Here are one user’s ideas on why being a Christian is bad and the Bible shouldn’t be trusted. See my responses below each.
1) Numerous Biblical errors and contradictions (a list provided on request)
darkmatt3r: ok, until I see a list, this one doesn’t count. Saying you have evidence is not the same as furnishing it.
2)
Biblical absurdities such as talking animals; magic trees; houses that
suffer from leprosy and can be cured by potions of birds blood; one man
killing 1000 with a jaw bone of a donkey; a man who lived in a whale; a
woman who was turned into salt; Noah’s flood, etc.
darkmatt3r: Obviously you have no clue about the supernatural. The reason for the weird stuff is God. Think about it, if he created the world and everything in it, don’t you think he has backdoor access to it all and can hack anything to show up at a moment’s notice? Of course, this requires faith, which you don’t have. Without even an open mind here, of course it doesn’t make sense. This is some freaky stuff, and I would doubletake, even though I do believe it.
3) Bible prophecies, which all suffer from at least one of the following:
darkmatt3r: First off, all is a big word. Humans tend to generalize when we talk because we are too lazy to go do actual in depth research. We all do it, but you can’t generalize when you’re making a point this big.
a) Taken out of context
darkmatt3r: give me precise examples or this doesn’t count. back it up.
b) Extremely nebulous - could apply to many events
darkmatt3r: give me precise examples or this doesn’t count. back it up.
c) Made to mean something other than what they say
darkmatt3r: give me precise examples or this doesn’t count. back it up.
d) Based on miss-translations of the original text (as with the Septuagint)
darkmatt3r: mistranslation in who’s opinion? show me precise examples and explain the meaning of them, or this one doesn’t count.
e) Based on non-existent text (Nazareth prophecy; Judas prophecy).
darkmatt3r: just because we don’t have all the original manuscripts of each referenced work does not negate the fact that the prophecy was given and came true. It would be nice but it isn’t needed.
f) Made after the fact (Prophecies of Daniel, Ezekiel)
again, absolutely no proof, no examples.
4)
A picture of God that is obscene. In the Old Testament He condones or
is responsible for: wholesale murder, slavery, cannibalism, lying,
deceit, discrimination against disabled people, discrimination against
women, issuing bad laws, adultery, irrational killing of innocent
people, rape, drunkenness.
darkmatt3r: for some of this, you are citing cultural morals, which have no bearing on this since this isn’t in our culture. You are claiming all sorts of things that are unfounded. If you have proof, show me, I don’t believe you until then.
5) There is no historical record of a
man named Jesus Christ outside the Bible, where such a record SHOULD be
found if in fact he existed.
darkmatt3r: simply not true. what about the shroud of turin, the places that exist that Jesus went, artifacts recovered. There is a ton of historical evidence. True to form you haven’t done your homework.
6) Christianity has nothing that is
unique. Its teachings and doctrines are largely borrowed from
pre-existing Pagan beliefs - Zoroasterism, Mithraism, Osiris, Dionysis,
Attis etc. This is confirmed by the early Church fathers, who tried to
explain such parallels as Satan’s attempt to counterfeit Gods plan in
advance.
darkmatt3r: dead wrong. all the other religions and beliefs focus on the deity of its said god/godess and paying them homage for their collective awesomeness, prowess, or strength. Christianity is unique because it focuses on God’s amazing “weakness” in becoming a human sacrifice to save the ones he loves, not his strength or intellect. He doesn’t seek anything to profit from humanity, but he gives, out of selfless love. He wants our respect, admiration, and love sure, but it wasn’t a precondition of salvation. Love is a natural by-product of being saved. Christianity is the only religion where you don’t earn salvation and life. You are given it, free and clear.
7) The NT scriptures were produced in a time and place
where forging of scriptures was a common pastime among those who were
literate, as evidenced by the numerous apocryphal works.
darkmatt3r: So? Just because they all wrote stuff doesn’t mean it is all invalidated, it means most convincingly that something big happened. Something went down and everyone was so profoundly moved by it that it made it into the writings. If the Roman Empire was the only thing going on, there would have been no mention of a selfless Christ who allowed himself to be killed for seemingly no reason. What kind of hero is that? His motivations are all backwards from the usual. He wasn’t after conquest, but he was written about because people found the truth in him. There are many other “regular” revolutionaries who were beat down by the Romans, and you don’t see them mentioned. What made it into the Holy Bible and what didn’t is a different issue and has nothing to do with your point, which is not a point at all.
The 4 Gospels were written by unknown authors, in a language foreign to
the one spoken by Christ and his disciples, based on hearsay from
unknown sources, 40 to 80 years after Jesus death.
darkmatt3r: the gospels were written in a common tongue that was tailored for the audience that would read it not for the people in the story, since they lived it, they had no reason to read it, not to mention it was written later. You don’t have enough data to support your claim that they were unknown.
9) The doctrine of eternal Hell (borrowed from Zoroasterism and ancient Egypt) is morally corrupt.
darkmatt3r: how so? those who do evil and deserve hell should not be thrown into it? There are people that have done such horrible things, Hitler, Hussein, etc. that they should not end up in eternal torment? If you believe in any sort of balance in the universe, karma, etc. it demands that recompense be paid in some form, and hell is one of those ways, whether or not you like it. I think you are afraid because you deny the truth you already know deep down, that hell does exist, and you just don’t want to go there. As far as borrowing it, that is your opinion. How do you know what the writers knew or had access to? How can you verify that they had access to such ideas? You can’t. Hell is most likely a common theme because there is some portion of truth to it.
10)
The fruit of Christianity shows it to be the most violent and corrupt
of religions, responsible for millions of deaths. It set back science
1500 years and issued in the Dark Ages.
darkmatt3r: You can’t make generalizations like this without evidence, it just makes you look stupid. The fruit of Christianity is not ONLY death, though many people have misinterpreted it and done evil in the name of Christ. They are the bad apples, not Christ himself. If you notice, the scriptures do not condone the acts the professors of the faith have committed. You forget that religion is a book on a shelf until people get a hold of it. Let’s not start talking about Socialist religion, Islam, and others who have murdered countless people, like it Tianimen Square in China or the many Jihad wars and suicide bombs that are actually in the name of Allah. See how I have specific examples? You should try that. You also can’t blame the Dark Ages on one religion like that. You have to take into account the times, society, intellect of the people of the time, governmental structure, and many other factors. Again, if Christianity did play a major role in that, it means that they weren’t listening to the teachings and ideas presented therein.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this exercise in stupidity. If anyone had a valid point and clear cut evidence as to anything like this, I would be happy to debate them on the topic, but as of yet no one has valid opinions based on fact that I have seen on the Internet. Everyone who wants Christianity to be wrong tries really hard to debunk it without proof or a brain. They don’t want to accept that God is in charge, and that they are sinful. I know, not easy to swallow, but it doesn’t make it less true. Everyone who does their hardcore in-depth homework will find that the Bible is true and that it is based in scientific fact as well. Josh McDowell is one guy who did exactly that, but there are countless others. I also don’t believe we can know all the motivations and reasons why God does what he does in the Bible, and the point is that we continue to search them out. You have to reach that tipping point where the Bible is true enough that it outweighs the doubt you have, which is true of anything you believe in.
One final note, the major reason people don’t want to be Christians is that we are quite frankly big jerks 90% of the time. Stop it! When people are hurting you don’t preach at them, you give them a hug and a hot meal. If you do what Jesus did, you will see what it is all about, but don’t follow the Christian crowd. We are not to judge, condemn or make comparisons. We are all messed up at first, back off, you walk right with your God and let others grow at their rate and pace, ok? Be gracious, be faithful, be conversational and be quiet when needed. Not all Christians are jerks, but we need more of us. God loves the world, otherwise he would have let us rot or used us for lightning target practice or something very far from dying a terrible death to get us back. Love people like he did.
