Must one be irrational to be a Christian these days?

Question

Question: What do you think of homosexuality?
Answer: Irrational arguments

Question: What do you think of abortion?
Answer: irrational arguments

Question: What about Paul's admonition that women stay quiet, not teach men, and to learn from their husbands?
Answer: more irrational arguments

Question: Well, what about giving all you have to the poor and following Christ?
Answer: Still more irrational arguments?

Question: Did God murder all the babies during the Flood?
Answer: More irrational arguments.

Question: Wasn't God responsible for putting the tree of knowledge and satan in Eden with a couple of naive, newly-born humans?
Answer: More irrational arguments.

Question: Is it just that Gandhi and Hitler both go to Hell?
Answer: Still more irrational arguments.

Question: If slavery is bad, why does the bible condone it?
Answer: Even more irrational arguments.

With over 400 questions like this, why is it so hard to get a rational answer from a christian?

You can if you review the answers to my 400+ questions.

Answer 1

If Christians seem irrational to the unsaved, then we are doing GREAT with God! The ways of the Lord are completely opposite of the ways of the world. The world is all about SELF, and revenge; but God tells us to serve others, walk in love, and FORGIVE.

I think the biggest reason non-believers misunderstand (other than the fact that they're non-believers so they aren't privvy to the discernment provided by the Holy Spirit) is because they think ALL Christians are called to do the same thing. We are individuals and God has a plan for each of our lives. While some ARE called to give all they have and follow Him, others are called to USE what they have to bless others. God does not want us to be poor and miserable - He wants us to be content and full of joy! He wants to bless us abundantly!! He wants us to die to SELF; i.e. take up our cross and follow Him. That means we are to stop making choices based on our FEELINGS and do what GOD wants us to do, whether we FEEL like it or not. God is PERFECT...He loves everyone, but He will NOT tolerate sin. Unfortunately, we are ALL sinners. He gave us His commandments to demonstrate that no matter how "good" we try to be, we will NEVER be good enough to reconcile ourselves to Him. That is why Jesus came to be the PERFECT sacrifice for our sins.



Question: What do you think of homosexuality?
A: God's word says it's a sin and an abomination. I believe it's morally wrong. I don't personally support the lifestyle, but how somebody else lives their life is none of MY business. People have the "legal right" to live their lives however they choose, and since nobody on this earth is perfect, nobody has the right to judge. ALL sin can be forgiven through Jesus Christ.

Question: What do you think of abortion?
A: I believe it's murder; But ALL sin can be forgiven through Jesus Christ. I do not judge those who choose to have abortions. I believe the all-knowing God that I serve, the very same God who knows us all from the womb, is fully aware of when a child will be aborted and He allows it because He sees the whole picture. There is a reason for it, and the reason will be revealed in every individual's life involved in HIS time.

Question: What about Paul's admonition that women stay quiet, not teach men, and to learn from their husbands?
A: I believe this was common practice in Paul's day. But you should also keep in mind that God used MANY women throughout the bible to carry out His will. The first people Jesus appeared to after His resurrection were WOMEN and He specifically told them to go out an witness to what they had seen. Paul's instructions specifically include the words "as the Law says", but Christ set us free from the law. Also, in Romans 16:1-3 Paul sends greetings to THREE women, specifically stating they are his fellow workers in Christ. So when you take all scripture into consideration, I believe circumstances are a consideration regarding the instructions regarding women and teaching.

Question: Well, what about giving all you have to the poor and following Christ?
A: 1 Cor 2:4-5 tells us "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord." Some Christians may be called to give all they have to the poor - but not all of us are. The reason Jesus told the wealthy man to give all he had to the poor and follow Him was because Jesus KNEW that the man's heart was not pure because he placed his faith in his material belongings, not Christ. He wanted the man to CONFESS this.

Question: Did God murder all the babies during the Flood?
A: Anyone who was not part of Noah's family did not survive.

Question: Wasn't God responsible for putting the tree of knowledge and satan in Eden with a couple of naive, newly-born humans?
A: Yes. God created everything and told them NOT to eat the fruit of that tree. His instructions were VERY clear / explicit. They CHOSE to disobey, and as a result, sin entered the world. When they tried to play the "blame game", all three of them were punished!

Question: Is it just that Gandhi and Hitler both go to Hell?
A: Not sure exactly what you're asking, since you start with "is it just...", but only GOD knows if Gandhi, Hitler, or anybody else goes to Hell because only HE knows what was in their hearts the moment they died. It is not for ANY person - Christian or not - to judge whether or not another person goes to Heaven or Hell. Man sees the behaviors, but GOD knows the heart of a person.

Question: If slavery is bad, why does the bible condone it?
A: The bible condones submission to authority in ALL forms, with God being the ultimate authority. However, Jesus gave the command to love your neighbor as yourself and freed us from the old laws, so realistically speaking, slavery shouldn't be an issue.

If these are irrational answers (arguments) for you, all I can suggest is that you spend time with God so that you may develop a spirit of discernment, a desire to truly know Him and receive Jesus Christ into your heart.

Answer 2

Why not try listening instead of arguing we are wrong, you might hear something in what they/we say.

1. Is is against nature, any quote I could give would be Biblical, do you want that?

2. Immoral, if it is wrong to kill someone already born why is it right to kill someone unborn?

3. Yep, Paul said that, I agree with it, women cannot be ministers, pastors, bishops, popes.. they should not usurp authority over men in the Church.. he also said for men to love their wives as they love themselves.

4. Did Jesus tell everyone to do that? I shall look that one up.

5. Yes.

6. Yes, and I believe He put it there knowing what would happen.

7. Irrational question.

8. Condone it? Matter of opinion. But the Bible does say for masters to be good to their slaves.

9. The answers are all irrational and many of the questions aren't?

If you don't want to hear what we answer, you are more than welcome to not ask the questions.

Answer 3

95% of the questions here call for a statement of opinion.

This is NOT the math section where there can be only one method and one answer.

I stay TOTALLY away from serious Muslim questions where someone is asking if this is Shara or that is Shara, because I don't know and don't pretend to know and can't even give a good opinion on that one.

As for what is rational and what is irrational, science is filled with it.

WE ARE ALL STRINGS

Marvellous concept.

You're a bunch of strings. Not real stings but ONE DIMENSIONAL STRINGS

Neat, you can NEVER prove that one with a photo. A 1 dimensional object has no observable shape.

You're a bunch of quarks and they align like a triangle, but we can't show them to you.

Sounds religious to me! I can't show you God, but you laugh at me for saying God exists and then you buy into Strings and Quarks because some big honcho PH D who you get on the ground and worship as if he were Billy Graham or Pat Robertson SAYS SO.

And we're irrational!

Our answers are irrational!

Answer 4

The Catholic Encyclopedia states Bible is Skeptic and Concocted
A. THE FORMATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON (A.D. 100-220)
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03274a.htm
The idea of a complete and clear-cut canon of the New Testament existing from the beginning, that is from Apostolic times, has no foundation in history. The Canon of the New Testament, like that of the Old, is the result of a development, of a process at once stimulated by disputes with doubters, both within and without the Church, and retarded by certain obscurities and natural hesitations, and which did not reach its final term until the dogmatic definition of the Tridentine Council. ("Canon of the New Testament")
There is a lot of confusion about the earliest existing texts of the Bible. The oldest extant manuscript of the Bible is believed to be the Codex Vaticanus, (preserved in the Vatican Library), which is slightly older than the Codex Sinaiticus (preserved in the British Library), both of which were transcribed in the fourth century.
As for the story of Jesus, there were at least 50 gospels written in the first and second century CE. Four of them (Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John) were included in the official canon during the fourth century CE and are found today in every Bible. All of the original copies of the gospels were lost. What we have now are handwritten copies, which are an unknown number of replications removed from the originals.
Rudolf Bultmann, a prominent 20th-century professor of New Testament studies writes about the life of Jesus:
We can now know almost nothing concerning the life and personality of Jesus, since the early Christian sources show no interest in either, are moreover fragmentary and often legendary; and other sources about Jesus do not exist. (Bultmann 8)

Answer 5

Your one million) and a couple of) are well representations, besides that individual revel in is not proof so the Christians do not fairly have any proof in any respect. Only religion. I appreciate the ones Christians who're courageous ample to confess this. It does not topic how a lot common sense and motive one makes use of in his daily lifestyles, if one is believing whatever exists with out proof then that notion is baseless and an irrational one.

Answer 6

Christians won't do it, however little happy pagan me will do it FOR them:

Homosexuality:

Their entire arguement against homosexuality is the Sodom and Gomorrah battle. OTHER than what their preachers are saying, of course.

Abortion:
Referencing to the ten commandments, immediately, is to be expected. In their opinion it is murder (a lot of them are believers that life is life from time of conception-sometimes even before).

Women:
Christianity, if you haven't noticed, is extremely male dominated. The women nowadays really don't know when to shut their mouthes (neither do the men, girls).

Giving up everything:
Well, in their opinion, that's what that little plate for sunday is. Nevermind they only threw in 50 cents because they're trying to save up for a brand new 60" tv.

Murdering babies:
Well, if they were left, yes. They died. I'd imagine this would be rationalized as a 'They were born with original sin' or 'They were born of damned people, therefore damned themselves' kind of arguement.

Tree of knowledge:
Yes, but it was only temptation to Eve and Adam. Rather like leaving candy out in front of a toddler and telling them not to eat it. Cruel, but it was their god's way of finding out just how loyal they were (in his and christianity's opinion).

Gandhi and Hitler:
Hitler murdered... a LOT of people. Even -I'd- say he's not enjoying where he is, wherever he's at. ...My knowledge of Gandhi is fairly lacking, though, unfortunately.

Slavery:
Notice that few groups of slaves in the christian bible ARE christians. And notice that very, very carefully. It's always struck me as an undertone that anyone non-christian is beneath them... which disturbs me, yet again.

Yes, you must be irrational to be a chrsitian these days.

Answer 7

So you actually come here looking for rational arguments that are will counter your point of view? Anybody want to buy some beautiful waterfront property in Florida?

But back to your original question” Must one be irrational to be a Christian?

One need only keep their focus squarely upon Christ.

Leave the pointless bickering to people who just want to argue.

For those who really want answers. I’ve seen plenty of good answers to all those questions on this site. No answer will ever surface for those who just want to argue.

Answer 8

I am not a Christian, I am a Muslim. But most definitely, one does not have to be irrational to be a Christian.

Like the case of Islam, a few radicals have managed to grab the attention of the media - and have been the subject of a lot of attention. They certainly do not represent the masses of Christians, who tend to be peaceful, respectful and God-fearing people.

Answer 9

Followers of Christianity have been irrational all the while.
Only Jesus H. Christ isn't.

Answer 10

Seeing as how you don't provide the actual answers that you say are irrational or why they're irrational (you do realize "because I think so" isn't sufficient) it's hard to have a rational discussion.