This is a list of a few questions I have about Christianity. There are many other things I find puzzling about it but would be interested in finding out people's answers to these questions. I appreciate that lots of intelligent people have done a lot of research and believe in Christianity so I think it's important for me to learn more about it.
Hi Anna! I like that you are exploring these matters with an open mind!
The battle we have, is once we begin to receive answers to our questions, we have to keep our mind open while also not dismissing reasonable truths. This is where our passions and desires get involved. Another possible way is a person can accept an answer that is not true and once they have committed to that view, they cannot really accept a more truthful view when it later becomes available to them. A lot of Christians become that way, which is essentially pride.
There is many false doctrines among Christians these days, things that don't really make good logical sense, but they are popular, so Christians feel compelled to believe them because they assume that they are part of Christianity. That too is a closing of the mind from exploring for the ultimate truth!
I just say this to caution you, because if you always only believe that which satisfies your conscience and do not reject an inconvenient truth that your conscience will condemn you for, then your beliefs will always be your most honest opinion and you will have no condemnation from your conscience. This is all that God needs from us, and He can complete our salvation with that
There is a terrible reality though, that not all spirits in Christianity these days are holy (1 John 4:1, 2 Peter 2:1-2). They try to make God's character look different from who He really is, so that we become frightened of this wrathful blood thirsty judge who wants us to follow all sorts of rules. Following rules that way is like a regimented work-based religion that ultimately leads us away from the fullness of freedom that comes by knowing and living the truth.
.. So, you're starting in a good place!
1. I find it difficult to comprehend how God could always exist.
Ah! I like your style! Top challenge up front.. no holds barred
Time is a consequence of change. Without change, there can't possibly be a concept of time.
When a human measures time, he conceives it based upon his expected lifetime (say 80 years). He knows that there is x amount of expected time in the vitality of his body to reproduce and to secure shelter and food supply before he becomes too weak, and then expires. He knows that there is a cyclical pattern of hot and cold seasons, and that he must gather enough food during the hot season to make it through the cold season. Because he conceives of time in this way, he looks for constant patterns to measure his performance so that he can make intelligent decisions in order to control the outcome at the end of his activity.
A fly on the other hand, doesn't live more than a few weeks, so it has no concept of seasons - cycles of earth around the sun. His concept of time according to his lifespan could only be measured by the light and darkness of a day cycle.
So consider how an immortal spirit can conceive of time, given that a year could be as a blink of an eye from His perspective, and He would measure patterns that we humans probably don't yet know about. Then consider, if the universe is always changing, was there a time when it wasn't changing? We just do not know the answer to that question, because we are all mortal and we weren't there in the first place to observe it.
Even so, if we are to consider that the universe did one day come into being from previously not being, then that is a change that God has observed. Is there a reason we might have, to imagine that there was not changes in His observation before this universe came to exist? .. and then, how far back should we continue on this path?
You can see, this is a philosophical question that cannot possibly produce a robust conclusion, and we can only ever speculate unless He is to give us the answer. For this reason, I will recommend to not make unreasonable objections that impact your ability to draw near to Him. The fact that I do not today possess a definite answer without speculation does not mean that a day will never come that provides that information to me. Also, it could be that you would come to have this answer before I do, and then you could share it with me!
I most strictly will not encourage you to trust a speculation though. If an answer can't be given then it shouldn't be forged.
2. I find it difficult to match the Genesis creation account to what I consider pretty sound scientific evidence.
Be careful with this. There is two points I have to make about this:
Nobody knows who wrote the first few chapters of Genesis and where he got his information from. It has only three possible origins:
- Adam and Eve may have originally witnessed and conveyed this information through generations, even using some written form of record that does now not exist.
- It may have been camp fire mythology that became so central to the Jewish faith that they wrote it matter of fact-ly.
- It may have been divinely orated (ie, the writer might have obtained this knowledge through prayer or divine instruction).
Whichever origin is the real truth, it has a huge impact upon the value of the content of the text. Therefore, if someone is to assume that one origin is the true origin, they are being intellectually dishonest and they are innately untrustworthy. They are making their beliefs overcome their conscience and therefore their beliefs are dictating the truth, which really, we should only ever allow truth to form our beliefs. These ones are risking dishonour if one of the other two possible origins will come to be known. This is why whenever I draw conclusions from those texts, I will make sure that my conclusion is compatible with all three possible scenarios. If there is a useful conclusion that can only apply to one of those scenarios, I will either make sure this is clear, or I will be less adamant and more speculative to intentionally remain honest.
The other point is that the writer of Genesis used ancient Hebrew, which has a different language construct from modern English. For this reason, the fullness of the original message isn't well conveyed through English translations. I have found an article that I remember on Christian Forums that explains this well. Basically, the proper way to read it is that God began doing a new work on each day. But the English translations make it sound as though He completed the work on that day, which is misleading from the original message. Lots of English Christians have been seriously misled into a false spirit of denying the obvious: that creation was a work of time. They are the ones who oppose evolution, whereas to read Genesis in context of it's original meaning, is compatible with a concept of intelligent design that has evolved.
This is the article I mentioned:
Hebrew Genesis 1
3. I have difficulty comprehending why an omnipotent and omniscient God would want to create such a vast universe but be so concerned by the behaviour of humans.
Can you explain this a bit more for me? I don't fully understand what you are asking for in this.
4. I'm not sure why God created Satan when he would have known how evil he would be.
It is humans that created Satan, when they chose to disobey God. It is interesting that
Satan is only a title for "the one who opposes". There has been many manifestations of Satan ever since the fall. Satan is always looking to possess instruments for destruction. He is essentially thought of as the opposite to God who created us. He is a spirit of deceit and destruction, whereas God is a spirit of truth and life. God created us as a spirit of truth and life, but He did not create Satan. His original view was to make a species of human that was impervious to sin. He gave us only one instruction, and then the watchers (the angels in charge of tending humanity) decided to test the human, to see if he would be loyal to God. The human failed miserably and immediately the spirit of truth and life left them, they had been filled with fear and destruction (hence they were hiding from God, assuming that He would be angry that they had fallen).
They had forgotten His true nature, and they had believed a corrupted perspective of the true nature of God: they had thought that they couldn't trust Him, because in their hearts, sin had come to reside. The watchers too were tempted by this opportunity to oppose God (Genesis 6:2), and being immortal, they have been trapped in the direction of their discourse (Jude 1:6). It is a corrupted view of God that dominates the minds of the people these days: sin is what demands punishment (wrath) and cannot forgive until a penalty is imposed. Humans have been living with this mindset ever since the fall, because holiness is foreign to a fallen race. It is only when we are born again, that we can have the true knowledge of God's character restored. But keep in mind too, that many people actually receive a false gospel that doesn't grow in them to a full knowledge of God's true character (that is love) - consider Matthew 13:1-23.
5. I don't understand why God continues to allow evil and suffering to exist.
I wonder if you can suggest a preferable solution? I still haven't heard a satisfactory answer to that. There is always the possibility of a final comet, if He should happen to look upon the earth and never see a person like Noah (consider Genesis 6:5-8). It is because He still can see some hope in humanity that He allows the suffering to continue. But, He doesn't have delight in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11), and the reason the wicked ones aren't yet destroyed, is because:
a) Wicked spirits do not wish to destroy their valuable troops.
b) God's harvest has not yet become ripe (have a look at this parable:
Bible Gateway passage: Matthew 13:24-43 - Tree of Life Version, especially notice verse 40).
6. I don't know why God doesn't make it more obvious that Christianity is true.
He is making it more obvious by the day! Do you know how far the antichrist has been established in the churches by now? You will be shocked when you learn of it!
Consider how 1 Corinthians 14:33 and Matthew 6:24 don't describe churches at all. The modern churches are not at all what Jesus sought to establish. There was a very early apostasy where false teachers began teaching Christianity because they had some successful charisma. They did not follow the truth, they did not listen to the voice of The Holy Spirit. They opened the floodgates for the devil to enter Christianity.
St. Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 that this would culminate in an absolute falling away. All the original apostles wrote of the false teachers coming among them. This is the meaning of the parable in Matthew 13:24-43, where Jesus and His apostles sowed good seed, but an enemy came and sowed weeds among them. Jesus said that the world would know His true disciples by the love that we have for one another. So if you keep this in mind, you'll be able to perceive that some people appeal with flattery and deceit and they become very defensive when you poke into the uncomfortable areas of their weaknesses. A few, the genuine ones who love truth enough, they will admit that you have a fair point in correcting them, and you will find The Holy Spirit in them through doing so (consider John 3:19-21, James 4:6).
7. I don't know why he places so much emphasis on the Israeli people and the Jews but seems less interested in other people.
It goes back to Abraham, who demonstrated an amazing faith in God (the type of faith that God wants the world to hold as a model for His blessing). The Jewish people inherited this promise through the son that Abraham had to his wife when she was 90 years of age (
that is the faith He is talking about - it was only possible because Abraham believed Him!). That is the faith that Jesus had too. There is very little of that degree of faith in the world these days, but I have seen that it is increasing.
2,000 years ago though, the Jews were so caught up in their beliefs that they actually could not accept the truths that Jesus brought against them. They loved their beliefs more than the truth. They chose to crucify Jesus on the cross in the name of God, to prove to the people that in the name of God they were right and He was a heretic.
Although, He was innocent of all those charges. As long as someone insists that it is right to spill innocent blood in the name of The Holy Most High God, they cannot be innocent themselves. This is why they have been overcome by the Gentiles, the Gentiles who sought to worship God in spirit and in truth in the name of Jesus. But their days are coming to an end too, because you can see that they no longer worship in spirit and in truth, and so many of them even claim that Jesus' blood was spilled to pay the price for their sin, so that they are actually expecting to somehow demand their way into heaven without making a perfect effort to repent. Yes: the majority of Christians still oppose the truth vehemently when it convicts them, showing that they really are not worshipping in spirit and truth - they only want to believe that they will go to heaven, and the antichrist has given them the false assurance they need. Any word of truth that threatens that false sense of security provokes them to wrath, pride, discrimination and hate - the very same energy that sent Jesus to the cross!
Consider how 1 John 4:1 is saying this, because it is real and it's been happening for 2,000 years already!
It is prophesied in Zechariah 12:10 that the Jews will eventually recognise the resurrected spirit of Jesus Christ and they will submit to Him, remorsefully accepting that indeed He is Messiah. Until they do, the kingdom of God is missing their enduring faith and love, and they are missing the righteousness that repentance will bring them.
8. I don't see why God would want to punish people for eternity in Hell.
It is not God that wants to do this, it is the devil. God is not our enemy, He is for us. He has given so much for us, and it is ours if we will receive it (Revelation 2:7). We need to be wise to the devil's tactics and strong in our conviction of His goodness. Do not be so easily misled by those who themselves are misled (Matthew 15:14, Matthew 23:15). Jesus spoke strong words against the corrupt religious leaders when He was on earth. Sometimes strong words are needed in our day too. But heart and tenacity is not everything we need for The Kingdom's success, although that is what will win for you.
You also need to know the scriptures well, in order to be fully equipped for His service.
9. I'm not sure why Jesus is leaving his return for so long. I'm not really sure why he didn't do everything prophesied in one visit either.
He could only teach us if we were prepared to learn. But He tried for three years, with perfect grace and many miracles, and they refused to humble themselves to Him so as to place Him on the throne of David in the right spirit. They eventually drew violence upon Him in their blindness, and He had to choose whether to destroy them (Matthew 26:53).
But He has started work, and He has more to do for it to be finished. This is the real substitution of the resurrection and baptismal covenant: He reigns from heaven while we speak His words on earth. Luke 9:23, John 18:36.
10. I'm not sure why God would only give one person a revelation about the future. Now that Satan must know what God plans for him why would he still go ahead with what God wants?
I don't know what you are meaning by saying this, can you please clarify?
You're really doing a great investigation, Anna! I encourage you to press right on, and accept no answer unless it really does fit well with you. There's a heap of deception out there, it is impossible for anyone to know Christianity these days without having been misled by the antichrist to some extent. Jesus said "If you keep my commandments, then you truly are my disciple. You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free". So it is all about getting to know Him, the one who is resurrected and who reigns from heaven while we speak for Him on earth
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