Christianity's
Irresolvable Problems,
Circular Reasoning and Lack of Foundational Basis
By
Winston Wu
Contents
Why God Cannot Be All-Good and All-Powerful Yet
Allow Evil, Suffering and Injustice
Hard Questions and Common Sense
Circular Arguments and Assumptions - Using Fiction to Support Fiction
Why
God Cannot Be All-Good and All-Powerful Yet Allow Evil, Suffering
and Injustice
First,
here is something
inescapable. It is a valid and logical argument that Atheists and
Anti-Christian writers (e.g. Thomas Paine, Robert Ingersoll, Mark
Twain, Bertrand
Russell) have used throughout history that Christians and theists have
never
been able to debunk or explain away logically.
75
percent of the world’s
population lives in poverty, hunger and suffering. This amounts to
billions of
people, most of whom are innocent, both now and throughout history. There
are wars, famines, poverty, disease, hunger, greed, and evil, which
kill people everyday. The
world is mostly run by sociopaths, who are above the law and go
largely unpunished. Most
positions of power are attained by evil people rather than good people
(since
power attracts the evil and corruptible rather than the good). The
world is unjust and life is unfair. Good people suffer and die young.
Peacemakers with mass influence get taken out and assassinated (JFK,
RFK, MLK, Lennon, etc.). The
strong take advantage of the weak and oppress them, and the world is
ruled by the "might is right" principle. Even
animals have to kill each other for food. So how can the
majority of the world continue to believe in a God who is all-good and
all-powerful,
yet allows all this to continue to be? That is odd. Yet most people
don’t think
about it. They simply believe, not because of proof or evidence, but
because most
people around them believe it, so they assume it must be true.
However, it is logically impossible for there to be
a God who is both all-powerful and all-good, as Christians
claim, yet
allows all this to be. There is no resolution or escape from this
dilemma. No theologian or philosopher has ever solved it. It remains
the eternal paradox. Therefore, we must question our assumptions about
God, which may not be correct.
To
put this in perspective:
All
three of the above CANNOT
logically co-exist at the same time. The only logical possibilities are:
The
standard Christian
explanation for the above, which makes no sense at all and is a
ridiculous
cop-out, is:
"God
allows evil and suffering to exist in the world because Man chose to
Sin in the
Garden of Eden. God gave Man freewill, and Mankind chose Sin. Hence
death,
pain, decay and evil entered into the world. God is 100 percent just
and
righteous, so all this is Mankind's fault, not God's. It says so in the
Bible."
I'm
sorry but these are mere
words and just do not cut it. They make ZERO SENSE and the implications
of it
are 100 percent ridiculous too. Anyone who takes such an explanation
seriously
must either be completely insane and lost his marbles, or is completely
brainwashed and mind-controlled, in order to accept something that
makes zero
sense as Gospel Truth.
What
the standard Christian
explanation implies is that:
"A
good and all-knowing God allowed billions of people throughout history
to
suffer, die, and go to hell (if they died unsaved) simply because two
naive
people named Adam and Eve took a bite of the fruit of a forbidden tree
in the
Garden of Eden. In other words, one little mistake (or bite) caused a
lifetime
and eternity of pain for billions of people, and deservedly so, which
all-wise
and all-good God allowed."
Um
excuse me, but even if I were
on crack, I wouldn't buy such an insane explanation. I'd sooner believe
that
Santa Claus visits every home in the world in one night on Christmas
Eve than
that! Come on now. Gimme a break. Get real! I mean, I know you don't
have to be
intelligent to be a Christian, but really... Anyhow, that's their
version of
reality, which they take seriously, believe it or not.
Not
only is this explanation 1000 percent insane, but it is 1000 percent
UNJUST as
well.
I mean, what kind of a parent would allow their children to suffer pain
and
death (not to mention damnation) as a consequence of taking a bite out
of a
fruit that you told them not to touch? It doesn't make any sense!
Wouldn't such
a parent be the most evil and sociopathic parent in the world? (Yet a
God who
is 100 percent perfect and righteous would do that?!) There is no
escaping
that. There is no way in hell (pardon
the pun) that one little mistake could be worth a lifetime or eternity
of pain.
No way. No Christian in the world could justify that. It is completely
unjustifiable, insane, nonsensical, and there is no logical reason to
believe
it either.
Yet
Christians take this
explanation seriously?! And they believe in a 100 percent righteous and
just
God too?! WTF?! This is nothing short of pure and total mind control.
No
question about it.
Hard
Questions
and Common Sense
Besides,
how do they know that
God is 100 percent righteous and just? Because the Bible says so? And
that
alone makes it true?! Gee, what low standards. I mean, how do they know
that
Satan isn't the good guy and God the bad guy? They don't! All they can
do is
believe whatever someone TELLS them, and labels the rest as "lies of
Satan". But life teaches us that things are not always what they seem,
life teaches us. They simply take it on faith, that the Bible is all
true
because it is, and that's that. It's the weakest logic of all.
Also,
why does Lucifer/Satan
wanting a little freedom when he was an angel of God make him 100
percent evil?
Teenagers naturally want some freedom from their parents too, but does
that
make them 100 percent evil and demonic? You see how nonsensical all of
this is?
Nothing in the Christian fundamentalist version of reality makes the
slightest
bit of sense...
Plus,
if I were an all-knowing
God and knew BEFORE I created the world that the majority of the people
on
Earth would suffer through life and end up in the eternal torment of
hell
afterward (since most people do not become Christians in their
lifetime), I
would certainly not create such a world. No sane person would create
something
knowing in advance that the bad that would come out of it would far
exceed the
good. No sane person would go through with that, let alone an all-wise
God.
Think about it: If you knew before setting up a business that you'd
incur a
loss of $75,000 and reap only $25,000 in profit (based on 1/4 of the
world's
population claiming to be Christians), would you go through with it?
Get real.
So
you see, nothing about the
Christian version of reality makes any sense at all, in any way at all,
once
you look at it with a clear mind free of fear and mind control. There
are way
too many irresolvable problems with it.
In
fact, many ex-Christians
report in their deconversion testimonials that while they were
believers, such
logical impossibilities and unresolvable questions as the above, kept
entering
their minds from time to time. But since they could not be
satisfactorily
explained away, they had to be mentally filed away on a mental shelf
labeled
"Unresolvable". However, eventually, such unresolvable questions
accumulated until they became too heavy to ignore and deny any longer.
At some
point, their "mental shelf" simply broke and they could no longer
live in denial anymore. It was only then, that the mind control imposed
on them
by Christianity broke down, and they were finally set free from it.
(One
great example of this is my
friend Darryl
Sloan, an aware
skeptic, freethinker and author who
described
many such logical impossibilities in Christianity in his YouTube
videos, which
you can see at http://www.youtube.com/darrylsloan.
And my own Christian deconversion story is at https://www.debunkingskeptics.com/Christian_Story.htm)
Circular Arguments and Assumptions -
Using Fiction to Support Fiction
Christians
use circular reasoning
with unsupported assumptions to justify their beliefs. They take each
unsupported assumption and use it to justify another one, in effect,
using
"fiction to support fiction". Here are examples from their basic
arguments
defending their faith. This is what they typically say when asked to
explain
the basis of their beliefs (summarized in my own words):
Question:
"How
do you know the Bible is true? How do you know it is the word of God?"
Christian Answer:
"Because
the Bible says it is God's word. The Bible is internally consistent and
harmonious. Its writers, who lived thousands of years apart, agree on
the same
message. It also contains many fulfilled prophecies from the Old
Testament that
were fulfilled in the New Testament. The odds of that happening by
chance,
according to Christian theologians, are astronomical. The Bible also
agrees
with history, archaeology and science. It is the only book that is
complete
with a chronicle of humanity's history, salvation, and future
predicament.
The
Bible has changed millions of lives. The Gospel writers and Apostles
were
willing to die for their faith. Now who would die for something they
knew
wasn't true? As C.S. Lewis, a Christian writer, put it: "No one would
die
for a lie." The first Christians, many of which were martyred, also
died
for their faith.
The
Apostles saw Jesus rise from the dead. 500 people witnessed his
resurrection,
according to the Apostle Paul. The resurrection is what our faith
stands on. It
is what sets Jesus apart from the rest and proves that he was the real
deal and
the true Son of God. Muhammad's body is still in his tomb, while Jesus'
tomb is
empty.
But
the biggest reason for me is that I've experienced how Jesus changed my
life.
The Holy Spirit lives within me. I feel its truth and have experienced
Jesus in
my heart. I was at the very bottom of my life when I first heard the
Gospel.
When I accepted Christ, I was born again. My sins were washed away and
my life
began anew. I became right with God and felt a huge burden lifted off
my
shoulders. I now have a personal relationship with God, not a religion.
I am a
living testimony to God's truth and love. And so are many of my
brothers and
sisters in the Lord. We are witnesses for Christ.
We
can also trust that the Bible is still in its original form, because
God would
protect his word and not let it be changed or altered by people. The
Dead Sea Scrolls, found in the 1940's,
contained Biblical manuscripts from over a thousand years ago that were
relatively the same as they are today, demonstrating that the Bible
hasn't
changed much.
The
decision of whether to accept Christ or not is the most important
decision of a
person's life. Choose carefully. There are eternal consequences at
stake. Jesus
came and died for your sins. He claimed to be the only way to God. What
will
you do with that? Either he was a liar, a lunatic, or he was right. If
he was
the first two, then you can forget him. But if he was who he said he
was, then
your eternal destiny depends on whether you accept him or not. Remember
that.
Now,
based on what Jesus did and said in the Gospels, it does not appear
that he was
a liar in any way. He did everything he said he would, and kept his
promises.
And he does not appear to be crazy in any way either, for his teachings
were
filled with great wisdom. Therefore, the most logical conclusion is
that he was
Lord. He fulfilled the OT prophecies, and rose from the dead, proving
that he
was the one - the true Savior whom God sent to bring forgiveness and
eternal
salvation to mankind. Will you accept him or reject him? The choice is
yours."
Those are the
standard
arguments and assumptions of Christian Fundamentalists and Evangelists,
summarized
in my own words based on my knowledge and experience from having been
one of them
before. They may sound convincing to someone desperate to believe in
something that
has all the answers in a nice little package coupled with big promises
(i.e. an
eternal father who will love and take care of them, and reward them
with eternal
life). But they are not convincing to objective logical thinkers.
(Note:
When I refer to my
treatise below, I refer to this: https://www.debunkingskeptics.com/DebunkingChristians/Contents.htm)
-
First, the Bible is not
internally consistent. It is not even one book, but 66. There are
thousands of
contradictions and discrepancies. (see my treatise
linked above for examples and links) Not all of them can be explained
away.
There are even contradictions in basic theology. For example, the Old
Testament
predicts a Messiah who will become ruler of the Jews and establish a
physical
kingdom on Earth. Jesus didn't do that. What the New Testament writers
did was
reinterpret everything in the Old Testament to make it fit in with
their
beliefs: The Serpent became Satan. Satan became evil. Lucifer became
Satan. The
OT praises and psalms became prophecies of Jesus, though they weren't.
The
Messiah came to establish a spiritual kingdom, not a political one
(conveniently so, since Jesus failed to fulfill the OT Messianic
prophecies).
Etc. Most of the alleged fulfilled prophecies by Christians were either
imaginary ones that were never intended to be, ambiguous, or didn't
even come
true (Prophecies of Tyre's destruction, Moses and the Promised Land,
etc. See
my treatise
for more examples.)
- The
Bible was put together by the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, which
decided which books were to be included as canon and which were to be
thrown out. Now, what makes you think this Council is infallible?
Because God was protecting his word? Again, that is a circular
argument, especially since it has not been established that the Bible
is God's word or infallible in the first place.
- The
Bible does not really claim
to be God's word or divinely inspired. If you look at the beginning of
them,
you will see that many are simply letters sent to some group or church.
Or they
are introduced by name or not at all. There are only 3 verses that are
used to
claim that it is God's word, but they do not even clearly say that, or
apply to
the whole Bible. (See my treatise
for a full explanation and analysis) The funny thing is that Christians
heavily
emphasize Biblical inerrancy and divine inspiration, while the Bible
itself
does not. But even if it did make that claim, so what? I could write a
book and
at the beginning start with, "This is the word of God..." But that
does not make it so.
- As
to the Bible agreeing with
history, archaeology and science, see my treatise.
In short, just because a written work contains real places and cities,
does not
make it all true, especially the extreme parts. Greek mythology
includes Mt.
Olympus, which is a real place, but that doesn't mean all the stories
about the
Greek Gods were true. Any book can include historical events and
places, but
that doesn't make it God's word or infallible in any way. It is easy to
mix
fact and fiction together. This is a no-brainer. For example, the story
and
film, "The Wizard of Oz" features Dorothy in Kansas. Now, just
because Kansas is a real place does not make the entire story true and
accurate. You see what I mean? Plus many historical events described in
the
Bible are unproven and ambiguous, such as the captivity of the
Israelites in
Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, the resurrection, King Herod's
census in
Bethlehem, etc.
-
Lots of lives have been changed
by other religions and belief systems too. Christianity is not unique
in this
regard. They always forget that, conveniently. Why is a Christian's
testimony
any better or more valid than a Muslim's or Mormon's? Christian's never
address
the testimonies of people in other religions, except by saying, "Satan
can
come as an angel of light", which is their typical copout.
-
Plenty of people have died for
lies throughout history. Many soldiers died for the war propaganda that
they
were fed. In Vietnam, 60,000 American troops died for a lie for
example. And
many cult members have died for their beliefs too (Jim Jones, Heaven's
Gate,
David Koresh, etc). And in the Middle East wars, many Muslims have died
over
petty religious feuds. So this is a silly argument. Many throughout
history
have died for things that often were not true. Therefore, dying for
something
is not proof that it is right or true. People are easily brainwashed
and
deluded. Plus we are not even sure that the Apostles did die because we
do not
even know whether they existed or were just myths themselves, which
Christians
fail to consider.
Now I
know Christians will
respond with "I meant no one would KNOWINGLY die for a lie that they
knew
to be a lie."
My
response to this would be:
Well now, how do you know they weren't deceived? But most importantly,
how do
you know that they even died or existed at all? You see, you are
assuming that
everything in the Bible is true and that all events in it are a given
as
stated, when in fact that has not been proven to be so. That's the big
catch
you missed. Anyone can write anything. You
gotta remember, there is no historical basis for these events outside
the
Bible. Thus, your assumption is totally circular and unsupported.
It is
like taking a fiction book and automatically assuming that everything
in it is
a given as stated, and then using each part of it to support the other
parts,
using "fiction to support fiction, so to speak". That's the CHIEF
problem you overlook.
- As
to the resurrection of
Jesus, the same as above goes. No one knows who wrote the Gospels.
There are
different theories. So you gotta ask, "Why would anyone writing such an
important book to save the world be anonymous rather than put his full
name to
it?!" Does such an anonymous writer expect to be taken seriously?
Again,
just because it's written in a book, doesn't mean it's true. Why not
take the
Koran or Book of Mormon as truth by default too? I can write a book
that says
that you gotta believe in me to go to heaven too. But would that mean
it's
true?
As to
the resurrection witnesses,
well they simply exist only in the Gospels. There is no independent
verification of them, or of the resurrection itself. No non-Christian
sources
attest to them. Paul says that there were 500 witnesses. But one man
claiming
that there were 500 witnesses is not the same as 500 people claiming to
be
witnesses.
Again,
this is a classic case of
Christians "using fiction to support fiction". I could use the same
arguments to prove that Superman had super powers. For instance, I
could say
that Superman stopped a runaway train according to one story, by
grabbing it
and slowing it to a halt. When he did so, there were many passengers on
board
who were eyewitnesses to what Superman did. This proves that Superman
had super
powers. See how easy that is?
Moreover,
even if a person with
supernatural powers were to come and do amazing things, including
seemingly
dying and rising again, that doesn't mean he is God or infallible or
controls
the eternal souls of everyone. Magicians could do such things (e.g.
David
Blaine, David Copperfield) and Extraterrestrials with advanced
technology could
come and amazing things with their technology that defy our explanation
too.
But that doesn't mean that they are Gods. I'm not saying that Jesus was
an
alien, but just saying hypothetically. The point is that just because
someone
has more technology than you, or more "powers" than you, does not
make this person or being right about everything, nevertheless
infallible.
-
Christians forget one important
thing. Jesus didn't write down anything, at least not that we have
today. All
that they know about him were written by others, his alleged followers.
We do
not even know if any of his direct disciples wrote anything down.
Therefore,
the stories about him are all hearsay by unknown sources. No one knows
who
Jesus really was, what he said, or if he even existed, since he has so
many
resemblances to ancient Pagan Gods and mythologies, and his teachings
have so
many parallels with Buddhism. This is why secular historians, while
they
believe in a historical Jesus, do not believe that the Jesus depicted
in the
Gospels existed. This was also the conclusion of the Jesus Seminar.
-
Regarding Christian personal
testimonies, changed lives, and miracles, well they exist in all
religions.
Christians seems to insinuate that their faith is unique in this
regard. But it
is not. Many Muslims and Mormons will tell you that God touched their
hearts
too and that they've experienced him in their souls as well, which
proved to
them that their faith was true. So what? Even Scientologist members
have made
such claims. I don't doubt that some kind of spiritual or psychological
purification happened to these people. The
point is, since testimonials and changed lives are NOT unique to
Christianity,
they cannot claim it as proof that their faith is the "only way to
God" or truer than others. After all, why is a Christian's
testimony
more valid than a Muslim's? Each calling the other "deceived by
Satan" is not a valid reason at all.
-
Claiming that the Bible has not
been altered because "God would protect his word" is a circular
reason and baseless assumption. First, they have not even established
that it
is God's word in the first place. So even if it remains unaltered, it
doesn't
mean anything. Lots of ancient books and recent novels remain
unaltered. That
doesn't make them true.
Plus,
the original Bible
manuscripts must have been in Hebrew. But the copies we have in
existence are
in Latin. So there is no airtight proof that we even have the original
manuscripts.
Furthermore,
why would God need
people to write down "his word"? If he had a "word" can't
he write it himself or materialize it like the Q does in Star Trek? Or
better
yet, just appear in person and tell everyone his word? That would be
much
fairer than being invisible and judging people by their willingness to
give
blind trust and faith in unseen things, which is not reasonable at all.
There
are hundreds of questions like this I could ask, cause the Bible
version of
reality makes no sense at all, and contradicts the notion of an
all-loving,
all-wise, all-powerful perfect God.
- Now
we get to the final
ultimatum point about the eternal consequences of accepting or
rejecting
Christ. Notice how Pascal's Wager and the Trilemma argument are used.
Pascal's
Wager states that if you deny Christ and you are right, then you lose
nothing.
But if you deny him and you are wrong, then there will be eternal
consequences.
So you're better off betting on Christ just in case you are wrong if
you don't.
Well gee, that is such a small-minded hackneyed argument. I could spin
that around
and say to Christians, "You'd better accept the Koran just in case,
because if you don't, there may be eternal consequences." So what
should
they do then? Become both Christian and Muslim, which both say the
other is
false? lol Plus, you can't really believe in something out of fear of
punishment. The heart doesn't work that way.
As to
the Trilemma argument -
Lord, Liar or Lunatic, originally proposed by C.S. Lewis (author of the
Narnia
Chronicles), gimme a break. I know Christians think this one is
irrefutable.
But it's not. Again, it takes a fictional story and gives one three
choices,
assuming that the story is real. What Christians forget, is that
historians
believe in a fourth explanation, that the Gospels are myths and not
historical
events. Therefore, it should be a Quadrilemma - Lord, Liar, Lunatic, or
Legend.
And Legend is the most logical conclusion, since no historical evidence
or
sources support these alleged events.
Again,
I could do the same for
Superman and say that Superman was either a Liar, Lunatic, or Super
Hero. In
the comics and movies, Superman never lied. He was a good person with
values
who always told the truth. Even Lois Lane said so. He never acted
crazy, but
was always rational and responsible. He did what he said and
demonstrated his
super powers over and over again in full public view. Therefore, he
must be a
Super Hero. I can take any work of fiction and do that.
Finally,
as mentioned before,
just because someone or some thing has unexplained powers, does not
mean this
being is infallible or right about everything, or has power over your
soul.
Conclusion
So
you see, these Christian
circular arguments and assumptions are nothing more than fiction used
to
support fiction, presumed true by default, when they are not. That is
their
primary fallacy. Brainwashing and mind control tactics usually contain
such
fallacies. You've got to learn to question things, otherwise you are
easily
fooled and duped. So check both sides of an issue before jumping to
conclusions. Ask experts on both sides. Seek evidence. Don't take
anything on
faith.
For a
more elaborate version of
Christian arguments debunked, see my treatise at:
https://www.debunkingskeptics.com/DebunkingChristians/Contents.htm
So
why do Christians believe such
extreme things then? If you ask them about it, their mind-controlled
condition
will become very apparent, as they say things like "Because God says so
in
his word, the Bible, which is his revelation to us" and "Because it's
true, and truth is self-apparent once you've woken up to it" etc.
However,
the same could be said about any religion or belief system. So what
makes
theirs any truer than others? In short, they
believe it only because they were TOLD TO BELIEVE IT, but they don't
realize
that. They simply think, "The truth is the truth, and that's
that" so they do not question it (nor are they taught to) and do not
think
freely for themselves either. Their reasoning is 100 percent circular,
and
besides that, their beliefs do not even have a valid INITIAL
FOUNDATIONAL BASIS
either (which doesn't cross their mind).
Here
are some simple key facts
that devout mind-controlled Christians fail to realize, even though
they are
right under their noses:
-
There is NO FOUNDATIONAL BASIS
or logical reason for their belief that "The Bible is the infallible
word
of God and absolute literal truth. All men are sinners and the only way
to God
is through Jesus Christ. All who believe in Christ go to Heaven, while
all who
don't go to Hell". There is no good reason to believe such extreme
things.
And no basis for it at all. They were simply TOLD this "Gospel
message", and somehow, it gave them a sense of purpose or brought
meaning
into their empty chaotic lives, or it was what they needed to hear at
that
time, or it was what they were taught by their Christian families. So they accepted it, and once they did, it
became absolute authority in their minds, above all questioning and
skeptical
inquiry, thus forming a complete circular loop in their train of
thought which
filtered their sense of reality so that all incoming data that fit with
it was
accepted, while all that didn't was rejected. Once this circular
loop
formed in their minds, they forget that there was NO REAL initial basis
for
their extreme beliefs in the first place!
- Once the Christian believes that the Bible is infallible
truth and
authority, his/her mind becomes HIJACKED in that such a belief will
place
Christian teaching at the TOP of the hierarchy in their mind, with
Truth
becoming subservient to it. In other words, Truth must serve the
Bible, not
the other way around, so that all facts and data MUST conform to the
Bible or
be rejected. What this means it that the Bible and their beliefs can
NEVER be
questioned, even if it's false, because it has occupied the highest
seat of
power in their minds. However, if Christians were to place Truth at the
top,
above the Bible, then they could question and analyze the Bible and see
the
obvious errors, contradictions and irresolvable problems with it. But
instead,
they place Christianity above Truth, so that their beliefs can never be
questioned no matter how absurd, thus creating a completely closed and
circular
loop. This is the epitome of "brainwashing". Thus, in a
sense, the Gospel is like a "trojan horse" that
offers the newly converted everything, at the expense of hijacking and
imprisoning their own mind.
-
Just because someone (a
believer himself) tells you that Christian teaching is absolute truth
does NOT
make it so, any more than any other belief system must be true because
someone
says so, or any more than the email spam and scams you receive everyday
must be
true because it says so.
-
Just because an ancient set of
books written by ancient unknown authors says something does NOT mean
that it
must be true, any more than a random book I pull out from the library
must be
true. Text in ancient books is not proof of absolute inerrant truth,
especially
when it contains so many inherent contradictions, errors and
far-fetched
stories and claims. Besides, there are many ancient books from all
throughout
history, so why not believe that all of them are infallible divine
truth
too?
-
Think about this: If I pulled
out a random book in the library and said, "This is absolute infallible
truth and cannot be questioned because God wrote it", would that make
it
true? Or suppose I were to write this in a book: "The Gobblygook
Monster
created us. He is perfect, righteous and infallible, while we are all
condemned
sinners. He says that the only way to him is through his son, the
Gobblygook
Son, who died for your sins and rose from the dead. His disciples
witnessed his
resurrection and were willing to die for it, so it must be true. Your
eternal
destiny lies upon whether you accept this or not." Would that make it
true?! Think man!
Or,
to use a less extreme example,
what if I pulled out a Koran and told you that, according to that book,
if you
don't convert to Islam, you will go to hell? Would that make it true?
Why not?
- God
did not physically appear
to you in God-like form (i.e. as a pillar of fire to Moses) and tell
you that
the Bible and Christianity are the only literal and complete truth.
PEOPLE told
you that, and FALLIBLE people at that. No one is perfect. So why do you
believe
that imperfect humans who are no more perfect than you, wrote something
that was
perfect and infallible and never to be questioned?! Simply because
someone told
you so?! Are you that gullible and naive?!
- The
Bible shows every
indication of being written by fallible and imperfect human beings.
There are
thousands of contradictions between its 66 books, many unfulfilled
prophecies,
mistakes, misunderstandings by its authors as they referenced other
books (i.e.
New Testament interpretations of Old Testament books), different
teachings
(e.g. regarding salvation and theology in the Old and New Testaments),
etc. The
Bible is far from a set of unified beliefs of agreement in all its
books. In
fact, the Old Testament and New Testament teach different things
regarding
theology, salvation, morality, the messiah, the devil, hell, the
afterlife,
etc. (I have described many examples in my
Debunking Christian Fundamentalism treatise) Sure the Bible
contains
some wisdom, great teachings and eloquent stories, but so do many other
ancient
books as well. But there is no logical reason to believe that every
word in it
is absolutely infallible, true and unquestionable, just because
believers tell
you so. Even if the Bible itself says so, it does not make it true, as
explained
earlier. (In fact, the Bible itself does really not claim to be
infallible,
only fundamentalist fanatics do. I've
elaborated on this here.)
- The
arguments used by Christian
Apologists (e.g. Josh McDowell, C.S. Lewis, Lee Strobel) such as the
Fulfilled
Prophecies argument, the Resurrection argument, the Trilemma argument,
etc. all
collapse under simple casual scrutiny. They are no more sensible than
the
loaded agenda-driven arguments used by advertisers in commercials. In
fact, I
have debunked all of them in my
treatise.
- To
Christians who say, "I
believe the Bible not for logical or rational reasons, but because I
feel its
truth deep inside of me. God spoke to my heart through the Holy Spirit.
That is
how I know it is true." let me ask you this: I can find sincere
believers
of EVERY RELIGIOUS FAITH who say the same thing about why they believe
too. For
example, I have met many sincere Muslims, Mormons and Jehovah's
Witnesses that
have said that too. So why should I believe you and not them? They are
just as
sincere as you. What makes your belief right and theirs wrong? They
have a
right to "feel the truth of their religion in their hearts" too. So
what's the difference between you and them? What makes them wrong?
Simply
because they don't share your beliefs, which are based on ancient books
written
by unknown people you never met?
- To
Christians I ask this: How
do you know God is all-good, all-righteous and perfect without blemish,
fault
or sin? How do you know whether God is good or whether Satan is evil?
How do
you know that the Bible is true and Satan is the Father of lies? Aren't
you
taking the Bible's word for it? What if it's not true? What if the
Bible has
deceived you? How do you really know?! YOU DON'T! You are taking it all
on
one-sided faith without a valid basis. Sheesh. No one and nothing is
perfect.
In fact, the Old Testament stories depicted God as angry, vengeful,
jealous,
etc. possessing all the traits that humans did, and making mistakes and
regretting them as well. In fact, he was not always just, fair or even
reasonable. In Exodus, he made the Israelites wander the desert
aimlessly for 40
years under harsh conditions while expecting them to never complain
about it.
And numerous times, he killed innocent children to punish the sins of
their
fathers. (See
list of verses here) No one can justify such things as "fair
or just". Get real. Words in a
book are NOT a valid basis for an infallible belief. Your reasoning
process
is completely foolish, no better than those who fall prey to obvious
scams
artists and hand over all their money to them.
- The
Atheist has a valid
argument and reason for his/her disbelief. (Not that I'm an Atheist) If
God
never physically shows himself to them, then one has a perfect right to
doubt
or disbelieve his existence, no matter what any book or person tells
him about
it. Moreover, their argument that an all-powerful, all-good God is
logically
incompatible with all the suffering and evil in the world, is a VALID
argument
for sure, and one which Christians have never been able to resolve
logically,
except with copout excuses like "God wants us to have free will
otherwise
we'd be robots".
-
Christianity is 100 percent anti-freedom and pro tyranny. It places no
value on liberty, free choice, freethought, critical thinking or
reason. Throughout the Bible, one message is consistent: "Obey God or die and be damned!"
Obviously if you have to obey lest you be killed or damned, then you
have no real freedom or free choice, for to be truly loyal to the
Christian God means being completely obedient and NEVER disagreeing
with him. It's total tyranny. There's no way around it. What this means
is that if you are a "true Christian" then you are totally
anti-freedom/liberty and pro-tyranny. Otherwise, you're a hypocrite.
For more on this, see here: https://www.debunkingskeptics.com/DebunkingChristians/Page31.htm
-
The Bible is full of utter hypocrisies. For example, one of the Ten
Commandments is "Thou shalt not kill" yet the Christian God himself
killed many people in the Bible, many of whom were innocent, and often
for trivial reasons. See here: https://www.debunkingskeptics.com/DebunkingChristians/Page20.htm
So
you see, there is no real
basis to the Christian's beliefs or version of reality. They make no
sense, are
without foundation, and follow a completely circular reasoning loop -
"It's true because God said so --> because the Bible says so -->
because it's true..." ad nauseum. Furthermore, there was no INITIAL
BASIS
for their extreme beliefs in the first place, which they fail to
realize once
their reasoning became completely circular.
Now,
devout Christians will
usually respond to such arguments and facts that they can't explain
away with
something like this:
"You
can think whatever you want. But God makes the rules. You either follow
them or
reap the consequences. Be careful what you choose to believe in. Your
eternal
fate may hang on it."
But
again, we come back to the
obvious points and facts outlined above. How do they know what "God's
rules" are? Because of what the Bible says? Again, just because people
create a religion around their interpretation of an ancient set of
books does
NOT mean it constitutes "God's rules", nor does it represent
unquestionable divine truth. Get real. I could say that the book of
Koran are "God's
rules" too, but would that make it so? Wouldn't you be a heretic for
not
accepting the word of the Koran too? Again,
just because someone tells you something doesn't mean it's true. And
just
because an ancient book says something doesn't mean it's true either.
I'm
sure you've gotten spam emails that make big promises or offer to wire
you
millions of dollars, if you just send a release fee of a few hundred
dollars
first... but does that mean it's true?
To
Christian readers:
So
you see, your reasoning is
completely circular but you don't realize it. Such is the effect of
mind
control. Your reason part is subdued due to an "infallible truth"
placed at the top of your mind that can never be wrong and edits your
reality.
But I
can tell you this though:
Within such a nonthinking loop (which you don't even see) your mind can
never
be truly free and clear. Your mind is imprisoned, but you don't even
realize
it. That's why it's so effective, until you break free of it that is,
for only
then do you realize what it was doing to your mind all along.
Many
Christians will often utter
this response to criticisms of their religion as well:
"Who
are you to question God? He created the universe and you too. You have
no right
to question him or his word. He has every right to do whatever he wants
with
his creation. You ought to be thankful that he sent Jesus to die for
you, so
you could be saved and go to heaven. He could have chosen to not send a
savior
to us, let us all go to hell, and he'd be just as perfect and
righteous. None
of us deserve his mercy. Yet he chose to be merciful to us and offer us
a way
out of sin and damnation. You ought to appreciate that and accept his
free gift
of salvation through Christ, and stop rebelling against him."
To
them I say this: Again, see
the above points and links, which your mind has probably filtered out
with
cognitive dissonance. Your basic fallacy is that you assume that all
these
extreme beliefs you hold are true, when in fact there is no logical
reason, or
good reason, to believe that they are. You believe that your Christian
beliefs
are true simply because of a handful of unsupported assumptions which
point to
each other until it goes back to the original premise. It's a given,
without
any foundational basis. Thus, your mind
is in a complete circular loop, and you don't even realize it. I
know what
that's like because I used to believe as you do, so I know what it's
like to be
inside such a closed circular loop that you don't even see.
When
you are in such a closed black and white circular belief system, your
reality
and incoming data are EDITED. You experience extreme cognitive
dissonance. All
incoming data that agrees with your beliefs is accepted, while all data
that
doesn't is rejected.
Your reality is filtered, to the point where you don't even see the
closed loop
itself (which those outside your loop can easily see).
Plus,
to believe in a God or love
him simply out of fear of the consequences of not doing so, is not a
genuine or
pure motive. It is nothing less than coercion. Doing something out of
fear
brings you in tune with a lower vibration. Why would an all-wise God
want to
bring people down to such a low and weak vibration?
Also,
why am I automatically a
guilty sinner with no worth just by being born on Earth? It's like I'm
assigned
automatic guilt for no reason, just like that, simply cause Adam and
Eve ate
the wrong fruit off the wrong tree?! Gimme a break...
So
you see, these unexplainable
questions and irresolvable problems with Christianity are endless and
unresolvable. Plus there are too many valid arguments and reasons to
doubt the
claims of Christianity too. If you are a devout Christian and have
gotten this
far, then you are one of the few, since most Christians would have
stopped
reading this near the beginning. So I commend you for your open
mindedness.
Now
I'm not saying that
Christianity has no value. I acknowledge that it has changed lives,
produced
miracles, answered prayers, etc. and that believers can and do have
supernatural experiences. However, this is true of every religion. I
have met Mormons,
Jehovah's Witnesses, Buddhists and Muslims who have had supernatural
experiences, life changes, and seen miracles happen. But that doesn't
mean that
the "holy book" of their religion is all literally true, infallible
and above questioning. Moreover, people with no religion have
supernatural
experiences as well. You don't even need a religion to experience such
things,
or even to have spiritual experiences. What this means is that there
are many
ways that man can tap into a "higher power" or come into contact with
extra-dimensional forces. Religion is just one way. There are many
others. The
nature of such experiences is a subject of debate and not completely
understood
by logic or science. However, the point
is that just cause they happen to believers of a certain religions does
NOT
make everything about that religion and its "holy scriptures"
completely true and infallible.
On
the other hand, in the
theist's favor, I will say that believers in God have valid reasons for
their
belief as well. The argument that all of creation and the seeming
design in it
(aka "The Design Argument" implies a "Creator" is a VALID
argument (despite what Atheists "religiously" claim against it and
despite that it could lead to a "Who created the Creator then?"
counter-argument
as well). Add the fact that 1) there are numerous irresolvable problems
with
the Darwinian Evolution Theory, and that 2) studies show that human
belief in
God is innate rather than based on culture, learning or upbringing, and
3) the
fact that some have met God during Near Death Experiences, and you do
have some
valid reasons for believing in God as well.
However,
NONE of these valid
reasons for believing in God or a Creator prove the "Christian God"
of the Bible, nor do they support the belief that the Bible is God's
word or
that is it infallible inerrant divine literal truth either. These
reasons DO
NOT provide a basis for that at all. That is what Christians miss due
to their
mind-controlled absolutist beliefs.
Anyway,
I do not claim to have
all the answers here. Christians, Atheists, Buddhists and New Agers do
not have
all the answers either. You see, life is not about having answers to
all the
big questions handed to you. Truth is a continual lifetime search
process of
asking questions and questioning everything. To be a truth seeking, one
has to
learn to be happy to simply say, "I don't know" and embrace the
uncertainty that comes with it.
One
can choose between two paths:
That of a truth-seeker who seeks to become more and more "aware"
everyday,
or that of a follower of a herd mentality who lives a "happy slave"
life of ignorance and doesn't like to think too much. Some are happy
being
conformists and followers, while others aren't. You will have to decide
which
one you are.
All I
know for sure is that
reality is far more complex and vast than the confines of any one
religion and
its doctrines, whether it be Christianity or another faith. Thus, a
truth
seeker must venture beyond the rigid belief system of orthodox
religions in
order to learn more, expand his/her reality, and evolve in
understanding.
If
you want truth, you're going
to have to know something. Truth does not come in a neat convenient
package
like a religion, where you don't have to think. That is known as "fast
food theology". But truth doesn't work that way. Truth is mysterious.
There are layers of truth, and the path to it is a lifelong process and
journey, as you peel off each layer. At a certain point, it will be
difficult
to peel off more layers, for human comprehension has its limits, as
there are
some things beyond it. But don't try too hard. You gotta go with the
flow and
let you intuition guide you. Have fun, relax, open yourself up, and
enjoy
learning new things. Don't forget that everything should be in
moderation.
To
start on the path to truth,
remember these things:
1) Question
everything. Don't take whatever you hear on faith, even from the
alternative
crowd.
2) Stop
caring what others think of you. If you don't, you will always be bound
in
fear. But if you do, you will free your mind, which is the first step
to truth.
3) Empty
your mind. Follow your intuition and go with it, for it sees from a
higher
level than your conscious mind does.
4) Discover
who you really are. Remember, you are a spiritual being having a human
experience.
5) Clear
your mind. Avoid highly toxic and stressful activities and
environments. Pay
attention to health and nutrition. Always remember, everything in
moderation.
6) Ask
questions, seek answers, and you will find them.
To
close, I’d like to share this
important advice for the truth-seeker by Darryl Sloan
from his book Reality
Check:
"The
most productive mindset you can have is simply this: always, always,
always
have a belief system that doesn’t resist change. Go wherever the
information
leads you, without fear, because surely the truth is never something to
dread." - Darryl Sloan, Reality Check
Anyway,
I hope I've given you a
lot to think about. Thanks for reading, and best wishes to all of you.
Sincerely,
Winston
Wu
See
also:
Debunking
Christian Arguments Treatise – Every argument by Christian
Evangelists and
Apologists refuted point-by-point. If you familiarize yourself with
this
treatise, you will be able to dumbfound them for sure.
My
Christian
Deconversion Story – Hailed by both Christians and
non-Christians as a “very
touching and amazing story”. A Must Read!