Ten Objections to Christianity and How to Respond

Christianity Today ^ | 1/03/04 | Frank Harber

[APFel]

Violent reactions to the religious and religion always bewilder me... Befuddle, actually. Some of the happiest people I have ever met are religious. For that, I envy them.

APf

[SedVictaCatoni]

I am often surprised, though I suppose I shouldn't be, at how often the actual words of Jesus make so much more sense than the conclusions of theology.

[Red Sea Swimmer]

I'm religious. I'm also very content with myself and my place in the universe. I have a mission to fulfill and I am doing it. I don't believe in the divinity of the carpenter from Nazareth. Is that acceptable to you ?

[weshess]

"The fool says in his heart ""There is no God!"" They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good."

Psalm 14: 1

[Quinotto]

THEOLOGY: the study of religious faith, practice, and experience; especially : the study of God and of God's relation to the world.

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CHRIST: no need for theology in order to know Him or His relation to the world.

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[Red Sea Swimmer]

Your tag line says : Humanity has a poor track record of predicting its own future.

Depends on who the predictor is...

Isaiah, Jeremiah et.al. got glimpses of the divine jigsaw puzzle.

[freebilly]

God gives us bread crumbs (manna, if you will) of hope along the way

God has blessed me over and over. He's supplied me sourdough loafs of hope!

[Red Sea Swimmer]

I believe in God. I certainly don't believe in the need to have an intermediary between me and God.

[Quinotto]

I don't believe in the divinity of the carpenter from Nazareth.

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And that gives you the arrogance and the right to insult the ones who do? Is that what your place in the universe allows you to do or what your spirituality is telling you that is the right course of action?

[Red Sea Swimmer]

Insult

v. intr.

To behave arrogantly.

To give offense; offend: a speech that was intended to insult.

Do you think God is arrogant ?
Do you think he gives us messages ?
Do you think we should all take advice from a higher authority at times ?

Just perhaps have you thought that you might actually right now be talking to a higher authority and thus you should show respect and actually listen ?

[freebilly]

I have a mission to fulfill and I am doing it

Good for you! But you might not want to insult people who actually pose no threat to you.

Granted, many Christians are artless in their proselytizing, but if you believed that you had discovered the way to eternal life wouldn't you want others to share in your discovery?

The bottom line for me is this-- I might be wrong about my belief in the "divinity of the carpenter from Nazareth", but if I am then what have I lost? Absolutely nothing. But if I'm right, my friend, what have you lost?

[freebilly]

Just perhaps have you thought that you might actually right now be talking to a higher authority and thus you should show respect and actually listen ?

Please! Reveal yourself and your mission! If I'm speaking with a higher authority shouldn't I know who it is? Who is it that sent you to sow seed among the Freepers?

[Red Sea Swimmer]

Some Christians will do nothing and just wait and pray for the carpenter to return before they take responsibility for their actions.

Some Muslims will do nothing and just wait and pray for the Mahdi to appear before they take responsibility for their actions.

Some Jews will do nothing and just wait and pray for Moshiach to appear before they take responsibility for their actions.

i.e. Prayer and faith without good action is useless.

[Quinotto]

I think YOU are arrogant and insulted Christians alike on this thread. Your first comments in this thread was by demeaning the faith of someone who doesn't share the same spiritual beliefs as yours. And if you find absolutely nothing wrong in calling Christianity "stupid" and "pointless" (amongst other epitaphs of your choice) then I do recommend from the bottom of my heart a complete overhaul of your concept for tolerance.

[fish hawk]

I see that you would rather swim the Red Sea than walk across on the path the Lord laid for you. Good luck on your journey.

[weshess]

I might be wrong about my belief in the "divinity of the carpenter from Nazareth", but if I am then what have I lost? Absolutely nothing. But if I'm right, my friend, what have you lost?

A better statement could not be made about this. Excellent point.

[Red Sea Swimmer]

All throughout my life I have listened to and responded to the higher force, although many people have assisted me in my quest. I trust God very much and have gratitude for may existence. Gratitude for one's life is the foundation of happiness.

[SedVictaCatoni]

I think people get the infallibility of the versions of the Bible as written down by the inspired-by-God authors mixed with the falllibility of the english versions of the Bible we have today (KJV/NIV).

The problem is that the Bible we have today is as garbled a mess as all of the other texts which survive to us from that era. More so, in fact, because nobody ever argued much about which chapters to put in the Iliad or the De Bello Gallico. Bible study is really the attempt to reconstruct what it was all supposed to have meant originally - a heroic, if tragic, endeavor.

The history of Christianity is in many ways the history of our attempts to work around this problem. The earliest Greeks thought "perhaps we can understand Christ's teachings in terms of the philosophy we were already familiar with". The medieval Church thought "perhaps through diligent and painstaking intellectual discourse, we can try to figure much of what was lost for ourselves." The Protestant tradition began with a brave stab at trusting the surviving Gospels alone, and trying to make as much literal sense from them as possible. The Nestorians, Manicheans, Cathars, and so on had even weirder ideas.

[Red Sea Swimmer]

I lose nothing by not believing in the divinity of the carpenter. Holding onto a false belief is like being lost at sea with a poor quality life raft to support you. You will just drift along aimlessly, you may endanger your survival and you wont get anywhere.

[weshess]

"The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one."

Psalm 14: 2-3