10 questions every christian must answer?

Question

A question I posted about 15 minutes ago was an arguement from a popular source/critic at the moment.

I thought I'd post the link to the youtube video, and see if anyone could offer an insight to these 10 questions that are asked of christians:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDHJ4ztnldQ

If you're busy, I understand. The video's 10 minutes long, and I know most people won't have the time to watch it. But if you consider yourself an intellectual christian, it would be fascinating to hear the other side to this arguement.

I'll come back in 10 minutes to see who's watched it. lol

In response to taff3sghost:

I'm generally interested in the counter-arguement to this. I used up some of my valuable points on it didn't I?

It makes me wonder whether you actually had 500 words in you to begin with...

(reverse psychology work at all? lol)

Answer 1

Christians aren't supposed to argue. End of argument.

Answer 2

Well, I think it's less "10 Questions every Christian must answer" and more "The same questions R&S Christians have to answer every week." ;-) But what the heck...

1) Why doesn't He heal amputees? Free will. (Ours.) He wants us to come to faith in Him of our own free will. Any of those sort of "pow", lightning-bolt for-all-to-see sorts of things would preclude that. We all become those frightened slaves to a malevolent God - the thing He gets blamed for when He's not getting blamed for not healing amputees. How could He and still maintain our free will?

2) Why so many starving? Because we humans, either by choice, or by looking the other way, have set up a world that does that. It's that's free will thing again.

3) Why all those things that call for people's death in the OT? Because those are His standards. Harsh? Sure, but that's why He sent His Son - to pay the penalty for all those things. The whole point of the OT - from a Christian perspective - is to illustrate all the ways we fall short in His eyes, and why we need to put our faith in Jesus for our salvation.

4) Why so much anti-scientific non-sense in the Bible? Because lots of folks - on both sides - like to take parts of the Bible literally (when it's not intenteded that way) when they have an agenda.

5) Why is God a huge proponent of slavery? Because people mistake *acknowledging* the existence for advoacting it. (Again, especially when they have an agenda.) None of those references endorse it.

6) Why do bad things happen to good people? Same as question 1 - we loose free will if they don't.

7) Why no evidence left of the miracles? Well, we do have all the writing of the people who saw them, both in the Bible, and extra-Biblical. That's not evidence? Besides, they ate the bread and the fish, drank the wine, etc.

8) Why hasn't Jesus appeared to you? Because He's only physically coming back once - the "second coming" the Bible talks about. He has given us the Holy Spirit until then.

9) Why would Jesus want us to eat His body and drink His blood? Because if you read the Bible you realize he isn't talking about his literal body and blood. Why do all Christians - except maybe the Catholics - see it that way?

10) Why do Christians divorce at the same rate? Because most Christians live the same way as the "world." Barna Research has something like 90% of Americans calling themselves Christian, but the number who actually say it guides their life and choices as something less than 10%.

Answer 3

I love these questions. :)

I have no time to go through them all so I'll answer the first question. "Why doesn't God heal amputees?"

A true miracle is one that is defined as something that goes against the laws of the universe which God has established.
That is why it is considered a miracle. For instance during the Old Testament time period through the time Christ was walking on this earth miracles did exist. For instance Christ healed a man with a withered hand, or Christ walked on water thus defying the law of gravity, or for instance when Elijah raised a dead woman's son. These all go against the laws that God established which govern this universe.
My guess is that even during this time period, miracles like these were also very very rare.

The reason why God doesn't heal amputees today is because the scriptures are complete. One of the main reasons why God used miracles was to authenticate that the
prophet He sends and the message the prophet sends are from God. This is how we can separate a true prophet from a Satanic imposter. This is how we can trust the prophet's message and how we can trust the Bible is the Word of God and not the word of Satan.

Another important point, miracles *do not* create faith in a person. Only the Word of God creates faith. (Romans 10:17) Miracles were primarly given to those who already believe, and not to unbelievers. With faith comes a love for God and a desire to serve and worship. Faith is not just a mere belief in God, remember that the devils believe in God and tremble but they do not have faith. And thus miracles do not create the characteristics of a true Christian in a person. Hence it is useless for God to send miracles to anybody since that is not how faith is created in an individual.
This is why when the Pharisees tempted Jesus saying "show us a sign" Christ didn't do it. Even if He did display a miracle to show His deity they would still reject Him.

The miracles that occur today will be the ones that happen as an "uncanny" or "impossible" coincidence. My guess is that it won't be the type of miracle that goes against the laws of this universe. God will probably (I don't say this dogmatically) not intervene in such a dramatic fashion as healing an amputee unless it is also to send a serious message to mankind.

The verses below demonstrate what I am talking about.
The message that the prophet Jesus sends is "blessed is he who is not offended because of me".

Luke 7:18-23 "Then the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things. 19 And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus,[b] saying, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” 20 When the men had come to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?’” 21 And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight.
22 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. 23 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

Answer 4

Gee it's so flattering to be called a smart person right at the beginning but the truth is that I don't have my diploma yet, oh well

to the point: the last sentences there "why should anyone care that someone believes in God? because he is delusional"

so f ucking what? as long as that person doesn't hurt anyone because of that then what does anybody care if he has a dilusion or not,... huh,,, maybe somebody picks his nose when nobody sees but as long as he doesn't wipe it in me I don't care.

As to the 10 arguements
First of all it's a faith
1. the power of prayer is not like a genie's lamp to cure diseases on request.God is hidden from us, therefore he does not the do miracles against the laws of nature.I think the power of prayer lies in something that strengthens the soul of people in bad situations.At least that's something what the bishop Mindszenthy did everyday in prison before and after being beaten to **** by the guards.I'm sure it made him feel somewhat better that he is holding out for a higher cause even if the prayer didn't stop his guards from torturing him and him from eventually denouncing himself, still it's good to have a spine which can only be understood in situations like these.

now I need to see what the second arguement was brb (yeah I should be doing something else right now:))
okay back

2. so starving people: they are starving because they don't have enough food to eat.

3.killing innocent people: that's the Old Testament it is not claimed to be divine.It describes the morals and the way people lived before the New Testament. It was a new thing for Jesus to say "he who is not a sinner should throw the first stone" cause otherwise nature has no mercy.

4. antiscientific nonsense: these stories are symbolic. It would be completely clear to an "educated person like me".Even a 5 year old doesn't really believe in dragons that the brave prince kills, but the kid does belive that in the end the evil is defeated and that's what matters not wether it was a dragon or some other magical creature.
Oh yeah and the Bible doesn't mention 6000 years anywhere.

5.slavery in the Bible: again Old Testament, the short story of mankind does involve such, the New Testament is completely against it, that's why it's NEW

6. bad things happen to good people: sure they do, it's completely random. Jesus says "the rain falls and the sun shines on good and evil alike" the faith about our souls and not about our credit cards.

7.evidence: what evidence? There's the Bible for you. You either believe it or not. It's confortable for me to have this "delusion" cause it's good to know that good is more powerfull than evil.

8. Jesus never appeared to me? How do you know?:)) apart from the joke maybe he did appear in the form of something or someone when something good has happened, like someone helped me or I helped someone after all God works through us too.

9. eat his body and drink his blood: yeah weird, but since I'm an "educated person" (maybe doctor maybe lawyer who knows) I know with my high intelligence that it was not meant to be taken literally but it is a simbol that refers to Jesus sacrificing himself for humanity.

10.divorce: because they can. In the middle ages they couldn't so they didn't. And christians fart smelly too it does not make them perfect, it only means they have a certain set of beliefs and traditions which might make some of them stronger and less lost in life.

Oh yeah and even if all of my arguements would be nonsense and the Bible was comlplete nonsense too that still wouldn't proove that God doesn't exist, it would only proove that He is not like it is written there that's all.

Do I get 10 points now?

Answer 5

1. Although I've never seen it. A friend of mine has witnessed amputees getting healed. He said that while people were praying for them, the limb would suddenly grow back.. 2. People starve because they think that they can live life without Jesus, and also because the members of the church are not ministering like they should be. 3. God did not demand the life of innocent people, He demands the life of those who are guilty. 4. The Bible came long before modern science, so the real question is, "Why does science contain so much anti-Bible nonsense?" 5. I believe the King James Version is more accurate in calling them servants and maids. 6. No one is good. 7. Well it has been 2000 years, but there are miracles happening everyday, mostly in third world countries. 8. Jesus will appear in anyone's heart that asks and believes, but I assume you mean physically. Jesus is now sitting at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19). 9. Grotesque is relative. It's symbolic for blood that was shed for forgiveness of our sins and the body that was broken for our healing. "...this do in remembrance of me." 10. I know a lot of people who call themselves Christians, but get drunk every weekend. This happens when people feel obliged to go to church. Their family has been going to church for many generations, and they ain't gonna stop that. So they call themselves Christians but don't lead a Christian life.

Answer 6

First of all, think about this. Why are they only slamming Christianity?? why no other religion?? maybe because its for real perhaps.. Second of all, people just need to research what the word "God" with a capital G means. It simply mean, HE CAN DO WHATEVER HE WANTS AND SHOULD NOT BE QUESTIONED. Who are we to question the decisions he makes?? we don't know what tomorrow holds so we dont know why things happen. Intellectual will NEVER WORK! because its all about faith and faith surpasses all of it. God help the person who made that video, because he is looking for an eternity in flames.

Answer 7

I did watch the video and thought that it brought up a few good points.
If you are genuinely concerned about a logical argument for Christianity and the Bible, I recommend a book called Evidence for Christianity by Josh McDowell. Yes it is 743 pages long, but what is 10 minutes (or a couple months) if eternity is on the line.

Answer 8

How to you know God can't heal amputees? [lol] I think you can if your faith is extremely well developed. Mind you, there is an element to life that God delights to do the mightiest miracles where men's arrogance is minimal. With our (Western) arrogance comes intellectual pride, raising our own wisdom against the knowledge of God ... arrogant attitudes prevalent in our Western countries mean less faith which in turn lead to fewer miracles.

I know of some awesome New Testament grade miracles and ridiculously clear signs in the heavens that have happened in "neglected corners" of the world, to people shunned, rejected and not valued highly. God passes by the rich and arrogant and shows grace to the humble.

Since God has chosen to reveal Himself to those who are like "little children", who am I to go against His wisdom ?

Answer 9

I watch your video and it's going to take a long time to answer each question. First off you are talking to the intelligent people first; you got to realized when God deals with people he doesn't pick them by their intelligent. It's say in God word that God has choosing the foolishness of things to confound the wise 1 Corinthians2:5.

Answer 10

No, I'll pass.

The information we share with you is meant to prompt you to seek the Lord while you can. You need to realize that we are free people; we don't consider ourselves obligated to submit ourselves to your abuses and endless foolish questions.

That would be like trying to gather unripe fruit; what would be the use? You'll come to the Lord in due course, or you won't come at all.

Answer 11

There is nothing rational about faith,nothing intellectual,but profoundly satisfying.Mans intellect is foolishness to God so you can get over your great mind.A person who believes in God in your opinion must be moronic,so be it.I will not argue nor judge you ,but you judge christians.God will continue his quest for you,because you are fearfully and wonderfully made.