Objections with Christianity?

[staticr]

Hello Everyone,

For the last year or so I have been trying to know God and build faith by reading coutless books, the bible, attending Church and taken Church led courses in Christianity.

However, even tho I always seem to believe in a God, I often feel like I can't believe in Christianity because of a few objections;

1) If God is all knowing and knows the future why would he have created people knowing he would later have to flood the world to rid it of sin then send his son many years later to pay for our sins?

2) It's hard to believe that Christianity is the only true Religion when the world is huge and full of millions and millions of people just like you and I who worship thousands of different religions specific to their own cultures.

3)If Jesus is the only way to God, why would God wait thousands and thousands of years all during which people on earth lived, before sending Jesus to Earth? And what happend to the many thousands of people who lived and died before Jesus's lifetime?

thanks you for all the help answering my questions

bless all

[Rafael]

1) Here's a simplistic approach to your first question: If you cook a stew, why do you have to wait until its done? Because that's how long it takes.
How long does it take to make a creation with man in the image of God for an eternal family, and how many tries does it take.....as much time as has to be. Since we, as men, have never created life or a universe, we do not know the time or exact reasons why for many things concerning creation. If we did, we would be doing them, and the logic we have about such things is based entirely on ignorance - except for what we see with our limited vision.

2) Why is it hard to believe in one truth? Wouldn't it be more logical that there is One God, one truth, and then all the tries of man to make god? At least, it should be possible for there to be One God, and if there is why would it not be possible for Him to leave for us a record, divinely inspired, as the Bible claims to be? Religion is man trying to reach God, but Christianity is God Himself coming in the flesh of man to have a relationship with and identify with mankind. This is verified by history and archeology - not a myth or just a book of axioms. The Bible is well worth looking at closely before brushing it aside with the faulty logic of man who is confined to only a few years of experience before succumbing to the curse of death that sin brought about.

3) The people in the past look forward to the cross, the promise of God, just as we look back. In eternity, there is no past or future, just "now". If you study the Bible, you will see that God has made provision for all people through all time. The reason for the many years is so that He will have a big family, and the Bible says that He is waiting a long time to return because He is wanting more people to repent and not be lost.
Today, more than ever before, people have a chance to know the real truth about God, and He is the only one who can give life and judge over it. His justice with all men who have ever lived will be perfect, and if they have chosen evil as a lifestyle, it will not be hidden from Him. He offers, as a gift, grace to become Sons of God to mankind.

2Peter 3:9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent.

[Jedi christian]

And what happend to the many thousands of people who lived and died before Jesus's lifetime?

All of the Jews that gave sacrifices regularly I think went to heaven. The sacrifices just rolled their sins ahead another year, and the next year they sacrificed again, until finally Jesus came and paid in full for all the sins that they had committed. As for the Gentiles, I don't imagine any went to heaven. Although I don't know, only God knows.

[he_is_risen!!]

If Jesus is the only way to God, why would God wait thousands and thousands of years all during which people on earth lived, before sending Jesus to Earth? And what happend to the many thousands of people who lived and died before Jesus's lifetime?
To your first question I'm not really sure. We are talking about God here and he beyond our understanding. WE may never know about why he waited, just as we will never know when the Rapture will come(Rapture=All true beleavers are taken to heaven). He does it on His time table, not ours.

To your second, all the Jews before Jesus did go to heaven IF they followed the guidelines that God left for them. It's by blood that our sins are forgiven. That's why they sacrificed animals adn that's how they were forgiven and got to heaven. We are given forgiveness through Christ's blood and that makes it so that we don't have to sacrifice, only pray for forgiveness.

[Asar'el]

Hello Everyone,

For the last year or so I have been trying to know God and build faith by reading coutless books, the bible, attending Church and taken Church led courses in Christianity.
Sounds like you've made a good start...

However, even tho I always seem to believe in a God, I often feel like I can't believe in Christianity because of a few objections;
Here's where it starts to get fuzzy... you always seem to belive in a God? You mean a different one than (the) God you started your thread about? Are you looking to hear what God has to say, or are you looking for a God that fits with your desires for one?

1) If God is all knowing and knows the future why would he have created people knowing he would later have to flood the world to rid it of sin then send his son many years later to pay for our sins?
Since we are the created, and He is the Creator, it behooves us to wait patiently for Him to tell us His will, instead of questionning His soverignty. We are told all creation is for God's pleasure and glory. That is the short answer to your question (and indeed, every 'Why' question) regarding God: Why ? Because it pleased Him.

2) It's hard to believe that Christianity is the only true Religion when the world is huge and full of millions and millions of people just like you and I who worship thousands of different religions specific to their own cultures.
Why, exactly, is it hard? What does the religion of the world have to do, really, with your belief? Are you only after what is popular? Believing is easy, in fact, and a thing that cannot be forced on someone; noone can 'make' you believe, or not believe.

3)If Jesus is the only way to God, why would God wait thousands and thousands of years all during which people on earth lived, before sending Jesus to Earth? And what happend to the many thousands of people who lived and died before Jesus's lifetime?
You misunderstand what it means when it is said, Jesus is the only way - it does not mean only the people living in His time are saved. In fact, throughout time the elect are saved in the same fashion: by faith in Christ. The promise of Christ was made to our first parents, Adam and Eve. And from their time until the coming of Christ on Earth, they looked for His coming, we are told, each woman hoping each son to be the promised seed - Eve included!

The difference is, before He came the elect had faith the Redeemer would come; they did not know Him as Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, God-with-us... but, as we look to the past to see Him, they looked to the future for Him. They did not know just what God's plan of salvation was - indeed, angels watched to learn what God's plan was when Christ was born; but salvation is not dependent on us knowing the means of it; only believing.

thanks you for all the help answering my questions

bless all
You're welcome - hope it does help. Keep 'em coming!

[Iron Lion]

1) 3) The people in the past look forward to the cross, the promise of God, just as we look back.


Also to add to that. After Jesus came to us, we now also look forward again to Jesus return just as people looked forward to his coming.

Its all part of Gods plan. I think there will always be things we cant understand 100% but how can we expect to understand a being like God when we are just simple humans compared to him. :bow:

[Highland Watchman]

Hello to you, staticr and everyone else. :wave:

To be completely honest, I've struggled with a lot of these issues myself, and I think there will be a lot of struggle for all of us in these questions of "why" for our entire lives, among other questions that we seem to make for ourselves. There are also a few denomination-specific doctrines that I have had considerable struggles with (like the idea of the Rapture, for instance... though later, I realized that this is a relatively new doctrine, and only really popular here in North America, with a few adherants elsewhere... but that's getting off topic, isn't it? And the last thing I want to do is to start a debate about the Rapture here...)

I guess this would be my attempt to work through the questions you've asked. If you are helped by what I may say, then praise God. If not, then I pray that some of what others have said (or will say) may help you out some more. That being said, let's begin...

1) I actually had this explained to me by a good friend and colleague of mine. Being a father himself, he explained to me that it would not be as special if his daughters were forced to hug him and tell him that they loved him than if they were given the choice to do so. I realize that this may be opening another can of worms with the whole free will / predestination debate, but it is an issue that we must look at. God gave humanity the choice from the very beginning to choose HIM, and to seek HIM out. But because this choice is there, there is also the potential to make the choice of rejecting God and what HE stands for. We can realize, of course, that this second choice is an incredible lie... for Adam and Eve were already like God, and they had bountiful choice throughout the entire garden, the borders of which would make it span over much of the world. So imagine all of the trees and the fruits that they were allowed to eat from. And of all of them, there was only one that they were not allowed to eat from. Thus, sin entered the world...

To quote from "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", in that scene when they are in the room with all of the goblets, they have chosen... poorly... and we have been paying the consequences of that choice ever since. Take a look through the first two chapters of Paul's epistle to the Romans... though that may bring up more issues into the debate than here as well.

I guess another way of putting it is kind of like two kings and their kingdoms. The first king is a tyrant, and forces his subjects to bow down before him, and to praise him with their lips. And the people, who have been completely brainwashed by this king, by the way, do worship him, even though not by their own choice, but because it is expected of them. Remove them from this kingdom, and they will rejoice at their freedom, but will constantly be looking over their shoulders in fear for their life. The second king does not make such expectations of his people, but judges them fairly, and even works to improve the general quality of life of them. Regularly, the people gladly pay homage to this king, and whenever they speak of him, it is never negative. Some do choose to leave, but they are allowed to do so. So, which scenario is more beautiful, more desirable. If you were a king of one of those two lands, which king would you rather be? God, the Creator of the Universe and the Lord of All Creation, is like the second king. Except in many ways, we humans have chosen to reject HIS lordship, and have placed a usurper (Satan, our various idols, ourselves) on the throne instead. And this usurper is like the first king...


2) It may be somewhat hard to believe if you look at it from a purely "religion" point of view. For you are right, there are 6.3 billion people in the world right now, and Christianity is not the only "religion" in the world. In fact, even the religion of Christianity is divided in so many ways that it is hard to make sense of it. So let's go back to the basics again, shall we?

The question really is about origins, more than it is anything else. Here in North America, the predominant religious belief that is officially recognized by the state is Secular Humanism and its pet doctrine of evolution, both of which have VERY significant holes in their arguments, but you aren't really allowed to argue against them without having "tolerance police" exacting some form of personal attack on you.

According to Buddhist understanding, there is neither beginning or end, but things just continue around in an endless circle as we are re-incarnated in different forms time after time after time after time. Animal life is considered sacred because that ant that you just "accidentally" stepped on could have been your mother who, because of bad karma, came back as an ant. And so, in an indirect way, animals are worshipped, as well as the statue of Buddha, who was a man who lived and died in the 6th Century BC, if I'm not mistaken.

Hindu understanding has a vast multitude of gods that are worshipped, and I'm not really going to get into naming even a few of the more well-known gods that they worship. But what I do know is that the cow is very sacred to them, and is worth more than a human life. If there is a famine in the land, or starvation, it does not matter how many people die, just as long as the holy cows are saved. There are other polytheistic religions in the world as well, as they have pretty much existed for a long way back... at least as far back as the time of the great empires. Usually, it would begin with honouring of heroes and ancestors, but this would eventually evolve into ancestor worship, and finally into turning the ancestors into gods themselves. There were also the Roman Emperors who insisted that they be worshipped as gods as well. Interesting idea... man becomes god, but because man is mortal, there is no power or influence after he dies... or, at least we don't think there is.

What makes the Judeo-Christian understanding so unique (though not as unique as we may think, though I'll get to that later) is the statement that there is only one God, who is the Creator of everything that we see and know (which would include the various laws of nature), and the understanding that there is a purpose behind that creation, and that HE was the one who made all of it. This God is considered to be all-powerful, all-knowing, and ever present within HIS creation. But unlike some understandings, which would place this God as a clock maker, who builds the clock, winds it up, then ignores it until it runs out in the end, this God is seen as one who has been actively involved in HIS creation from the very beginning and until the very end. One could easily prove the existance of an intelligent creator, just by looking at the world (and universe) around us. It's more the nature of that creator that is in question.

As I said above, there are numerous groups whom God has spoken to and that HE has given the memory to throughout the world which is a little too much of a co-incidence to be dismissed lightly. For instance, the Inuit people have a story of how the Great Spirit, who created everything, spoke to one of the major spiritual leaders of their people in a vision and told him of missionaries who would come and tell them something of great import that they should listen to. Sure enough, when missionaries came, many of the people gave their lives to Christ as a result of this. (this story is taken from the video "Transformations"...). Also, the Mayan people of Central America were expecting news of a divine "saviour", to be carried by pale messengers, which would result in the end to a need for sacrifice. This was part of the reason why they accepted the Spanish conquerors with such open arms, to their own peril. Also, there was an Incan king who discovered that the sun (which they worshipped as a god) could not shine through him (thus showing that he seemed to block the sun's power). So he told the priest this, and the priest told him that there is another god more powerful than the sun god. However, they decided to keep the secret to themselves, as the common peasants weren't able to handle it, or so they thought. Sure enough, when the Conqistadors came, who did they kill but the nobility and the priesthood...

I guess from looking at all of this, the question can be definitely asked, is there a supreme God who created the universe and is intimately involved with HIS creation, or isn't there? One's anwer will determine pretty much everything else. For without a Creator, there is no Creation, really. It's either something that has always existed, or it's just a big cosmic accident. Also, without a Divine Authority (which we Christians and Jews hold God to be), there would be no need for morality, for what would be the point of it if there was no Higher Authority to judge what is right and what is wrong? And what would be the point of truth, or even in discovering truth, if everything is just random or we will lose it again anyway? Do you see what I'm getting at?

So then, why Jesus? Well, let's look at the history, as the Bible puts it...

(to be continued...)

[Highland Watchman]

(continued from previous post)

3)
- "In the Beginning..." God creates the world and everything in it, as well as the universe with all of the stars, planets, the sun and the moon. He populates the world with a huge variety of plants and animals, then he makes humanity. Why? Well, as we'll see through this entire narrative, God desires our companionship and our friendship. He wants to have fellowship with us, HIS people. But HE does not want it because we are machines that worship HIM because we are forced to, but because of our love for HIM, as I said before...

- "The Fall..." Because of the choice that Adam and Eve made... which, the blame for this has been tossed back and forth in the battle of sexes ever since this point, but that's beside the point here... humanity is now separated from God and also from the paradise that was Eden. But in order to show his desire to forgive them, and the promised return someday, God only places an angelic guard at the entrance to the garden instead of destroying it completely. HE also promises that one day, there will be One who will crush the serpent's head and will make it possible for the people to return. This is the first of the promises and covenants that we are given...

- "The flood..." However, as time goes on, the people forget these promises, and they become worse and worse as they forget God and HIS desire for love and justice among them. Becoming increasingly selfish and self-centered (which is the basis for sin), they do all kinds of wicked things to one another, which grieves God's heart incredibly. So he floods the earth, leaving only one family alive. This HE does in order to show that HE is serious. But in considering that HE made it possible to rebuild afterward, and that there was a remnant who did survive, also shows that HE is not finished with HIS people, and it also shows a continuing theme throughout HIS dealing with the people.

- "the patriarchs..." As we continue to read on, we see the population growing again. And the people think to make a monument to themselves, the Tower of Babel. But God stops that plan, by splitting the languages, and these bsic languages evolved and multiplied from this time. I think I heard from somewhere that there are 12 distinct language families in the world, or something like that. But anyway, this showed to God that humanity needed a group of people who could represent HIM in the world. So that's why HE approached Abram (later Abraham), so that this people could be created... and that through this people, there could be atonement for the sins of humanity, and the One promised to Adam and Eve would come through this line. However, as we see through the family dynamics that develop later on, there is very little hope that even this family could remain completely loyal and true in faith. But God still used them, and showed HIS faithfulness to them, even in providing for them in Egypt and showing HIS power over the Egyption pantheon of gods... in showing that HE alone is God...

- "Israel" As God's plan, Israel was to be the light to the world... but as history (namely the Old Testament) shows us, they were not the greatest of lights even in the best of times. However, God was continually faithful to them. And HE set aside the Levites to act as priests to the Israelites, as a model for how Israel was supposed to be in the world... but as Aaron's sons showed, there needed to be a High Priest who could be a priest to the priests... Through Moses, God gave HIS Law, which is incredibly sacred and true... and it shows God's intentions, as well as HIS desires for HIS people. But with the Law in place, it shows all the more how the people seriously need a Saviour, and throughout Israel's history, God constantly was sending his servants, the prophets, to remind the people of this Law, and also to plead with them to return to HIMSELF. But because they were stubborn and obstinate, God followed through on the negative aspect of his promises made back through Moses and the Law. So HE destroyed their countries (they were divided by this point... Israel in the North and Judah in the South), first through Assyria, then through Babylon, and sent them into exile. After this exile, the Persians defeated Babylon and many of the people returned to the land and they repented... but the Law had taken on a whole new meaning, and this God was not approachable unless the Law was fulfilled. And in order to keep from breaking the Law, other laws were formed around each of the laws already written. Hence came the party of the Pharisees, which evolved out of this understanding, and many of the people were finding themselves on the outside, and unable to approach this angry deity...

Meanwhile, in the world, the Persian Empire was followed by the Greeks, who instituted Hellenism, a system which enforced similar language, religion and philosophy across the East. The Jews held to their religion, but Greek became the common tongue of many, with some Aramaic, which was the language of Persia and Babylon. After the Greeks came the Romans, who built roads across the empire, among other accomplishments. You may ask why this is important, but it is incredibly important when considering the big picture. See, this was paving the way for the fast and effective spread of the Gospel.

So by the time Jesus came onto the scene, the stage was pretty much set. His message? The Kingdom of God is at hand, and that he, as God in the flesh, had come to show the world that God wants us to be reconciled with HIM, and that HE is the one who is extending HIS hand to us in an attempt at friendship. Our sin has been forgiven, and Jesus, who was a Jew, was the One... the Messiah who came into the world to take care of the problems that were caused by the choice of Adam and Eve, as well as those caused later. However, the people did not accept his message. Nor did they accept him as King. So they killed him. But even in this, it was HIS will all along. To show us that HE loves us so much that HE is willing to die, just so HE could be with us.

But HE is not dead. Not by a long shot. Rather, He was resurrected... HE raised up from the dead to show that the power of even death has been defeated, as well as to prove that HE is the One that we've been looking for all along. Any "gospel" that ends with the death without considering the resurrection is not complete at all. And the same goes with not considering the magnitude of who Jesus was in the bigger picture.

But the hope of the Gospel is a hope that spans throughout time, even from before Jesus was on earth. What happened to the Jews before Christ? I don't know, nor do I know what happens to those who die without hearing the true Gospel (because they are part of "unreached" people groups)... But for a hint of what I think happens, I'd look at Romans 2. :preach:

So yeah. I hope that what I said here was of some assistance to you. It's certainly helped to put it in perspective for me. God bless!

[mcvicarl]

hey, you sound like you're having some serious doubts about christianity.

i've bn there and done that and came out mroe confused the before i went in but no matter how much you try to brush it aside, how many other religions there are and how many atheists disprove god existence GOD IS REAL!

what no one seems to believe is that there is evidence of god everyday everywhere. for a start the how else did the world get here and end up so complicated. think leaves, the human body, photosynthesis. its too weird and intricate to be a mistake.

2) god has too much influence on people's lives. Peole have answers to prayer everyday, miracels. healings? how do you explain healings? people ask and athe impossible happens.

3. explain prophesy if you can. God talks through people to us who dont bother listening to him and hits the nail on the head. i happened to me. the guy was so correct in naming a sin that absolutely no one in the whole world would have known about. i hadnt even told my best friend. and he was sharp to the point and correct. then there were the prophesies that prophesied jesus coming and then jesus himself, the final straw, christianity rests and fgalls on christs life and death. but it is undisputed.

pm me, love louise:hug: