Need questions for Christians for my apologetics website

[GTR-1]

Heya. In the past, when I was an atheist, I had a whole bunch of questions for Christians. However, I found out that no Christian I knew had answers to these questions -- online, I was told that I needed to study the Bible for years to find answers to these questions. So I decided to do a hardcore study, lasted from 2011-2015. I would read thousands of technical papers, hear countless speeches and discuss with people continually, several days a week, often times sitting up until the morning when curiosity strikes me hard. I could write books now.

In conclusion, I found an answer to every question and more than I expected to find, so there was no other way to go than to convert. So what I'm doing now is creating a website with an index of every question an atheist might have thought of and providing well-educated answers to these questions that are designed in such a way that a biblically illiterate person can read and understand -- unlike so many other websites. So what I need you guys to do, is create a list of questions that you have for me to include. Since I'm not about to use this forum to advertise for my website, you can only receive the name of the website if you message me. It will be continually updated as I get new questions that I haven't heard of before.

[PickelledEggs]

Is that all you're here for? For questions to a different site? or are you going to be staying to take part in discussion?

Also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgAB7Gd0ENg

[Blackleaf]

I'm very skeptical of your story, but I'll play along for now.

1. Is the Bible all literal, or is some of it allegorical?

• 1a. If the latter, how can you tell the difference?
• 2b. If the latter, How do you justify that you're not just picking what's literal and what's not based on convenience?
• 2c. If the former, why do we see the light of stars that are further than 6000 lightyears away?

2. Do people have free will?

• 2a. If we do, then is God not omniscient or omnipotent? How can a God who created everything, knows everything, and has infinite power over everything say that he had no part in determining our decisions?
• 2b. If we do, then you can claim that God doesn't create evil, but that evil is the result of humans having free will. So do people lose their free will in Heaven or is there evil there too?
• 2c. If we don't have free will, then how do you justify a God creating evil people and then punishing evil people with eternal punishment for doing what he created them to do?

3. If death is the price for sin, and if Jesus saves people from their sins, why do Christians still die?
4. Why does God demand worship but act like he doesn't exist? Why doesn't he speak when spoken to, or make his presence plainly known so that there would be no doubt of his existence?

[widdershins]

I would have just one question.  Why should I believe?  Nobody has ever been able to answer that question.  They stumble along with the "just have to have faith" bullshit or the "what if you're wrong" bullshit or some other bullshit.  Nobody has ever been able to give me a reason to believe that wasn't either an appeal to emotion rather than logic or something along the lines of "FIRST you have to believe AND THEN you'll see the reason for believing."  Any intelligent person can see that's how you get sucked into a cult, not how you make intelligent decisions.

[GTR-1]

PickelledEggs -- sure I would like to participate in discussions here ;)

Blackleaf  -- you are skeptical? I know that, perhaps, a bit too well. Other than that, thanks for the input!

widdershins -- there is not one single reason, it's a collection of reasons, that is why you never receive an answer to your question.

[Mike Cl]

Well, GTR, I have questions--many.

One is--Jesus died for your sins.  That makes no sense on any level.  What does somebody dying have to do with my life--or the life of any other person.  But it does smack of the OT idea of the sacrificial goat that has all the sins of that tribe heaped upon it and is led into the desert to die.  An old, old superstition that was put into a different package.  Simply superstition.   

[PickelledEggs]

widdershins -- there is not one single reason, it's a collection of reasons, that is why you never receive an answer to your question.

Do us a favor and name a few for us. Enlighten us, oh wise sage.

[Simon Moon]

I'll play along...

1a: Did the god you believe exists have a choice of the universes he could have created?
1b: Or is this one the only one he could have created?

2a: Does everything happen according to "God's" plan?

Because as far as I see it, if 1a, then that means we live in a universe where, the god that created it, did so knowing all along that many of us would not be convinced that he exists, and would then be subject to eternal punishment.

If 1b, he is also not omnipotent.

If the answer to 2b is yes, then he knew before even creating me, I would not be convinced that he exists, therefore knowing I would be subject to eternal punishment ahead of time, yet he created me anyway? How is that moral?

[Hijiri Byakuren]

I don't have any questions, just an argument you can't refute.

After some analysis comparing the various gods of mythology to omnipotent characters in fiction, you will find there are no differences between the two.

I know that gods don't exist. It's surprisingly simple to sum up: Any being claiming to fit the human concept of a god can offer no proof that cannot equally be offered by this guy:

An advanced alien, like Q here, would be able to claim it is a god,
even your god, and offer any proof you demanded of him.
You would never be able to prove that he is anything other than what he claims.

It sounds like overly simplistic logic, but this is only because the nature of mythological gods itself speaks to how simplistic human imagination tends to be. Even the broadest interpretation of a god separate from the universe, that of deism, only exists to say, "The universe exists, therefore no matter how complex it is God surely must be able to make it," which is really just expanding an already made-up term to encompass new discoveries, rather than just admit that the concept was flawed to begin with.

Then you have the pantheistic and panentheistic definitions, respectively stating that god is the universe and the universe is within god; both of which pretty much mean the same thing after any deep analysis, and both of which beg the question, "If God and the universe are indistinguishable, then why separate the terms at all?" Like deism, the answer is obvious: it's expanding an older term to fit new discoveries, rather than admitting that the concept was flawed from the get-go.

The human concept of a god gets even more ridiculous once you introduce the concept of higher dimensions. Rob Bryanton's Imagining the Tenth Dimension, while by no means describing a currently accepted scientific theory, nevertheless illustrates just how ridiculously huge our universe is should any concept of higher dimensions prove to be accurate (especially given the size of the observable universe we are already well aware of). As the universe gets bigger and bigger, any concept of gods must expand accordingly, to ludicrous levels as this concept should demonstrate.

Even if the observable universe is all there is, if it is really designed then it seems to act like what we would expect of a simulator; and any being capable of designing it should more accurately be referred to as a programmer than a god. "Why can't we just call the programmer God?" you ask. For the same reason we wouldn't call it a leprechaun: fictional though it may be, it already exists as a concept and, for the sake of not invoking confusion and/or emotional validation for irrational beliefs, the term should not be continually expanded to include any and every version of the universe's hypothetical creator. If it is more like a programmer than a god, then that is what we should call it, and how we should regard it. Given all of this, I cannot think of any explanation abiding by Occam's Razor that would lead me to believe that a being conforming to the mythical concept of a god exists.

tl;dr version: There is no way anything we would regard as a god could ever prove that it is what it claims to a skeptical individual. Because the universe less resembles a mythical god's realm than it does a simulator, any designer we did find should be called a programmer, not a god. Therefore, we can reasonably conclude that there is no god.

[PickelledEggs]

This is all fine and well, but how often does GTR crap and fart?

(tagging @leo so he can ask as well)

[SGOS]

This is all fine and well, but how often does GTR crap and fart?
(tagging @leo so he can ask as well)

OK, in attempt to regard the OP with the serious attention it deserves, and in an attempt of treat all forum guests with the dignity they deserve:

1c.  How often does God crap and fart?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Question: Why is the Christian God such a fucking asshole?

[Hydra009]

How can anyone possibly know whether or not a God exists?

How can you be sure your religion is true and all others are not?

How do you determine one holy text to be true and another to be false?

If you were born in another time and place, how likely would you be to be a member of that region's dominant religion?

[Solomon Zorn]

How did Judas die? What did he do with the 50 shekels of silver? What were Jesus last words, before he "gave up the ghost?" How can you be stupid enough to believe that the creator of this vast universe needs blood sacrifices?

[widdershins]

PickelledEggs -- sure I would like to participate in discussions here ;)

Blackleaf  -- you are skeptical? I know that, perhaps, a bit too well. Other than that, thanks for the input!

widdershins -- there is not one single reason, it's a collection of reasons, that is why you never receive an answer to your question.

Well, at least it wasn't a drive-by...unless you just circled back.

So, it's a "collection of reasons"?  Not ONE of them is important enough to stand on its own?  You're telling me that there is not one single "good" reason to believe?

Here's another question for you.  What does it usually mean when you ask a simple question and get a complicated answer?  Think about that one.  Think about some examples.  A cop asks a suspect, "Were you there when the drug deal went down?"  A simple question.  The suspect's reply starts out, "Well, what you have to understand is..."  Why did he do that?  Why would he not answer "yes" or "no", the simple response to a simple question?

I won't keep you in suspense.  In his case it means, "Yes, but I don't want to tell you that."  In your case giving a convoluted answer without actually answering anything keeps you from having to come up with an answer you know you don't have.