44 Questions for Non-Believers of Christ

[The Good]

This article brings forth many interesting questions for non-believers of Jesus Christ the Lord. I challenge each and every one of you to come up with an answer, not just an answer, and explanation, for each and every one of these forty-four questions.

In order to be fair in the debate about matters of faith, it's not just the Christian who must be called to the witness stand. Even those who dispute or who otherwise persist in voicing skepticism about Christianity have some questions to answer. In fact, considering the evidence, it no doubt requires more faith to stand outside the circle of those who believe than to join it. To ensure integrity, therefore, on the part of even our readers who are not yet believers, here are a few issues about which you too should be able to give an account.

1. How do you explain the high degree of design and order in the universe?
   >> Learn more about the universe / origin of life / origin of species / origin of mankind
2. How do you account for the vast archaeological documentation of Biblical stories, places, and people?
   >> In what ways have archaeological discoveries verified it?
   >> Bible archaeology evidences
3. Since absolutely no Bible prophecy has ever failed (and there are hundreds), how can one realistically remain unconvinced that the Bible is of Divine origin?
   >> Read about fulfilled biblical prophecies... Explain David's graphic portrayal of Jesus' death by crucifixion (Psalm 22) 1000 years previous to crucifixion being established as a form of capital punishment?
   How could any mere human pinpoint the birth town of the Messiah seven full centuries before the fact, as did the prophet Micah?
   >> Read the "God's Story" account of Micah describing the Messiah...
   Account for the odds (1 in 10 to the 157th power) that even just 48 (of 300) Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in one person, i.e Jesus.
   >> More about statistical odds surrounding Jesus Christ Go
   >> What messianic prophecies were fulfilled by Christ? Answer
   >> More about messianic prophecies
   How was it possible for the Old Testament prophet Isaiah to have predicted the virgin birth of Jesus (Isaiah 7:14) 700 years before it occurred?
   >> Read the "God's Story" account of the prophets describing the Savior
   >> Is the virgin birth a myth?
4. How can anyone doubt the reliability of Scripture considering the number and proximity to originals of its many copied manuscripts?
   >> Read about the importance of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls / Discovering the Bible videos explain the manuscript evidence and much more
5. Are you able to live consistently with your present worldview?
   >> Visit Summit Ministries for worldview comparisons...
6. Wouldn't it make better sense, even pragmatically, to live as though the God of the Bible does exist than as though He doesn't?
7. In what sense was Jesus a 'Good Man' if He was lying in His claim to be God?
   >> Is Jesus Christ really God?...
8. Do you think that Jesus was misguided in affirming the truthfulness of Scripture, i.e. John 10:35, Matthew 24, Luke 24:44?
9. If the Bible is not true, why is it so universally regarded as the 'Good Book'?
   >> How can I know if the Bible is true?... / Is the Bible truth or tabloid? / Can the Bible be infallible if it is written by fallible humans?
   Are you aware that the Old Testament alone claims to be God's inspired word at least 2600 times?
   Did you know that the Bible has been the number one best-seller every year since the 1436 invention of the Gutenberg printing press?
   >> The Bible -- an amazing book...
10. From whence comes humanity's universal moral sense?
11. If man is nothing but the random arrangement of molecules, what motivates you to care and to live honorably in the world?
12. Explain how personality could have ever evolved from the impersonal, or how order could have ever resulted from chaos.
13. If Jesus' resurrection was faked, why would twelve intelligent men (Jesus' disciples) have died for what they knew to be a lie?
    >> Is the resurrection a myth?...
14. How do you explain the fact that a single, relatively uneducated and virtually untraveled man, dead at age 33, radically changed lives and society to this day?
    >> Learn more about Jesus' life, death and resurrection...
15. Why have so many of history's greatest thinkers been believers? Have you ever wondered why thousands of intelligent scientists, living and dead, have been men and women of great faith?
    >> Do real scientists believe in Creation? / Is the Bible completely accurate, or does it contain some inaccuracies about history and science?
16. Isn't it somewhat arrogant to suggest that countless churches and people (including men like Abraham Lincoln) are all radically in error in their view of the Bible?
17. How do you account for the origin of life considering the irreducible complexity of its essential components?
    >> Learn more about the origin of life...
18. How can the Second Law of Thermodynamics be reconciled with progressive, naturalistic evolutionary theory?
    >> Second Law of Thermodynamics - Does this basic law of nature prevent Evolution?... How do you reconcile the existence of human intelligence with naturalism and the Law of Entropy?
19. Why does the Bible alone, of all of the world's 'holy' books, contain such detailed prophecies of future events?
    >> Learn more about the Bible...
20. On what basis can the Bible (interpreted as per historic Christian orthodoxy) be challenged as a sole, final truth-standard (Galatians 1:8)?
21. Is it absolutely true that "truth is not absolute" or only relatively true that "all things are relative?"
    >> The Loss of Truth -- Are we living in a moral stone age?...
22. Is it possible that your unbelief in God is actually an unwillingness to submit to Him?
    >> God's plan
23. Does your present worldview provide you with an adequate sense of meaning and purpose?
24. How do you explain the radically changed lives of so many Christian believers down through history?
25. Are you aware that every alleged Bible contradiction has been answered in an intelligible and credible manner?
    >> More about Bible contradictions...
26. What do you say about the hundreds of scholarly books that carefully document the veracity and reliability of the Bible?
27. Why and how has the Bible survived and even flourished in spite of centuries of worldwide attempts to destroy and ban its message?
    >> Recommended resource: The Indestructible Book (video)...
28. Why isn't it absurd to try to speak or even conceive of a non-existent 'God' when an existing God would, by definition, be greater?
29. Have you ever considered the fact that Christianity is the only religion whose leader is said to have risen from the dead?
    >> Is Christianity really unique among world religions?...
30. How do you explain the empty tomb of Jesus in light of all the evidence that has now proven essentially irrefutable for twenty centuries?
    >> Is the resurrection a myth? / Did Christ really rise from the dead? / Were the witnesses hallucinating?
31. If Jesus did not actually die and rise from the dead, how could He (in His condition) have circumvented all of the security measures in place at His tomb?
    >> Did Jesus really die? / How did Jesus die? / What is crucifixion?
32. If the authorities stole Jesus' body, why? Why would they have perpetrated the very scenario that they most wanted to prevent?
    >> Could Jesus' body have been stolen from the tomb?...
33. If Jesus merely resuscitated in the tomb, how did He deal with the Roman guard posted just outside its entrance?
    >> Could Jesus' have merely fainted? / Is the resurrection a myth? / Did Christ really rise from the dead?
34. How can one realistically discount the testimony of over 500 witnesses to a living Jesus following His crucifixion (see 1 Corinthians 15:6)?
    >> Maybe the witnesses were just seeing things?...
35. If all of Jesus' claims to be God were the result of His own self-delusion, why didn't He evidence lunacy in any other areas of His life?
    >> Is Jesus Christ's character consistent with his high claims?...
36. If God is unchanging, wouldn't it be true that one who changes by suddenly “realizing” that he/she is “God” therefore isn't God?
37. Is your unbelief in a perfect God possibly the result of a bad experience with an imperfect Church or a misunderstanding of the facts, and therefore an unfair rejection of God Himself? >> Why should I consider Christianity, if all Christians are hypocrites? / What kind of world would you create? / How did bad things come about? / Why do the innocent suffer? / Does God feel your pain? / Goodness of God / Is God fair? / How can a God of love send anybody to Hell?
38. How did 35-40 men, spanning 1500 years and living on three separate continents, ever manage to author one unified message, i.e. the Bible?
    >> Can the Bible be infallible if it is written by fallible humans? / More about the congruency of the Bible / The Discovering the Bible videos explain the amazing authorship of the Bible and many other evidences
39. Would you charge the Declaration of Independence with error in affirming that "all men are endowed by their Creator..."?
40. Because life origins are not observable, verifiable, or falsifiable, how does historical 'science' amount to anything more than just another faith system?
    >> What is the nature of science and scientists? / Why do so many scientists endorse Evolution? / Frequently asked questions on the Origin of Life
41. What do you make of all the anthropological studies indicating that even the most remote tribes show some sort of theological awareness?
42. Why subscribe to the incredible odds that the tilt and position of our planet relative to the sun are merely coincidental?
    >> Consider: Was there a big bang?...
43. If every effect has a cause, and if God Himself is the universe (i.e. is one with the universe, as some non-Christians suggest), what or who then caused the universe?
    >> See our Creation SuperLibrary for answer about Creation/Evolution...
44. What would be required to persuade you to become a believer?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A college student attended a philosophy class which held a discussion about God's existence. The professor presented the following logic: “Has anyone in this class ever heard God?” No one spoke. “Has anyone in this class ever touched God?” Again, no one spoke. “Has anyone in this class ever seen God?” When no one spoke for the third time, he said, “Then there is no God.”
One student thought for a second and then asked for permission to reply. Curious to hear this bold student's response, the professor agreed. The student stood up and asked the following: “Has anyone in this class ever heard our professor's brain?” Silence. “Has anyone in this class ever touched our professor's brain?” Absolute silence. “Has anyone in this class ever seen our professor's brain?” When no one in the class dared to speak, the student concluded, “Then, according to our professor's logic, it must be true that our professor has no brain!”
The student received an 'A' in the class.

What prevents you from believing the Scriptures as truth? There is much evidence in the Bible, but most of you close your minds to the truth. You are like the Pharisees who thought that Jesus was a sorcerer sent from Satan. The Pharisees had so firmly set their hearts against accepting Jesus as the Messiah that they rejected the obvious truth before them and perversely twisted it to influence the crowds. They publicly credited the most ultimately evil being in the universe with these precious, godly miracles. In effect, they charged Jesus Christ with sorcery; one who is in league with Satan. Jesus immediately responded,

"How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house"

-Mark 3:23-27 and Luke 11:14-23

[Dunecat]

Logical fallacies much?

Honestly those arguments are going to be so torn apart it'll be embarrassing, Lucius... At least buy a book on introductory philosophy and cellular biology...

[gambit]

Most of the questions are dependant on Christianities self-claimed facts such as God is infallible and is the universe (i.e. is in essence everything and anything as he is the creator, so you claim) While some are just things that are basically saying "We boast a bigger god" such as the one with christianity being the only religion to claim the messiah rose from the dead.

[Captain Arrrgh!]

Logical fallacies much?

Honestly those arguments are going to be so torn apart it'll be embarrassing, Lucius... At least buy a book on introductory philosophy and cellular biology...

Cellular phoneology???
It be aboot bloody time! Can someone show tha Captain 'ow ta use me speed dial???
@Boeing: Highly doubtful, Mormonism's roots are in Masonry.

[Dayman]

@Boeing: Highly doubtful, Mormonism's roots are in Masonry.

It's just as likely as the rest my friend. Masonry or no.

Also, my conspiracy meter jumped a bit. Well, Mormonism was essentially a conspiracy.

[Captain Arrrgh!]

Nothing wrong with mormen, in China women outnumber men 3:1. China definitely needs mormen....

[Tiwaz]

Could someone somehow explain to me, poor nonamerican, how point 39 is in any way relevant?

[Dayman]

Could someone somehow explain to me, poor nonamerican, how point 39 is in any way relevant?

I guess that they are trying to say if you deny that there is a creator then you deny that we have the fundamental human rights that the Declaration and Constitution give us.

The problem is that it's purposely deistic in language. It's "their creator" whomever or whatever you consider your creator. Not "the creator", as the authors of that audience would suggest as a very specific creator.

call tha Captain a kook awe ye's wants

I would never call someone a kook, even if they believe in very outlandish things. It's not important, plus it makes life interesting.

[kev-o]

Could someone somehow explain to me, poor nonamerican, how point 39 is in any way relevant?

One of the many questions that were poorly chosen for this survey.

Basically, if there doesn't exist a God, then it would be ok to change the Declaration since it has "endowed by our creator" in it.

[roy34543]

A ton of these questions are personal rather then scientific or idealogic.

[Irishman]

Fallacy.... OVERLOAD....

*head explodes from lack of reason*

[Marie Louise von Preussen]

Fallacy.... OVERLOAD....

*head explodes from lack of reason*

Ditto. Most of it was already throughly debunked in these forums. Yet "believers" always repeat the same claims ad nauseam.

[zhangxy]

where is the link to this article? I'd love to see it.

[The Good]

Double post, sorry...

[The Good]

where is the link to this article? I'd love to see it.

http://christiananswers.net/q-aiia/q...-skeptics.html

Here is the link to the article. It's from Christiananswers.net. I recommend anyone reading this thread to read it for answers on Christianity.

Logical fallacies much?

Honestly those arguments are going to be so torn apart it'll be embarrassing, Lucius... At least buy a book on introductory philosophy and cellular biology...

To Ronnec: I do not fear embarassment. Jesus said that he who does not take up the cross is not worthy in His eyes. This basically means that it is expected that believers are to be persecuted, ridiculed, tortured, and mocked for their belief in Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior. Every time I make a thread in the Ethos, I always expect that people will be mocking me for my faith, but I am a strong believer. I hope to endure all of this, and never forsake Jesus.

[Sephynos]

To Ronnec: I do not fear embarassment. Jesus said that he who does not take up the cross is not worthy in His eyes. This basically means that it is expected that believers are to be persecuted, ridiculed, tortured, and mocked for their belief in Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior. Every time I make a thread in the Ethos, I always expect that people will be mocking me for my faith, but I am a strong believer. I hope to endure all of this, and never forsake Jesus.

Christian had and will persecute, ridicule, torture, mock and kill for their believe in Yeshua.
Don't stop believeing in G*d if you want to. But never forget the story of Christianity itself. Yeshua was a great man and must be respect has one of a kind. But to make him as God, mmmmm. At the Concile they decided to make him a god it was easier for them to consolidate was left of the empire. I belive in G*d but not in you way. G*d is greater then those crazy stories of the so called holy books.

Enemies of G*d they called me once, they is funny. If your God is G*d making me has an enemy, make him or her pretty weak or oppositly equal to me.

Respect yourself by taking your own responsabilities has human don't put it on God has written this and that, god wills it. You believe because of the extraodinary story, the hype, the unknown. But not always for the notions itself that always describe mankind deepest nature to embrace his ignorance.

[ThiudareiksGunthigg]

At the Concile they decided to make him a god it was easier for them to consolidate was left of the empire.

Sorry, but this is fantasy history. There was no "Council" where "they" decided to make Jesus into a God. And if you're referring to the Council of Nicea (which was about another issue entirely) that had nothing to do with consolidating what "was left of the Empire" either.

[nce_wht_guy]

Your god and morality are false! muahahaha

[Boyar Son]

Ooh every question there burns the infidels eyes.

[kev-o]

I'll answer them all in do time. Right now I am suppossed to be studying German.