Thought Questions Test Christian Faith

Questions that Test Christian Faith

Dear friend, if one person has a right to their beliefs, we all do, as we’re a common humanity. But I realize we humans are afraid of truth for it may make demands upon us we dislike. I believe with all my heart people neither are soulless dirt nor recycled energy but beings of dignity and destiny.

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I’m commissioned to share this and to obey and honor the Lord I love most who loves me. We must speak truth in love but unavoidably some take offense. If you understand and are interested in crucial life issues and people being saved rather than just light chitchat, send these articles to others selectively. Encourage them to work through the questions. It will enable them to see the logic and foundation of the Christian system of beliefs or worldview.
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Your honest  answers and working through this list of questions will give you a clear understanding of some of the most crucial issues of life. http: //www. goodnewsmessengers.blogspot.com

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Challenging Question One-line Summaries of Many of My Articles

1.       Is the opposite of true- false, and of right- wrong?

2.       If truth is NOT what corresponds to reality, can there be a lie?

3.       Aren’t true statements (e.g. the earth is round) the same for everybody, everywhere, at all times?

4.       If the universe constantly changes with no outside source, can any statement be absolutely true?

5.       Does the universe operate on the principle of cause and effect and can it give what it doesn’t have?

6.       Did the universe originate without a cause, order from an explosion, life from nonlife, mind from the mindless, personality from the impersonal, information without an informer, or morality from the amoral?

7.       If the universe is an effect, could its cause be an unlimited, eternal, all-powerful unchanging, self-existing God?

8.       Do the parts of things that change go out of existence?

9.       Can man made gods of wood, metal or stone know, care, or do anything in our behalf?

10.   Can world religions that claim many gods, two gods, one god, a limited god, no god, or the universe is god, all be logically true?

11.   Can there be two or more  identical gods, or more than one Almighty?

12.   Is treating others, as you would want them to treat you (the golden rule) practical expediency, an absolute law, or what?

13.   Does an ethical act require an absolute ethical standard to be more than human opinion and be judged ethical?

14.   Can mindless molecules arrange themselves into men if useful  energy of the universe dissipates, only life produces life, no experiment shows one life form can change into another (worms to snakes or monkeys to men), the gene pool is fixed, mutations are destructive, millions of needed transitions don’t exist, a common designer can explain evolution, and it’s only basis is a naturalistic preference that denies God?

15.   If survival of the fittest is nature’s law, does that encourage people to live lovingly and ethically?     

16.   Does the dependent dissipating universe give evidence of an infinite personal ethical God?

17.   Does beauty in nature and conscience in man suggest anything about God?

18.   Is there design in nature (e.g. DNA arrangement & the anthropic principle), and could it suggests a great designer--a mind and will?

19.   Does denial of a personal ethical God and of an afterlife destroy the basis for human dignity, absolute morals, truth, and lead to chaos, a tyrannical police state of laws, and maybe a blood bath of dissenters?

20.   Should we base our lives upon sayings of a wise man, Hindu holy man, someone who claimed an angel spoke to him, or a sinless God-man, who fulfilled many ancient prophecies, performed many miracles, promised believers eternal life, died to save sinners, and arose from the dead?

21.   Do human evils (sins) and natural evils (plagues) prove there’s no God, or are there better explanations? What might they be?

22.    Does what we learn from nature (universe) correspond largely with what the Bible says about God?

23.   If God knows everything past, present and future so that to Him all is predestinated, does that have to mean we have no free will, or only that God knows our free will choices in advance as may Bible prophecies seem to establish? 

24.   Are we in large part the cause of our problems but blame other people and things for our mistakes, bad choices, and wrong doings?

25.   If God were the infinite ethically perfect person and standard, would these be sins against His nature and will-- ingratitude, self-righteousness, rebellion, idolatry, demon worship, Wicca, fornica- tion, adultery, divorce, homosexuality, sex with animals, human abuse, incest, to lie, cheat, steal, lust, rape, murder?

26.   If God made us for a love-trust relationship with Him issuing in obedience, would just admitting His existence or worshipping Him occasionally be all that’s required or constitutes relationship?

27.   Could a Creator come among us as a sinless God-man with a message of love, forgiveness, and eternal life?

28.   Are pangs of conscience just social conditioning, just guilt feelings, or the effect of real evil actions against an absolute standard and knowing Person?

29.   If a loving God controls nature, could miracles and revelations sometimes suit His purposes?

30.   If centuries earlier Jewish prophets said their coming Messiah would be virgin born, in Bethlehem, sinless, perform miracles, be God with us, die for people’s sins, arise again, and if Jesus alone did such things, wouldn’t that be good evidence Jesus alone is the Messiah and a God-man?

31.   If Jesus claimed to come from Heaven, exist before earth, forgive sin, return to earth some day, judge all men, and was crucified on charge of a mere man claiming to be God, doesn’t all  that show he did claim to be God?

32.   If Jesus walked on water, turned water to wine, healed every disease immediately, raised the dead, said he was God, and ascended into Heaven before many eyewitnesses, wouldn’t that show he is God?

33.   If Jesus’ apostles were astonished at his miracles, repeatedly rebuked for unbelief, given power to do miracles themselves, risked rejection and persecution for writing about them, and experienced torturous deaths for claiming it true, wouldn’t that be good evidence it is true?

34.   Does any sacred literature describe a founder of religion that says anything like the Bible says of Jesus--sinless God-man, atoning risen Savior and coming Judge?

35.   If Jesus showed he is God from Heaven, claimed to be God's only way to Heaven, died to save and cleanse sinners for Heaven, arose and ascended before 500 eyewitnesses into Heaven, then aren't Christians unbiased, fair, tolerant, truthful, and most loving to insist only repentent believers in the Lord Jesus Christ go to Heaven?

36.   If Jesus died on the cross, was buried in a sealed guarded tomb found empty 3 days later then appeared 12 times to skeptical disciples who touched him, ate with him, discussed God’s kingdom, and 500 eyewitness saw him ascend into Heaven, doesn’t that assure us (1) he is the sinless God-man, (2) all he said is true, (3) and all who trust in Him have eternal life?     

37.   Would an all-powerful morally perfect God approve of evil doers or allow them to corrupt His perfect Heaven?

38.   If the Lord Jesus gives us forgiveness, love for others, power to serve Him, and Heaven-- is anything better?

39.   If the Bible teaches true faith decides Heaven or Hell, but our acts and motives decide our degree of rewards in Heaven or torments in Hell, then isn’t every moment of life abundantly purposeful?

40.   If we earn Heaven by our good deeds and lifestyle, why does the Bible say it’s God’s gift, not good deeds, one sin condemns us, makes us unacceptable to a perfect God, unfit for a perfect Heaven, that Jesus is the Savior, the only way, His death paid for our sins, we must trust Him alone, and be born again of the Holy Spirit to go to Heaven?

REMEMBER these articles may put persons in danger. If you know interested persons, prayerfully and selectively email, mail, phone, or fax them these articles. You may thereby do the greatest thing of your life and for eternity.

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Let me select just a few good books that discuss the topics above. The Bible. Without a Doubt, by Kenneth Richard Samples. Many Infallible Proofs, by Henry M. Morris. The Case For A Creator, by Lee Strobel. Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds, by Phillip E. Johnson. What Darwin Didn’t Know, by Geoffrey Simmons.The Collapse of Evolution, by Scott M. Huse. The Christian Combat Manual; Defending Your Faith, both by Dan Story. Handbook of Christian Apologetics, by Peter Kreeft & Ronald K. Tacelli. Why I Am A Christian, Edited by Norman L. Geisler & Paul K. Hoffman. True For You, But Not For Me, by Paul Copan. Exploring The Myths That Could Destroy America, by Erwin W. Lutzer. World Religions, edited by Dean C. Halverson. Cults, World Religions, And You, by Kenneth Boa. The Kingdom Of The Cults, edited by Ravi Zacharias. Islam And The Bible, by David Goldmann. They Must Be Stopped, by Brigitte Gabriel. He Walked Among Us, by Josh McDowell & Bill Wilson. I’m Glad You Asked, by Kenneth Boa & Larry Moody. The New Atheism and the Erosion o f Freedom, by Robert A. Morey. What IF The Bible Had Never Been Written? and What IF Jesus Had Never Been Born? both by D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe. I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, by Norman L. Geisler & Frank Turek. The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics, edited by Ed Hindson & Ergun Caner.