Top Questions Christians Can’t Answer

by Jim Grady

Top 50 Questions Christians Can’t Answer

Before I begin the top 50 questions, I would like to add to my statements above and clarify my position and intention with this list. It is not in my intention to tell any believer in the Christian faith that they should not practice their religion. Please re-read that last sentence more than once. I know that faith is a function of the brain that will be motivated by any belief system or religion that each individual feels personally comfortable with deep inside themselves.

If only one religion was the only ‘true religion,’ then the vast majority of the world would be spiritually unfulfilled and miserable with their personal religions. We know that is not the case. Christians practice their religion and achieve the desired results just as Hindus, Buddhists and Wiccans achieve the same desired results through their methods. Religion is simply a story about how life came to be, why we are here, what we are to do while we are here and how, where we are going after death and what it all really means. This story, however, has to be unique to your environmental experience throughout your life to be believable enough to be accepted by faith. That is why a young pentecostal Christian child being raised in southern Missouri, US, will not readily be expected to grow up to be a follower of the Hindu faith. Religion is simply an environmentally influenced and culturally appropriate psychological vehicle needed for one to motivate their faith to positive affect.

I believe that every religion ‘works’ for every individual because psychological requirements for motivating faith is unique to every individual. You may ask, then, why would I write such an article as this, seemingly bashing the Christian faith? This article was inspired by much time spent in spirited debate (no pun intended), with Christians that insist upon being “fishers of men”. There are many Christians that understand that they can not change how others believe and settle for living their own Christian lives. These are not the ones this is directed to. This is intended for those Christians that will not accept, “no thank you, I believe in xyz.” They make it their personal mission to “win your soul for the Lord.”

This type of approach is vastly counter-productive and quite inappropriate serving only as an annoyance for most. This list is for those obnoxious Christians we all know that stand behind ‘god’s word’ as realistic fact to support their mission to win your soul. This list, I hope, should also serve as a catalyst for one to question what they are comfortable with themselves thereby motivating their own faith. I welcome all to comment on this article and attempt answering these questions based on your own faith, whether you agree with me or not.

Please note that the following questions are not listed in any order of precedence or specific organization.

If God is omnipotent (all-powerful), why did he take six days to create everything? Why not speak everything into existence all at once?
Why won’t God heal amputees?
If God is so perfect, then why did he create something so imperfect allowing pain, suffering and daily atrocities?
Why did the little old lady that God healed one Sunday need her walker to get around again next Sunday? Was she only temporarily worthy of a healing?
How did Noah fit the millions and millions of species on this planet into his ark?
If Noah did fit all of these species on the ark for forty days and forty nights, how did the penguins make it from Mt. Ararat to the Antarctic? How did the koala bears make it to Australia with no eucalyptus to eat along the way?
Why do innocent children have to suffer with terminal diseases such as cancer? What part of ‘God’s plan’ is this exactly?
How is it that the bible explains the earth to be 6,000 to 8,000 years old when we know that dinosaur bones are at least 65 million years old? The ‘missing link’ fossil ‘Ida’ found recently is estimated to be at least 47 million years old.
Why can’t the all-powerful God not forgive someone of their sins after they die? Example: A christian man that is seemingly on God’s good list makes a stupid decision and decides to drink a little too much at the fish fry. On his way home he crashes into a mini-van killing a mother and her two children and himself. This man led a very faithful life and made one stupid, yet grave mistake. If this man did not ask for forgiveness of his sins before the electrical activity in his brain ceased, then God will judge him and send him to hell to burn for eternity.
God wants everyone to worship and follow him and if they don’t, they burn in hell for all eternity. What does this type of attitude say about his character? By definition, he would be described as a tyrant.
If Jesus died on the cross and spent three days in hell to pay for the sins of the world, then why would we have to go to hell ourselves and pay for them again? God is then, in essence, being paid for our sins twice. With that said, was Jesus’ sacrifice not worthy enough? If that is the case, why should we care that he died for our sins if his sacrifice means nothing at all?
If God wants us all to follow and worship him, why didn’t he create us as such? *Your expected answer will be addressed in the next question.
What good is it for us to have free will if the intention is for us to not use it? Sure, we can use our free will, but we will burn in hell for eternity if we do. Russian roulette, anybody? It sounds like a set-up to me.
In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, why would God kill Lot’s wife, Sarah, by turning her into a pillar of salt for simply looking in the wrong direction? *Warning of impending sarcasm.* God is a merciful God, right.
What purpose does hell serve? If it is punishment for sinful actions, shouldn’t it be used for correctional purposes? Seeing as though you burn forever, you will never get out of hell to show that you have learned your lesson. Would it make since to live a faithful Christian life glorifying the Lord and to accidentally sin by saying a curse word the instant you smash your car into the back of a tractor-trailer, thereby being condemned to burn in hell forever?
We know that we feel physical feelings through electrical impulses that send information to our brains through our nervous system. Once we die, we no longer feel pain due to the lack of a physical nervous system and, oh yeah, a brain. How could we ‘feel’ the excruciating flames of hell for eternity? Does God make you feel this torment for all eternity out of pure malice because you wouldn’t worship him?
If God is omnipotent, why does he not just show himself to all of us, all at once, thereby ending this game of free will and temptation?
If God is perfect and his creations perfect, why did he fail several times? He had to impose suffering upon the human race because Adam and Eve defied him by eating of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Failed! He had to flood the planet 1,600 years later wiping out all but eight humans. Failure! He had to confuse human language after Nimrod and the Tower of Babel incident so that they could not effectively communicate with each other. Failure! How is this a track record of a perfect being?
If, in the beginning, there was only God and he created everything, why would he create angels that had the propensity to defy him? This very fallacy led to Lucifer challenging his authority because he desired to share the same power as God. This led to the rise, or fall depending on how you look at it, of Satan, the most notorious enemy of God and his followers. Failed, again!
Why would you trust ‘God’s plan’ given his track record of many failures?
A disciple of Christ, Thomas, was a skeptic. He walked with Jesus during his time on earth and physically witnessed with his own eyes certain miracles performed by him such as raising Lazarus from the dead and so forth. However, after the crucifixion, Jesus supposedly rose three days later. Thomas did not believe it was truly him despite being told, prior to the incident by Jesus, that he would rise again in three days. Thomas required physical proof. Jesus allowed him to touch him and feel the wounds in his body to offer proof. Why doesn’t god extend the same proof to humans alive today? Those that doubt his existence are no different than Thomas, requiring physical proof and he was a disciple of Jesus himself. If Thomas had been born one generation later, or even living today, he would have burned in hell for all eternity because he would not believe for the lack of physical proof. Paul was born after the death and ascension of Christ. Throughout his life, he did not believe that Jesus was the son of God and even went out of his way to persecute Christians thinking that their religion was a dangerous belief system to practice. Lo and behold a flash of light came out of the sky and Jesus Christ himself appeared to Paul explaining to him that he is actually the one true god. Jesus told him that he was persecuting the followers of the only true faith. From that point on, Paul was a converted Christian. Again, if God was willing to go out of his way to physically prove to Paul that he actually exists, why is this not done today? Why isn’t God willing to show those that doubt today the same degree of physical proof? Why should we be any different than Thomas and Paul?
Christians argue evolution by asking why there aren’t any half-ape half-men walking around today, right? Why don’t we see giants, fiery talking serpents, talking donkeys and many other mythical creatures that are described in the Bible?
If we are to only have sex for the purpose of pro-creation, and to do so outside of the scope of pro-creation is sinful, then why would God create us with an over abundance of nerve endings in our reproductive organs making sex extremely pleasurable? It sounds like yet another set-up.
Why do Christians share the same statistical rate of divorce as everyone else? “What God hath made, let no man put asunder.” How could Christian marriages fail if they are sanctified by God? Hmmmm…. interesting.
In the book of Luke chapter 19 verse 27, Jesus says, “But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.” This seems pretty clear that Jesus would have Christians kill all non-believers. How do you explain this?
If God created everything, why did he create AIDS, influenza, ebola, ecoli and so on and so on? These, as viruses, are living things. You definitely can not use the free will card for this one. Is this another part of ‘God’s plan’?
How can God answer a prayer giving a working-class man in the United States a raise at his place of employment so that he can move his family into a larger house, but he does not answer the prayers to stop the starvation and disease of millions upon millions of children around the world? This must be another infinitely wise part of ‘God’s plan’.
If God’s word is supposed to be the accurate word of God himself, how are we supposed to trust it enough to model our lives after it 100% when hundreds of books were excluded from the original text throughout so many translations and revisions in history?
Why is there no evidence of any of the miracles performed by God? None whatsoever.
If God and Jesus are the same, having the same mind, knowledge and power, then why would Jesus beg himself in the garden of Gethsemane, to spare himself from having to be crucified? Furthermore, why would Jesus ask himself why he has forsaken himself by allowing himself to be crucified?
If you believe that your eternal life is more important than your physical life and you believe that all children are innocent in the eyes of God, why not kill your children so they are guaranteed to go to heaven? You can’t tell me that it is because killing is a sin. First of all, you could repent thereafter and be forgiven. Secondly, if you would sacrifice your life for your child who is about to be hit by a train, and you believe your eternal life is more important than this life, then it would stand to reason that you should kill your children to ensure their entrance into heaven before they are old enough to be held accountable for being a creature of sin, right?
If you do believe that children are innocent in the eyes of God, wouldn’t it be reasonable to suggest that abortion doctors are winning more souls for Christ than Christian missionaries? Why not bomb a pre-school? That would surely win a lot of souls for Christ.
If you do not believe that children are innocent in the eyes of God, wouldn’t it be fair to suggest that God is a monster? Do you see the conundrum here?
It is a common belief among Christians that the only unforgivable sin is consciously rejecting Christ as Lord and savior. With that said, it is also believed by Christians that those who have never heard of Jesus and the Christian faith, i.e. individuals within an isolated tribe, babies and so forth, have no concept of Christ and can not, therefore, be in the position to consciously reject him. This would allow them entrance into heaven by default. With that said, why would you tell anyone about Christ? Why would you spread the word if that would put them in the position to consciously reject him? If they are already going to heaven due to their ignorance of the word of God, why not just let that be? You would, in effect, be losing more souls to Satan by spreading the word. You might want to rethink that whole “fishers of men” thing.
Imagine that I had the power and ability to feed millions and end all suffering. Now, imagine that I simply chose not to do so because these millions of people that are suffering did not like me. You would probably like me even less then, right? Then why does God get a ‘get out of jail free card’? Wait a minute, ‘God’s plan,’ right?
Why are more atrocities committed in the name of God than anything else?
The bible states that it is easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. If it is fairly impossible for the rich to go to heaven then why are there wealthy Christians? Why wouldn’t these rich Christians give up all of their wealth to make it easier for them to enter the kingdom of heaven?
Building upon the previous question, if it is almost impossible for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven, then why would God create heaven as having pearly gates, streets of gold and many mansions? It sounds like he wants us to be poor in life so that we will want to be rich in the afterlife, maybe? Does this make any real sense?
If God is perfect then his creations should be perfect, right? Then that would mean that the earth is a perfect creation. Then why would God have to create another perfect place, heaven, and use it to entice us to believe in him? What kind of assurance do we have that heaven would be any better than his other ‘perfect’ creation, earth?
God allowed Jesus to be tempted as a human by Satan in the wilderness of the desert. Again, if God and Jesus are the same entity, then what kind of sense does it make for God to allow himself to be tempted by Satan in the wilderness to see if he would give in to the temptation? In addition to that, if he were all-knowing, he would have already known the outcome and, therefore, could have avoided the whole thing all together.
If heaven is to be a place free of sadness, pain and suffering, then how can you be happy in heaven knowing that the vast majority of humankind is painfully burning for eternity, especially when some of them may be your loved ones?
Seeing as though everything we, including Christians, enjoy in the modern world is a product of science, why do Christians so fervently deny factual scientific evidence that disproves so many aspects of the bible and their religion as a whole?
If Christianity is the only true religion, then why do practitioners of all other religions feel fulfilled in their faith and achieve the same desired results as Christians?
If God created everything, then why did he create the tree of knowledge of good and evil and put it right in the middle of the garden of Eden for Eve to eat of it’s fruit if he didn’t want her to? Furthermore, why did God create the serpent that tempted Eve? Uh-oh, it sounds like another possible set-up.
In the beginning God created Adam and Eve, right? Then Adam and Eve had Cain and Abel. What happens next? How did the species propagate itself? Incest is genetically detrimental to offspring. It is also seen as being terribly immoral among the majority of people alive today, including Christians. There was either some incest going on or God created more people from scratch and we weren’t told about it. The same scenario applies to the flood incident. Sure, Noah’s three sons had wives, but that would still mean that, out of the eight remaining individuals on the planet, there is only a 50% variation of genetic code. Mathematically, inbreeding was sure to be necessary to replenish the earth.
Why does God allow things to happen among his followers that he has already deemed to be sinful, i.e. incest example above, “thou shalt not kill” and so forth, and it is alright as long as it is done in his name? Remember, more deaths have occurred in history in God’s name.
How did Adam live to 930, Seth 912 and Methuselah 969 years old when anthropological evidence show that we have progressively increased our longevity throughout history? If they did live that long back then, this concept would be reversed and our longevity should have been decreasing throughout history, right? That would mean that people 500 years ago should have lived to at least 200 years old. Why do we not find evidence of this throughout written historical birth and death records as well as archaeological and anthropological evidence?
God has killed more people than Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Sadam Hussein, Milosavic and Jim Jones combined. Why would you not follow them instead of God? Based on this standard, these monsters are compassionate compared to God.
Why is it that when a Christian is faced with questions that have huge negative implications towards the logic of their faith, they conveniently say that it is in God’s plan? Judging by the above mentioned failures, God’s plan does not seem to be a very good one.

Last, but not least……..