(3.5″ x 3.5″ booklet, 24 pages)<\/p>\n
I\u2019m grateful that you\u2019ve picked up this little booklet, because if you have serious questions about God and Christianity, I have answers that may give you food for thought. When it comes to the issues of suffering, the existence of God, hypocrisy in the church, or atheism, there are reasonable answers that may help you in your own walk with God. That is my goal in writing this booklet.<\/p>\n
Here are the top ten most common objections:<\/p>\n
1. There is no evidence for God.
\nIt is scientifically impossible for a building to build itself, and it is scientifically impossible for nature to have created itself. The Bible says, \u201cFor every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God\u201d (Hebrews 3:4).<\/p>\n
In reality, there\u2019s no such thing as an atheist. This is because everyone intuitively knows that God exists: \u201cFor since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being under- stood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse\u201d (Romans 1:20). After speaking with thousands of atheists, I have found this to be true. The problem isn\u2019t a lack of evidence for a Creator, but that they are engaged in a lifestyle that they intuitively know God would frown on.<\/p>\n
2. The Bible is full of of contradictions.”
\nWhen studied in context, the Bible is harmonious. Seeming contradictions arise from misinterpretations or a lack of full information. For example, there are differing accounts in the Gospels of the healing of a blind man (Matthew 20:30; Mark 10:46; Luke 18:35). Two of the accounts say that two blind men called out to Jesus, and another mentions only one. Apparent contradictions such as these are easily explained. There were two blind men, but one Gospel writer simply focused on one man. There is no contradiction.<\/p>\n
3. Jesus was just a good teacher, not God.
\nIf we read the Scriptures with an open and honest heart, we are not left with the option that Jesus was merely a good teacher. Either He was God in human form, He was completely delusional, or He was a blatant liar. This is because He claimed to be God, performed miracles, forgave sins, and many times said He would rise from the dead. He said, \u201cHe who has seen Me has seen the Father\u201d (John 14:9).<\/p>\n
4. A loving God wouldn’t send people to Hell.
\nGod doesn\u2019t send anyone to Hell\u2014their sins will send them there. In the same way, a judge doesn\u2019t send criminals to prison; it\u2019s their crimes that send them there. The judge merely carries out jus- tice. While the Bible tells us that God is love, we are also told that righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. Yet He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked and is rich in mercy to all who call upon Him.<\/p>\n
5. Christianity is just one of many religions.
\nThe claim of Christianity is one of exclusivity. Jesus said, \u201cI am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me\u201d (John 14:6). In Jesus Christ, God provided a Savior for the whole of humanity. Anyone who repents and trusts in Jesus receives the forgiveness of sins. No religion promises that. The Christian gospel is therefore good news for Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, agnostics, and atheists\u2014that everlasting life can\u2019t be earned by any- thing we do. It
\nis the gift of God (see Ephesians 2:8,9).<\/p>\n
6. The Church is full of hypocrites.
\nThe word \u201chypocrite\u201d comes from the Greek “hupokrites”, which means \u201cactor.\u201d So a hypocrite isn\u2019t a genuine Christian; he\u2019s a pretender. The Scriptures tell us that sheep (true Christians) and goats (pretenders) will dwell together in the Church until they are sorted out on the Day of Judgment. However, in speaking of those who judge hypocrites, the Bible says, \u201cAnd do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?\u201d (Romans 2:3). Those who don\u2019t like hypocrites won\u2019t want to spend eternity with them in Hell.<\/p>\n
7. Science disproves the Bible.
\nScripture tells us to avoid \u201cprofane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called\u201d (1 Timothy 6:20, KJV). Many of today\u2019s scientific theories are in that category. They don\u2019t pass the scientific method because they can be neither observed nor tested. However, genuine science and the Bible are not in conflict. The Bible is filled with scientific and medical facts, written thousands of years before man dis- covered them. See our book Scientific Facts in the Bible.<\/p>\n
8. If God is love, why is there suffering?
\nEvery time we see suffering, we are see- ing the tragic result of the fall of humanity, when mankind\u2019s sin brought a curse upon the world. The Bible tells us we live in a fallen creation that is in rebellion to God, and this is evidenced by the existence of disease, suffering, and death. Suffering shouldn\u2019t be seen as a reason to reject the Bible, but as a very real reason to accept the testimony of Scripture.<\/p>\n
9. The Bible supports slavery.
\nBiblical \u201cslavery\u201d was different from modern slavery. In Israel, a slave wasn\u2019t someone who had been kidnapped and sold into slavery. Rather, it was some- one who found themselves in debt and submitted to being a servant to pay off the debt, rather than be thrown into debtors\u2019 prison\u2014as can happen in contemporary society. In times of war, Israel took slaves from a defeated enemy, as did the United States and Britain during and after the Second World War.<\/p>\n
10. Religion has caused more wars than anything in history.
\nOf the 1,763 wars recorded in the Encyclopedia of Wars, only 7% are classified as primarily being driven by religious motivations\u2014and most of those were started by Islam. That means that 93% of the wars down through history were political wars: World Wars I and II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, etc. Atheistic communism comes in as the number one cause of wars, as it\u2019s responsible for the deaths of over 100 million people.<\/p>\n
One More Thing<\/p>\n
This booklet has been a failure if you fail to trust in Jesus. Please take a moment to read the following gospel presentation. You will need to be honest, because we\u2019re going to look briefly at the Ten Commandments (God\u2019s moral Law) to see how you\u2019ll do on Judgment Day.<\/p>\n
Do you think you\u2019re a good person (yes or no)? Have you ever lied, stolen anything, used God\u2019s name in vain (using it as a cuss word), or lusted (which Jesus said is adultery of the heart; see Matthew 5:28)? If you have broken these commandments, God sees you as a lying thief, a blasphemer, and an adulterer at heart. And if you die in your sins, you will end up in a terrible place called Hell.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s good news. Though we broke God\u2019s Law, Jesus paid the fine by dying on the cross: \u201cGod so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life\u201d (John 3:16). Then Jesus rose from the dead and defeated death. Please, today, repent and trust in Jesus, and God will forgive you and grant you the gift of eternal life (see Ephesians 2:8,9). Then show your gratitude to God by reading the Bible daily and obeying it. And make sure to join a Christian church and be baptized.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This booklet contains short answers to the top ten objections to Christianity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":186,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[52],"product_tag":[],"class_list":["post-79","product","type-product","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","product_cat-tracts","first","instock","taxable","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingwaterscanada.ca\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/79","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingwaterscanada.ca\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingwaterscanada.ca\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwaterscanada.ca\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwaterscanada.ca\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingwaterscanada.ca\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwaterscanada.ca\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=79"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwaterscanada.ca\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=79"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwaterscanada.ca\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=79"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}