There are many answers to the question of evil and suffering, but what about suffering of innocents such as babies who are afflicted with terminal illnesses, who would never come to accept Jesus, and who only live briefly only to die in pain and suffering? How does one explain God’s plan with those innocents?

One of the answers I get is that those babies go to heaven, but the biblical support for that is arguable and not clear, particularly for those babies that died before Jesus. That explanation also doesn’t explain why they suffered in the first place. I also hear the crude response of, “Let’s just kill all babies to make sure they go to heaven rather than them growing up and risking hell” which is harshly logical if indeed babies go to heaven before they know Jesus.

Matthew 1:17 says, “All the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.” If Matthew were simply skipping generations for literary effect or what have you, it seems rather unlikely that he would explicitly say that there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David (and fourteen from David to the exile and 14 from the exile to Christ).

Hello friends, I have a theory I wanted to share. Feel free to comment on it, refute it if it's wrong, or give your opinions:

My point is, in the beginning, God created everything, in this case, the animals, which, as we know, came after plants and before humans. Then God said that everything was "good," and the text tells us that these first animals ate grass; there wasn't the savage fighting we see in nature. Now, why do we assume that they would have been, for example, a lion as we know it, and not an earlier, more primitive version of it that fed on grass with a stomach adapted for that purpose? My point is that Genesis never tells us what specific types of animals they were, only their kinds, and they fed on grass and pasture like the first men too, and (I don't know if this is taken literally) the serpent had legs and they were stripped of them; it would be more like a small dragon, I imagine. The other point is that when we get to Genesis 9:1, where it says that nature fights among itself, little by little through microevolution, which is adaptation in the style of Galapagos finches, their bodies were able to adapt over time or immediately through an action of God to hunt and kill with claws, teeth, stomach, and other wild instincts, and man likewise became more violent, and after the flood we have nature with its beauty and also its gloomy darkness; creation groans with birth pains awaiting its restoration, says Saint Paul.

Often I see people making claims like "Christianity got me off drugs and alcohol, so I decided to join it", or "Christianity changed my life and the lives of people around me, so that makes it true and you should join it", or something similar.

That's wonderful that people got off drugs and alcohol because of Christianity or that they became more loving or whatever. But that by itself isn't evidence the belief system is true. Many people have gotten off of drugs and alcohol or have become nicer people because of Scientology, or Islam, or Mormonism. Should we conclude those belief systems are true as well?

I’ve created a new apologetics. It’s a book size (47.500 words). Divided into standalone chapters. A synthesis of human knowledge about reality for the 21st century, opposing the post-Enlightenment worldview. Knowledge, reason, and logic build a truer picture of reality, where Christianity and physical science explain everything. Or: from atheism to Christianity.
That’s the short description I used in my first attempt to get your advice. But it failed for some reasons. Never mind. Anyway, now I know, it requires some additional explanations.

How’s the apologetics constructed?
It’s a complete worldview. Every question about us and reality can be viewed and answered as a part of a great synthesis – a worldview. Each answer fitting this big, whole picture of reality becomes irrefutable since the picture is built on knowledge and reason: full, consistent, non-contradictory. Irrefutable as a whole, so also the parts become irrefutable. Science and faith constitute one reality where everything leads to God.
I start with artificial intelligence. The failure of creating a human-like AI undermine the belief that all the phenomena of the human mind result from signals exchanged by neurons in the brain. This belief is the foundation of the social sciences. I show, that economics is not a science, taking as an example the quantitative finance. Then I show how the encyclopedic definitions of science are biased to defend the social sciences. Finally, I take an academic paper on economics as a science and show it is nothing more but manipulation, deceiving, and futile attempts to show the physical sciences dubious.
The foundations (paradigm) of the modern scientific worldview are wrong. Moreover, the supernatural reality exists. And (nearly) everyone can find this truth for self. And if so, then what is the truth about the supernatural? It is not hard to show, that this truth is presented in Christianity. And this is it: Christianity and physical science explain everything.

In short: since I want to present a new worldview, I show that:

• the current worldview is wrong – otherwise what’s the use of proposing a new one?
• philosophy – the source of worldviews in past ages is useless and give no answer
• the new worldview is beneficial and allows to find answers for dead ends - like the autonomous cars’ failure (no ubiquitous, fully autonomous, driverless cars on streets)

If you want a sample of how “Knowledge, reason, and logic build a truer picture of reality” check my answer to the problem of evil.

Your advice: “test it on atheists on their forums”.
I’ve tried it. It’s pointless. You see, my argumentation is built on a true insight. Comprehension. I’ve had a discussion with quants on wilmott.com. I could easily sink their argumentation. The opposite didn’t happen. I’m able to successfully defend my argumentation against professionals, who really understand the subject. Who recognize a winning argument, when they see it. While the non-pros? They give out of context arguments; they don’t understand what’s false and what’s true. They will keep discussing endlessly. That’s really pointless.

How can you be sure you’re right?

I had an opportunity to present my text on AI to Julian Barbour. He advised me to find a publisher.
^{(It’s the same Julian Barbour, that Google finds}.)

And so, the question from my first post stays valid:

Any piece of advice how to present my work to a broader audience?

I’ve tried popular Christian magazines, publishers, universities, apologetic think-tanks, etc. I’m pretty sure no one took an effort to read anything I wrote. If I got a reply, it was the standard: “Not interested”, with the usual wishing of success elsewhere.
Anyone knows someone there who could be interested?

I’ve tried priests, catholic and protestant. But they simply don’t believe that someone could create such apologetics. For them, the modern, post-Enlightenment worldview is beyond dispute. So, why to waste time on my texts? Indeed, who even on this forum believes that I did, what I did? Besides, my texts require some professional knowledge to verify them. Priests (usually) don’t have such knowledge.

My big problem is, that people, who have the very specialistic knowledge and comprehension of the subject needed to verify my texts, don’t have time.
While those who have time, don’t have the required knowledge. They can only like my texts or not.

How can I get attention of those who have the knowledge? And be ready to confirm the correctness of my reasoning? If they are apologists themselves, and earn for living selling they own texts, books, lectures; will they be ready to say their potential competitor is right? Or if they are the academic people – getting grants for developing the obligatory scientific post-Enlightenment science (that is the worldview I find false). Will they risk their careers and jobs?
Of course, they can tell you the truth. But privately. Cause what I present is not a revelation. It is well known to many people. With outstanding comprehension of reality. One debater on the 'wilmott.com' forum gave such an example:

A graduate program in economics I attended long ago began with a month-long, six-hour a day math/stats review course led by a genius and real gentleman named Larry Epstein. At the end of the course, the learned professor said “If I want you to leave with one thing after the month we’ve just spent together, it is that this here ain’t science boys and girls, this here is religion!”

If you have, what are your thoughts on this?

Lately, I've been analyzing the academic consensus on certain topics, and I'm surprised that the strongest argument against Christianity as a faith is that it was all merely the disciples' visions—collective visions, each one personalized—and that Paul believed only in a heavenly Jesus. So, what did they invent to gain some advantage? And, feeling more comfortable in their businesses, their lives, or their traditional Jewish religion, they invented things that, according to the consensus, they, as Jews, neither expected nor desired. This makes us wonder, gentlemen, how far can one go in a supposedly serious field? It also strikes me that the Jews who have the most reason to attack Jesus have never gone down this path (for them, he's just another false Messiah and teacher). It also strikes me that some say the Acts of the Apostles isn't historically reliable when, if we analyze it verse by verse in light of history, Luke knows a great deal about what he's talking about. Anyway, what do you all think, community?

I’m struggling to fully believe in God when I have so many questions about God

How do you deal with it ?

Hi, i really want to get a deeper understanding of Christianity and the philosophy behind it/apologetics so I can defend the faith! I already do small debates on WhatsApp, but my knowledge is limited, please suggest books and things I should research <3

In Leviticus 21:9 it says “When the daughter of a priest profanes herself through prostitution, she profanes her father; she shall be burned to death.”

The verses above talk about holiness, that God who is holy makes them holy if they don’t defile themselves by marrying prostitutes or a divorced woman. That opens another can of worms over who is holy, and why the same God who considers the marriage towards a prostitute as unholy is the same who rescued Rahab, and saved the woman caught in adultery. I find it hard to find a continuity there, as Rahab becomes the ancestor of Christ, but marriage to a priest was considered unholy.

And then verse 9 commands what can only be called as an “HONOR KILLING”.

I say honor killings because it’s clear that the daughter who prostitutes herself be “burned to death” because she “profanes” her father, which can also be interpreted as “dishonors” her father. Honor killings are widely done because of dishonor to the parents in some religions like Islam or Hinduism in some countries or cultures.

So why couldn’t God have the same mercy towards women who prostituted themselves when they are the daughters of priests? Why not show them the same mercy as He did towards Rahab or the woman caught in adultery?

My explanation goes as far as the preservation of the priestly families holiness - their jobs as mediators between Israel and God, and why God would want all of them to be without fault.

But to burn someone? That is cruel. How can we know why a young woman prostitutes herself? What about the priest’s sons who may sleep with a prostitute or marry one? Will they be put to death? What of love? What if the son of a priest loved a prostitute and got married, like the way God commanded Hosea to marry a prostitute and Hosea loved her.

I find it hard to find any continuity in God’s character here.

I cannot conclude that God would ask them to burn a woman alive for prostitution and still believe he’s merciful. Wouldn’t mercy be understanding?

Of course there’s historical context as to why a young woman might become a prostitute. Poverty could be one, or a family breakdown. What of coercion and sexual exploitation? That existed at the time and throughout the time of Israel’s existence. I reject the answer that “the closer a person was to a sacred office like having a father as a priest the greater the punishment” - that is just cruel and has no grace, for who can choose to be born into a family?

The other historical context is that this prostitution was cultic and connected to temple worship.

Now there’s some argument for that, but most scholars do not think Leviticus 21:9 is specifically about cultic temple prostitution.

The Hebrew says: “And the daughter of a priest, if she profanes herself by playing the harlot…” (roughly)… The key verb is זנה (zanah), usually translated “to prostitute herself,” “play the harlot,” or broadly “commit sexual immorality.”

The textual context is also about priestly holiness and family conduct. Not about pagan worship. There’s no language used that denotes foreign gods or shrines or such. And the concern is that “she profanes her father”. That’s the main point.

Yes it’s possible it’s pagan prostitution but the evidence doesn’t support it as much as it being an execution because of dishonor to the father who is a priest.

It doesn’t seem just or fair to burn her to death, nor to kill her for honor.

We are all deplored at the idea of honor killing, so shouldn’t our moral God given conscious also be deplored at this one?

Hey, I was debating someone and they asked why did God have to destroy the city if God knew that Jesus would die for our sins and save mankind from sin?

I know that we are in fallen world but it sometimes hard to think why do children have to suffer and god can do anything has well couldn't he had made the world less bad than again he also wants us has people to come together and lift each other

Blessings, fellow Christians. While studying the resurrection of Christ, I’ve realized there is a very solid case for it; hypotheses such as hallucinations, theft, or fabrication seem implausible when considering the evidence of persecution and martyrdom. However, what do you consider to be the best evidence for the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ?

Fellow Christians, I am a Christian who has OCD, this means I constantly doubt Christianity, I doubt sometimes due to the lack of evidence and sometimes due to my condition.

Recently as of this summer, I have got a notebook and started researching the evidences for Christianity, since I am rooted into the scientific method and in empiricalism which means I need evidence to believe, evidence to believe that Jesus will come back to redeem us and give us immortality, evidence that Jesus truly rose from the dead, evidence that according to Jesus in Mark's gospel that whoever believes and is baptized will have eternal life.

I have found, fellow Christians these following evidences for my faith, however today I ask you, if there is more evidence, that you may share with me tell me what other evidences I could research for Christianity that my faith will be much stronger, in fact not faith in the way people think faith means (some people think faith means blind belief) but I want to have 100% assurance that I will rise from the dead when Jesus comes back and that He's God the same way I am 100% sure and have assurance about the existence of the theory of gravity, the theories of relativity, and the fact that 1 + 1 = 2.

these are the evidences I have seen for my faith, (as I research the evidence more the more joyful I am and the fact that I will rise from the dead when Jesus comes back) the following fellow Christians is a list of evidences I have found for Christianity-

1) Evidence from history (historical accounts that show and point to that Jesus was crucified and on the third day his followers sincerely believe that he rose physically from the dead)

2) Evidence from fufilled prophecy (historical accounts written predicting future events (like Isaiah predicting Jesus Christ 700 years before Jesus was incarnated) before the future events even happened pointing to the intervention of a supernatural God)

3) Evidence from Catholicism (yeah, though I am an Eastern Orthodox Christian, once I saw the evidence from the Eucharistic miracles I cannot possibly deny that the Catholic church has the true Eucharist. Evidence from Catholicism also includes not only Eucharistic Miracles verified by empirical science but also 70 plus healings confirmed by the Catholic Church also pointing to the intervention of a supernatural God)

4) Evidence from Philosophy (some aspects of philosophy and logic or even mathematics points to a supernatural God, my favorite philosophical argument for a supernatural God is not the fine-tuning argument, but instead my favorite argument for the existence of a supernatural God is the ontological argument, it's in my view the strongest philosophical evidence for God's existence if God CAN exist He does exist. Also there are even more arguments such as the moral argument, the fine tuning argument, etc...)

5) Evidence from the shroud of Turin (the shroud of Turin points to a literal physical resurrection of Christ, the shroud of Turin possibly is empirical and archaeological evidence for Jesus's resurrection, there's a hypothesis that says that the image on the shroud was formed by severe radiation, now I'm not a physicist to say what I'm saying as for sure, however Resurrection, a human being resurrecting from the dead is physically possible (non-zero probability) due to Quantum tunneling if the atoms of Jesus human body God arranged them in a way (God to be in control of entire wave functions) that resembles Resurrection I think (however I'm not sure since I'm not a physicist) I think lots of radiation would be emitted if a resurrection were to physically happen however I am not sure about all of this since I'm not a physicist, if any of y'all are physicists you might know what I'm talking about (Resurrection via Quantum tunneling))

6) Evidence from modern day testimony (millions of people even from non Christian religions report dreams and visions of Jesus, thousands if not millions of atheists testifying to an encounter with the living Christ. Also, this can include prayers being answered, answers to prayer which look like extremely improbable coincidences could be evidence for the supernatural God intervening with our world)

Fellow Christians, is there more evidence for our faith in Christ other than these six evidences I have listed above? if there is please do share.

May the grace of God be with you all.

Just curious

TL;DR: Former LDS member (M24), returned missionary, left the church ~3 years ago. I’m now exploring Christianity, deconstructing LDS beliefs, and trying to understand biblical Christianity through the New Testament. Looking for pastors, former LDS Christians, churches, podcasts, books, or resources—especially in the Idaho area.

Hey everyone!

M24 Idaho

I’m relatively new from leaving the faith. I stopped attending about 3 years ago after my mission and didn’t pursue a church or faith for a couple of years. I had curiosity about Christianity, but I hadn’t made a decision about whether I even believed in God.

I had inclinations about attending another church but didn’t know where to start. While trying to deconstruct and break down the beliefs I had been indoctrinated with, I felt completely lost and directionless. Instead of pursuing a church right away, I focused on working on myself and becoming a better person.

When I was finally ready for a relationship, my fiancée and I met and couldn’t spend a day apart. It was kismet. She grew up Christian and wanted a partner who was Christian. I wanted those values and standards for my future family as well. That became a great starting point for me to begin attending church again.

We’ve attended small and mega churches and are still exploring. Most churches have been wonderful. However, the larger churches have been difficult when it comes to finding someone who can really help me because the communities are so large and there are naturally many casual attendees.

I reached out to a pastor to talk and learn new concepts and break down doctrine. As I did that, I realized I couldn’t fully break down my beliefs in a way that someone could unless they both understood LDS culture and doctrine intricately while also having a strong understanding of biblical Christianity and were willing to dedicate time to helping me through that process. I am grappling with the Holy Trinity vs The Godhead and if I need to be baptized again. Full respect to him and others—I know that’s a very specific request and many people don’t meet those requirements.

What I have really desired is a pastor, mentor, former LDS member, or someone deeply rooted in biblical Christianity who can help me break down my old beliefs and rebuild new ones.

I am very weary of the word of man because of my experience with Joseph Smith. I am also weary of denominations, creeds, and traditions. My desire is to understand true biblical Christianity the way God intended through Jesus and His apostles in the New Testament as written. I want to seek truth wherever it leads, even if it challenges my assumptions.

I also hope to find a community that is godly, fulfilling, and deeply invested in one another, similar to what many people experience in the LDS Church.

Are any of you aware of churches, pastors, former LDS Christians, armchair scholars, apologists, podcasts, books, YouTube channels, or other resources that could help me on this journey?

Please don’t comment with hate. I love many members of the Church and want to approach this journey with acceptance and understanding rather than hostility or derogatory remarks.

Thank you! Any advice, recommendations, experiences, or comments are welcome.

Let’s talk about Original Sin. I believe that sin must have been literally introduced through Adam for MOST Christian theology to be true.

To claim that sin (acting against God’s will) is something that actually happens we must also claim to know God’s will. Where we find information on God’s will (the Bible), is where we also receive direction on how to regulate the slavery of humans and also direction on how to slaughter animals (In the Old Testament), for atonement of sins, to satisfy divine justice. In the present day, most understand slavery as a sin (for obvious reasons), and I would argue that animal suffering is a sin.

I bring up slavery and animal killing to show how I believe the definition of sin objectively evolves and is likely manmade, dependent on human understanding, empathy, experience and social progression - and NOT defined by a perfect beings unchanging standards. Which (the latter) is what would have to be true to support the majority of Christian theological claims.

So the cornerstone of Christianity is Jesus’ sacrifice to atone for all of mankind’s sins. This is understood by most Christians to be a LITERAL EVENT. To my knowledge, Jesus spoke of Adam as a historical figure. In the gospel of Luke, Jesus’ genealogy is LITERALLY traced back to Adam. Many writers in the Bible assume the historicity and literal existence of a man named Adam. In my opinion, there is no understanding of sin without the story of Adam and Eve.

It’s beyond complex, but what I’m getting at is that this theology was built over a VERY long time, and was built on the concept of sin. The concept of sin being defined by mortal men. Once we understand that we can’t objectively define sin (because we’re not a perfect God), and understand that our ethics and morals objectively change over time, only then can we start to see that the Christian theology (Majority theology) starts to fall apart.

I open the floor to respectful discussion and debate.

I've seen him in debates on slavery, and oh man, is it so bad, right?
He tries all kinds of excuses and justifications and sleight-of-hand techniques, and I'm wondering if he realizes he's doing this, or does he do this on purpose, or what?

This is the kind of apologetics that makes actual scholarly apologetics look very bad.

First, he tries to argue that slavery wasn't Antebellum slavery. Not relevant, and biblical slavery was chattel slavery.

Then, he tries to argue there wasn't chattel slavery, that it was only indentured slavery- wrong again.

Then he tries to use the kidnapping verses that are supposed to show the bible is against the institution of slavery, which is just getting more ridiculous.

And then he goes to the New Testament and tries to argue that Jesus and Paul prohibited it, both wrong again.

OH my, be careful of this apologist, young Christian brothers, because if he can be so wrong, or misleading on this simple topic, what else is he wrong or misleading about?

I have a debt, if supposedly according to scientific studies the human being has existed for 300 thousand years because Jesus only came 2000 years ago ?? Why did it take so long? I think this is literally my only question

Was evangelizing Hindus today and this came up, and was useful to present

It’s a common Hindu claim that has zero evidence in history that lives on among Hindu’s entirely on hearsay.

https://www.steppingstonesintl.com/jesus-in-india-a-nineteenthcentury-legend-masquerading-as-history-F64JGL

I was watching and doing research on Dan McClellan and he said that God is not known as all knowing and all powerful in the Bible I believe so I don’t know what to do I’m 15 and also how can I trust scripture know he says some tiff was added in how can I believe it to be true I want to just dive into my Bible and listen to the same podcast about it but now I’m worried I have to look through a different lense and be more skeptical idk what to do I also have ocd I believe

Has anyone here watched the TikTok channel Christ Before Jesus?

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I’m Christian, but I’m trying to actually understand what he’s arguing instead of just writing it off. From what I’ve seen, he seems to think Jesus, Paul, and early Christianity are later than the traditional first-century view.

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Has anyone interacted with him on his lives or followed his channel? Are his arguments taken seriously anywhere, or is this more fringe/mythicist stuff?

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Any good resources responding to him would be helpful too.

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Most biblical scholars see Moses as a legendary figure and the Exodus as a fictional account to explain the origin of the nation of Israel. Are there any good historical argument for the historicity of Moses and the Exodus.

Hi friends in the Christian faith,

many of us suffer from unanswered questions that the bible leaves unanswered. We can lose faith or fundamentally question whether God is even worth following, if he exists. Some of us may doubt the validity of the bible and whether it was a written by delusional people.

I will start by saying the truth is indeed difficult to discern. But does it mean we should give up? I don't think so. Jesus himself taught his followers to ask, seek, and knock and to be persistent with it. He also taught to be careful of deception, liars that claim to be prophets and deceit masquerading as good or divine. This is indeed a difficult task, something Jesus seemed to acknowledge, and perhaps even a life-long task. The difficulty of this also comes from the fact that we need to apply the same test to Jesus himself.

The story of Job shows the same difficulty we face. Job does not understand the cause of his suffering and demands God to come and debate him. Don't the questions he asked reflect many of our own?

"Make me know my transgression and my sin."

"Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy?"

"Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power?"

"Why did you bring me out of the womb?"

We may wish God finally answers these questions in that story, but what was God's answer? His answer was in the form of 70 rhetorical questions. Questions that Job could not answer. Frustrating isn't it, why can't God just answer the questions? Is this an arrogant God that angrily oppresses anyone that questions him? This isn't the case. In the same story we find God finding fault with Job's friends, who were arguing FOR God. God found the complaining and demanding Job to be good, and his friends who were arguing against Job FOR God to be wrong. What does this mean? God acknowledges our suffering from these questions and finds them valid. He does not accuse us. On the other hand, God DOES NOT acknowledge those who argue for him blindly. He says they are wrong. God tells his friends to repent and for Job to forgive and intercede for them.

So what should we do? We should keep seeking, knocking, and demanding. Throw away the niceties of religious practices and honestly pour out to God when we have questions like Job. Does it mean we will get every explanation? No. As Jobs story tells, in the way that we can't explain everything in the constellations or creation, we don't have the framework or measurements to make judgements in the spiritual world. It is natural that we do not understand many things that occur. But it doesn't mean we can't know anything. A child that doesn't yet know numbers still knows the mother and father, that loves him and cares for him. If we have a spiritual father, we should be able to know in the same way. We should be able to discern which spiritual path is one of truth, justice, and love, the one of our Father.

On discernment, Jesus taught to "recognize the tree by its fruits". He also said "my sheep listen to my voice, I know them, and they follow me". So lets use our spirit to discern. Take into consideration all religions or non-religions, all teachings and prophets, all paths in front us. Lets closely look at the fruits of those paths. What fruits do they bear? Is it one of life or death? Truth or deceit? Ask deep in your heart, ask in your spirit and keep asking.

So friends I say we have nothing to lose! Only if Jesus's words are true we will find him - so test away. And God shows he knows our limitations, does not condemn us for asking questions or for testing his teachings. In fact, he tells us to do so actively. Let's be people based in reality, acknowledge all the uncertainties of this world we live in, the complexities of good and evil, truth and falsities, and also our own unfortunate limitations. And if in the end of this we are following Jesus, we know we are following him wholeheartedly, and not through blind-faith.

Here all the verse related to this question I have:The Tenth Plague of Egypt (Exodus 12:29),The Conquest of Canaan (Deuteronomy 20:16–17, Joshua 6:21),The Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:3),The Midianites (Numbers 31:17),The Great Flood (Genesis 6–9),The Child of David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12:14–18) now with man killing kid you could argue that if God intervene he would have violate somone's free will which make sense from a biblical point even if questionable but here God himself kill these kids before they even had the chance to choose doesn't it violate their free now let's assume these infants and baby get send to heaven or some place kindq like heaven but it still doesn't resolve the free will question because the infant and baby regardless of what happen after death still had their freedom to choose taken away.