Doubts?

THIS SECTION IS STiLL BEING DEVELOPED. IT WILL BE GEARED TO CHRISTIANS (OR EVEN NON-CHRISTIANS WHO DESIRE TO UNDERSTAND MORE WHAT REAL CHRISTIANITY IS ABOUT)

 

Doubts and Mystery

 

If we are honest, most of us Christians eventually have some doubts. And some non-Christians are attracted to the faith, but put off by some of the hard-to-swallow aspects they see. I certainly have had doubts, sometimes intellectual ones, and also ones brought on by exceedingly difficult times.

One problem is that we tend to only believe things that we can wrap our heads around. But you've heard the phrase, "can't see the forest for the trees"? God's view is the entire Universe and everything that makes up the Universe, like the laws of math and physics. God is so beyond our ability to fit into our 'boxes.'

As Christians, we do believe that we humans are made in the "image" of God, so we have the potential - to some degree - to understand things like good and evil and the power of love . Most of us also understand of the occasional need for tough love for our young offspring, just as God shows with us. God could have certainly made a world where there is no sin and everyone knows and therefore worships him, but he already has that, in his angels. It seems like he wanted people who have a real choice - love is really love when there is a choice and he probably wanted us to experience that kind of love for him and others.

 

Then there is the Bible, which is - through other human's - God's communication to us and what we need to know about our spiritual life and please him. But can you, as an infinite God describe in a book or even 1000 books that enables us to fully understand him and his thinking? And have everything relate perfectly over all of languages from the more primitive early languages through vastly larger and more nuanced languages, not to mention to be perfectly translated into all of those languages? Also, God is not limited like we are regarding time. We are limited by the march of time since the beginning of the Universe, through Biblical history, and through world history and our own personal history. It is not possible for such writings to totally convey all of his omniscient thinking to people and certainly not where the context is the same from early on to people in the 21st century. Even though the circumstances and peripheral details may not convey well to our modern complex world, the amazing thing is how timeless the message is, if we study it deeply and seek it's application (with the help of the Holy Spirit) to an understanding of everything important that he wants us to know.

Still, many things about God are going to be mysterious to our human minds. And the Bible is not going to make much sense at all to people who are not true Christians. The "proof" of God comes when you start experiencing the movement of God in the Bible and in your heart. God could have left irrefutable 100% scientific proof in his creation of the universe, earth, and human origins, but he didn't, perhaps because he wanted people to come to him not because of the irrefutable proof, through experience and heart choice. He wanted people to come to him through internal means. That's where the proof lies. 

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Why Did God Allow Sin in the World?

One of the biggest problems we face is (as we say in the home page) that we live in a broken world and that affects everything where humans are involved. Brokenness is mostly about sin, but it also involves things that are not the result of sin, such as getting cancer, or a mate or family member dying. Judaism and thus Christianity says that in the beginning, God created a world without sin but again, with free will and sin as possible.  

God made it clear that the rain falls on the good and bad people. Christians do not get an easier life. In some ways, it can be harder, but I have found that if we are truly putting God at the center of our lives and growing in love for him, we will have a more fulfilling and 'abundant' life, no matter what our circumstances. While the Bible clearly promotes prayer, it doesn't mean that he is there to answer every prayer request, at least in the way we expect. If the idea of God actually worked to avoid a faith that we could all have a lifelong healthier, better life, then virtually everyone would choose him out by a mental decision, not true choice.

The prior paragraphs address what seems to be the biggest doubts: 'why does God allow sin and pain in the world,' as well as 'why isn't life easier for Christians.' 

Here are some others:

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