Answers for Atheists and Agnostics Answers

Introduction

General Introduction for Non-Believers: Part 1, Are Your Beliefs Consistent with Your Worldview?
General Introduction for Non-Believers: Part 2 Evidence for Belief in God
General Introduction for Non-Believers, Part 3: Why Christianity? Can religious belief be tested?
- Missing the Obvious - Have you checked your tent lately?

Common Criticisms

If God Created Everything, Who Created God? If God can be eternal, why not the universe?
A Loving God Would Not Send Billions of People to Hell, Would He? - Would a loving God force people to spend eternity with Him?
- Why Would God Create a Person Who Would be Destined for Hell? - A loaded question surrounded by invalid assumptions
God Invented in the Image of Man? - Mankind does invent gods, but they are permissive and non-judgmental, not like the God of Christianity.
What about atrocities that have been done in the name of religion? - Yes, so-called "Christians" have done evil things in the name of God. However, atheists have killed many times more people than these "Christians." Does that mean that atheism is false?
There is Too Much Evil and Suffering For God to Exist?
- Is it Possible for God to Provide 'Partial Free Will' and Eliminate All Evil? - A practical examination of the possibility of eliminating evil, while still allowing free will
- Where was God During the World Trade Center Attack? - Wouldn't a loving God have prevented such evil?
- Southeast Asia Earthquake and Tsunami- Where was God? - Are atheistic alternatives to the earth's design reasonable?
- The Professor Teaches About Evil and Christianity - A lesson why evil is not created by God, even though God created all things.
- Did God Create Evil - Does the Bible Say So? The good old King James Version Bible says so, so it must be true!
- Original Sin - Are We Condemned by the Sin of Adam and Eve? It obviously would not be fair if we are all condemned because of what our ancient ancestors did.
- Did God Commit Atrocities by Ordering the Killing of Entire Cities of People? What about all the "innocent" people God has killed?
Why Wouldn't God Want Adam and Eve to Have Knowledge of Good and Evil? Did God setup Adam and Eve to fail? What's wrong with knowledge?
Out of Africa or Out of Eden: Does Science Contradict the Bible? New data suggests an explanation for the apparent contradiction.
No Evidence of a Spiritual Realm? - The presence of pervasive evil as an argument for the existence of the supernatural.
Christianity is for Weak, Stupid People? - Doesn't the Bible tell people to believe despite the evidence to the contrary?
Religion vs. IQ - Are Religious People Stupid? - Or is it really a question of GDP per capita vs. IQ?
Why are Most Scientists Atheists If There is Evidence for Belief in God? Is their unbelief due to their intelligence, knowledge and academic studies or other factors?
- People of Faith - Famous Scientists - Scientists don't really believe in God, do they?
- Scientists of the Christian Faith: A Presentation of the Pioneers, Practitioners and Supporters of Modern Science Compiled by W. R. Miller (off site)
- People of Faith - Astronauts
- Christianity Aiding the Development of Science (by Ben Clausen, off site)
- Science and Faith Associations - Yes, there are scientists today who believe in God
- Reason And Faith by Van Fisher
- God and Logic (by Craig S. Hawkins, off site)
God has Not Revealed Himself to Me, So He Must Not Exist
Why Does God Hate Amputees? Or, Why Does God Love Marshall Brain?
Nothing Unique About the Teachings of Jesus Christ? - The radical teachings of Jesus Christ
100% Convinced vs. 100% Committed - I cannot believe until I am 100% convinced! Do you use this standard for everything else you believe?
Answers to Biblical "Contradictions" - What about all those passages in the Bible that contradict one another?
The Mysterious Case of the Missing Q - The existence of the hypothetical "Q" document is full of misstatements, misinterpretations, faulty logic, and factual errors. (off site)
Was Jesus Christ just a CopyCat Savior Myth? An examination of the claims regarding Adonis, Baal (and Hadad), Marduk, Osiris, Tammuz/Dumuzi, Melquart, Eshmun, Mithras, Dionysos, Isis/Osirus, Buddha, Krishna, Indra, Thor, Horus, etc. by Glenn Miller, Christian ThinkTank (Introduction, Part 2)
Walk Like an Egyptian: Comparing Osiris, Horus, and Jesus by James Patrick Holding, Tekton Apologetics Ministries.
Mithras by Mark McFall. Examines the assertion that Christianity borrowed the resurrection myth from Mithra.
Accept No Imitations: Did the Stories of Apollonius of Tyana Influence the Gospels? by J. P. Holding. More copycat myths.
Atheism Test - Is strong atheism based solely on logic and knowledge?

Common Objections to Christianity

Atheists have Proven God Does Not Exist. Right? - Only if that god is not the God of the Bible
God of the Gaps - Do All Christian Apologetics Fall Into This Kind of Argument? - A survey of arguments reported to support the existence of God and whether they are just due to a lack of scientific knowledge.
Invisible Pink Unicorns, Santa Claus and God - Since we cannot detect God's existence, can't we automatically assume no god exists?
If God Existed, Prayer Would Have Brought World Peace? Surely a benevolent God would have granted world peace by now?
Size of the Universe: Isn't it Too Large to Have Been Created by God for Humanity? Why didn't God create just one star and one planet?
No Proof for the Exodus? - The potential role of Thera and ¹⁴C dating of the destruction of Jericho
- More archeology and the Bible
Did God Commit Atrocities by Ordering the Killing of Entire Cities of People? - Didn't God order the killing of entire cities of "innocent" people. Let's look at those "innocent" people and see if you would like to have them as your neighbors!
Thou Shall Not Kill- Does God Violate His Own Commandment? Since God ordered the destruction of entire cities, wasn't He being a hypocrite?
Does the Bible Say God Repents From Doing Evil? Skeptics claim that since God knows everything He should never have to repent from anything. However, the King James version clearly says that God repented. Did God really change His mind?
If God is Jealous Doesn't That Make Him the Divine Hypocrite? - If jealousy is a sin and God is jealous, doesn't that make Him a sinner?
God's Chosen People, the Jews: Isn't God Unfair in Showing Such Preference? If giving preferential treatment to a group of people is a sin, why isn't God a sinner since He chose the Jews?
Is Christianity anti-Environmental? - "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it." It is only on loan from God...
Religion and Intelligent Design Impede Science and Close Off Inquiry? - Is the intention of intelligent design proponents to say "God did it" and stop all further scientific research?
Global Warming: Will Human-Induced Climate Change Destroy the World? Why are all the wacky Christians denying global warming? Maybe they just don't know? Global Warming Myths
Questions on Salvation - Is Jesus necessary? What is this gospel stuff?
All Religions Lead to God? Can One Discern the True Religion? - Can religious truth be discerned or are we relegated to being unable to choose?
What will happen to the people who have never heard of Jesus Christ? - Will they all burn in hell?
It Isn't Fair That God Judges People Who are Born Into Buddhist, Hindu or Other Non-Christian Homes - Then God wasn't "fair" to the author of this site!
Why Wouldn't God Want Adam and Eve to Have Knowledge of Good and Evil? What's wrong with knowledge?
Man - Created in the Image of God? - Aren't we just advanced apes?
Mind-Body Dualism - Is the Mind Purely a Function of the Brain? - Science has disproved the existence of the soul?
Science contradicts the biblical creation account? (Day-Age Genesis One Interpretation) - Doesn't Genesis contradict modern science?
Doesn't Genesis One Contradict Genesis Two? - The order of creation is different. Isn't this a contradiction?
Is the Genesis Flood Impossible? (The Genesis Flood- Why the Bible Says It Must be Local) - Doesn't the Bible say the flood covered the whole earth?
- Genesis 6-9 - The Flood - What the Hebrew really says
- Is the Biblical Flood Account a Modified Copy of the Epic of Gilgamesh? - Let's compare what each account says
People could not live 900+ years: Long Life Spans- "Adam Lived 930 Years and Then He Died"
Does God command wives to obey their husbands? by Glenn Miller (Christian ThinkTank)
Christianity and Intolerance- Why are Christians So Intolerant? Are Christians really intolerant or are the people who are unwilling to grant equal freedom of expression to Christian beliefs intolerant? - the real definition of "intolerance."
"Do Not Judge": Why are Christians So Judgmental? Didn't Jesus tell His disciples not to judge others?
Truth and Christianity: Why Do Christians Lie So Much? Does Christianity teach that it is okay to lie to support one's faith?
Why Are So Many Christians Hypocrites? If they are hypocrites, are they really Christians?
Self-righteous Christians: Is This the Norm? The Bible says that nobody can be righteous through their own self - especially Christians.
The Threat of Radical Christianity: Christians are Involved Too Much in Politics? Do most Christians want to establish the United States as a Christian theocracy?
Is Christianity and the Bible Too Old-Fashioned to be Relevant in Today's Society? - donkeys, fishing nets, grinding flour with stones, dirt roads - what relevance is the Bible in today's world?
Racism in the Bible? - Doesn't the Bible condone racism and segregation?
Does God Approve of Slavery According to the Bible? Contrary to the claims of skeptics, selling a person into slavery was punishable by death in the Old Testament
Sexism in the Bible? Doesn't the Bible demean women and treat them as second class humans?
Is God Male? What Does the Bible Say? - Isn't God a little old man who has male sexual organs?
Anti-Semitism in Mel Gibson's Movie The Passion- Is the Bible Anti-Semitic? Who is really to blame for the death of Jesus?
Harmonization of the Gospel Resurrection Texts by Anne A. Kim
What Happened Resurrection Morning? - reconciling the four gospel accounts in a narrative style.
Evidences for the Resurrection from Biblical Studies Foundation
Is the Virgin Birth Scientifically Impossible? - The Bible says it was a miracle, but could it actually happen?
False Teachings in the Bible? - Rabbits chew the cud? Insects have four legs? The Earth is flat and square? etc...
Hitler was a Christian? - This seems like a no brainer, but there are free-thinkers who think he was. (off site)
Jesus and Adolf Hitler - The new (and improved?) German Jesus (off site)
Why Didn't Albert Einstein Believe in a Personal God? Don't get caught up in his simple logical error.
Why aren't Dinosaurs Mentioned in the Biblical Creation Account? - Such awesome creatures would have been put into a creation account written by a real god?
If God is Omnipotent (All Powerful) Why Did He Need to Rest on the Seventh Day? - Would a real God really need to take a break after creating the universe?
Prince of Peace - What Peace? - Did Jesus fail to fulfill His role as the Prince of Peace?
Robert H. Stein, "Was the Tomb Really Empty?" Themelios 5.1 (1979): 8-12.
Taking the "Jesus Puzzle" Apart Piece-By-Piece - A chapter by chapter rebuttal of Earl Doherty's book.
The "Gospel of Judas": National Geographic Attacks Christianity With Biased "Research" - the National Geographic's unscholarly attempt to promote the "Gospel of Judas" manuscript as an authentic early Christian document
Gnosticism and the Gnostic Jesus - What about all those other "Christian" writings from the 4th century? Why were they rejected by the church? (off site) (Part 2)
Jesus as Θεός: Scriptural Fact or Scribal Fantasy? By Brian Wright - The original Bible didn't say Jesus was God, did it?

Common atheist's myths

BLOODLINE: Serious Documentary or Hollywood Hoax? - by Gordon Franz MA
Religion is the Cause of All (Most) of the World's Problems - Religion is not even close to being the leading cause suffering in the world. In fact, atheists have been responsible for most of it within the last 100 years.
Are Most Wars the Result of Religious Belief? - Religion is implicated in less than 7% of all wars over the entire written history of mankind.
Paul Invented Christianity? Is the Founder of the Christian Religion Paul of Tarsus or Jesus of Nazareth? All Paul's core teachings were also taught by Jesus and the disciples, and are even found in the Old Testament.
Misquoting Jesus: Does Bart Erhman Prove the New Testament is Corrupt? - Contrary to Erhman's claims, the New Testament canon was established in the early second century, and scribal errors/changes did not affect any significant Christian doctrine.
The Christian Church Was Never Really Persecuted - Were all the reported persecutions of Christians were made up by the Christian church?
The Bible Has Been Changed Over the Centuries From the Original? - Sorry, the manuscript evidence doesn't support this idea at all.
Jesus Christ as God and the Trinity Was Not Invented Until the Fourth Century? Contrary to the claims of The Da Vinci Code, even secular sources indicate that Christians worshipped Jesus Christ as God no later than 113 A.D.
This Joyful Eastertide: A Critical Review of The Empty Tomb (2006) - Has the resurrection been proven false? (2.7 MB )
The Universe Just Happened Without Any Need For a Designer - For all those who expect to win at lotto!
There is No Evidence For the Fine Tuning of the Universe - The cosmological constant (dark energy) shows this belief to be false
"The Lost Tomb of Jesus": Have the Bones of Jesus Christ Been Found? Only if Jesus had his ossuary inscribed when He was 2 years old!
Omnipotence is Logically Impossible? An atheist attempts to define God out of existence through illogical arguments
The Universe is Eternal - Contrary to atheist's claims, the majority of scientists state as fact that the universe had a beginning.
Only Stupid People Believe in God - A large number of famous scientists believed in God, many being devout Christians
The Roman Catholic Church's Condom Policy is Responsible For the Spread of HIV and the AIDS Crisis in Africa - Actually, HIV infection rates are lower in Catholic-dominated countries!
The Myth of the Flat Earth by Jeffrey Burton Russell - The "history" that Christians taught a flat earth was not invented until the 19th century. (off site)
People are Basically Good - Proof to the Contrary
Jesus didn't really die on the Cross? - The old swoon theory doesn't hold up to historical/medical reality.
Is Christianity a Made-up Myth Written by the Disciples? - Now really - would the disciples write about all their shortcomings, make the Christian church into a female, design heaven with no sex in it, and say that they were going to be married to Jesus in heaven? I don't know about you guys, but this is not what I would have written if I had made up the Bible!
Are Atheists and Theists Morally Equivalent? Aren't atheists morally superior to theists?
Atheism and Humanism Provide Hope for the Future - The ultimate "hope" of atheism is eternal entropy as the universe loses all ability to perform work, and all life, consciousness, and knowledge is eternally destroyed.
Teaching Religion to Children is a Form of Child Abuse? Dawkins's hypothesis is falsified.
Debunking Dawkins: The God Delusion
- Debunking Dawkins: The God Delusion Chapter 1: A deeply religious non believer - Deception, lies, and misrepresentations.
- Debunking Dawkins: The God Delusion Chapter 2: The God Hypothesis - Failure to support debunked assertions, quoting out-of-context, and a desire to escape moral accountability.
- Debunking Dawkins: The God Delusion Chapter 4: Why There Almost Certainly Is No God - Richard Dawkins' Ultimate Boeing 747 argument is shown to be formally fallacious.

No Evidence of the Supernatural?

The Power of Atheism to Change Lives - Crazy title, isn't it?
Scientific Evidence for Answered Prayer - Double blind, scientific studies validate the efficacy of Christian intercessory prayer.
- Online Paper- Positive Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer in a Coronary Care Unit Population (original article)
Those who look at the universe as it is will clearly see the hand of God.
"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse."

(Romans 1:20)
Prayer and Faith vs. Doctors and Medicine
Scientific Studies that Show a Positive Effect of Religion on Health - Public and private religious activities significantly improve health and extend longevity in dozens of scientific studies.
No Evidence of a Spiritual Realm? - The presence of evil as an argument for the existence of the supernatural.
- A Case of Demonic Possession By Richard E. Gallagher, M.D.
- Testimony of Darrell Scott before the House Judiciary Committee - The testimony of the father of Rachel Scott, one of the victims of the Columbine High School shooting.
Why Do You Fear Death? If we are just animals and there is no afterlife, why should you fear death?... unless Christianity is true and judgment awaits.

More Resources

Recommended Resources-Books- Apologetics - Sources of more information.
More Questions: Science and the Bible Forum - A quarterly open forum where you can bring your best questions to stump us dumb Christians!
Apologetics Links - Yes there are other rational Christian sites all over the Web.
Bogus and Refuted 'Christian' Apologetics - Don't believe everything you see on "Christian" sites.
- What is Wrong with Pascal's Wager?
New Age Spirituality - An Examination of Beliefs
Book Review: The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief - Does Francis Collins present compelling evidence for belief in a personal God?
Book Review: Why We Believe What We Believe: Uncovering Our Biological Need for Meaning, Spirituality, and Truth by Andrew Newburg

Last Modified July 14, 2008