Questions to Christians — Part 1
This is not an attempt to defame Christianity in any way, I am trying to understand the religion better.
After conversing with many Christians including my best friend, I still have many unanswered questions. Maybe you can help.
Handicaps
I am told to understand the Bible completely, I need to know the Hebrew language. There are translations, of course, but there could be a loss of accuracy in translation. The same is the case with a few other religions — for example, to understand Hinduism with 100% accuracy, we need to have a firm grasp of the language of Sanskrit.
Now, my native language is Malayalam and people whose native language is Hebrew are a minority. Why did God make it easier for some to understand His words than others? It seems (and this might be an extreme analogy) like a race between a cheetah and someone in a wheelchair.
Gender of God
God’s pronouns are He/Him/His.
The true God is formless (Deuteronomy 4:15–18)
How is a formless God male?
Humans are created in God’s image. What does that mean when God is formless and humans have form? What’s the perfect image of God — man, woman, or other?
The Bad and The Ugly
Consider a person who commits murder or any other heinous crime for money. Let’s say this person never committed any other sin in their entire life. And that he never repented.
Now consider Hitler, who tortured and murdered thousands.
If my understanding of the Christian God is right, he would send them both to Hell for eternity.
I’m sure you’d agree Hitler is definitely more evil than the first person. But they both get the same punishment. How is that fair?
The Good and The Beautiful
Consider a person who never broke a commandment, or repented and confessed whenever she did. I’m sure Christians would agree after judgement, the person would get rewarded with heaven.
Now consider Mother Teresa, whom many consider went above and beyond good. She’d be in heaven too.
Mother Teresa is definitely way more pious than an average Christian who never broke any commandment. But they both get the exact same reward. How is that fair?
Questions about the Devil
I have never read the Bible. These questions are based on the summary of the Devil’s story that my best friend who is also a Christian told me. She said her knowledge of the Bible is not 100%, so if you find the story inaccurate, please let me know in the comments.
The Devil was born good. What changed him? An evil thought that popped out of nowhere in his head. Can good create evil? Unless the evil was already present? How did the good Devil come up with an evil thought? If the Devil had the capacity to turn evil, was he actually born in pure goodness?
God is good, and the Devil was created good. How did the Devil turn evil and God did not? Manufacturing defect?
Why did the omniscient and omnipotent God do nothing to prevent the evil thought? Not sure about the laws of other countries, but criminal negligence is a punishable offence in India.
And if I am well informed, God didn’t punish the Devil and take away his powers after he had turned evil. But he let the Devil sway people, starting with Adam towards evil.
People were not made as smart and cunning as the Devil. The handicap again. The cheetah vs people in wheelchairs. I don’t think that’s very fair of God.
God did help humans with his words in the Bible. But when at least some people are getting swayed by the Devil despite the presence of the good book in the world, why not give everyone the same wisdom and strength to fight the devil?
And if God has a problem with the Devil, why not fight with him directly instead of making pawns out of weak humans to fight the stronger enemy? And torturing people in Hell because they are too weak to fight the Devil?
Questions about Jesus Christ
Jesus went through extreme pain and torture for the sake of humankind. And God let him suffer. If it was God’s will to have his son nailed to the cross, how much mercy can a regular human expect out of him?
And if Jesus suffered for and absolved everyone’s sins, will no living soul be sentenced to an eternity in Hell now?
Is the war between God and the Devil over? Is the Devil still around? If he is, that’d mean God had his son tortured for nothing, right?
Surrender
Christians kneel down when they pray. I was born Hindu and studied in a Christian school. I, along with many other non-Christian kids were made to kneel in the Church on the school compound. It felt like I was being punished for no sin.
Imagine you’re a parent, and your 6-year-old did something wrong. Would you make your child kneel before you?
Humility is good, but IMO, if you’d like to have someone kneel before you, you’re being the exact opposite of humble. Why would God want a trait in us which is not in Himself?
I’d appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions in the comments section. And thanks for reading.
This article is a sales copy trying to convince you to pay for my drink.
Not buying? Here are a few others in the funnel that might be more convincing:
