15 issues with Christianity

[Compassionist]

If you want to, you can consider my 15 issues with Christianity. It's ok if you don't want to. Thank you. I am not trying to get you to leave Christianity or cause you suffering or offend you. I respect all of the Human Rights of all humans. One of these rights is to have any religion or no religion. So, please don't feel that I am trying to make you an agnostic compassionist humanist like me.

1. Why didn't God make Adam, Eve, all the angels, all the animals and plants equally omniscient and omnipotent as Himself? If He had done that then there would have been a perfect fellowship of true equals and no suffering and no injustice as it is impossible to victimise omniscient and omnipotent beings.

2. Jesus prophesied the end of the world in the Bible but he was wrong: What the Bible says about The End of the World

3. 99.99% of all species to ever exist on Earth are already extinct because life is so harsh and unjust. Humans have also caused the extinction of some species but most were extinct long before humans evolved. How can a loving and just God make such a world? I would prefer it if there were an omnibenevolent, omniscient and omnipotent God but I am not convinced that such a being exists given all the suffering life consists of. Please consider: Top 20 Evil Bible Stories

4. Why is God's treatment of women so unjust? What the Bible says about Women's Rights God punished Eve and all girls/women with painful childbirth. Many women and babies have suffered and died because of the narrow birth canal and all the complications caused by that. I think men made up the story to blame women who are actually the victims of biology.

5. Why is God's treatment of homosexuals so unjust? The Bible and homosexuality

6. How is predestination by God ethical? Predestination

7. I think culpability is proportional to ability, so, with omnipotence comes omniculpability . Given God's alleged omnipotence, it makes Him omniculpable for all suffering and inustice . Why isn't God being punished by God for all eternity?

8. Jesus behaves in the Bible in ways cult leaders have done. Please see: 50 reasons to be ashamed (and not a fan) of Jesus Cult leaders tend to try to get their followers to put the leader above family and friends and do whatever the leaders want.

9. “The genomes of complex creatures reveal a lack of any intelligence or foresight. Your DNA consists of millions of defunct copies of parasitic DNA. The inescapable conclusion is that if life was designed, the designer was lazy, stupid and cruel.� – Michael Le Page,‘New Scientist', vol 198 No 2652, 19 April 2008, page 26. I agree with him. What do you think?

10. I think it is impossible for any sentient being to have free will unless that sentient being is omniscient and omnipotent. Biological beings such as humans are not free from causality, they are prisoners of causality. We are the way we are because of genes, environments, nutrients and experiences. If I or Daniel or our dog or a virus had your genes, environments, nutrients and experiences, then we would be you, reading these words right where and when you are reading these words. We would be identical to you down to all your sub-atomic particles and we would have made all the choices you have made. This is true for all biological beings. All choices arise from the interaction of awareness, values and abilities. If you want to alter your or someone else's choices, all you need to do is alter your or their awareness and/or values and/or abilities. Inevitably, our awareness, values and abilities are determined by our genes, environments, nutrients and experiences. The bottom line is that all our choices are inevitable choices. Of course, we still need to lock up people who kill others, rape others, etc. - not because they are guilty, but because they pose a danger to others. Given this reality, how is it ethical for any God or Gods of any religion to punish and reward people with hell or heaven? Some may say that we are given immortal souls or spirits by God which are somehow free from causality and can make free choices which are not determined by genes, environments, nutrients and experiences. There is no evidence that such immortal souls or spirits exist and that they can make choices free from the effects of genes, environments, nutrients and experiences. Of course, I respect everyone's right to disagree with me, even though I am convinced that what I have said is true.

11. Assuming that the Bible is true (that's a huge assumption, I really don't think it can be true because of numerous contradictions and inaccuracies), how is it ethical of God to punish all humans and all other living things just because Adam and Eve disobeyed God? If the story is true, and if Adam and Eve had free will (I don't think they did), there is a partial justification for punishing Adam and Eve for their error but to punish all humans and all other living things for billions of years is totally disproportionate and completely wrong. Also, both Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge, but only Eve and all human females were punished with painful childbirth and being subjugated by men. Why wasn't Adam punished equally? Of course, I am convinced that the whole story is made up by men, to blame women for things which are not their fault at all and to subjugate women.

12. It is claimed that Jesus did not have a human father. Why didn't Jesus or His followers keep some locks of his hair so we could examine his half-divine DNA for evidence which confirms the claim? Since God is both omniscient and omnipotent, He could still do it by materialising locks of hair from Jesus in genetics lab right now but He doesn't do that. Why not? I think it's because God is imaginary and the claim is false.

13. Many miracles were allegedly performed by Jesus e.g. raising the Dead. "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." - John 14:12, The Bible (New International Version). Why don't Christians raise the dead by the billions given what Jesus said? I have prayed for the resurrection of many good people e.g. Princess Diana, John Lennon, Mohondas Gandhi, etc. but none of them was resurrected.

14. I statistically analysed prayer. No prayers for miracles were ever answered e.g. resurrection of famous good people, regrowing of amputated limbs, ending all floods, cyclones, earthquakes, etc. The prayers that were apparently answered, e.g. praying for parking space in the car park at 7 am were always answered regardless of whether I prayed to God or Zeus or Thor, etc. In fact, there were spaces in the car park 100% of the time at 7 am even when I didn't pray for space. It shows that God is either lying in the Bible or God is imaginary.

15. The Bible says that Jesus was crucified and resurrected. There is no evidence for this. Roman records don't show it. There are some contradictory stories about it in the Bible but these are just stories - not incontrovertible evidence. Tacitus and Josephus did not witness the virgin conception of Jesus, His birth, the miracles of Jesus, the crucifixion of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus. Surely, an omniscient and omnipotent God who allegedly created everything and can resurrect the dead can prove to us that He is real and good, not imaginary or evil? There is no convincing evidence for the virgin birth, words, actions, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. All we have are contradictory stories in the Bible which were written by anonymous writers many years after the alleged events took place. The four canonical gospels, like the rest of the New Testament, were written in Greek, Mark probably c. AD 66–70, Matthew and Luke around AD 85–90, and John AD 90–110. Despite the traditional ascriptions, all four are anonymous, and none were written by eyewitnesses. Jesus was allegedly crucified and resurrected in AD 30. I think the reason the Gospels were written so many years after the alleged events is because the writers didn’t want any actual witnesses to be still alive to challenge the lies being passed off as the truth. Why didn't Jesus write the Bible?

[JehovahsWitness]

8. Jesus behaves in the Bible in ways cult leaders have done. Please see: 50 reasons to be ashamed (and not a fan) of Jesus Cult leaders tend to try to get their followers to put the leader above family and friends and do whatever the leaders want.

# Did Jesus preach HATE?

ANSWER
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 209#921209



RELATED POSTS

Was Jesus guilty of "name-calling"
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 542#926542]

[JehovahsWitness]

The genomes of complex creatures reveal a lack of any intelligence or foresight. Your DNA consists of millions of defunct copies of parasitic DNA. The inescapable conclusion is that if life was designed, the designer was lazy, stupid and cruel“ Michael Le Page, New Scientist', vol 198 No 2652, 19 April 2008, page 26.

I agree with him. What do you think?

I think what he said is utter rubbish.

"The idea of the genome as a book is not, strictly speaking, even a metaphor. It is literally true. A book is a piece of digital information . . . So is a genome...The genome is a very clever book, because in the right conditions it can both photocopy itself and read itself." - Matt Ridley, Genome The Autobiography of a Species, Chap 24 pp. 7-8
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1102010348

• The complex molecules in the simplest living thing cannot reproduce alone. Outside the cell, they break down. Inside the cell, they cannot reproduce without the help of other complex molecules. For example, enzymes are needed to produce a special energy molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP), but energy from ATP is needed to produce enzymes also DNA is required to make enzymes, but enzymes are required to make DNA. Also, other proteins can be made only by a cell, but a cell can be made only with proteins.
  https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1102010344#h=20

Microbiologist Radu Popa does not agree with the Bible's account of creation. Yet, in 2004 he asked: "How can nature make life if we failed with all the experimental conditions controlled? He also stated: The complexity of the mechanisms required for the functioning of a living cell is so large that a simultaneous emergence by chance seems impossible." , - Between Necessity and Probability: Searching for the Definition and Origin of Life, pp. 126-127.

The Origin of Life--Five Questions Worth Asking [PDF file]
http://www.jw.org/download/?fileformat= ... tCMSLang=E


RELATED POSTS



Why believe in any gods at all?
viewtopic.php?p=998032#p998032

Does there HAVE go be a "first cause"?
viewtopic.php?p=1091348#p1091348

To learn more please go to other posts related to...

EVOLUTION, LOGIC and EVIDENCE

[JehovahsWitness]

10. I think it is impossible for any sentient being to have free will unless that sentient being is omniscient and omnipotent. Biological beings such as humans are not free from causality, they are prisoners of causality.

ANSWER: Is free will freedom from consequence?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 498#816498

[JehovahsWitness]

11. Assuming that the Bible is true (that's a huge assumption, I really don't think it can be true because of numerous contradictions and inaccuracies), how is it ethical of God to punish all humans and all other living things just because Adam and Eve disobeyed God?

#Why are all humans suffering because of Adam and Eves sin?

ANSWER
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 280#381280

[JehovahsWitness]

12. It is claimed that Jesus did not have a human father. Why didn't Jesus or His followers keep some locks of his hair so we could examine his half-divine DNA for evidence which confirms the claim?

Because it is unlikely that a DNA sample would prove or disprove Jesus divine parentage.

RELATED POSTS

Did Jesus divine parentage disqualify I'm as a descendant of David?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 898#781898

[JehovahsWitness]

13. Many miracles were allegedly performed by Jesus e.g. raising the Dead. "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." - John 14:12, The Bible (New International Version). Why don't Christians raise the dead by the billions given what Jesus said?

ANSWER

It is simply an assumption that "greater works" means more miracles. Jesus may well have been refering to "works" that have nothing to do with the raising of the dead or miraculous works, indeed what one sees as "great" is highly subjective. Jesus earthly ministry only lasted 3 and a half years and was almost exclusively to his Jewish compatriots but Mat 28:19, 20 indicates Jesus envisioned the preaching work he started being taken to a (greater) global scale.




FURTHER READING How do Jehovah's Witnesses do "greater Works " than Jesus?
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/201998320

[JehovahsWitness]

14. No prayers for miracles were ever answered e.g. resurrection of famous good people, regrowing of amputated limbs, ending all floods, cyclones, earthquakes, etc.

This statement is impossible to prove without knowing every event that has ever happened from the beginning of time.Which would make anyone claiming to have such knowledge the very thing atheists deny exists.

To learn more please go to other posts related to...

GOD ,GODS, and ... CREATION

[JehovahsWitness]

15. The Bible says that Jesus was crucified and resurrected. There is no evidence for this. .... The four canonical gospels, like the rest of the New Testament, were written in Greek, Mark probably c. AD 66–70, Matthew and Luke around AD 85–90, and John AD 90–110. Despite the traditional ascriptions, all four are anonymous, and none were written by eyewitnesses. Jesus was allegedly crucified and resurrected in AD 30. ....Why didn't Jesus write the Bible?

If what you claim is true then they were written well with in living memory of those that were in a position to witness or verify events, so there is no reason to dismiss them as credible evidence.

none were written by eyewitnesses.

That cannot be proven.

RELATED POSTS

What evidence do we have for the writing of the gospels?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 347#338347]

FURTHER READING Can Anyone Know Who Really Wrote the Bible?
https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/q ... the-bible/

....Why didn't Jesus write the Bible?

He was probably busy.

[By Grace]

[Replying to Compassionist]

There is inherent danger in conflating heavenly principles, governmental principles and human principles. Each is a different realm of responsibility, and each has its own separate wall.

Unfortunately, your OP attempts to obliterate those necessary walls of responsibility.

That you are compassionate, is proved by your user name, but it is safe to state that your compassion obliterates the walls of responsibility. Here is an example, but NOT A DERAIL:

In the area of illegal immigration:

The Federal Governments has the responsibility of defending the nation from all attacks. Therefore the President as Chief Executive has the sworn duty to protect the nation, and is constitutionally permitted to enact laws. In the separation of powers, the federal government is supreme.

Once the illegals are in the country, it is the duty of the states to ensure that the living conditions of the illegals are decent, and that their children are educated.

On the individual moral level, we are encouraged to be as compassionate about migrants as Boaz was to Ruth in the Bible book of Ruth.

For anyone to make the assumption that the government should act like the individual is to advocate that the government should violate its God-given area of responsibility

Therein is the Achilles Heel of your position of passion.

[Bust Nak]

If what you claim is true then they were written well with in living memory of those that were in a position to witness or verify events, so there is no reason to dismiss them as credible evidence.

Wait, why? Are you suggesting that had there been people who can counter the claims of Christianity in its formative years, Christianity couldn't have got off the ground?