SO YOU WANT ME TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN?
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This document is based on The Hierophant's Proselytiser Questionnaire. That document is ©1997 by the Hierophant.
All modifications to the original document ©1997 by Alf the Poet
[email protected]. This document may be reproduced in any form for non-profit use without permission from the author; however, for-profit reproduction requires written permission. If you modify the contents of this document in any way whatsoever, you must indicate that you made such modifications by an addendum to this section.
The So You Want Me To... logo and series is copyright ©1997 by Alf the Poet. If you are interested in contributing a booklet to the series, you can contact Alf at the above e-mail address.
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SO YOU WANT ME TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN?
I come here to combat the fraud and illusion of your conventional, institutionalised religion. As with all such religions, your institution moves toward cowardice, it moves toward mediocrity, inertia, and self-satisfaction. -Frank Herbert, Children of Dune
If you're reading this booklet, it most likely means I've given it to you because you were proselytising to me and you are a Christian. I'm giving you this paper to save us both some time; you see, I'm not a Christian, although I used to be. I don't belong to any religion that you could name; I have developed my own faith as an ongoing process of study, discussion, experience, prayer, meditation, and heartfelt searching.
Since I used to be a Christian, I do know quite a bit about the religion, although I might not know much about your particular sect. I became a non-Christian because I didn't like what I knew about the Christian religion. If you are interested in converting me, you have to settle certain problems for me. Specifically, you have to answer the questions below. Answers to each question should be typed or neatly handwritten on separate sheets of paper.
Try to answer each question in 100 words or less. This is because one of the reasons I left Christianity is that it was so complex, and I've found that the simplest answer to a question is usually the right one.
Quotes from scripture are OK as long as you can refute other quotes from scripture that contradict the passage you are quoting. If you return this paper to me personally, or if you mail it to me, and if I think that your answers may justify my return to Christianity, then I will get in touch with you.
You should also study the references listed at the end of this document, as you will be quizzed on them if I decide I like your answers to these questions. They describe, in part, my own religious beliefs, and I don't see why I should bother to learn about your religious beliefs if you won't take the time to learn about mine.
The questions follow. Under no circumstances will "The Lord works in mysterious ways" or other arguments in that vein be acceptable. If a question does not apply to your particular sect, explain why.
Thank you! -
QUESTIONS
1. If necessary, explain any unique beliefs (i.e. different from all other Christian sects) your sect has about the nature of your god, heaven, hell, the Bible, the Holy Spirit/Ghost, Satan, etc.
2. Explain why your god's only son had to die so we can go to the Christian heaven when we die.
3. Did everyone who died before Jesus died go to Hell? Justify your answer.
4. If you are a Catholic, justify the Inquisition and other persecutions of so-called "heretics" throughout the centuries, concentrating on why the Pelagianists, the Priscillianists, and the Manichaeans were persecuted. If you are a Protestant, justify the witch trials and the brutal subjugation of Native Americans by Protestants. If you are a member of an Eastern Orthodox Church, justify the persecutions of the Old Believers after the reforms of the seventeenth century.
5. Explain why your sect (whether Catholic, Protestant, or Eastern Orthodox) pursued, tortured, and killed people who were not Christian.
6. Explain why your sect (whether Catholic, Protestant, or Eastern Orthodox) pursued, tortured, and killed people who were not members of your particular sect.
7. Explain why I should believe that your god is purely good and completely without evil when the only real information we have about him is the Bible, which clearly describes him as both good and evil. (See Isaiah 30:32, Luke 14:26, Numbers 31:17-18, Matthew 10:34, Amos 3:6, Deuteronomy 18:8, Deuteronomy 20:16, Exodus 20:5, Exodus 32:27, Isaiah 45:7, Psalms 52:5, Luke 22:36, and Jeremiah 18:11 for a small sample of Biblical passages which describe Jehovah as having an evil morality at times).
8. Explain why Jesus made apparently racist statements (see Mark 7:25-29).
9. Explain why the Bible seems to support discrimination against women. Your answer must deal with 1 Cor. 11 and 1 Tim. 2:11.
10. Explain why the Bible seems to support slavery. Your answer must deal with 1 Peter 2.
11. Explain why children should submit to their parents' decisions even when those decisions are evil. Your answer must deal with Deuteronomy 21:18-21, Proverbs 13:24, and Hebrews 12:7-8.
12. Explain why, if your god loves us all, more than half of us are going to Hell after we die. Specifically, refute or explain the following words of Christ, as presented in the New Testament: "Many are called but few are chosen," and "Straight is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth unto salvation, and few there be that find it." If your god loves all of us, couldn't he find a better way?
13. Explain what type of offence could possibly justify eternal, unbearable torture in Hell; if your sect does not believe in Hell, then refute every passage in the Old and New Testaments which describes Hell (such as 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 and Revelation 20:15).
14. Explain how your god can be both just and merciful, when these terms apparently contradict each other.
15. Explain why possession by demons and/or other evil spirits was common during the time of Jesus, but hardly mentioned in the Old Testament, and apparently has been explained completely away today by things such as epilepsy and schizophrenia.
16. Explain how, if the personality resides in the soul, things like drugs and brain damage can affect someone's personality.
17. If heaven is a place where everyone is perfectly happy, then explain how I could be happy in heaven if I had loved ones in Hell.
18. What is Heaven like?
19. What is Hell like?
20. Explain why original sin exists. Why should I be eternally tortured for something that distant ancestors did over six thousand years ago? If you believe that children are born stained because they were conceived sexually, explain why I would be punished for something my parents did. If this does not apply to your sect, explain why. -
21. Explain why getting dunked in or sprinkled with water will prevent me from being eternally tortured for the actions of the distant ancestors mentioned in the previous question.
22. If your god did not want Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, why did he put the tree in the Garden of Eden (and at the centre, no less)? Was it for shade? If so, why use as a shade tree something so dangerous? If the purpose of the tree was to tempt Adam and Eve, explain why it's OK for your god to engage in a practice that our modern-day courts of law refer to as entrapment.
23. Explain why sex, potentially one of the most wonderful, beautiful things in human nature, is considered bad by your particular sect. If your sect does not consider sex to be bad, then refute Matthew 19:12, 1 Corinthians 7 (particularly verses 1 and 9), Galatians 5:17, 1 Thessalonians 4:3, James1:14-15, Matthew 24:38, Luke 17:27, and Revelation 14:4.
24. Explain why, if Jesus was perfect, he thought that the end of the world was coming soon, when it obviously did not. See Matthew 16:27-28.
25. Explain why some people (James, Peter, Paul, Thomas, etc.) should get convincing physical proof of miracles, while the rest of us are supposed to take these happenings on faith.
26. Why are the stories of the resurrection inconsistent?
27. If you are a Protestant or a member of an Eastern Orthodox Church, explain why you are still using the Catholic Bible, which was formalized by a vote among (supposedly divinely inspired) cardinals and bishops in the fourth century CE, when you disagree with the idea that the Pope, who is higher in the Catholic hierarchy, is divinely inspired. If you are a Catholic, explain why your church accepts the canonical Bible while rejecting the Apocrypha (without using the "divinely inspired" argument).
28. If your god is kind and gentle, why is life only sustainable via the death of other life?
29. If your god is kind and gentle, why did he create parasites?
30. If your god wants us to worship him through our own free will, why does he threaten us with Hell? If you have someone threatening you with a punishment, it isn't free will.
31. Why would your god deliberately cause sinners to sin (cf. Romans 9:15-23 and numerous parts of the book of Exodus where Jehovah says, "I will harden Pharaoh's heart."). Are these sinners still responsible for the sins which your god forces them, against their will, to commit? Justify your answer.
32. If Jesus did have to die, why did someone (specifically, Judas) have to be damned in order accomplish the death and resurrection of Jesus? Jesus was at least a volunteer for the cross; Did Judas volunteer to play his part?
33. If Judas was willing to go to Hell for humanity (see the previous question), didn't he make more of a sacrifice than Jesus, who spent only three hours in pain? Shouldn't we then be worshipping Judas?
34. Why should we accept the words of the gospel writers as truth when they apparently admit to being liars? (See Romans 3:7).
35. Do you believe that your god is anti-homosexual? If so, explain why he would create homosexuals in the first place. If not, refute Leviticus 20:13 and Romans 1:26-27.
36. Explain why prayer is OK, but spell casting is not, when both amount to the same thing: requesting that a superior supernatural force to intercede in a way that would be impossible according to the "laws of physics" as they are presently understood.
37. According to the Gospels, from the Christian standpoint, Jesus was the most important person ever to live. From the Roman standpoint, Jesus was a major irritant because of his political activities. Explain why nothing was written about his life for over thirty years after his death, and nothing except the Gospels was written until the third century.
38. Explain why you believe a person whose life is so poorly documented (see the previous question) was ever born.
39. Define the word Christ, including references to the pagan origins and meaning of the word.
40. Explain why Jesus, who was anti-Gentile (see Mark 7:25-29) and anti-sex (see Luke 14:26 and Matthew 19:12), would want to be anointed with oil in a pagan sexual rite after his death (use your definition of Christ from the previous question). -
41. In light of Matthew 10:34, explain why Jesus is called the Prince of Peace.
42. The name "Jesus" has been anglicised. What was the original (Hebrew) name of Jesus? Where did you get this information?
43. Why is it that the life of Jesus was so similar to the lives of pagan ChristÂ’s, particularly Herakles, Dionysios, and Asklepios?
44. If your god requires that people believe in him and follow his orders through their own free will, why do Christians insist that their views become public policy?
45. Explain why being a good Christian requires you to convert others to your sect. If you do not believe that you have to do this, explain why you do not believe this despite the fact that the New Testament seems to suggest that you must do this to get to Heaven (for instance, in Matthew 28:19-20).
46. Explain why spreading the "truth of Christ" requires you to spread lies about other religions, such as the idea that Wiccans (so-called "white witches") worship the Christian devil (they don't, although this rumour has been persistently spread by Christians since the second century).
47. At no point in the four Gospels did Jesus claim to be the son of your god (he said "son of man" quite frequently, and at one point referred to himself as "a son of god," but that was a common Hebrew expression at the time. Someone who was "a son of god" was a Jew, reflecting the Israelites' belief that they were the chosen people of your god-see Job 1:6). Why, then, do you believe that Jesus was divine? If you don't believe that Jesus was divine, then why do you call yourself a Christian?
48. Given that Jesus did not say anything important that was truly original (the Golden Rule and the "turn the other cheek" idea originated in Buddhism long before Christ, and the Beatitudes were common in the Jewish devotional literature at the time), why do you see Jesus as such a great thinker/philosopher/ethicist?
49. When Jesus said, "Resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also," why do you suppose that most Christians fight for their rights? To put it another way, why don't we, as a country of 85% Christians, let the government abuse us?
50. Why are so many Christian holidays on the same day as pagan holidays? Couldn't the early Church fathers have converted pagans only by appealing to their reason and/or faith if Christianity is the true religion?
51. Explain how your god can be just and merciful in light of Exodus 20:5.
52. Do you believe that the Old Testament should be accepted as part of Christian theology? If so, explain how you can worship a god who seems cruel, even sadistic (see Numbers 31:17-18, Deuteronomy 20:16, Proverbs 20:30, Amos 3:6, Deuteronomy 13:8, Psalms 3:7, Psalms 52:5, etc.). If not, explain how you can believe that Jesus is the promised saviour sent by your god without the messianic prophecies and the ruling rights of the line of David, both of which are in the Old Testament in books such as Isaiah, Zechariah, Daniel, Psalms, etc.
53. Explain why your god sent bears to kill forty-two children who called his prophet Elisha "baldhead." (See 2 Kings 2:23- 24).
54. If prostitution is wrong, why are there so many examples of it in Genesis (for instance, Gen. 19:8, where Lot offers his daughters to a mob so that his guests can avoid gang rape)?
55. What is the sin that people committed that is so incredibly bad that your god had to become flesh and die to correct?
56. Are all members of other faiths bad? Are they all damned to Hell? Justify your answer with quotes from the Bible.
57. Are all atheists/agnostics/humanists bad? Are they all damned to Hell? Justify your answer with quotes from the Bible.
58. What was your motive in proselytising to me?
59. Where is Heaven?
60. Where is Hell? -
61. Why don't animals go to heaven or hell when they die?
62. Why does Satan try to get peoples' souls?
63. Once Satan has someone's soul, what does he do with it?
64. Is your god perfect? Justify your answer.
65. Where does our soul reside while we are alive?
66. Explain how you can believe in Satan when your faith is directly descended from the Jewish faith, when the Jews did not even believe in Satan until they absorbed the Egyptian god Set while they were captives in Egypt.
67. Why do evil people often prosper? Justify your answer.
68. Why do good people so often fail to prosper? Justify your answer.
69. When the end of the world comes, will your god raise our actual bodies, or just our souls? Explain.
70. Explain why your god lets airplanes with sinless infants on board crash.
71. What is sin, exactly?
72. If Jesus is perfect, justify the parable of the fig tree (Matthew 21:17-19, Mark 11:14-20).
73. Explain why Christians have harassed Wiccans ("white witches") for almost two thousand years now, when the central rule of the Wiccan ethical system is "an it harm no one, do as thou wilt" (if you are unfamiliar with the Old English usage, an here means if).
74. Explain why Christians (all branches thereof) have maintained that Jews put Jesus to death when, in actuality, it was the Romans who put Jesus to death.
75. Is Christianity anti-Semitic? Explain. If not, refute 1 Thessalonians 2:15.
76. Explain why your god creates humans as imperfect, then sets his standards so high that no one could possibly live up to them, then punishes us for not living up to his standards. Doesn't this also constitute entrapment?
77. In light of your answer to the previous question, explain why your god apparently does not require himself to adhere to his standards for us.
78. If we are created in your god's image and likeness (Gen. 1:27), how can we at the same time be imperfect?
79. Why was it OK for the ancient Israelites to sacrifice animals to their god, while it is wrong for modern religions to sacrifice animals to their gods? Justify your answer.
80. Why would your god confuse people? (See 1 Sam. 7:10 and Gen. 11:9). Isn't life confusing enough already? -
81. Why would your god cause blindness, deafness, and dumbness? (See Ex 4:11)
82. Why would your god want to damn people by making them believe false things? (See 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12).
83. Should the book of Revelation be taken literally? Explain your answer.
84. Would it be good for men to castrate themselves? Justify your answer, taking Matthew 19:12 into account.
85. What exactly is faith? Contrast it with belief.
86. All of the various Christian sects ignore parts of the Bible, usually because those parts of the Bible are inconvenient to their main beliefs or purposes. Which parts of the Bible does your sect ignore? Explain why it is OK to ignore them.
87. Why did your god allow Satan to do evil things to Job (Job 2:7 etc.)? Wouldn't your god better spend his time punishing unbelievers?
88. If Jesus and his father are one (John 10:30), then why does Jesus have to pray (i.e. Matthew 26:39)?
89. Explain your belief in heaven in light of Job 7:9 and Ecclesiastes 9:5.
90. Christ giving himself up on the cross was a great gesture, true, but wouldn't it have been more sensible for him to continue spreading his message until he died a natural death? Answer this question in light of your answer to question #2.
91. What is your interpretation of the temptation of Christ by Satan in the desert (Matthew 4:5-8, Luke 4:5-9)?
92. In view of Matthew 6:5-6, shouldn't prayer in public schools be discouraged? Support your answer with scripture quotes.
93. Do you feel that the last words of Christ were significant? If so, why do the four gospels attribute three different sentences to Christ as his last? (Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34: "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?"; Luke 23:46: "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit"; John 19:30: "It is finished").
94. Matthew and Mark say that the last words of Christ were, in Hebrew, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" This has traditionally been translated as, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" However, a more accurate translation would be, "My El, My El, why has thou forsaken me?" El is the name of a specific pagan god. Why would Jesus call out to a pagan god at the moment of his death?
95. A commonly recited litany in many forms of Christianity is "The Lord is my shepherd." (Psalm 23:1). Given that the only reasons that people raise sheep are to shear them for wool and to kill them for meat, and the fact that sheep will often follow the shepherd to their destruction, do you think that this is any appropriate image for your god? Justify your answer.
96. Why is the theory of the big bang any more (or less) likely than the idea that your god created the universe? Justify your answer. NOTE: While it is true that science has not explained where the original supercondensed particle came from, no one has ever explained where your god came from, either.
97. If your god is everywhere at the same time, how can hell be total absence of (or separation from) your god? If you do not believe that hell is the total separation from your god, explain what you do believe hell is.
98. In the Genesis story, your god tells Adam and Eve that the day they eat from the tree of knowledge they will surely die (Gen. 2:17). The devil tells them that they will not die, but that their eyes would be opened and they would know the difference between good and evil (Gen. 3:5). Was Satan telling the truth here? Did your god lie? Justify your answer in light of Jeremiah 20:7 and Ezekiel 14:9.
99. If Lucifer is not as powerful as your god, can he be omnipresent? If not, how could he possibly get as many followers as you seem to think he has?
100. The Bible constantly describes your god as male. In view of the fact that your god supposedly created everything, and creation is very much a female function, isn't this at least a little bit absurd? Justify your answer. -
101. In light of the Trinity, angels, the Virgin Mary, etc., isn't Christianity polytheistic? If the Trinity is three who are actually one, why the three names? Justify your answer.
102. Have you read the entire Bible? If not, justify your trying to convert me to a religion that you don't know thoroughly. Isn't knowing as much as possible about something necessary to understanding it? Isn't understanding something necessary to being completely devoted to it?
103. Why is 2 Kings 19 exactly identical to Isaiah 37?
104. Is Jesus' three days in Hell really an ultimate sacrifice, when more than half of humanity going to spend eternity there (see question #12)?
105. If your sect considers the King James Bible to be the official and/or authoritative translation, justify this in light of the fact that King James commissioned his translation to be poetic rather than accurate. Why would you use an inaccurate translation as your reference for what is/is not the word of your god? If your sect does not use the King James Bible, what translation do they use? Justify the use of that particular translation.
106. Assume that I do not believe that Jesus died for my sins, or that if he did, that necessarily means I will go to your heaven. Name one thing that Jesus ever did for me.
107. Before Mary became pregnant by the Holy Spirit/Ghost, she was never asked for her consent. (She was warned; see Luke 1:31). Mary was also asleep when your god impregnated her; this strongly suggests that he didn't want her to protest. Does this mean that Mary was raped by your god? Do you think rape is wrong? Explain.
108. According to Luke, Mary knew that she was pregnant with the Messiah. Living in the times she lived in, she must have known the scripture; therefore, she must have known that he would have to suffer horribly during his life. Was it moral for Mary to carry her baby to term, or would it have been more humane for her to have an abortion? Explain.
109. If it was foretold that Jesus was to be crucified, and if he knew this, and if he was the son of your god, why did he do everything he could to avoid being crucified? (See, for instance, Matthew 26:39).
110. If the Holy Spirit/Ghost is the father of Jesus (Luke 1:35), then why is the central figure of your trinity called God the Father?
111. Mary and Jehovah were never joined in wedlock. Does it bother you that Jesus is technically a bastard?
112. The original Hebrew word for the Holy Ghost/Spirit includes the idea that the Holy Spirit/Ghost is female in gender. Isn't this rather silly when you consider the fact that the Holy Ghost/Spirit is actually the
father of Jesus (Luke 1:35)?
113. Matthew 28:11-15 contains an account of a conspiracy between the Jews and the Roman soldiers to spread the story that the disciples stole the body of Christ. How could Matthew have known about this, since no Jews or Romans would have admitted to it? If it was such a transparent conspiracy that an outsider could have seen it, why didn't the other three gospels mention it? Why didn't the Roman soldiers get into trouble?
114. Jews believe that people are basically good people and can work to overcome their sinful tendencies. Most Christian sects, following the teaching of Psalm 51:5, 1 Kings 8:46, Ezekiel 18:4, Isaiah 59:2, and Psalm 143:2, believe that people are completely debased and hopelessly lost in sin, and that only your god can lift us out of this state if he decides to bestow his gift of grace on us? Isn't this an incredibly negative view of people? Isn't Judaism a more mature faith just for this reason?
115. How do you, as an individual, feel about Psalms 51:5?
116. What does your sect teach about Psalms 51:5 (and 1 Kings 8:46, etc.), predestination, and similar matters?
117. Don't you think that the idea that no matter what we do, we can never be good and righteous without help from your god (Isaiah 64:6) fosters an unnatural and unhealthy dependence on him?
118. Revelation 22:16 says that Jesus is the "offspring of David." Mary was not descended from David, but Joseph was. Doesn't this mean that Jesus wasn't the son of your god at all, but the (mortal and not divine) son of Joseph?
119. What would the correct thing to do be if your god gave you a command that was harmful and/or destructive to you? Paul states that because clay pots don't complain about what the potter does with them, people shouldn't complain about what their maker does with them. Given that clay pots have
no sense of self-awareness and cannot think or feel love, pain, anger, etc, justify Paul's position.
120. What (or who) does your sect believe the number 666 represents? Justify your answer. -
121. If your god is just and merciful, why would he take Solomon's kingdom away from Solomon's son while not punishing Solomon, when it was Solomon himself who committed the sin of idolatry? What did Solomon's son do to deserve punishment? (See 1 Kings 11:12).
122. Why is Solomon commonly considered to be the paragon of wisdom by many Christians, when he constantly sinned against your god (1 Kings 11:4-10, etc.)?
123. Don't you think that an anti-sex position (see question #23) is a rather silly position for your sect to take when the biblical book Song of Solomon is a work of erotic poetry? (For instance, in Song of Solomon 8:2, the bridegroom proposes to "drink of spiced wine of the juice of the pomegranate." The pomegranate was a symbol of the female genitalia, and the spiced wine represented menstrual blood).
124. Does it bother you that the cross, supposedly a Christian symbol, actually originated in Egypt? Why or why not? (The Egyptian cross, the ankh, was a male-female symbol similar in concept to the yin-yang. When the Christians adopted the ankh from the Egyptians, they removed the female symbol, or yoni, leaving only the masculine symbol).
125. How do you explain that Christians are twice as likely to have sadomasochistic tendencies as non-Christians?
126. What is the incredibly important doctrinal difference that requires the fighting between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland?
127. Even if your god did create the universe, why does he want to be worshipped? Is your god an egomaniac?
128. What are your beliefs concerning Wicca ("white witchcraft")? How much do you know about Wicca?
129. What do you think the word Satanist means?
130. How do you explain the fact that the word blood occurs over 400 times in the Bible? Isn't this a rather savage way to write a book that is supposed to be at the centre of an ethical system?
131. Throughout the Bible, your god commands his followers to wage merciless war on unbelievers (Luke 22:36, Deuteronomy 13:8, Exodus 20:23-25, Deuteronomy 20:16, Matthew 10:34, Numbers 31:17-18, etc). If you are one of his followers, why aren't you out waging merciless war on unbelievers?
132. Numbers 23:21 says that your god "has not seen wickedness in Israel." If this is so, explain why your god burned Israelites for complaining (Num. 11:1), sent a plague against them for eating the meat he had given them (Num. 11:33), why he burned people for using incense (Num. 16:35), why he sent a plague against the Israelites who accused Moses of wrongdoing (Num. 16:44-49), and why he sent fiery snakes among the Israelites (Num. 21:5). Is your god lying, was it just more convenient for him to lie at that particular place and time, or what?
133. What was so bad about eating a piece of fruit that death had to result from that act?
134. What was it about humanity's torturing and killing of your god's only son that made your god so happy that he again promised eternal life to everyone who believed in him.
135. How do you explain that Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus?
136. Matthew says that the prophecy given in Matthew 27:9 was given by Jeremiah. How do you explain that this prophecy was not given by Jeremiah at all, but by Zechariah (in Zech. 11:12)?
137. Matthew says (in Matt 2:21) that Jesus dwelt in Nazareth so that he could fulfil a prophecy stating that the Messiah would be called a Nazarene. Where is this prophecy in the Old Testament?
138. Matthew says that on the triumphant entry into Jerusalem, Jesus was riding on an ass and a colt (Matt 21:7). How do you explain that the original prophecy (Zech. 9:9) stated that Jesus would be riding on only one ass, and the other gospel writers place Jesus only on one ass (Mark 11:7, Luke 19:35, and John 12:15)?
139. In Matthew 1:23, Matthew has the angel say that Jesus would be born of a virgin. However, the prophecy that Matthew is referring to, Isaiah 7:14, uses the Hebrew word almah, which simply means a young woman. It has nothing to do with sexual purity; the Hebrew word for virgin is bethulah. How do you explain this?
140. Isaiah 7:16 seems to say that before Jesus had reached the age of maturity, both of the Jewish countries would be destroyed. Where is the fulfillment of this prophecy in the New Testament? -
141. Matthew 1:23 says that Jesus would be called Emmanuel, which means "God with us." Why does no one (not even his parents) call him Emmanuel at any point in the New Testament?
142. How many inconsistencies in the Bible, other than those mentioned in this paper, do you know of? Cite chapter and verse for as many as you know.
143. If even the contemplation of sinning is a sin (i.e. "sinning in your heart"; see, for example, Matthew 5:2
and if Jesus was tempted by Satan in the desert (Matthew 4:5-8, Luke 4:5-9), how can you say that Jesus was without sin?
144. Does your sect believe that the existence of your god can be established through a formal proof? Why or why not?
145. Pick a famous argument for the existence of your god. If it is not a famous argument, copy it down here. Criticize that argument (use the academic definition of criticize).
146. Pick an argument against the existence of your god. If it is not a famous argument, copy it down here. Criticize that argument (again, use the academic definition of criticize).
147. What does your sect think of the government? Read Romans 13. Now what do you think of the government? If necessary, reconcile the two views.
148. What is your definition of the word Christian?
149. Why do you think it is that the ancient Greeks, who had a very liberal sexual morality, had many fewer sex crimes (compared to the population) than the United States, which is 85% Christian?
150. If someone accepts Jesus, and is "saved," but then turns away from Jesus, is that person still saved?
151. Where did your god come from?
152. What are the requirements for being saved? Some sects say that faith alone is enough; others say that faith without works is dead. The Bible supports both these viewpoints. What does your sect think?
153. Do you think that I am only trying to confuse, discourage, or trap you with this questionnaire, or that I am deliberately showing disrespect for your beliefs? If so, do you believe that an unexamined faith is worth having? If not, how often in the past have you sincerely considered questions like those found here?
154. If I decide I like the answers to the above questions, where can I get in touch with you? (Give name, address, phone, and email if available).
155. What is the name of your sect?
156. How is your sect organized?
157. How can I get in touch with a priest (minister, etc.) of your sect? -
erm.. crazy monkey ah .. if u're really interested hor.. ask us questions that u r really interested abt. then we can discuss them 1 at a time.
its better than using that dunno wad questionnaire thingy -
If you are really interested to know the answer, you wouldn't be asking here because there are surely even more knowledgeable christians out there.
If you really want to know, you can ask here:
http://www.carm.org/boards.htm
http://www.christianforums.com/
http://forums.crosswalk.com/
http://www.theologyonline.com/
http://www.theologyforums.com/forum/theology/personal/buy/forum_theology.htm
http://www.faithforum.org/
http://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-Questions.html
http://www.talkjesus.com/
and etc.......
This applies to those others who really want to know about Christianity. Don't expect to get your questions answered/commented in this crappy forum.
Regards -
suddenly so modest ? i tot you guys here are VERY knowledgeable abt your religion ?
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Mai dee siao siao lah....
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to start it off... neither happy harvest nor myself claimed that.Originally posted by crazy monkey:suddenly so modest ? i tot you guys here are VERY knowledgeable abt your religion ?
once again .. if u r really interested.. we can have a nice conversation. if u r juz looking for someone to quarrel with? wads the point.. i am not really interested -
wat dee siao siao these are serious questions wat.Originally posted by shade343:Mai dee siao siao lah.... -
They want your tithe only
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if not the two of you then must be somebody else.Originally posted by ben1xy:to start it off... neither happy harvest nor myself claimed that.
once again .. if u r really interested.. we can have a nice conversation. if u r juz looking for someone to quarrel with? wads the point.. i am not really interested
some ppl claim that other religion are irrational.
so can anyone provide rational ans to the above qns ? -
Not all churches lah.Originally posted by maggot:They want your tithe only
Its quite easy to tell which church want your tithe and which church isnt. -
seriously dude... how old are u ? i hope u r not 20 something .. coz u r not being mature at all. its obvious u r referring to icemoon.Originally posted by crazy monkey:some ppl claim that other religion are irrational.
if u r really interested in knowing or debating abt Christianity... i would be more than willing to put my work aside and answer some of your questions.
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Originally posted by ben1xy:
ask qns must see age one ? how come the teecher ask pri school kid go church then.
seriously dude... how old are u ? i hope u r not 20 something .. coz u r not being mature at all. its obvious u r referring to icemoon.
if u r really interested in knowing or debating abt Christianity... i would be more than willing to put my work aside and answer some of your questions.
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i am questioning your maturity level more than anything.Originally posted by crazy monkey:ask qns must see age one ? how come the teecher ask pri school kid go church then.
on the second point... i do not support wad the teacher is doing -
so ? i am questioning your understanding of your religion.Originally posted by ben1xy:i am questioning your maturity level more than anything.
on the second point... i do not support wad the teacher is doing -
Honest speaking, a number of those questions I already read the commentary / answer before. Right now, I already know how to answer some of them. Some of the questions, though, I may have not think before, but with some effort, it can definitely be answered! You are just not worth my time. Thank You.
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dun know say dun know why find so many excuses.
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I had read (probably last year?) about a certain conference held by a couple. The conference was held to share with pre-believers the Good News, if I did not remember wrongly. I can't remember what type of conference it is, anyway the couple is very knowledgable about God's words. At the end of the conference, it is a Q&A session.
A professor of certain university asked several questions. They are really tough questions. The couple told the professor, if they could answer all his questions, will he come and believe God (or perhaps learn more about the One True God)? The professor answered straight away with a "NO". The couple asked why. The professor confessed that he asked these questions for his acadamic purposes.
The story is true but the sequence and scene may have some changes because I can't remember all. I hope you get the message from this true story. Are you like the professor?