pauline Church. The controversy that was simmering for three hundred years suddenly became a conflagration. No man dared to oppose the organized Church but Arius did, and remained a headache for her whether he was ordained a priest or was excommunicated. During this two events changed the history of Europe.

Emperor Constantine brought a greater part of Europe under his rule and secondly he began to support the Christians without accepting the faith. To the soldier prince the different creeds within the Christian faith were very confusing. In the Imperial palace itself the controversy was raging not less fiercely. It appears that perhaps the Queen Mother was inclined towards Pauline Christianity while his sister Princess Constantina was a disciple of Arius. The Emperor was waving between the two faiths. As an administrator he was interested only in uniting all the Christians within one Church. It was at this time that the conflict between Arius and Bishop Alexander became so widespread and so violent that it became a law and order problem. So the Emperor was anxious to maintain peace in the newly unified Europe had to intervene.

In 325 A.D. a meeting of all denominations of Christianity was called at Nicea (Now Isnik, a village) Bishop Alexander was not able to attend the conference and he deputed his lieutenant Athanasius, who subsequently succeeded Alexander as Bishop of Alexandria.

The conference had many prolonged sessions. Emperor Constantine could not grasp the full implications of the ecclesiastical confrontation, but he was very clear in his mind that for maintaining peace in his realm the support and co-operation of the Church was necessary. Accordingly he threw his weight behind Athanasius and banished Arius from the realm. Thus the belief of Trinity became the official religion of the empire. Fearful massacre of Christians who did not believe in Trinity followed. It became a penal offence to possess a Bible not authorized by the Church and according to some estimate as many as 270 different versions of the Bible were burnt. Princess Constantina was not happy at the turn of the events. The Emperor ultimately was persuaded to accept the faith of the man he killed. The result was that Arius was called back in 326. The day Arius was scheduled to visit the Cathedral of Constantinople in Triumph, he died suddenly. The Church called it a miracle. The Emperor knew it was murder. He banished Athanasius and two other Bishops. The Emperor then formally accepted Christianity and was baptized by an Arian Bishop. Thus Monotheism became the official religion. Constantine died in 337. The next Emperor Constaintanius also accepted the faith of Arius. In 341 a conference was held in Antioch and Monotheism was accepted as a correct interpretation of Christian faith. This view was confirmed by another council held in Sirmium in 351. As a result Arianism was accepted by an overwhelming majority of Christians. St. Jerome wrote in 359 that the whole world groaned and marveled to find itself Arian.

In this context the next important figure is that of Pope Honorius. A contemporary of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) he saw the rising tide of Islam whose tenants very much resembled those of Arius. As the mutual killing of Christians was still fresh in his memory he perhaps thought of finding a via media between Islam and Christianity. In his letters he began to support the doctrine of ‘one mind’, because if GOD has three independent minds the result would be chaos. The logical conclusion pointed to the belief in the existence of one GOD. This doctrine was not officially challenged for about half a century. Pope Honorius died in October 638. In 680, i.e. 42 years after his death, a council was held in Constantinople where Pope Honorius was anathematized. This event is unique in the history of Papacy when a Pope was denounced by a succeeding Pope and the Church.

Answer 7

Adia...

I Think you're Muslim.. and if this is right, you have no right to challenge christians, according to the Quran and Hadith, you are not supposed to Discuss their religions Unless "They come to you and ask"... Remmeber What Muhammed Said: "Whomsoever hurts a christian, hurts me!"

Remove your question and stop this please...

Answer 8

I am not taking a quiz at this hour,You know Jesus, You hold Mary above all woman,You even know Jesus will return.Yet you
follow Mohammad who was afraid of jinn.All the demons shudder at the very name of Jesus.
Last week you asked for prayer,I prayed for You ,I guess You still
need prayer.

Answer 9

The answer for these questions are easy. The Bible. Spend time in humility and open-mindedness with the Bible over time and these questions will be nothing.

Answer 10

yes you may be right to say that your questions are provocative, in the view of some. but first, let me ask you to please read the verses of the Bible you have quoted in their context. as you read again, ask the Almighty One to give you the wisdom and understanding. if you ask Him sincerely and with an open mind, He will grant your prayer. May The Almighty One guide you and bless you.