Tough Questions - The Journey Begins

So I decided to take the leap. Do a total reboot on my religious beliefs. I have to know that my beliefs are my owns and no one else's.

I started with asking some tough questions that have always been in my mind but I was too terrified to bring out to the surface. These were almost blasphemous and surely such questions would stir the wrath of God and I would be struck down. Or so I thought.

I realized that God, if he exists as I was told, would be much bigger than these questions and could handle the scrutiny. So here goes:

1. Does God really exist? What proof other than, " Just look around nature and see the proof"? Sorry. This is not good enough. While nature is magnificent, it COULD be the result of billions of years of "evolving" and growing. I need something more as proof.

2. Is the Bible really God's word? How did we get this Bible? How do we know there are not other books that belong in the Bible and perhaps some that are there that do not belong? Who was and is the final authority on these issues?

3. Did Jesus really exist? Do we have solid or close to solid evidence outside of the Bible for His existence? Surely the Son of God would leave such verifiable evidence behind. After all, He performed miracles when He was on the earth to prove who He was. Now we do not have such proof of miracles. Do we have proof, outside of the Bible, that these miracles indeed occurred?

4. Does the Bible condone slavery by its lack of condemnation of it? Doesn't it even talk about how to treat slaves? Why would an all-powerful God allow such wretched behavior as one human owning another?

5. Why would the Bible allow women to be treated as a lower class humans? I realize that this was the culture, but God could have commanded that we treat all people as equals.

Here are the really big sticking points for me:

6. How could God create us and this situation where he knew BEFOREHAND that millions and millions he created would be tortured for eternity? If I had that knowledge there is no way I would create what He did. This seems almost cruel to do so knowing the result.

7. Why would a God condemn people to hell who never heard of Him and had no chance of hearing? There had to be thousands and thousands of people dying after the kingdom was established that died never hearing of Jesus. How can that be considered just to send these people to hell? How many thousands or millions have died in this condition? This seems the polar opposite of justice to me.

8. What about the contradictions in the bible? Yes there are some and I have heard explanations. Some I buy and some I do not. Some supposed contradicitons are ridiculosly taken out of context. For example we are commanded to honor our parents, but Jesus tells us to hate our mother and father. This is clearly not a contradiction but a contextual matter. There are some real concerns. For example, the order of creation in Genesis; who was present at the tomb after ressurection; a rabbit chewing cud; were the apostles commanded to take a staff or not? These are just a few that seem to be real contradictions.


These are just a few of the questions I have. Just to be clear, I have no anger towards God. I just have these nagging questions that have been buried for so long. If I don't deal with them, I will never be able to truly be free to serve God.

I have researched some of theses questions and I must say that Christianity seems to be on very shaky ground. I must maintain as much objectivness as possible. My desire is put all the evidence out there and make a fair decision based on the facts.

and the journey continues...

What in H3ll Am I ?