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10 Questions Every Christian Must Answer…
December 18, 2007, 9:20 am
Filed under: Apologetics, Uncategorized | Tags: , ,

I recently stumbled upon this video on YouTube which insists that every Christian must answer these 10 questions. The questions are as follows:

  1. Why won’t God heal amputees?
  2. Why are there so many starving people in the world?
  3. Why does God demand the death of so many innocent people in the Bible
  4. Why does the Bible contain so much anti-scientific nonsense?
  5. Why is God such a huge proponent of slavery in the Bible?
  6. Why do bad things happen to good people?
  7. Why didn’t any of Jesus’ miracles in the Bible leave behind any evidence?
  8. How do we explain the fact that Jesus has never appeared to you?
  9. Why would Jesus want you to eat his body and drink his blood?
  10. Why do Christians get divorced at the same rate as non-Christians?

The creator of this video insists that the answer to all of these questions is simply: “God is imaginary.” In light of this answer the speaker maintains that “When you use your brain and when you think logically about your religious faith, you can reach only one conclusion…” The said conclusion is simply that God is imaginary. I must say that I am intrigued by this logic, but it is not this specific argument that I am concerned with.

I am truly interested in finding this fountain of knowledge and sound thinking which militant atheists seem to be drinking from. My friend who hides behind his YouTube video (and website…Why won’t God heal amputees?) insists with full assurance that an imaginary god is the only conclusion to his questions. Richard Dawkins tells us that God is a delusion and Christopher Hitchens maintains that God is not great at all. The overarching theme seems to be that there’s no way in hell (which is not a real place) that God is real. What I am truly puzzled about is how men such as Dawkins and Hitchens, who hold science to be the highest authority, have become so arrogant to look in the other direction in regards to their own convictions. We as a human race (not just individuals, but collectively), know so little of all available knowledge, I am just not sure how anyone is an atheist. If an atheist believes that God does not exist and an agnostic believes that God may exist, but one cannot or does not know; Why does anyone pull the atheism card?

Now my main point is not to argue against atheism or even to try to defend God (He surely does not need my help), but I would like to discuss the criticisms I see happening. The “10 Questions” video questions why God would care about what day of the week a person works and Hitchens outright claims that believing in Jesus taking other’s sins on the cross is immoral. I wonder if these men would argue against physics when their car comes to a stop. I wonder if they would argue against a teacher after clearly having marked the wrong answer on a test. I guess what I’m saying is, “When did we get the right to argue against reality?” If God exists and He is the ultimate reality, how would Christopher Hitchens critique of substitutionary atonement matter one bit? And furthermore, they are giving some credit to the idea because they are arguing against it in the first place. People do not tend to oppose that which does not exist. C.S. Lewis puts it best in Mere Christianity when he writes, “When you are arguing against Him you are arguing against the very power that makes you able to argue at all.”

In light of the 10 Questions for Christians, I think I have some questions for atheists?

  1. Why have humans somehow reversed natural selection (i.e. Why do we care for the poor and help those who can’t help themselves?) even though it always has worked the same way without exception.
  2. Why are morals important if there is no higher authority, no afterlife and essentially no meaning?
  3. Why do people have desires for something that can never be quenched by this world (i.e. people are hungry therefore there is such thing as food, people get thirsty therefore there is such thing as drink, etc…)?
  4. Where do ideas like love come from (no biochemistry please)?
  5. How has the crazy story of a carpenter God from Nazareth, Israel fooled so many people into giving up their lives for a nonsensical tale?

My list isn’t exhaustive, but I might suggest that the answer to all these questions is: “God is real and He is the ultimate reality.”


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I want to answer your questions for atheists.

1. What makes you think we have reversed natural selection? Other animals care for those that cannot help themselves (i.e., water buffalo, chimpanzees, dolphins–great example of a dolphin saving a soon-to-be beached whale, dogs, cats, etc…) Natural selection is a complicated theory, and examples of its tenets can be seen in modern human history: what we perceive as physically attractive in the opposite sex (nonrandom mating or selective mating), the differences between ethnicities and languages (geographical isolation), etc.

2. Morality cannot be based on the existence of God. If that which God says is “good” is “good” because he said it (perhaps you see the circularity), we still do not know what “good” means. Perhaps God is deceiving us, and his commandments are actually immoral. The common defense is that because God is good, he would not deceive us. How do we know God is good? What does good mean and why does it mean that? The term must be defined independent of God’s existence in order to applied as a quality or power of God. Morality is a system of values derived from a supreme moral principle (which would be our definition of good). It must be a definition from which all other moral values can be derived. What makes it universal? If we are to be able to communicate ‘good’ or act morally, it must be a principle which can be reflected upon by other agents. Reflection is quality of rational beings so morality applies to all rational beings. A ‘higher authority’ is simply an enforcer when it comes to morality–a law giver. If there are no cops, I might speed on the road, but I’m not going to kill someone because I won’t get in trouble. If there is no God, that does not mean that I will kill someone; I am human, and I am a rational, social being that requires friendship and social interaction and therefore an understanding of ‘good’ between members of the social party.
The afterlife is essentially jail or paradise; it is an incentive for those to follow a religion dogmatically.

3. Ah, the ontological argument. Humans developed intelligence because it was beneficial in survival. Intelligence gives humans that ability to reflect on past experiences and predict future experiences. Consequently, when hunters would stalk a mammoth, they know from past experiences what kills the mammoth most efficiently. Past experiences also give insight into what is dangerous and what is not in this situation. We can combine other experiences to develop an ‘abstract idea.’ We know that sticks and rocks can be thrown and sharp objects cut us. The desire for a spear did not mean the spear existed, it was an abstract idea that led to its invention. Abstract ideas have given us the power to manipulate our environment, which proved quite beneficial in survival. There are things, however, that cannot be manipulated such as the weather, illnesses, and death. Given our ability for abstract thinking, we associate past experiences (such as rain) to a correlating event (such as a dance that took place prior to the rain). Seeing that correlation, humans would believe that, for example, it rained because we danced. But, why did the dance produce rain? It is easy to see how humans could imagine a human-like being that controls such events. Moreover, a being that humans could communicate with as if another person. Thus, the human propensity to manipulate is the same propensity that gave rise to the God desire: the chief with whom we can bargain to help us out with events outside of our control.

4. Love is, like abstractions, the perception of ideal bond that combines emotions of desire and joy. (Desire to be with/around someone and the joy of having that desire fulfilled.)

5. How did Hitler fool so many people into exterminating 6 million Jews? How did Mohammed capture so many followers? How do cults begin and persist? Scientology? Jesus was one of several people throughout history (and in his time) to have claimed to be the Messiah. In fact, a guy South America has several hundred thousands followers who believe that he is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The most vulnerable succumb to religion (after 9/11 everyone starts going to Church, prisoners are ‘born-again,’ etc, etc.) and Israel was not a happy place under Rome. Give hope to those who seek it and they will embrace it, and in the case of multiple people claiming to be the messiah, some people are just better at rallying the troops than others (take for example our presidential election, Obama was a bit more mesmerizing than McCain). Then, of course, Christianity (like all religions) are given a political slant and ta-da, a collapsing Roman Empire embraces Christianity because it was a ‘new hope.’

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