Why is it that when you ask a question about the Christian faith...?

Question

...nearly half, if not more, of the people answering will dodge the question? I'm not trying to sling mud here, either. It just seems like every time a question like this is asked, there will be several vague and usually irrelevant answers like "I stand on the Word of God, the only Truth" or "How can anyone not believe in God?" or "We should never question God."

Also, if you pose a question of this nature, a lot of people seem to want to jump to the conclusion that you are an atheist. I'm not an atheist. If you're a Christian, are you not allowed to question anything about the faith? If not, then how else are you supposed to learn from it?

And as indicated above, I am not trying to offend anyone with this.

Answer 1

Who knows?I enjoy tough questions from either side of the fence.Perhaps,there are just a lot of dim bulbs here.

Answer 2

I'm not offended in the least.... honestly, i question anyone that tries to 'tell me like it is' and doesnt back it up with either scripture or experience. but that is because I am a Christian....

I don't believe what a pastor or priest says just cuz they are 'ordained' (ordination is done by meeting 'men's requirements' and 'man's judgement' is not all it is made out to be) I take the bible and what they say, and if it doesnt match up... i discard what that pastor/priest says .... but i do that with anyone trying to pass off their own ideas as 'true' and 'of God'

I havent had the opportunity to answer any of your other questions tho... so, I guess I will just have to watch and wait

we all have a lot of learning to do... I learn new things about my faith every day!

Answer 3

Please feel to question -
I am as human as anyone and am gradually learning to question and to pray about things I have learned, but I am also known to be dogmatic and unyielding on certain points. It's an unfortunate fact of my personality. I can't honestly answer for anyone else, but I will try to be civil and when I can I will answer from sources other than the Bible so that you can have a chance to see as well-rounded a perspective as I am able to provide. In the end, though, I am going to side with scripture as this is something I have decided up front. Is this close minded? You bet! I will at least be intellectually honest and admit such.

You won't usually, though, hear the same kinds of admissions from those who hold an evolutionary view, for example. They usually won't admit that they are biased in favor of viewing all things from a purely materialistic perspective, and that anything which seeks to explain things from a "spiritual/supernatural" perspective will be rejected, not on the basis of the merits of the evidence, but simply because it contradicts the materialistic view and must therefore be wrong. Science, in that sense, operates on the principles of faith. They have faith that, in the end, everything can be shown to be explainable by purely natural causes.

My bias is admitted up front, but try getting some of those kinds of folks to admit that they are biased and I would venture to say you won't get far. If one points out the holes in evolutionary thinking, rather than reconsidering the view, I have seen that they seek only to defend it from another angle in exactly the same kind of defensive posturing you will see Christians exhibiting. It's the sort of reasoning which does not seek to learn, only instruct. They therefore usually just wait for a chance to speak and don't really listen to what persons of faith have to say since they have decided up front that we are wrong. Doesn't all of this seem just a bit silly?

On a side note, I am questioning all sorts of things right now, and I don't think God is the least bit worried about it. I do try to be careful so as not to stumble new believers, though.

Answer 4

Here are the reasons why:

1) Some Christians are VERY insecure in their faith. Questions frighten them instead of inspire them to dig deeper themselves and continue testing their faith.

2) They are VERY sectarian. They have been indocrinated along certain very specific lines of a sect or a particular preacher/pastor with a certain biblical view. If you express anything different or question their biblical view, they get VERY defensive about it.

3) A large part of their PERSONAL ego is tied up in their belief. They get a big self-esteem boost from feeling "more beloved" and "saved". Challenge that and it send some into a tailspin. They will NEVER tell you that THEY feel insulted or you have hurt their religious pride. Instead they will tell you that you have hurt God and insulted God.

But think a while, can you truly insult an all-knowing, all powerful Being? Compared to God, who is a wise, loving parent, we are fumbling toddlers who cannot even control our own bowel functions yet. God is no more insulted by us pooping our pants than a parent is when their little toddler does it.

So continue to question! It is a good sign you are using your God-given intelligence well.

Answer 5

Of course we can question the faith as Christians. I would be classified by most users of "Answers" as a "fundie", probably. However I am constantly questioning and reexamining what I believe about different things.
When you see these vague answers like "I stand on the Word of God", etc., as you were mentioning, just skim over them, as they are by people who don't know the answers, but feel they have to write something anyway. Concentrate on the useful answers, ignore the others.

Answer 6

Well since you say more than half the people are not answering the question, then you've got at least 1 quarter of the people giving you a good answer. Otherwise you would have said no one ever answers the question. The most important thing is that you are getting a good answer to your question.

Answer 7

That is the exact reason I went in search of my own path. I was indocterinated as a Baptist as a child and raised in the church until my sr year of hs. I realized that every time I asked a question, I never got a straight answer. Scripture, taken out of context was used to deflect my question and very skillfully change the topic. Then there were those times I got answers similar to "because". Since when did that ever answer a question....."just because"? They could never answer the why's with any degree of specificity that explained anything. Then, some of the things that I felt were truth, my truth, were too "out there" for my conservative fellow church members.

I have asked my mother in law (a devout adventist) the same question...why cant you question the pastor during a sermon? She said that you can question, you just have to wait for bible study. What kind of crap is that? You should be able to question anything and everything at the moment it is being spoken of. If the pastor isnt versed enough to handle the question, he shouldnt be preaching.

I dunno....It seems to me that organized religion, for the most part, makes a habit of dumbing down its followers. If you are persecuted or get your hand slapped for asking too many questions, you will be less apt to find the flaws in their logic.

This topic could go on and on and on and on.......

Oh yeah....I not consider myself and eclectic pagan with leanings towards my celtic and native american roots, however, I drawn on bits of truth I find in ALL belief systems........

Answer 8

Don't you realize to question what you are told amounts basically to heresy!

I have heard a lot of Christians say God can do what God wants because God is God. Clearly not realizing that this is a might makes right philosophy. It is no different from saying Hitler could do what Hitler wanted because he was the leader of that country. That his actions couldn't be judged as being evil since he was the ruling power at that time.

However yes I've noticed that too. Most Christains try to side step a lot of questions. That or fall back on their old favorate "You need to have Faith."

Answer 9

People answer questions in different ways. Hoenstly I think you can ask why do people like you always ask questions like this? Why not accept that some people have a different way or reason for answering the way they do. You said yourslef most or half do not half do. Who cares why ? And yes you are trying to sling mud , as you say you just don't know yourself that well.
Also , I do not find your statements to be true, I see a lot of answers simply based on reasoning . In fact I have never or very rarely seen any of the quotes you make. I think you are reacting to a psychological barrier you have in your mind.

Answer 10

God wants us to question everything, particularly His will. Our ultimate purpose in life is to express our unique creative spirit. God wants us to be open minded, to test everything, to tempt His love, to nagg Him for what we want and need, to stir things up. That is how loving the Spirit is . God wants to spoil us rotten and he want us to spoil eachother rotten by loving beyond reason and limit

Most people don't understand this because they live under the fear of punishment, not the joy of understanding.

I guess it's hard to understand until you've experienced it. In my personal experience, there are just too many cases where my prayers have been answered, I've been guided and protected, where weird coincidental things have happened against all odds to discount the existence of God.

My experiences started happening more and more when I started acting like a spoiled little Daddy's girl to God. He Love it, we have such fun together. Such Joy.

Answer 11

Because most Christians feel very insecure about questioning their faith, having been conditioned to believe they would go to hell if they did.
Now, I am a Christian, and I used to have that same fear, but sooner or later, I had to be honest with myself. I had questions.
My questioning my faith did not make it go away, nor did it send me to hell. It actually strengthened my faith, and showed me that hell is something human beings thought up, and nothing at all to do with God.
I could go into detail, but your question was why Christians can't answer questions about their faith, not how my questioning either strengthened mine, nor led me to the conclusion that most Christians are deluded about hell, or anything else of that nature.
If you are curious about these things, I am open to discussion.
Mind, I am not saying that what I believe will in any way change what you believe, only that I am open to discussion.
May God bless you, whether you believe in Him or not....