Accelerating Future - 10 Christian Questions

More than 1.6 billion, or roughly a quarter of the planet’s people are Christians. It is the world’s largest religion. I had some questions about Christianity I thought I would ask any Christians that read this. (Non-Christians can ignore this post if they’d like.)

[My responses are in bold brackets]

1. Early Christians believe Christ would return quickly, within 1000 years or sooner [Probably every generation of Christians believe that Christ would return in their lifetime]. This is called millennialism [This definition of Christian millennialism is incorrect]. When do you believe Christ will return?[The Christian holy writings say that only the Father of the Godhead knows the time (time being relative in its scope)] Why is millennialism today associated with fundamentalism? [All strands of Christianity have a belief about the Millenniam, there are different strands of fundamentalism and therefore different beliefs concerning the Millennium.]

2. If God answers our prayers, shouldn’t it be easy to detect his presence by observing greater success in people achieving prayer-communicated desires over other desires? Can we design an experiment to confirm this? [If God were a machine, or responded to formulas, then the answer would be 'yes.' There are other theological concepts that come into play when petitioning God for a desired response to a request. He has the option to remain silent, or answer according to a timing preferred by him. You can run an experiment on predicting the patterns of wind and maybe get some degree of accuracy, but my best guess is that God's decision making is a little bit more complex.]


3. Are evil people, like Hitler or other serial killers, evil solely due to their own dispositions, or is there some involvement from Satan? [Could be their own disposition, or Satanic involvement mixed in as well.]

Are drug addictions and/or atheism due to Satan? [No, humans can pretty much get addicted to drugs in and of themselves. And, atheism is a lot of times people being angy with what life has thrown at them.]

Is there some test for determining the presence of Satan’s influence? [Is there a test for determing every scientific theory? Only hypothetically.]


4. Conversely, are people good solely due to inspiration from God and/or Jesus Christ? [No person is good/holy in and of themselves. A person is deemed holy in the sight of God when Christ's holiness is bestowed upon that person.]

Is it possible for an atheist, Jew, Muslim, etc. to have “holiness” even if they explicitly disavow your religion? [According to the biblical definition of "holiness," the answer is no. No human being other than Christ has ever been holy in and of themselves.]

Can they go to Heaven, even if they openly reject Jesus Christ? [Micha-el, you aren't that ignorant, you know the answer to some of these questions.]

5. I find the doctrine of original sin unfair. I do not feel accountable for what some ancient ancestor did. May I be absolved? [Well, I don't feel like paying for the national debt that's being accumulated. You think Uncle Sam will absolve me from paying it? Original Sin doesn't set too well with me either. I'm going to give Adam a good kick in the nuts when I get to heaven.]


6. Can God speak to us through our prayers? [He can communicate because of our prayers.]

How does he determine which people to speak to?[You got me.]

When someone claims they spoke to God, how do we know they are telling the truth? [We don't, unless they say something very specific, and it actually happens.]

7. Do you plan to meet God when you go to Heaven?[Uh, no. I'll be to busy looking for Adam to kick him in the nuts.]

If you have ever had a mental scenario of what might happen, please describe it. [I guess the cloud and harp image would be too interesting.]

8. Will God ever kill Satan? [Kill refers to a person that is inside a physical body. I guess the Anti-Christ might meet this requirement, so then the answer would be yes.]

9. Will a large gold palace (New Jerusalem) really descend from the sky? [Some take iterpret the writings of this event literally, and some view it as a figurative theological image. We will have to wait and see.]

If so, will non-Christians be allowed in? [Probably not.]
10. Would it really be ideal for the entire planet to become Christian?
[Yes it would be idea for every human to be a Christian, but that is for each person to decide for themselves what they believe abou t the afterlife.]

Would the world be a better place? [Hypothetically better, but not a perfect place.]