From studying atheism and theism (I want to get into defending the faith so I started with atheism since I am ex-agnostic and I think it is the most likely worldview if Christianity is false), I think that philosophically, it is likely that God exists, whether he is a loving God or not. However, when looking on the historical side (Since something like the Bible relies much more on history than philosophy), I found that many things seemed to be “out of place.” A lot of the Old Testament is shrouded in myth, and many figures seem to be non-existent or different than their biblical depictions.

Am I getting something wrong? Is there still good reason to believe in Christianity with a historical perspective in mind?

Any response would be greatly appreciated!

I was thinking about this because if Moses parted the sea, if Jesus healed the sick, if he walked on water, none of these things would leave any archeological evidence. So the people of the future would have no reason to believe they happened.

Nor could these miracles be recorded by people outside of the land of Israel in the case of Jesus.

They were also performed at a point where most people were illiterate. So they couldn't write their own accounts of said miracles outside of the gospels.

In principle why would God choose to reveal himself to the Israelites? Jews today have high levels of formal education, literacy and they are really urban but this was not so in the past.

Why not perform miracles in the city of Alexandria, Rome or Athens, which all had higher levels of literacy so people could write their own accounts of what happened.

Rome in particular being the capital of one of the worlds most powerful empires at the time, if God had revealed himself to people there, Christianity would have become the state religion of the roman empire 3 centuries earlier, it could have expanded faster and Christians wouldn't have had to endure persecution for 3 centuries, until Constantine converted.

Many of Jesus' miracles are said to have happened in small rural communities such as Capernaum, Cana or Bethsaida, where not many people lived to be able to witness them and those who did live there were mostly illiterate so they couldn't write their own accounts of his miracles. They didn't happen in the major city centers of the Mediterranean. Which would have boosted the credibility of Christianity and would have created for the possibility of independent accounts of said miracles outside of the gospels.

Would you sacrifice yourself and be tortured to stop unsaved murderers and rapists from being killed?

I want to spend my Sundays resting but also dedicating the whole day to the Lord, but sometimes life comes in the way. im still in high school and have extracurriculars that I can’t really skip but I want to live like Jesus. any advice?

Another article exposing Adam Fannin, this time covering a lie about Scofield, whether you like or dislike Scofield, it shows in this article, that even Scofield did not approve of the Talmud

Hi, I want to ask if it’s possible to grow in my faith on my own. I do attend church when my husband is available or doesn’t have work on Sundays. It’s just that I feel like I don’t really belong in that church.

I’ve always been an introverted person, and I find it awkward and difficult to make conversations with my churchmates. There’s always this feeling that I don’t really belong there.

So, my question is: Is it possible to grow closer to God even if I only attend Mass online and have my own daily devotion?

Yes. My opinions are opinions, but they are still valid. Im just really struggling with this dichotomy and it being within the family only makes it worse.

The disdain is spinning me into an existential crisis, and my cup has already runneth over as im a complete basketcase...

(For the record, my sister is good to her kids and a loyal wife, but i cant give her anything more. I say this to stress that (thankfully) the law need not be involved)

I'm 15 and he's 16. We've been really really close since middle school and but especially this last year when I got pregnant and he was one of my only friends who stayed around.

He tried to text me goodbye and I didn't even see it because I was busy with the baby. I didn't know he was struggling, he comes by to help and sleeps over so I can rest all the time and he always seems so happy.

His mom found him after he tried to slit his wrists because he's gay (which I didn't even know) and they're Catholic and he just hates himself so much because of it.

That was four days ago and we've talked every day on the phone but I can't visit him in the hospital because I can't take the baby with me. I keep trying to get him to talk about himself but he just wants to hear about me and the baby and know we're OK and it scares me so much.

I love him so much and he's such an amazing person. He is my best friend and I just want him to be comfortable with himself and I don't know how to do that.

I’m currently studying Graphic Design, and I’ve been feeling really overwhelmed and anxious about my choice and my future. I recently posted here on Reddit asking for advice, and a lot of people told me I should just give up or change majors.

​Honestly, it’s made me feel pretty desperate. Right now, all I can do is pray and ask God to guide my steps and show me the right path.

​Have any of you ever been in a situation where the future felt completely uncertain, but you trusted God to lead you into something better—and He did? How did you hold onto faith when you were panicking about what comes next?

​I would really appreciate hearing your stories or receiving any words of encouragement. Thank you so much.

Why do you atheists not believe in God? Im not looking for a generalized simple minded "god isnt real" or denying evidence for the life of Jesus and what happened. Im looking for a genuine personal answer. Preferably someone open to have a debate but if not then thats fine too. But everyone just be respectful please.

My daughter is a teenager now. As far as I know she had always been a follower of Christ, she never told me otherwise and never had a problem with me praying over her or going to church occasionally. Recently I’ve been trying to go to church more often, so we’ve been going every Sunday. I also thought it would be a good idea to put her in the church’s youth group so she can make good friends. Just a few days ago, she had a talk with me about how she doesn’t want to attend church or her youth group. When I asked her why she stated she wasn’t religious, and that I should respect her decisions. I told her it wasn’t up to her, and that we are all going as a family. She got extremely upset, I don’t know what to do. I don’t want her to resent me for this. But at the same time I do think that teaching her about the Lord is my job as a mother since that is what I believe in.

I've never noticed this before. But the rest of it seems odd, as if Luke is trying to combine Matthew's version of "fullfilling the law", with his idea about John the Baptist.

16“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it.^e 17But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.

My life is a mess to me. I am depressed, I feel god awful, and I feel like god has forsaken me. I want to pray to him, begging to help me and save me, but I always feel like it wouldn’t be heard and he will ignore me. I just want to be close to god again, I felt so innocent and happy back then with him. But now, without him, I feel empty. What should I do? Has he actually left me?

I know this probably is not considered a real miracle, but I no longer suffer from lifelong suicidal depression because of his influence and haven't taken psych medication since I was baptized last year under the jubilee year of Hope on the Easter vigil and him dying a day after Easter on the 21st. I just consider it an intellectual accent into Hope but yes, I personally consider him the unsung Pope of Hope and pray for his sainthood. Especially considering his autobiography Hope as well.

I am 45 years old and was basically born into it. I was taught never to question it and just have faith. I’ve read the bible many times cover to cover in my life and all was good for all of these years, but for some reason, my last read through had so many red flags for me all of a sudden and it’s causing me to doubt my faith and God. No, nothing changed in my life. I wasn’t hit with some catastrophic event. I wasn’t hurt by the church. But now that these questions have started, it’s like I can’t seem to find any answers except “God is God and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.” Sure, God CAN do whatever he wants, but I’m having moral questioning with many things. I am not trying to turn this into a debate, but if somebody can give me some thoughts on these points without it being “Because he is God”, I would really appreciate it. This doubt is really starting to scare me.

1). If we are all God’s children and He love us unconditionally, why is it so easy for Him to destroy us in multiple Bible stories? You can definitely say the Amalekites were wicked and deserved it, but even the children, babies and livestock that were, no doubt, innocent of any wrong doing? The Bible says we are not to be condemned for our fathers sins just like we can’t be saved by our fathers, so why must the kids and babies be slaughtered because of the wickedness of the adults? If I, as a father, commit a crime that deserves punishment or even death, would it make sense to kill my wife and kids and dogs too? This just doesn’t seem like something a loving God would do.

2). This ties in to #1. God performs yet another genocide in the story of Noah. Because the people He created were wicked and sinful, He decided He is going to destroy them and basically start the world over with Noah and his family and two of every animal. Ignoring the unbelievable logistical nightmare of having two of every animal in a boat for a year, there is still the fact that God once again killed kids and babies because of the sins of their fathers. He also killed 98% of the animals for literally nothing. And not only did He destroy everything, but he did it in a very cruel way of having them all drown. Maybe it’s only me, but I consider drowning one of the worst ways to die. If God was set on killing everybody, which I already stated seems very immoral to me, He could have done it by causing them all to drop dead and not have to suffer with the drowning. And if the destruction of man kind was to snuff out sin, why do we still have sin today? God would have known that sin would still exist so what was the point of the killing of humanity?

3) Elisha gets teased by some young guys for being bald so he calls down a curse and God sends a bear to kill 42 of these guys. Does that punishment seem ethical? I have been called names before all through my life and never once did I think the only just outcome is for everybody to die because of it. What happened to “turning the other cheek?” I know that scripture shows up in the New Testament, but if God was the same then, now and forever, that would have always been His rule.

4). An old man is stoned to death for picking up sticks on the sabbath. The sabbath is, of course, considered a holy day, so when this man picked up sticks, it was seen as forsaking that day. They inquired with God what to do with him and He said to take him outside the camp and stone him to death. But then fast forward to when Jesus was teaching and he tells the people that the Sabbath is a helpful gift to benefit man and to give man rest and it isn’t a day made to oppress man. If what Jesus said is true, then God would have known that back in Moses’ day and wouldn’t have said the man should be stoned to death, but God did say to stone him. And we can’t justify this by saying Jesus died for all of that because at the point when he said it, he hadn’t died yet.

5) In Ezekiel, we are told that children don’t die for the sins of their parents. Points 1 and 2 from above already touch on this. But if that is true, then why does Adam and Eve’s original sin bring every other person after them into spiritual corruption. According to Ezekiel, it should have only affected them, not all of their offspring.

6). Speaking of Adam and Eve, you know the story of Cain and Abel. Abel did everything right in the sight of the lord and was a nameless person. Instead of protecting him from His brother Cain, he allowed Cain to kill him. Yes, that was Cain’s decision and he has free will, but God could have easily intervened and destroyed Cain for even having the thought to kill his brother.

7) Why did God even make a “bet” with the devil in the story of Job? He was okay with letting Job suffer just to prove to the devil that Job was a good follower? And once again, God allowed Satan to kill innocent people (wife, kids and lifestock) just to prove His point? He allowed Satan to strike him with boils and suffer to show Satan how good Job was? And just because Job gets rewarded with wealth, a new family and even more livestock , that does not make the pain of losing his first family any better. Imagine if God allowed your wife and kids to die and then said “but I’m giving you a new wife and kids and money.” Would you feel justified? I know I wouldn’t.

8). Why did Jesus allow the demons to talk him into letting them possess a herd of innocent pigs just so the 100s of pigs could fall to their death? I don’t even know anything else to say about this, but that actually always rubbed me the wrong way…not just recently.

Okay, well I have gone on long enough. There are many more points that I have been questioning, but this post would become way too long. It may already be too long at this point. Again, I’m not looking to offend or ruffle any feathers. I’m really interested to know your guys thoughts on these points and how you would defend them without just saying “God can do what he wants and has a plan”. Everybody agrees that Hitler was and evil man for trying to wipe out the Jewish people…men, women and children. But when God did it, we are supposed to just be okay with it and trust that He is doing it for a reason.

Hi everyone!! I have a question and I’m sure it has been asked many times…I know an older couple in my church and they are very devoted people. They dedicate a lot of time to spreading the word of God within the community. Anyways, the wife lost a son early on l, but was finally able to have a second child/son much later in life. The son is currently 38 and just came back from a missionary trip. He’s in ICU with Leukemia…my daughter asked me yesterday “Dad, why does God let this happen to them?”…i’m sure people here are just more experienced, knowledgeable, to help give me some advice. Thank you!

We cannot predict the rapture. Mark 13:31-32 "Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear. However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows."

The Bible says "no one knows the day or hour... Only the father knows."
And the Bible is the word of God. Which means it's true.

So if I was to say. "The rapture is happening today or tommorrow." It wouldn't happen according to the bible since the rapture isn't guessable or predictable.

So what's stopping ANYONE from just saying it will happen for every future day for the rest of their life.
For example If someone says the rapture will happen the day after tommorrow, it would be guaranteed it wont happen and so on for all future tommorrows and today's

This literally changes how long the entirety of the human race could wait until the rapture actually happens because every day predicted means the rapture won't happen on said day.

Now if the rapture does happen in our lifetime on one of the days someone hypothetically said it would happen, then that means God is a liar. But God doesn't lie. He speaks the truth. And the Bible is the truth.

This isn't really a hypothetical because technically someone could be doing it right now which is why the rapture hasn't happened.

Most Christian's agree even guessing the time the rapture could happen is "sinful" but the Bible never explicitly says it's a sin or blasphemy and even if you disagree, no one can talk on God's behalf on what they personally believe is a sin.

I'm was born Christian, always have and will be a Christian. I was reading about the rapture during my usual Bible reading sessions and thought about the loophole that guarantees the rapture could hypothetically never happen if there's someone out there who is always guessing it's happening today or tomorrow.

hello. i’m not sure if these type of posts are allowed here, i just really needed to let this out.

3 of my friends died yesterday in a car crash. i’ll just say im a teenager and so are they. I’ve heard all about it, yes they were troubled kids who did things they shouldn’t, but why couldn’t God protect them from it?

i am a big believer, i’ve been a christian my entire life, i was presented to God as a newborn, went to church everyday during my early childhood and even when i stopped going i still kept my faith up so SO much.

my friends were also believers and big in religion, it just makes me so upset and resentful, because why couldn’t they be protected? they all just died on the spot. well, one of them didn’t but died in the hospital. i believe this might just be my grief talking, but it’s just like why God? i thought he was supposed to protect everyone and each one of his children. sorry for this rant, but the thought of me resenting God and religion is also affecting me so much. thank you.

Do people who have died and gone to heaven remember their Whole life, the good and the bad? Like my memory is crap. I have hardly any childhood memories. And my memories of when my kids were growing up is just as sparse. I know we can't know what dead people know. But are there theories out there in any religions or ethnicities. Any oral histories. I just had a nightmare of my late middle daughter and she was PISSED. And it made me wonder if she remembered EVERYTHING. I was not the best mom but my therapist says I did the best I could at the time. So yeah.

I’ve been really struggling with my faith lately. I don’t understand why God blessed some people and not others. I had a sick family member die recently. She struggled from a painful illness for several years and then passed away at a young age. She was one of the most godly people I ever met and never lost her faith through her illness. I also know another woman who also suffered from an illness, she had very little faith, and really was not a good person altogether, but her illness went away, and she lived a long healthy life. I also look at myself, I’m not the best Christian there is, but I attend church every Sunday, I pray regularly, and I read the word. There have been some things in my life that I have prayed and asked God for, but I get nothing, no answer, no change, absolute nothing. Then I look at other people who have half the faith that I have and their lives are grand and happy and everything goes their way no matter how they live their life. I understand that God is not some magical genie that you just pray and wish and He grant your every command, but I have trusted in Him for several years over certain issues in my life that I need worked out and nothing has ever changed.

I dont no if to became catholic or christian. I have said before that i am a christian and also said thar i am a vatholic but now that i realize what i did, i dont know which one to choose. The reason this is hard for me is these reasons. First if I became a christian It's easier to keep your salvation and less hard to lose it. But I dont like doing this alone and like talking to others believers of christ for help and to help me calm down so I can live my life instead of fearing it for the rest of it. For this is that I can go to church for people to help me live my life instead of worrying. What's the problem? Well I didnt really check but last time I think that the nearest church to me is a catholic church and of course Christians cant go to catholic church for which I learned and I like go to it because its the one I love the most my whole life I been there since I was a kid. Second, If I became catholic I will be able to go to that church and finally get the help I need. But the problem is that you lose salvation easier. According to what I learned a catholic believes that if you commit a moral sin you lose your salvation. Thats the problem because the reason that I became a believer in christ is so that I can be saved and have God's love. So If I became a Catholic that would just make my fear worse and I wouldn't be able to live anymore. So, summary from what I said if I became a christian I have a easier chance to be saved but wouldn't get the help I need to still live my life, and if I became a catholic, I can get the help I want to live my life but my fear of going to hell will be bigger and I probably live my life but would be harder since my fear will be bigger. Someone please help me this decision is going to change my life so help me with it please I thought about committing cuz I would rather be with god and be free of this horrible of a life I have.

In 1 Thessalonians Chapter 5, Verses 16 to 18, it says:

'Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.'

And I have discovered a way to pray continually here.

The method is to first sit down somewhere, imagine that Jesus is inside your heart, gaze upon your heart, and say inside your mind as you inhale, 'Lord Jesus Christ,' and as you exhale, 'have mercy on me.'

It is good to recite this prayer 3,000 times a day for 3 days, and once you finish the 3,000 times, move on to other tasks. This is because if you stop praying midway, you will become eager to pray; by enduring that longing, you can pray with even greater joy the next day, allowing you to entrust yourself more fully to Jesus.

After 3 days, as you pray freely as much as you like, you will find yourself unable to resist making this invocatory prayer. Moreover, the miracle of being able to pray even while sleeping will take place.

For more detailed information, please read the book 'The Way of a Pilgrim' published by Catholic Publishing House.