Welcome to The Christian Test.

This site is just getting under way, so be patient. I have been updating the site lately, so check back soon to see a prettier page. I still haven't sited all of my references as I am having trouble finding my sources, but I'm working on it. So, here's the updated edition of Matt's Christian Questions:

Genesis

  1. Why are there 2 contradicting stories of creation?
  2. How can there be 'days' without light or the sun? (Gen.1:3-5) (Gen.1:14-19)
  3. If God created darkness & light at the same time, what was there before that? (Gen.1:3-5)
  4. Why is it necessary for God to rest eternally after creation?
  5. God needed to rest eternally after creation. He must have been exhausted, but considering that God is all-powerful, should he fatigue at all?
  6. If animals were created for the benefit of man, how do you explain hornets, fleas, ticks, chiggers, gnats, tapeworms, & bacterial diseases.
  7. Why were all the animals (except 2 of each kind) killed in the flood when it was the people who sinned?
  8. Animals were created to be a 'companion' of man. How did God expect man to reproduce with such small creatures as insects & bacteria?
  9. If animals were created to be a 'companion' of man, why is God so outraged at the thought of man having sex with animals later in the Bible?
  10. At the end of the story of Adam & Eve, God grants man free will, but considering that Adam rejected many of God's 'companions', didn't he already have free will? Didn't he show free will when deciding to eat the apple?
  11. Why did god need to flood the earth to kill sinners? Couldn't he kill them directly?
  12. How was it that lions & antelopes (& the other many improbable pairings) were able to coexist on the ark without killing one another?
  13. How could penguins & polar bears survive on the same ark with camels & zebras climate-wise?
  14. How did vegetation survive the flood?
  15. How did freshwater fish survive the flood?
  16. Where did all of this water come from & where did it go after the flood?
  17. It is estimated that, to construct an ark enormous enough to hold 2 of every animal, it would have taken Noah & his family 81 years to complete (for a 'simple' boat, without cages, workshops or any conveniences. This doesn't include catching the millions of animals.). In addition, a wooden boat would need to be totally redone well before 81 years, how did they build the boat AT ALL? ^3
  18. All the animals were loaded onto the ark in the same day. How were they able to board the ark at a rate of more than 100 per second? #4
  19. It is estimated that there are 10 million to 40 million species of animals today, how did the family deal with what must have been literally tons of manure each day? ^3
  20. How did Noah provide food for the carnivores on the ark?
  21. God instructed Noah to build a boat 450' by 300'. How did Noah manage to cram at LEAST 140 animals and more than 1 year's worth of their food per square foot into the ark?
  22. How were all the animals able to breath through one 18" by 18" hole? #3 (Gen.6:16)
  23. Since Noah's time no one has constructed a working wooden ship longer than 300', even with iron supports. How did Noah manage to build such a ship with no experience at all? #3
  24. Whether by twos or by sevens, Noah takes male and female representatives from each species of "every thing that creepeth upon the earth." Now this must have taken some time, along with expert knowledge of taxonomy, genetics, biogeography, and anatomy. Did Noah have this knowledge? How could he tell the male and female beetles (there are more than 500,000 species) apart?
  25. How did Noah manage to collect the endemic species from the New World, Australia, Polynesia, and other remote regions entirely unknown to him? How, once he found them, did he transport them back to his Near Eastern home? How did they find their way back after the flood? How did he know how to care for these new and unfamiliar animals?
  26. How did he manage to find and care for the hundreds of thousands of parasitic species?
  27. How did an olive tree survive the flood & germinate so quickly? (Gen.8:8-11)
  28. God created the flood because he believed man to be corrupt & he regretted creating many of them. Does this show that God makes mistakes?

Other stories & Philosophical Questions

  1. Why does God hate Cain (before he kills his brother)?
  2. How did Cain go "out of the presence of the lord?" Isn't God always present? (Gen.4:16)
  3. After Cain kills Abel, he says "Everyone who finds me shall slay me!" Why does he say this if he is one of only 3 people on earth: him & his 2 parents? *3 (Gen.4:14)
  4. Where did all the women in Genesis come from?
  5. How were the Egyptians able to replicate Moses' plagues? (Ex.7:9-13)
  6. How could the Egyptians turn the river into blood if it was apparently turned into blood earlier by Moses? #4 (Ex.7:17-24)
  7. If God killed all of the Pharoah's cattle, why does the bible mention, just a few lines later that the Pharoah gathered his cattle to hide from hail? And how does God kill them all again, a few lines after that? #4 (Ex.9:6, Ex.9:19-20, Ex.12-29)
  8. Abram & Sarai were half-brother & half-sister. Why was their marriage blessed by God when incest is condemned elsewhere in the bible. #4 (Gen.17:15-16)
  9. God tells Hosea to take a whore. He instructs Hosea to do this as a punishment against the city, because it... had too many whores. Do 2 wrongs make a right? (Hos.1:2-3)
  10. 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 (Mark11:7, Luke 19:35, and John 12:15)? *1
  11. Matthew 1:23 says that Jesus would be called Immanuel, which means "God with us." Why does no one (not even his parents) call him Immanuel at any point in the New Testament? *1
  12. After God renames Jacob Israel, why doesn't anyone (including God) call him Israel? *1
  13. There are dozens of writings in the New Testament (even quotes from Jesus) that say Jesus' second coming will be 'soon', within the lifetimes of his listeners. How do you explain that nearly 2000 years later, he still hasn't come?
  14. As a punishment for killing Abel, God says Cain will be "a fugitive and a vagabond." Yet in just a few verses (4:16-17 ) Cain will settle down, marry, have a son, and build a city. Is this what you'd expect from a fugitive and a vagabond? #4
  15. The definition of an all-knowing being would include being able to predict the future & forsee future tendancies. Why does God seem to have very little forsight into the future & why is he often so shocked at man's actions? Shouldn't he have seen it coming?
  16. Do you condone the use of concubines & multiple wives? Can you justify that concubines & polygomy are allowed in the bible? (Gen. 4:19, Gen. 31:17, Gen. 35:22, Gen. 36:2, 6, Chr 14:3)
  17. Why are such important things such as America, dinosaurs & other planets not mentioned in the bible? If God and/or Jesus was/were all knowing, couldn't he have shown foresight into something not known to the people of his time? According to quote Jesus told us everything his father knew, so he should have told us.
  18. If miracles are proof of godliness, do you believe David Copperfield could convince ancient people that he was the Son of God?
  19. Was the Garden of Eden a fair test? If God refused to tell Adam & Eve the difference between good & evil, how were they expected to know the difference?
  20. If Jesus is the Son of God, an all-knowing creature, why does he have such a time-specific, incorrect view on astronomy & zoology?
  21. Why is it, when Jesus is challenged, sometimes he accepts & sometimes claims that he should never be challenged?
  22. Why did Jesus heal people from the ailments given to them by God?
  23. Why was God of the Old Testament so vicious & Jesus preached love & peace?
  24. Why is it that only 40% of scientists believe in a god & many of the 40% are deist or non-denominational? #6
  25. If Catholic, why did your side lose a war over the holy land? According to the bible, God helped David's biblical religious battle, why couldn't God have helped you win?
  26. If God is all knowing, why do we have to pray?
  27. Why did Jesus have to be sacrificed for humanity to be saved? Is God so bloodthirsty that he demands such a sacrifice? Who made this rule? #6
  28. If Jesus' crucifixion was God's will, why was it Satan who convinced Judas to betray Jesus? Why would Satan encourage an event that would result in fewer souls entering hell?
  29. If Satan contributed to a cause that was God's will, does this mean that Satan & God were partners in this task?
  30. If God and Jesus are one, why would he say, "let not my will, but yours be done?" wouldn't both their wills be the same? *1
  31. Explain why your God's only son had to be sacrificed so we can go to magic happy land when we die. *1
  32. Did everyone who died before Jesus died go to Hell? Is this just? *1
  33. Four-part question: Is God all good? If so, why does the Bible clearly describe him as both good and evil (See Isaiah 30:27-33, Luke 14:26, Numbers31:17-18, Matthew 10:34, Amos 3:6, Deuteronomy 20:16,Exodus 20:5, Exodus 32:27, Isaiah 45:7, Psalms 52:5, Luke 22:36, and Jeremiah18:11 for a small sample of Biblical passages which describe God as having an evil morality at times)? (1) If you are aware that God is partially evil, do you worship him because you wholeheartedly agree with him, or because you fear him? If you worship him because you fear him, isn't this a selfish stance - to worship a being for preferential treatment, while he may unjustly torture others?
  34. 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? *1
  35. Explain what type of offense could possibly justify eternal, unbearable torture in Hell. *1
  36. 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. *1
  37. 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. *1
  38. Explain why original sin exists. Why should I be eternally tortured for something that a pair of naked fruit-munching simpletons did in a garden 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 by your merciful and just God. *1
  39. Explain why getting dunked in or sprinkled with water will prevent me from being eternally tortured for the actions of these naked fruit-munching simpletons? *1
  40. Explain why your God created humans as imperfect, then set his standards so high that no one could possibly live up to them, then punishes us for not living up to his standards. *1
  41. 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. *1
  42. 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. *1
  43. Why would your God deliberately cause sinners to sin (cf. Romans 9:15-23 and numerous parts of the book of Exodus where God says, "I will harden Pharaoh's heart.")? Are these sinners still responsible for the sins that your god forces them, against their will, to commit? *1
  44. According to the Gospels, from the Christian standpoint, Jesus was the most important person to ever live. From the Roman standpoint, Jesus was a huge pain in the butt 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 CE. *1
  45. In light of Matthew 10:34, explain why Jesus is called the Prince of Peace. *1
  46. In light of the Matthew 10:34, explain how Jesus was perfect & without sin. *1
  47. If your God requires that people believe in him and follow his orders through their own free will, why do Christians push their views on public policy? *1
  48. Given the fact that Jesus did not say anything original (the Golden Rule and the "turn the other cheek" idea were stolen from Buddhism; 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? *1
  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? *1
  50. Why does Satan try to get peoples' souls? & Once Satan has someone's soul, what does he do with it? *1
  51. Why do evil people often prosper? & Why do good people so often fail to prosper? *1
  52. If Jesus is perfect, justify the parable of the fig tree (Matthew 21:17-19, Mark 11:14-20). *1
  53. 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? *1
  54. Why is it ok for modern day Christians to eat "unclean meat"? *1
  55. Would it be good for men to castrate themselves? Justify your answer, taking Matthew 19:12 into account. *1
  56. All of the various Christian denominations ignore parts of the Bible, usually because those parts of the Bible are inconvenient. Explain which parts of the Bible your sect ignores, and explain why it is OK to ignore those parts of the Bible. *1
  57. If Jesus and his father are one (John 10:30), then why does Jesus have to pray (i.e. Matthew 26:39)? *1
  58. 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? *1
  59. In view of Matthew 6:5-6, shouldn't prayer in public schools be discouraged? Support your answer with scripture quotes. *1
  60. If your God is everywhere at the same time, and hell is the absence of (or separation from) your God, how can he be omnipotent? *1
  61. In the Genesis story, your God tells Adam and Eve that the day they eat from the tree of knowledge they will surely die (Gen2:17). 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). Wasn't Satan telling the truth here? Justify your answer in light of Jeremiah 20:7 and Ezekiel 14:9. *1
  62. In light of the story of Adam & Eve, do you believe the pursuit of knowledge is wrong? Does the bible make any exceptions for the pursuit of knowledge about God?
  63. Why isn't anyone allowed to see the face of God?
  64. If Lucifer is not as powerful as your God, then he cannot possibly be omnipresent. How could he possibly get as many followers as you seem to think he has? ?
  65. If God promises eternal salvation & Satan promises eternal damnation, why would anyone choose to follow Satan?
  66. Is Jesus' three days in Hell really an ultimate sacrifice, when more than half of humanity is going to spend eternity there? *1
  67. If your church 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. How can you possibly use an inaccurate translation as your reference for what is/is not the word of your God? *1
  68. Before Mary was impregnated 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? *1
  69. 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). Why does he punish many others for their ancestors' sins? *1
  70. 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.)? *1
  71. Don't you think that an anti-sex position (see question#18) is a rather silly position for your denomination to take when the biblical book "Song of Solomon" is a piece of erotic poetry? *1
  72. 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). *1
  73. 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. *1
  74. Do you believe that the existence of your God can be established through a formal proof? Why or why not? *1
  75. Is your version of God disprovable? Why or why not? If so, then how?
  76. What does your denomination think of the government? Read Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 13. Now what do you think of the government? *1
  77. Considering that the consensus on what is fact & what is fable in the bible changes so often, to account for new scientific facts, what makes you sure that the CURRENT interpretation is 100% correct? If you are not sure, do you believe that it is wrong to preach God's word, when you are not sure of it's literal truth?
  78. If God is perfect, why did he lose a wrestling match with Jacob? #4
  79. Why is God's hatred of foreskins so great he was willing to kill Moses over it?
  80. If God is all-knowing then why wasn't he able to forsee that man would betray him?
  81. If God is all-knowing & omnipresent then why doesn't he immediately know when something wrong has happened, or is going to happen? Why does he have to ask humans what they did, or where they are hiding?
  82. If God is just, then why does he punish petty crimes like teasing & 'looking into the ark' while allowing modern-day tragedies such as terrorist attacks, bombing of churches & mass genocides?
  83. Do you think God lives up to his own standards? In other words, does he practice what he preaches?
  84. Why did Jesus make a 'bible quote' that's not in the Old Testament? #5 Why does Jude also make an innaccurate old testament quote?
  85. Why is nakedness good in the story of Adam & Eve, but bad for the priests in Ex:28:42?
  86. If God is perfect, why does he call himself Jealous? #4
  87. If God is perfect, why does he seek revenge? Isn't vengefulness an undesirable quality?
  88. How can Balaam make a reference to Agog (Num:24:7) when Agog wasn't even born yet? #4
  89. The Bible says that it is good for a man to castrate himself, but it also says that a castrated man cannot approach an altar. Isn't this a catch 22?
  90. Do you consider it bad that God & Jesus were racists & sexists?
  91. If God is omni-potent, why can't he affect iron?
  92. How were "all the Amelikites" killed twice? #4
  93. God says that atheists never do anything good. How do you explain the good deeds of Helen Caldicott & numerous other atheists? Are world peace & nuclear disarmament bad things?
  94. In the Bible God flies, stands, comes & goes. but where could he go to & move within considering he is omnipresent? Could he theoretically move at all, because if he did, he would be absent from the place he is leaving?
  95. Unicorns, giants & dragons appear in the bible, as well as a four-faced, four winged animal. Do you believe in such creatures?
  96. Why does God torture Ezekiel to prove Satan wrong? Why does God have to prove anything to Satan?
  97. God tortures Ezekiel, believing that he will overcome & still be righteous. Satan thinks that he will crumble & question God. Wasn't Satan right & God wrong here? Does this discredit God as an all knowing being? Are there other things that Satan knows that God does not?
  98. Why does God act as if what he did to Ezekiel was perfectly logical & act shocked when Ezekiel questions him? Wasn't Ezekiel's anger justified, considering he had been punished for being the most righteous person alive? Isn't this punishment unjust? Shouldn't this behavior be rewarded, not punished?
  99. Why did God entice Hosea to commit adultery?
  100. Why does God tell men at war to take women as plunder? Isn't 'taking women' out of wedlock, or out of force wrong?
  101. Why did God spread false rumors, make men believe false things & destroys understanding? Why does God hate knowlege so much?
  102. If knowledge is evil & God is all-knowing, isn't God all-evil?
  103. God expects animals to cover themselves up & worship God. Do you agree?
  104. Is it justifiable to follow a religion based on the bible when God's prophets are known to be liars? #1
  105. Why does God refer to himself in the 3rd person in Zec:3:2? Did the author forget that he was supposed to be talking for God?
  106. How was Jesus able to hold 7 stars in his hand? Doesn't this show the ancient hebrews primitive (not all-knowing) views of the stars?
  107. How can heaven be perfect if there is war in heaven?
  108. When Lot has sex with his daughters, why are only the daughters blamed & Lot is still considered 'just and righteous'?
  109. There are several passages of husbands abandoning their wife & kids, even leaving them to die. In no cases have the children done anything wrong. Is this an example of good family values? (Gen. 21:10-14)
  110. How did Jacob fool God in Gen. 27:19?
  111. Jesus claims that calling someone a 'fool' makes them worthy of hellfire, he also was apt to call others fools. Does this mean Jesus went to hell?
  112. Isn't Gen. 30:15-16 an example that prostitution is allowed by God?
  113. How can Judah condemn Tamar for being a prostitute & conceiving when it was his child? Isn't he equally responsible? (Gen. 38:24)
  114. God seems to like turning people into cannibals, especially when you're eating your own family. Do you support cannibalism? Would you eat your family if God told you to?
  115. 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)? *1
  116. Matthew says (in Matt 2:23) that Jesus dealt in Nazareth so that he could fulfill a prophecy stating that the Messiah would be called Nazarene. Where is this prophecy in the Old Testament?
  117. Was Jesus ever called Nazarene? (Matt 2:23)
  118. Why would Jesus have to go out of his way to fulfill a prophecy that should have come about naturally? (Matt 2:23) *1
  119. God gives us many morals in the Bible, but does he ever state which morals should take priority over others? Surely the morals will sometimes conflict, so how are we to know which are the most important? If we decide by ourselves, don't we have an objective morality?
  120. Is God capable of making a rock he can't lift?
  121. God says that sex is not a good thing, that if they can stand it, men should castrate themselves & never have sex (marriage is simply a backup 'if you must' plan). If everyone followed this advise & no one had sex that would obliterate the human race. Wouldn't this go against God's will to divide & conquer?
  122. If everything done is God's will, why should we pray? We can't change God's will can we?

Questionable Reasoning

  1. Why is scienceless, faith-based religion fine for your religion and not others?
  2. What evidence is there that supports your religion over other religions? If the basis for every religion is simply scripture, how does the real God expect us to choose the correct one? How can he punish us if we, in reality, have no way of desiphering fact from fiction other than "this book says so".
  3. If "this book says so" describes your attitude towards faith, then why not believe other books that preach their word as truth (other religious books) & why don't you take other books, such as Harry Potter as truth?
  4. God has spoken to me, he told me that he is blue, and anyone refuting this claim should be stoned to death.

    If "this book says so" describes your attitude towards faith, then do you now believe that God is blue? If not, what makes the authors of the bible more credible than me? Just as the authors of the bible I have stated that God spoke to me, yet I have no proof to back me up.

  5. How can you claim non-Christians are Satan worshippers if some of them don't believe in Satan?
  6. Why is there so much friction between your religion & similar religions, when you use the same bible? #1
  7. Why did cardinals have to 'edit' the original bible?
  8. If worldwide unification is terrible, then why insist that everyone be your religion? (Gen.11:6)
  9. Why do you worship a trinity when no trinity is mentioned in the Bible. Yet, there is a mention of God having 7 spirits.
  10. How can you reference an edited, translated Bible when the Bible clearly states that it may not be altered? #4

Special thanks to all of my references
1: http://www.tftb.com/deify/hierophant

3: http://skepticsannotatedbible.com

5: http://www.jestercourt.com/~capella/aguide/contrad.htm

* - Quotes

# - Paraphrased