50 Simple Questions for Every Christian

by Guy P. Harrison

Overview

Written in a respectful and conversational style, this unique book is designed to promote constructive dialogue and foster mutual understanding between Christians and non-Christians. The author, a skeptic and journalist, asks basic questions about Christian belief. What is the born-again experience? Why would God want to sacrifice his only son for the world? Do miracles really happen? How reliable is the Bible? What is the rapture? Why isn't everyone a Christian? Each question is followed by commentary and analysis that is skeptical and tough but never argumentative or condescending. Christians will find the book useful as a basis for developing their apologetics, while skeptics will welcome Harrison's probing rational analysis of religious claims.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616147280
Publisher:	Globe Pequot Publishing
Publication date:	03/19/2013
Series:	50 series
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	350
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

GUY P. HARRISON (San Diego, CA) is an award-winning journalist and the author of Think, 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian, 50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True, 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God, and Race and Reality: What Everyone Should Know about Our Biological Diversity. Find him on online at www.guypharrison.com, www.facebook.com/guypharrisonauthor, and on Twitter @Harrisonauthor.

Read an Excerpt

50 simple questions for every christian

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By Guy P. Harrison

Prometheus Books

Copyright © 2013Guy P. Harrison
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-61614-728-0

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Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

DOES CHRISTIANITY MAKE SENSE?

These may be the most simple and important questions of all: Does this religion make sense? It is true? Am I sufficiently convinced about this to honestly call myself a Christian? While these may seem like fair questions to an unsure skeptic, those within Christianity might consider it impolite, unnecessary, and even idiotic to ask such things. Of course it's true. Of course it makes sense. Given the high stakes of this religion's global influence and possible afterlife repercussions, however, shouldn't everyone—Christians included—be asking these questions?

Does it make sense? This simple question goes far beyond nitpicking contradictions in the Bible or citing problems with popular claims about the benefits of Christianity and the reliability of prayer. It is about the basic concept, the core claim that distinguishes this religion from others. It is, of course, impossible to summarize it in a way that satisfies all Christians, but it goes something like this: God sent his son, Jesus, into the world so that he could die for us. His sacrifice was a pardon for our sins that allows us to be saved from death and enjoy eternal life in heaven. Without Jesus, we would all be doomed because of our inherently sinful nature. In this great act of mercy, God saved us from ourselves. And all we have to do in return to accept this gift is to repent our sins and embrace Jesus as our only lord and savior.

This is about as concise as one can describe Christianity without veering off into endless doctrinal conflicts. Short and simple as it is, there will still be some, I suspect, who would feel the need to subtract or add, but I hope most would agree that it's an accurate and fair synopsis. So let's analyze it line for line and see what happens.

GOD SENT HIS SON, JESUS, INTO THE WORLD SO THAT HE COULD DIE FOR US.

We are immediately confronted with a huge problem. God is Jesus and Jesus is God. How can we say that God sent his son and sacrificed him for us when they are the same being? I understand that many Christians don't spend much time thinking about it, but according to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, God the father and Jesus the son are the same being. (The Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, completes the Holy Trinity.) This is no trivial matter, and it's not some minor point that weasel doubters use to annoy Christians. Sincere skeptics recognize a fundamental problem with this story.

The Holy Trinity has long been considered one of the most important claims in Christianity. It can't reasonably be ignored in any serious discussion about Christianity because, if true, it means that God sent himself to Earth, sacrificed himself to himself, and then returned to be with himself. The skeptic can only ask how any of this makes sense. It's not rude or unfair to attempt to reconcile the "great sacrifice of Jesus's life" with the concept of the Holy Trinity. It's an obvious and necessary question, isn't it? Christians often juxtapose the horror of Jesus's crucifixion with the love God shows us by allowing his son to suffer and die. Christians have asked me to imagine how difficult it would be to sacrifice my own son. But it's not the same thing. Temporary pain aside, if Jesus was God and knew that he would return to heaven after his death, where is the big sacrifice? What did Jesus/God give up? These are the things skeptics wonder about while trying to understand Christianity. It's not about being argumentative or stubborn. It's a basic comprehension issue. There seems to be a very serious problem with the claim that God sent his son to Earth as a sacrifice for us because God and Jesus are supposed to be the same being.

HIS SACRIFICE WAS A PARDON FOR OUR SINS THAT ALLOWS US TO BE SAVED FROM DEATH AND ENJOY ETERNAL LIFE IN HEAVEN.

The traditional telling of Jesus's execution presents it as a gruesome and terrible event that rivals most horror movies. In fact, director Mel Gibson did depict it in a way some describe as a contemporary horror film. Released in 2004, The Passion of the Christ shocked moviegoers with bone-crunching sounds and flesh-ripping images. If the crucifixion of Jesus did happen and was even fractionally as inhumane and cruel as Christians claim, then the obvious question that comes to the skeptic's mind is "why?" Why did Jesus or anyone else, god or human, have to suffer and die? Human sacrifice? Really? If this did happen, as Christians say it did and for the reasons they say it did, there needs to be some better reasoning, some rational explanation for why it was necessary. Why would a god need to rely on such a disgusting and primitive act to forgive us and save us from his judgment?

Most societies on Earth realized centuries ago that ritual human sacrifice is as barbaric as it is unproductive. Tossing virgins into a volcano or carving out some guy's heart atop a temple once might have seemed like sensible investments for better times ahead, but eventually it dawned on most that such practices were cruel, stupid, and unnecessary. As an act of punishment and/or religious rite, it is beneath us. We are better than that. So why would God need such an act to offer humankind an escape clause? Surely he could think of a better way to save us from death and eternal damnation. But wait, isn't God in charge of everything? Why would he have to do anything to provide us with a route to salvation and heaven? Couldn't he simply have skipped the whole slow, agonizing death of Jesus and just forgiven us? Is he bound by some laws that even he must follow? What is going on?

I have asked this sincere and simple question of many preachers and devout Christians over the years. To date, none have come up with a good answer—at least, no answer that would satisfy a typical skeptic. The best they offer is: "We can't understand God's ways." Or they simply repeat the alleged point of the act: "Jesus had to take on our sins so that we could be saved." But why? This is the central most important event that Christianity is based on, and it seems completely unnecessary to many non-Christians. Why did Jesus have to absorb our sins in a manner that involved whipping, punching, stabbing, hammers, and nails? It sounds very much like a story that ancient mortals would tell, believe, and admire, rather than the real-life actions of a god who runs the universe.

WITHOUT JESUS, WE WOULD ALL BE DOOMED BECAUSE OF OUR INHERENTLY SINFUL NATURE. GOD SAVED US FROM OURSELVES.

Original sin is such an old concept that it has come to be viewed as far less bizarre than it really is. But thoughtful Christians who pause to think about this idea for a moment are likely to recognize that something doesn't add up. We are inherently guilty? Condemned before we even learn to walk and talk? What sort of justice is that? To skeptics of Christianity, it seems crazy to view newborn babies as defective and doomed forever without spiritual intervention. Of course all people are imperfect, but hopelessly flawed at birth and deserving of endless agony in hell? Really?

Let's not dwell on the charge that we are all members of a corrupt and "fallen" species by birth. Rather, we should ask why it is we need saving in the first place. What is it we need saving from? The answer is God. He and his rules are the threat that we imperfect humans are up against. Therefore, God, in the form of Jesus, has offered to save us from himself. This is odd, to say the least, yet billions of Christians, generation after generation, say they are profoundly grateful to God for his gift of salvation. I do not mean this in a disrespectful way, but God in this context seems very much like a gangster who
(Continues...)

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Excerpted from 50 simple questions for every christian by Guy P. Harrison. Copyright © 2013 by Guy P. Harrison. Excerpted by permission of Prometheus Books.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction....................     9     

1. Does Christianity make sense?....................     13     

2. What is a god?....................     21     

3. Is it rude to ask?....................     25     

4. Does Jesus answer prayers?....................     33     

5. Who is a Christian?....................     41     

6. Does Christianity make societies better?....................     45     

7. What is atheism?....................     49     

8. What are miracles?....................     57     

9. Does the complexity of life reveal an intelligent designer?...........     67     

10. Have you read the Bible?....................     73     

11. Why do some Christians do bad things in the sight of Jesus?..........     79     

12. How can we be sure about the resurrection?....................     83     

13. How do we know that heaven is real?....................     89     

14. Why is God so violent?....................     97     

15. What do prophecies prove?....................     103     

16. How important are the Ten Commandments?....................     109     

17. Do you know the real Ten Commandments?....................     117     

18. Is Christianity good for women?....................     121     

19. Is it smarter to believe or not believe?....................     125     

20. Is the born-again experience in Christianity unique?.................     131     

21. Is faith a good thing?....................     141     

22. Should children be Christians?....................     147     

23. Does Jesus heal the sick?....................     153     

24. How do we know that the man Jesus existed?....................     159     

25. What about all the other gods?....................     165     

26. Are Christians happier?....................     171     

27. Is the United States of America a Christian nation?..................     177     

28. How can we be sure that Jesus performed miracles?....................     183     

29. What do evil atheist dictators prove?....................     187     

30. Is the universe fine-tuned for us?....................     197     

31. Could we design a better world?....................     203     

32. What has archaeology proved?....................     209     

33. Why isn't everyone a Christian?....................     213     

34. What is the problem with evolution?....................     219     

35. Is it better to be safe than sorry?....................     227     

36. Why did God sacrifice his son?....................     231     

37. Did God drown the world?....................     237     

38. Why do birth location and family matter so much?....................     245     

39. Why do Christianity and science so often come into conflict?.........     249     

40. Why do people go to hell?....................     255     

41. Can atheists be trusted?....................     261     

42. Why hasn't the Bible convinced more people?....................     269     

43. Are angels real?....................     275     

43. Are angels real?....................          

Editorial Reviews

""The insight here into a skeptic’s mind compares to theologian Gregory Boyd’s Letters from a Skeptic…. Both Christians and skeptics will enjoy this book for different reasons. Recommended for Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens fans as well as fans of apologetics such as Timothy Keller’s Reason for God.” -Library Journal “These are some great questions, and those serious about their religion should reasonably ask them at some point.” -San Francisco/Sacramento Book Review “A creative, witty, and engaging book.... Although (at least ostensibly) written for Christians, I urge atheists to read 50 Simple Questions. While the questions and answers themselves are entertaining, it is Harrison’s approach that is most innovative and important. We skeptics would do well to adopt Harrison’s method of encouraging the religious to question their beliefs, since respect, rather than clearly displayed contempt, is far more likely to win hearts and minds.” -The American Rationalist “Carl Sagan taught us that we make life significant by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers. Harrison offers fifty such questions for Christians to better know their own religion. A thought-provoking, revealing, and friendly book.” Cameron M. Smith, author of The Fact of Evolution “A sober, thoughtful, and engaging series of inquiries for us Christians. Answering them or at least responding to whether they are ‘simple’ or the ‘correct’ questions is the kind of challenge we should embrace wholeheartedly.” Rev. Barry Lynn, author of Piety & Politics

From the Publisher