Objections - Subject Index

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Objections to Christianity

Hell

• Hell is unjust
• What happens to people who never hear the Gospel?
• God forces us to worship him by threatening us with hell
• God unfairly condemns "good people" for not believing in Jesus
• Faith isn't rational, so how can logical people be blamed for not believing?
• See also Punishment/Wrath of God

Genocide

• Genocide in the Old Testament
• God commanded the rape, murder and sacrifice of the Midianites
• God ordered the destruction of the Amalekites as an act of revenge
• God approved of the destruction of Laish, a "peaceful and unsuspecting city"
• God's moral authority - what gives God the right to take human life?

Punishment/Wrath of God

• The Flood
• God sent bears to maul youths who teased Elisha
• People who touched/looked in the Ark were killed
• God punished the Israelites by forcing them into cannibalism, particularly during the siege of Jerusalem described in the book of Jeremiah
• Garden of Eden
• God punished innocent people and children in the plague on the firstborn
• Original sin is an unjust doctrine that condemns even infants for Adam's sin
• God delights in punishing people
• God punishes children for their parents' sins
• God killed David's infant son to punish David's sin
• God punished people seven times more than they deserved
• God had a man killed for refusing to injure a prophet
• God slew the righteous along with the wicked when punishing Israel
• Jesus will condemn even prophets, exorcists and miracle workers
• See also Hell; Genocide

Sacrifice

• God commanded human sacrifice
• God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac
• God commanded animal sacrifice
• What was the purpose of Jesus' sacrifice?

Genesis

• Reconciling creation and science
• Garden of Eden
• God arbitrarily favored Abel's offering over Cain's
• God destroyed all life in the flood
• God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac

Moses/The Law

• God commanded the rape, murder and sacrifice of the Midianites
• God hardened Pharaoh's heart
• God punished innocent people and children in the plague on the firstborn
• God commanded animal sacrifice
• God gave the Israelites incorrect moral laws that permitted slavery and polygamy
• God's manipulation enabled the Israelites to plunder the Egyptians
• See also Moral Laws/Commands under Contradictions

Old Testament

• God's love in the Old Testament
• Polygamy
• God ordered Joshua to hamstring horses
• See also the above topics, e.g. Sacrifice; Genocide

Jesus

• Did Jesus exist?
• Did the Resurrection really occur?
• Why should Jesus have to die in order for our sins to be forgiven?
• The Gospels' accounts of Jesus were copycats of pagan myths
• Why did Jesus curse the fig tree?
• Jesus' anger
• Jesus said we should hate our parents
• Jesus isn't divine: he never claimed to be God and he was created by God
• Jesus taught forgiveness, but didn't forgive his enemies
• Jesus taught submission and pacifism, but didn't practice them
• Jesus kept people from understanding his mission by speaking in parables and keeping his identity secret
• Jesus was mean to the Canaanite woman
• Jesus taught in a parable that we should slay his enemies
• Jesus' command to love our neighbor as ourselves isn't original - he got the idea from Confucius
• Jesus was a stranger to the disciples when he called them, yet he expected them to follow him
• Why didn't the disciples recognize the resurrected Jesus?

The Trinity

• The concept of the Trinity is contradictory and illogical
• Jesus never claimed to be God
• God created Jesus, therefore Jesus isn't divine

Reliability of the Bible

• Reconciling creation and science
• Did Jesus exist?
• Did the Resurrection really occur?
• The Gospels' accounts of Jesus were copycats of pagan myths
• Paul didn't know the high priest despite having been a prominent Jew
• See also Bible Contradictions

Morality of the Bible and Christianity

• Evil and God's goodness
• The Crusades
• Slavery in the Bible
• Cannibalism in the Bible
• Jesus said we should hate our parents
• It's degrading for us to worship God, and God is conceited to require it
• Christianity requires blind obedience to God
• Does grace encourage Christians to sin?
• The moral system of the Bible is a carrot-and-stick system based on fear of punishment (updated Dec. 05)
• Christianity is based on the principle of might makes right
• God's moral authority - what gives God the right to control the universe, take life and override human autonomy?
• God's manipulation enabled the Israelites to plunder the Egyptians
• God withheld miracles from people who would have repented if they saw them
• God is cruel to animals
• Christianity teaches people to pray instead of taking useful action
• Christianity promotes killing unbelievers
• Does the Bible condone revenge via infanticide?
• See also Hell; Genocide; Punishment/Wrath; Discrimination/Exclusion; Morality of God under Contradictions

Discrimination/Exclusiveness of Christianity

• Christianity claims to be the only way to God
• What happens to people who never hear the Gospel?
• Sexism
• Condemnation of homosexuals (added Oct 05)
• Anti-Semitism
• Discrimination against Gentiles in the Old Testament and both Jews and Gentiles in the New Testament
• Christianity claims its ethic should be followed by everyone, but morality is relative
• We can find God inside ourselves
• Matthew unfairly blamed the Jews for killing John the Baptist
• God showed favoritism to families/descendents of righteous people

Logical/Philosophical Objections

• The definition of God as omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent is contradictory
• The existence of evil shows that an omnipotent, loving God doesn't exist
• The concept of the Trinity is contradictory and illogical
• If Christianity is true, then we don't have free will
• Who created God? (added Nov 05)
• Faith isn't rational, so how can logical people be blamed for not believing?
• Christianity uses circular reasoning to explain why we should obey God
• The concept of heaven is contradictory
• Christianity claims its ethic should be followed by everyone, but morality is relative

General Objections

• Evil and God's goodness
• Hell
• Christianity claims to be the only way to God
• Why won't good works get us into heaven?
• What happens to people who never hear the Gospel?
• Why doesn't God prove his existence?
• It's degrading for us to worship God, and God is conceited to require it
• Faith isn't rational, so how can logical people be blamed for not believing?
• Christianity is a placebo/crutch
• We can find God inside ourselves
• How can God require us to love him?
• God is jealous
• Does grace encourage Christians to sin?
• Is Christianity a cult?

Creation

• Reconciling creation and science
• God created evil

Noah's Ark/The Flood

• Who were the Nephilim, and how could they appear both before and after the Flood?

David

• The census said there were 800,000/1,100,000 fighting men in Israel
• David was given a choice of 7/3 years of famine as punishment for the census
• David paid 50 shekels of silver/600 shekels of gold for the threshing floor
• David sinned in taking the census/sinned only in the matter of Uriah/never sinned (updated Sept. 2004)

Old Testament

• Was Terah 70 or 130 when Abram was born?
• God/Pharaoh hardened Pharaoh's heart
• When was the name of Yahweh/Jehovah revealed?
• God did/did not blot out the memory of Amalek

Old Testament vs. New Testament

• God's character and commands differ in the OT and NT
• God is angry and wrathful in the OT, not loving
• Divorce is always permitted/never permitted/permitted in the case of adultery
• Jesus did/did not abolish the Law
• All food is clean/some foods are unclean
• God is one/three
• Circumcision is commanded/discouraged
• Polygamy is permitted/discouraged
• The Law is perfect/imperfect
• The Bible discriminates against Gentiles in the OT and Jews in the NT
• The Ark of the Covenant contained only the Commandments/the Commandments, Aaron's staff, and a jar of manna
• Who was Zechariah's father?

Jesus' Arrest and Crucifixion

• Arrest of Jesus
• Jesus did/did not teach in secret
• Peter denied Jesus thrice before the rooster crowed once/twice
• The soldiers put a scarlet/purple robe on Jesus
• Jesus' drink of vinegar
• Jesus was crucified at the third/sixth hour
• What was written on Jesus' cross?
• Both thieves mocked Jesus/one mocked and one repented
• What were Jesus' last words on the cross?

The Resurrection of Jesus

• General harmonizations
• Harmonization of the visit to Jesus' tomb
• Jesus was in the tomb for two/three nights
• How many women visited the tomb?
• When did the women visit the tomb?
• Who did the women see in the tomb - one or two angels or men, standing or sitting?
• Where did the disciples first see the resurrected Jesus?
• Where did Jesus tell the disciples to go after the resurrection?
• Location of the Ascension

Jesus

• Jesus' birth and infancy
• What was the order of Jesus' temptations?
• Jesus' early ministry: Where did Jesus go after being tempted, did he visit Galilee before or after John the Baptist was imprisoned, and when did he call Andrew and Peter to be disciples?
• Jesus preached his first sermon (the Sermon on the Mount) in the mountains/on a plain
• Jesus healed the daughter of a Canaanite/Greek woman
• Jesus never claimed to be God
• Jesus is pre-existent/was created by God
• Jesus is/is not omniscient
• Jesus' testimony of himself was/was not valid
• Moral Teaching/Commands
  • Jesus did/did not tell the disciples to take staves and sandals
  • Jesus told the disciples to take swords/not to use swords
  • Jesus did/did not abolish the Law
  • All food is clean/some foods are unclean
  • Jesus said that anger is wrong, but got angry himself
  • Jesus said we should hate our parents
  • Jesus taught forgiveness, but didn't forgive his enemies
  • Jesus taught submission and pacifism, but didn't practice them
  • Jesus said that we should not fear being killed, but he feared being killed by the Jews
  • We should/should not judge others
  • Good works should/should not be seen
  • Jesus told the disciples to tell others about him/keep his identity secret
  • Jesus told the disciples to guard against the yeast of the Sadducees/Herod
  • Where did Jesus tell the disciples to go after the resurrection?
• When did the fig tree wither?
• Anointing of Jesus
• The disciples brought a colt/a donkey and a colt to Jesus for the Triumphal Entry
• When did Satan enter Judas?
• The Last Supper - when did Jesus predict his betrayal, and what order was communion?
• See also Arrest and Crucifixion; The Resurrection

The Gospels

• Luke was mistaken about Augustus' census - Quirinius wasn't governor of Syria then
• Mary and Joseph were engaged/married when Jesus was born
• The disciples had no bread/one loaf of bread on the boat
• Judas' death - how did Judas die, who bought the potter's field, and who prophesied it?

New Testament

• We are justified by faith alone/faith plus works
• We should/should not judge others
• Good works should/should not be seen
• Exorcists can only work through God's power, yet some are unbelievers
• Paul's companions at his conversion did/did not hear a voice
• Paul contradicted his own teaching when he cursed the high priest
• Spirits that acknowledge Jesus as God are/are not from God
• The disciples believed the end of the world was imminent
• Christians are/are not sinless
• All Scripture is/is not inspired
• The Holy Spirit was given to the disciples before/after Jesus' ascension

Attributes of God

• God is/is not omnipresent and omniscient
• God is/is not omnipotent
• God is one/three
• God can/cannot be seen
• God is warlike/peaceful
• God's anger endures for a long/short time
• God is quick/slow to anger
• God is tired/never tired
• God dwells on earth/in heaven
• God dwells in light/darkness
• God does/does not delight in burnt offerings
• God does/does not know people's hearts
• God is/is not found by those who seek him
• God is angry in the OT and loving in the NT

Morality of God

• God created evil
• God does/does not tempt
• God does/does not punish children for their parents' sins
• God forbids human sacrifices, but commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac
• God intentionally gave out immoral laws and laws he himself called bad
• God commands people to disobey his laws
• God wants everyone to repent/prevented repentance by withholding miracles
• God does/does not enjoy punishing people

Moral Laws/Commands

• Divorce is always permitted/never permitted/permitted in the case of adultery
• Lying was approved/condemned
• Killing was commanded/forbidden
• Alcohol is approved/condemned
• God forbids/commands human sacrifice
• God commands war/advocates pacifism
• We should love/hate our parents
• Burnt offerings were commanded and approved/not commanded and condemned
• We can/cannot eat food sacrificed to idols
• The Law is perfect/imperfect
• God intentionally gave out bad laws
• God commands people to disobey his laws
• Ezekiel's sacrificial system contradicts Moses' system
• We are to both love and fear God, yet the Bible says "love drives out fear"
• We are to provide for our families/give away our possessions and not worry
• The poles used to carry the Ark of the Testimony could/could not be removed
• See also Jesus' Moral Teaching/Commands

Temptation & Sin

• David sinned in taking the census/sinned only in the matter of Uriah/never sinned (updated Sept. 2004)
• God does/does not tempt
• God does/does not punish children for their parents' sins
• Were Noah, Job, Elizabeth and Mary sinless or not?
• What was the order of Jesus' temptations?
• Christians are/are not sinless

Numeric/Copyist Errors

• Arphaxad/Cainan was the father of Shelah
• Was Terah 70 or 130 when Abram was born?
• 23,000/24,000 died in the plague at Shittim
• Michal had no children/five sons
• David captured 700/7000 horsemen
• There were 800,000/1,100,000 fighting men in Israel
• David was given a choice of 7/3 years of famine as punishment for sin
• David paid 50 shekels of silver/600 shekels of gold for the threshing floor
• Solomon had 40,000/4000 stalls for horses
• Why are there duplicate passages in the Bible? (updated Sept. 2004)
• Comments on copyist errors

Genealogy

• Arphaxad/Cainan was the father of Shelah
• Was Terah 70 or 130 when Abram was born?
• Michal had no children/five sons
• Jehoiada/Berekiah was the father of Zechariah

Scientific Inaccuracies

• Reconciling creation and science
• Snakes don't eat dirt
• Rabbits don't chew the cud
• Insects don't have four feet
• Snails don't melt
• The earth isn't flat

Historic Inaccuracies

• Luke was mistaken about Augustus' census - Quirinius wasn't governor of Syria then
• The disciples believed the end of the world was imminent

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