Questions from a Doubting Christian

InQuestion · 01-25-2005, 06:56 AM

Hello there. I was raised Catholic, married a Protestant, and have practiced Christian faith for the majority of my life without seeking information about my chosen religion outside of the bible and certian Christian authors.

I have decided that I need to understand why I believe what I believe and a strange thing started happening. The more I thought about it, the less it makes any sort of sense.

I have a few questions that I am currently wrestling with and I have nobody to seek for answers. So I am posting them here. I am interested in hearing any and all ideas concering possible answers. Thank you.

My questions on the Christian Faith:
1. If God is omnipotent, then why did he decide that he didn’t like the way things were going and wipe out the whole earth with the Great Flood except for a couple of people and the animals?

a. What type of (loving) God would kill all his own people just because they were not following some moral code?

b. If God is perfect, then he would not have had to do this...Earth and man would have been created, as he desired them the first time around.

2. How come some places in the bible say you have to perform good works to get into heaven while other places in the bible say you only have to believe in Jesus as the Son of God?

3. How come Jesus’ last words are contradicted in different scriptures?

a. Why would they be “why have you forsaken me, my God?”

b. When he is dying why does he think he has been forsaken? That was his purpose, right?

4. If God realized there was a problem that nobody was getting into heaven to be with him and sent his only Son to die for all of our sins - couldn’t he have figured out a better way?

a. How does his death change us metaphysically so that we are accepted into heaven?

i. Or if it is the perfect sacrifice (as I have read), what kind of father would sacrifice his “only” son for anything?

ii. What is the difference between God’s “son” Jesus and a normal human that makes Jesus a more acceptable sacrifice?

b. If sending his only son was so important, then how come only those who believe are saved?

i. About 3/4ths the world population will not make it into heaven. If God is all powerful, why not do something more effective?

c. Why would God want to sacrifice his only Son to save people who broke his moral code so they could join him in heaven?

i. Why not just change his moral code?
What about all the people before Jesus? Did none of them make it into heaven?

5. If God is omnipotent, then why does he battle Satan (sin)?

a. If he gives us free will, but knows everything, then he knows our end before we began. He knows that some people will be cast into hell the moment they are born. Why create people to be born into hell?

6. If God created man in his image, why is man imperfect?

a. Why is man tempted by sin and not God?

b. Why in some places in the bible does it say that God can be tempted by sin, and in other places that he isn’t?

7. How come none of the Gospels were written until at least 40 years after the death of Christ?

a. How come the Christian church tries to suppress the Gnostic gospels and any other documentation which could contradict the bible?

b. How come none of the other monotheistic religions believe Jesus is the Son of God?

8. How come Christians had the Crusades and killed and persecuted those who did not believe?

a. Thou shall not kill.

9. How come Jesus lived the first 20 or 30 years of his life as a normal carpenter, never performing one miracle and then all of a sudden have these “mystical” powers? - but couldn't perform miracles in his hometown?

10. Why did Christianity adopt things from other religions to help make conversion easier for people of other faiths?

11. If God gave us brains and the ability to think and question, why tell us to have “faith” (believe in absence of truth).

a. This seems to contradict the very nature of our make up as humans – it is not congruent with the way we are made.

i. Some sort of test, right?

Bandit · 01-25-2005, 08:43 AM

Welcome to the club InQuestion

Some of these questions you will have to answer for yourself. You have the right and choice to believe anything you want to believe. The thing you are questioning is not going to come down and pop you on the head to prove anything, until you make the first step toward it (or back toward it).

I will go through some of these with you, but if you dont have enough faith to at least try and accept the bible as His written word, then I dont know where else to start, except consecrated prayer. You dont need a religion or a bible for that.
It is obvious from the questions you know the bible and that is all good.

I have just as many questions as you have, but that is not going to hinder me to sell out or buy into something different. So don't sell out cause I am in the same boat and we need as many people to row us back to shore as we can get.

You have a heart too. Find a secret place. Pray in a secret place and seek the face of God with all your heart and ask Him to show you. Ask Him with everything you have and surrender it all and HE will come to you. God is a spirit and you have to find Him that way. In Spirit and in Truth way down deep beyond what you can reach, then keep reaching.
Stand, sit, kneel, lay on the ground and dont be afraid to let a whole bunch of tears out when you seek Him. Take a box of kleenex and use them all. Dont think a 5 minute prayer is going to get it. Plan on a couple of hours of good heart felt communication

Ok?

Tell Him you love him over and over and over. Tell Him you want to know Him. Ask Him to fill you with his spirit and renew you. Spend some time with God, not church, but with God. He wants praise and honor and zeal and love and you are capable of that.

He is going to be looking at the heart.

I will never sell out to the death burial and resurrection of Jesus. I have come way too far with him.

Here is a question for you.
1)What type of God (or anyone) would want to spend eternity with a bunch of people around him that are full of hate and abuse and blasphemey, that do not love him, or care anything about him?
2)What kind of God would He be if he FORCED himself on us and made us serve him with whips and chains???

What question of yours do you want to look at first? Because i am not going through that whole list at once.

Sacredstar · 01-25-2005, 10:56 AM

Heaven and hell is within.

You will find very little of GOD in the bible most is created by man. As Jesus said scripture is dead you will only find the living GOD in your heart.

The wisdom of GOD is in your heart look within and you will find all that seek.

I am rushing out now but will try to respond to your questions in a more literal fashion when I return.

GOD is love and love is the way to live life forevermore.

being love

Sacredstar

Faithfulservant · 01-25-2005, 12:41 PM

Welcome to CR Inquestion

I have decided that I need to understand why I believe what I believe and a strange thing started happening. The more I thought about it, the less it makes any sort of sense.

This happens to a lot of people. Doubt is a weapon of the dark one. You let it into your heart and he's going to have a wild time messing with your head. I have been there on more than one occasion. The trick is like Bandit said.. pray unceasingly. Ask him for the truth. You are asking for the truth from God himself not from man. But I can tell you what I have discovered on my journey if it helps you any. Most of your questions were ones that I had.

My questions on the Christian Faith:
1. If God is omnipotent, then why did he decide that he didn’t like the way things were going and wipe out the whole earth with the Great Flood except for a couple of people and the animals?

In the OT God was dealing with men that didnt have a "moral code" you have to remember that the Holy Spirit was not in the world at that time. This was also a world without Jesus. And I dont believe he was just deciding things were going wrong.. HE knew because hes omnipotent and ominipresent. In the whole word of depravity there was one righteous man and his family. It wasnt going to get better it would only get much worse.

a. What type of (loving) God would kill all his own people just because they were not following some moral code?

A just God. You cant put limitations on God. You ever have your parents tell you "I brought you into this world I will take you out"? And you always have to remember that in the OT he was preparing the world for Jesus. It was HARD it needed to be HARD because people needed to see that man can not EVER be good enough on their own terms.

b. If God is perfect, then he would not have had to do this...Earth and man would have been created, as he desired them the first time around.

Something else that needs to be understood is that because God is perfect he cannot be around anything less than perfect. The world WAS created perfect until Man fell. HE walked with Adam and Eve until he could no longer do so because they fell. I see a God who loved his creations otherwise why did he allow Satan to exist after he was tossed out into the world. Satan has been battling God long before we have existed.

2. How come some places in the bible say you have to perform good works to get into heaven while other places in the bible say you only have to believe in Jesus as the Son of God?

If you are referring to the scripture in James about faith without works being dead. Thats not a condition of going to heaven. What its saying is that the fruits of faith produces work to justify itself. Like Abraham having such faith in God as to be on the verge of sacrificing his son to Him.. The fruit of his faith was obedience and it was justified. You see how we have the fruits of the Spirit.. You can tell when someone is Spirit filled by their peace joy longsuffering......etc You can tell when someone is of Faith by the fruits of it. The example used was if a brother and sister were hungry and cold and you tell them go and be filled and be warm but you dont give them food or shelter.. how does that edify yourself or God? How does it justify itself. When you are truly of faith you will be compassionate and say here have a sweater and some food. God be praised. God always uses us for HIS works. We dont know who will knock on our door needing help but God does and he sends those people to us. What kind of faith would it be for a man to not care about anyone else? What pride and arrogance that would be to claim faith but not care about his brother and sister. With true faith this come naturally. ITs not obligatory its something that happens naturally because we are changed when we accept Christ as our Savior.

3. How come Jesus’ last words are contradicted in different scriptures?

You have different men experiencing different things. When you have a group of people seeing the same thing each will have his own perception of what happened. That is why Christ picked his disciples like he did so that each would witness of him and give testimony so that there could be no doubt.

a. Why would they be “why have you forsaken me, my God?”
b. When he is dying why does he think he has been forsaken? That was his purpose, right?

Oh.. this is the saddest part of what Jesus went through on calvary. As much as he is the Son of God he was also a man. Do you not remember him in the garden of Gesthame when he was afraid and asked God to take this burden from him.. he knew what he was going to go through and was frightened and depressed. What a wonderful thing to have him KNOW our trials our fears our depression and be truly able to comfort us because he knows first hand what we go through. On that cross he suffered every affliction that we suffer.. he suffered every horrible thing we suffer and most of all he suffered God turning his face away from him because THAT is the consequence of sin. That is the worst of it and he suffered that for us so that we may never have to endure that. That was hell. That was a man overwhelmed with grief. This is making me cry.

4. If God realized there was a problem that nobody was getting into heaven to be with him and sent his only Son to die for all of our sins - couldn’t he have figured out a better way?

It was the perfect plan. No I dont believe there is any other way. I dont think you are seeing the love he had for us to do that very thing.

a. How does his death change us metaphysically so that we are accepted into heaven?

I have a question for you. Alot of people have grown up in church lived the church life married a Christian spouse had Christian children and have never been saved. They may have been baptised or had communion but they have never prayed the sinners prayer and truly accepted Christ as their savior. That is when you are changed. That is when you receive the Holy Spirit and receive the seal of God. He changes you slowly.. he cant change you all at once because you would be overwhelmed but he does it slowly in a time that you can handle and its a beautiful experience. You put God on the throne and submit to his will and you are forever a new creation. You become new. The slate is wiped clean and you get a fresh start. He knows how hard it is.. But hes with you on that journey. So my question to you is have you been born again?

i. Or if it is the perfect sacrifice (as I have read), what kind of father would sacrifice his “only” son for anything?

What kind of Father would ask his children to sacrifice something that he himself would not sacrifice?

ii. What is the difference between God’s “son” Jesus and a normal human that makes Jesus a more acceptable sacrifice?

Jesus volunteered.. its that simple. HE is the great I AM.. he was present in every part of history.. he was there during creation.. he was there when Abraham was told to sacrifice his son. He was there through it all. You sound like you think that Jesus was a victim in Gods machinations. He is the WORD. He is TRUTH. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the Righteous Right Hand of God. That is what makes Jesus a more acceptable sacrifice.

b. If sending his only son was so important, then how come only those who believe are saved?

Now we are dealing with free will. He gave his angels free will and look what happened. A third of them rebelled. You have to make the choice.. Do you want to spend eternity worshipping God? If you dont want to spend eternity doing that why would you want to be saved? Why would he allow just anyone in that didnt give a damn about him? This life is so short. If your life is spent rebelling against God or completely disregarding his Truth allowing yourself to be your own God on the throne.. why would you want to go to heaven? OR if you loved the world so much that you didnt give a crap about what Jesus sacrificed on the cross.. Why would you even be worthy?

i. About 3/4ths the world population will not make it into heaven. If God is all powerful, why not do something more effective?

I do not believe in those numbers. But thats not the question. What else can he do? You have two forces battling it out. One has good intentions and one has bad intentions. One promises eternity in paradise and one promises that life on earth can be everything you want it to be. He wants us to come to him willingly he wants ALL of us to come to him willingly. Thats why he commanded that we go out and spread the news of salvation. Its not his choice that the world be more important to people than he is. Its MANS choice.

c. Why would God want to sacrifice his only Son to save people who broke his moral code so they could join him in heaven?i. Why not just change his moral code?

His moral code as you call it.. It sounds to me like you think its this set of laws that you have to follow and its burdensome. He is our Father and he set rules for us to follow in the means of protection. When your father caught you smoking and he discplined you.. did he discipline you because you broke the rules? or did he discipline you because cigarettes are bad for you. Its the same thing. Every rule that he gave us was for our protection. We are like a bunch of rebellious teenagers that dont know whats good and bad for us and hes the parent trying to guide us safely through these tough years. Thats how I look at it.

What about all the people before Jesus? Did none of them make it into heaven?

I dont know.. thats one of the questions that I have yet to get an answer for. I like to think that in Revelation when it says that the dead will rise first.. that those are the dead before Christ. I believe that ALL men will be judged and Jesus is our advocate in heaven. So its not over for anyone.

Faithfulservant · 01-25-2005, 12:42 PM

5. If God is omnipotent, then why does he battle Satan (sin)?
I think the better question is why does he allow Satan to battle him? He was loved.

a. If he gives us free will, but knows everything, then he knows our end before we began. He knows that some people will be cast into hell the moment they are born. Why create people to be born into hell?

God is outside of time. By saying that everything has already happened and God knows the final outcome is a theory I dont believe in simply because we are given free will. I dont believe that everything is set in stone. Why would he even bother to participate in our lives on a personal level if he already knew if each was damned or not. Its also interesting to me that the Holy Spirit is the one that calls us. If I know someone who doesnt know Truth and I tell them and they reject it I am compelled to pray for them. God answers all of our prayers. Would he then make it possible for them to hear the Holy Spirit? So no we dont have a set "fate"

6. If God created man in his image, why is man imperfect?

Man WAS perfect. Man was created to live forever.. even after man fell it was generations later that corruption began to set in. Adam and Eve lived to be almost a thousand years old.

a. Why is man tempted by sin and not God?

God cannot be tempted by sin. Man is not God. God allowed Man to be tempted for the purpose I have stated earlier in this post. He wanted Man to come to him willingly.

b. Why in some places in the bible does it say that God can be tempted by sin, and in other places that he isn’t?
Ive never seen this in any scriptures. I would like for you to show me if you can.

7. How come none of the Gospels were written until at least 40 years after the death of Christ?

This has always been an interesting question for me. Says who? They obviously didnt have access to printing presses so everything was handwritten. Who says that there werent copies sooner? Even if it was 40 years afterwards you had his apostles traveling and teaching the gospel. What good does a piece of paper saying this is the goodnews if noone can see HOW its the goodnews. People had to witness many things before they could believe that it wasnt just a piece of paper saying the messiah had come.

a. How come the Christian church tries to suppress the Gnostic gospels and any other documentation which could contradict the bible?

Are you in doubt of the infalliablness of the bible? Do you believe that the bible was Holy Spirit inspired? If the gnostic books werent integrated into the bible it is my belief that they arent supposed to be there. period. If it contradicts the bible then how can it be the truth.. Once again its proof that Gods will be done.

b. How come none of the other monotheistic religions believe Jesus is the Son of God?

This is a touchy subject on this forum. Mostly because this forum is diverse in its beliefs but Im going to answer it from my standpoint because its a question of Christianity. Its simple.. they dont have the Truth..Its a deception of Satan. Anything that is against Christ is Anti-Christ.

8. How come Christians had the Crusades and killed and persecuted those who did not believe?

Men have been doing heinous acts in Gods name forever. I believe that those people will be faced with a reckoning.

9. How come Jesus lived the first 20 or 30 years of his life as a normal carpenter, never performing one miracle and then all of a sudden have these “mystical” powers? - but couldn't perform miracles in his hometown?

Jesus was never normal. When he was 12 he was teaching in temples and the priests were in awe wondering who he was. He didnt perform miracles in his hometown because they knew him.. they would not accept that a poor carpenter that they had always knowncould be the Messiah. We are dealing with simple people.

10. Why did Christianity adopt things from other religions to help make conversion easier for people of other faiths?

Like what? Sunday services? Theres a whole thread on that called Why Sunday I think it would be interesting for you to read.

11. If God gave us brains and the ability to think and question, why tell us to have “faith” (believe in absence of truth).

Thats the whole point. If we can quit thinking and questioning and just believe without evidence of truth then we are in fact showing him that our life is in his hands. Its a sacrifice of sorts on our part.

a. This seems to contradict the very nature of our make up as humans – it is not congruent with the way we are made.

We werent made to rebel against God. We were made to dwell with God. He wanted us to be thinking and reasoning people so that we arent just pets that he can oooh and aahh over but never really stimulates any real relationship.

i. Some sort of test, right?

Hehe yeah maybe. How often do we test him and say Give me proof then I will believe. For some its hard to just believe but thats what he gives us the Word for. Thats what he gave us Jesus for.

Thank you Inquestion for the stimulating questions.

Virtual_Cliff · 01-25-2005, 01:03 PM

I like some of FaithfulServants answers but not the general gist. Congratulations IQ on the first step in a beautiful and lifelong journey. I have spoken to several Catholics who have given me the impression that asking questions is frowned upon. The consequence of that is that as soon as they start to ask questions and can't get answers they leave. Don't leave. There are answers, but not easy ones.

You start off quite sensibly asking about one of the Genesis stories. This is a very ancient pre-Abraham myth that also exists in many other cultures around the world. The important thing to remember is that the purpose of a myth is not to tells us about history, but about God. In this case the people and animals that God loved were saved from extinction, and God promised that he would never again threaten the earth. This prefigures the escape from Egypt of the children of Israel and our salvation from death by Jesus. It is about saving lives not taking lives.

I am going to run out of time now, but in short DO THINK. DO ASK. The answers reveal a truth that dazzles. I will try to come back to this later.

Faithfulservant · 01-25-2005, 03:33 PM

Im a bit curious what the "general gist" of my answers are. At least how you perceive them Virtual Cliff..

lunamoth · 01-25-2005, 03:41 PM

I have not had time to read through all of your questions and the answers you've rec'd so far, but I look forward to doing so soon. Just wanted to jump in say first that there is nothing wrong with doubts or questions, even what seem like hard questions, they are part of your search. Second, start with prayer, even if it feels false. Finally, in my view, the bible reflects human interaction with God and so reflects human experience of God. It tells us a lot about God but also a lot about the condition of humans. War, violence, injustice? Yup, the condition of humans.

Enjoy the journey.

lunamoth

Bandit · 01-25-2005, 03:52 PM

Quote:

You will find very little of GOD in the bible most is created by man. As Jesus said scripture is dead you will only find the living GOD in your heart.

When did Jesus say it is dead and created by man?
Or like the world just make it all up as you go along.

I will stand up for it as written word of God and not man and that it is alive and well. I find God in everything, not just in my heart. Everything and everywhere.

Faithfulservant · 01-25-2005, 04:07 PM

Yeah Im curious as to when Jesus said scripture was dead..

lunamoth · 01-25-2005, 07:49 PM

IQ,

I've had a chance to read over your questions and the replies. Raised Catholic and married to a Protestant you already know that Christians come in many flavors and just because chocolate says vanilla is wrong doesn't make it so. I agree with some of Faithful's replies and strongly disagree with others but really what we should remember is that we are one in Christ, united by Baptism. Actually I take this further and believe that all humanity, all life in fact, is united in soul.

A couple of points, really extensions of what I said before. First, about doubting. Unlike Bandit and FS I think that this is a normal and expected part of growing in your faith. Thomas, the doubting disciple, is in the bible for a reason. He is an example of how even though we can have doubts, we can still find our way to God and God will not let go of us through our doubts and weakness. Keep asking your questions and keep searching.

About prayer. I agree with both Bandit and FS that this is probably the most important thing you can do to penetrate the bible and the questions that you ask. However, 1) start where you are and 2) expect a response. While it would be great to be able to set yourself down and have a deep two-hour conversation with God, I know that my first prayers, the ones that I needed to start melting my heart, were just the five-second, unspoken pleas for assistance and guidance. You will get assistance in prayer as you go.

Finally, there is mystery. It is not reasonable, objectively, to believe in God or any particular religion. But throughout history humans have experienced God or Ground of Being or the Divine or Something More. And each of us, individuals and different cultures, experiences it a bit differently. Our connection to God is experiential and it is an act of choice, free will. My point is, if you are trying to get there just using your head you will not get there. You need your heart too.

A Baha'i Hidden Word sums it up well, I think:

Quote:

O Son of Being! Love Me that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee. Know this, O servant. --Baha'u'llah

Thanks for the questions!

Virtual_Cliff · 01-25-2005, 11:27 PM

Quote: