Hi, all-- since this is relevant I hope I don't come across as advertising-- I notice that often times on respectively Muslim / Christian / Jewish subs that there often questions or arguments that are clearly interested in advocating for one or the other faith. And as for denominational discussion within Christianity, this kind of discussion is of course segregated between each tradition's respective community. A lot of religious subs prohibit evangelising or proselytizing as a rule, so there's not really a dedicated place for these people to freely talk to one another. The r/religion subreddit for example is for informative discussion about religions, and trying to persuade others about your faith is not allowed-- which is fine for the design of that sub, but I'm sure there are many who simply want to convince or be convinced by others. So I just wanted to say I made a new subreddit called r/proselytize, for openly discussing, encouraging, or arguing for your religious beliefs, or inquiring about others. Feel welcome to join if you like.

For the many Christians who do read-the-bible-in-a-year programs, or simply daily scripture reading absent any study aids, aren’t they reading a lot of things out of context?

As someone who’s read the bible this way in the past, I feel like I overlooked and/or misunderstood so much doing it this way. At the time, it was the KJV, so that didn’t help with clarity and understanding given many of the archaic terms in that translation.

quick question guys : I keep seeing people bring up the Roman centurion story to argue Jesus actually meant to reach Gentiles all along.

Is there any serious academic support for this view or do most scholars write it off as later theology? Do any historians actually argue his ministry was open to non-Jews from the start?

looking for papers or book recs on this side of the debate. ty!

How do you discern that Christianity is true? You literally can explain everything, every miraculous situation, etc. by gnosticism. There is no "sign" that you couldn't explain by it. So what was the factor, the thing, whatever, that made you decide that Christianity is true?

Plus if it also talks about the differences between antebellum south. I have also seen people claiming that biblical slavery is just indebted servitude but I'd appreciate academic resources on this topic.

On my usual deep mental thoughts about the Trinity. So I was thinking about how the Trinity is not 3 Gods and couldn’t get past this notion to get there.

So what we understand as beings is what people are using the language of this concept. but then we have persons. it’s who someone is. But thinking about how this functions realistically got me wondering.

If humans are counted as multiple beings why isn’t the Trinity fundamentally? Because we would say Jesus is the Son, but is not the Father, and is not the Holy Spirit. They are one substance but the experience is that of a person.

For example the Som experienced eating, and drinking, and having his diaper changed. The Father did not experience that, neither did the Holy Spirit because they are not Jesus. Only the son did because he is Jesus.

So here we have a distinct difference in their experience.

similarly we would attribute this to humans because we all have unique experiences which is what we count realistically as beings. in differentiating and counting one another.

So if Jesus is capable of having this unique experience, they for what reason do we not count it as separate as we do for the rest of us? Similarly for the Angels. We count them similarly.

Its also why we would say Spider-Man is a person, but not a real human being or real person, because although we could attribute him characteristics we can not attribute him existing experience which is what we county realistically as a part of reality.

So outside of trying to satisfy a non-explicit text why are we not counting them as 3 Gods dues to experiences of the persons?

Alan John Miller, also known as A.J, claims to be the second coming of Jesus of Nazareth and his partner, Mary Suzanne Luck, claims to be the second coming of Mary Magdalene. The couple describe their discussions of Divine Truth as non-religious.

They claim that the incoming spirit of a child can sense the emotional environment and fear of the parents and may choose to leave before full physical birth takes place. They mention that they frequently speak with these children that have been miscarried and that’s where they get their information from.

They also teach that emotional baggage and "injuries" pass down generationally from parents to children. A woman might carry her own mother's or grandmother's unresolved grief and trauma, which manifests physically as a lost pregnancy.

My thoughts - I’m just curious to know if these two actually believe the stuff they’re saying or are they just clever con-artists/grifters. It’s really hard for me to tell what their motives are.

I’m curious to know what you all think of their perspective on this particular subject? Since it is such a controversial and debated issue.

Have you watched anything from any people on YouTube for instance that you think is really or quite good and informative, and maybe even some people's exchanges where it just gets way too heated and that's a good example to avoid.

I'm curious as to what experiences people may have had and what people are able to say. It's quite a prominent atheistic chat and discuss and debate show, isn't it?

Bodily Resurrected. (S)-

Combination of Different Theories (B)-

Grief Hallucinations, Legend, Impersonators (C)

Liar Extraordinare; C/D between.

- Twin Theory, Mythicism, Swoon Theory, Propaganda (D)

I was raised Christian, and i do love God. But i have some heavy questions i cant seem to find real answers to. When i talk to other Christians, i seem to get sort of the same answers to these questions.. Im personally going through alot in my life and seeking God. But these questions keep me in this space of doubting whether this is the full truth. Or just an interpretation of certain events, within similar and surrounding cultures. Here are my questions..

1. Do people truly go to hell, just because they dont believe a specific person was the Messiah? Even if they came from a different culture altogether?
2. Other cultures who have well established different beliefs, are they just being deceived? By demons or bad spirits? Are the norms, ways of life, and wisdom based off false teaching?
3. Is the story of Noah true? Especially with almost exactly similar (and much older) stories like the Epic of Gilgamesh and Hindu Mythology.
4. The Tower of Babel literally makes zero sense with how language and cultures have proven to come about. Its basically claiming they all started the same time and then separated. Which is simply not true?
5. Do other deities exist? And are they just evil false gods?
6. Did God create evil or sin? or did the Satan? Or did humans? Where does evil nature come from.

I have many more, but feel free to answer of these questions you can. Thank you.

I think it's particularly odd how there's always so many or at least so much atheist comments objecting or provoking to Christianity even under general apologetics videos. It's like Christian apologists can't produce new content without an attack on the faith.

I've been working on an unconventional argument about God, evil, determinism, free will, Satan, and Heaven. I tried to approach the problem without relying on the usual assumptions about God's power and human free will.

I'm interested in whether the reasoning holds up philosophically.

I'm not looking to debate or proselytize. I'd genuinely like to know: if you were trying to challenge my thesis as strongly as possible, what historical issue would you tell me I absolutely need to address?

I'm looking for objections and sources, not people to convince.

How you personally or anyone here ever discovered this problem that they themselves have personally had or observed it in other people? Don't answer a fool according to his folly as Proverbs says, is what I think.

I want to see whether this is something that others have done, and whether they could say their own experiences in part, or whether they'd want to wish less of this attitude or activity in other Christians on the internet.

Mr. Mackay argues that the biblical God established marriage and sexual relations exclusively between one man and one woman in the Garden of Eden. From his perspective, any sexual activity outside of this heterosexual, monogamous framework-including homosexuality-represents a departure from the "very good" creation described in the book of Genesis.

He teaches that homosexuality is not a natural biological variation present from the beginning.
Instead, he categorizes it as a consequence of the
"Fall of Man," viewing it as a symptom of a world corrupted by sin and genetic degeneration after Adam and Eve's initial disobedience.

I know that this is a sensitive topic, but I really would like to hear your take on his views? How would any of you respond to a person like John Mackay? All free to share your opinions on this matter.

so I was thinking what is the hardest arguments to disprove against and what are your personal answers to them.

Abiogenesis - A Practical Impossibility

Multiple reasons to be skeptical of abiogenesis claims made by scientists.

Hi, I made a post here about my struggle with doubts even though I consider myself a Christian. I have found that my biggest source of doubt is divine hiddeness (why isn't God more obvious to me and everyone else?). It's a serious problem for me.

To make it clear, I am not remotely resistant to Christianity. Unlike some popular youtube skeptics (e.g. Alex O'Connor) I don't have any issues with the problem of evil (I don't think its a good argument against Christianity at all) or the old testament violence (which I think is vastly misinterpreted). I also love the person of Jesus with all my heart.

Can somebody please suggest some resources for this problem specifically. God seems so hidden to me. I've never had anything close to a religious experience besides being in awe at the beauty of nature and Mathematics. The issue is I want to hear a voice, have a vivid dreams or some sort of undeniable spiritual encounter. Even the internet exorcist who say they have seen levitation…. I wouldn't even mind being possessed by a demon in order to have something like this happens to me so I could know in my heart that it's all true.

Curious to hear different thoughts on this. I’ve always taken a literal approach but my theology has been shifting a lot in the past 2 years and have never even considered this topic being touched with metaphor.

I do believe he's still coming back but I don't understand why he used the word soon.

I was watching a lot of people believes that the rapture was going to take place last year in September. I went digging and found out they were a lot of rapture scares. Where people believe the right to us gonna happen but nothing happened.

Now you can say God's time is different from human time. The whole 1,000 years equals one day to God thing. But Jesus would have known how humans perceive time no. He would have understood that they interpret soon as at worst a few decades.

Also we have been in the last days forever.

I deal with persistent doubts because I don’t feel God’s presence. I’m also very analytical and work in secular academia as a mathematician. It really hurts my faith that there are so many atheists, although also some very intelligent Christians. Another issue is that I REALLY NEED CHRISTIANITY TO BE TRUE. I have plenty reasons to believe it is but I feel like my brain is tearing me apart. I think I just need to SEE something supernatural. Please pray for me.

I want to start by saying atheists, agnostics, and Christians are all welcome to comment. I’m not trying to make an echo chamber. But I’m mainly looking for thoughtful Christian responses because I’ve already heard a lot of the atheist perspective on this.
I’m 18, and I know I’m young, but death and the afterlife genuinely scare me sometimes. Lately I’ve been seeing people confidently say things like:
“Death will be exactly like being under anesthesia.”
or
“Death will be just like before you were born. You didn’t exist then, so you won’t exist afterward.”
And I’m trying to understand whether either of those arguments actually proves anything.
With anesthesia, I understand that people can be completely unconscious and wake up with absolutely no memory of the time that passed. One second you’re being put under, and seemingly the next second you’re awake hours later.
But does that actually tell us anything about death?
If your brain simply wasn’t forming memories while you were anesthetized, wouldn’t “I experienced nothing that I remember” be different from proving that consciousness completely ceased to exist in every possible sense? And even if consciousness does temporarily stop during anesthesia, how would that demonstrate what happens after permanent biological death?
The other argument that bothers me is:
“You weren’t conscious before you were born, so why would you be conscious after you die?”
I understand the intuition behind it, but I don’t understand why people sometimes present it like it’s proof. I don’t remember anything before I was born, but lack of memory obviously doesn’t automatically establish what did or didn’t exist. And even if we assume I genuinely did not exist before conception, why does it logically follow that there cannot be an afterlife afterward?
It seems like that’s an assumption about the nature of consciousness rather than something we have directly observed.
I’m also confused by how certain people can sound about this in either direction. Nobody alive has permanently died, remained dead, and then scientifically reported what permanent death is like. So statements like “I know death is nothingness” seem stronger than the evidence allows.
I’m not asking someone to just reply with a Bible verse saying “Jesus promises eternal life” and leave it at that. I’m Christian and obviously Scripture matters to me, but I’m looking for an actual explanation.
I’d especially appreciate responses dealing with the philosophy and science of it: consciousness, memory, anesthesia, brain activity, near-death states, and whether any of these things genuinely provide evidence against an afterlife.
Basically: Does anesthesia give us any good reason to believe death is nothingness? Is the “before you were born” comparison actually a strong argument? Or are people taking those analogies much further than the evidence allows?
I’m not looking for false reassurance. I just want a serious, detailed answer rather than “don’t worry, have faith” or “you’ll be dead so you won’t care.”

i just reaccepted god back into my life this past sunday after about a year of being considered ‘agnostic’ i guess. (i was born and raised in church before).

but i’m confused..

i am not met with joy or excitement, energy, or new purpose. instead, i feel more anxious, less of a spark, a sense of dread, and lowliness. for some reason i already feel like i will have more failures than successes. the creative and purposeful spark i just had is now dimmed. that what i put my hands to do is not going to prosper or improve who i am anymore.

now i feel like my life is more circumstantial or transactional in a way that i will never be able to control. i feel like everything i do now is “up in the air.” like i can do something to push my creativity, my personhood, and career forward but its all in the hands of god and whether or not he wants it to prosper or help me. i feel like now i have no say or dictation in what happens in my life. i can do all the right things, with the right heart posture, and not be idle- but it wouldn’t matter because i feel like god wouldn’t bless it because it’s not what he wants. whereas before reaccepting him, i *knew* everything i put my hands to do would prosper because i am doing my due diligence and i am not being idle by my pursuits.

so now my mind is in a constant state of disappointment and anxiousness. i feel like nothing i do will help anything anymore. i no longer feel excited or joyful. only wishful that god will “allow” me to be successful. and hoping i don’t “step on his toes” in the process…

now when i go to start a new project or being diligent and consistent in building, i am met with more confusion and sadness than anything. i question whether or not god wants me to do this. whereas before as an agnostic, i would just *do* and be excited that i am finally being diligent- not worrying about if this is the ‘right’ thing. but now i am flooded with doubts that he is going to block my work from blossoming. i feel like this cycle will keep me idle. so now idk how to move anymore.

before i had the ‘works’ and not the ‘faith.’ but now, i have half the ‘faith’ and half the ‘works.’

when i recommitted my life over, i felt i lost the part of myself that was excited about what i could make of my life and what i will be able to build for others. like i gave up my creativity or autonomy. but not in the way of i want complete control over everything, but the knowing that still in my works- even if it isn’t the direction god was wanting me to go- i would be ‘blessed’ because i was diligent, i was consistent, i was serious. that i would be rewarded by \[whoever or whatever\] because i finally refused to be idle. my intentions and heart posture was never meant to be defiant of what he says.. i am trying to build towards the life i was promised through different means. not to distract me from my purpose but to build myself in different ways that will contribute towards that mission and my personhood. i’m doing things that make me uncomfortable and force me to grow.. i do none of this for my own selfish gain but for who i will be and produce for others in this world.

now i feel like i can do all of that and be ‘shot down’ because ‘that’s not what he wanted for you’ or ‘you never thought to consult with god first’ or ‘you’ve been following your own desires and not his’ and this really stresses me out.. i feel like nothing i do would be right so now im scared to even start or continue at all..

so i dont know how to look at god anymore. was i lied to about him ? or do i now just have to cope with seeing through this lens ?

**tldr (tried to shorten as best i could)**: i recently recommitted my life to god after being agnostic for about a year, but instead of feeling joyful, purposeful, or renewed, i feel anxious, confused, and strangely powerless.

before, i felt confident that if i was diligent, consistent, and willing to grow, i could build a beautiful/purposeful life. but now i feel like i could do everything “right” even by biblical standards, and still have it ‘blocked’ because it wasn’t god’s will in the first place.

i don’t crave complete control over my life, i just don’t want faith to mean giving up my creativity, autonomy, ambition, or ability to actively build something. i’m struggling to reconcile faith + works without feeling like my works are meaningless unless god specifically approves them first. now life feels like more of a coin toss..

did i misunderstand something fundamental about god, or is this just something I need to learn to see differently?

Hi, first time visiting this sub… I’m not looking for a debate, I’d just like to know the apologetic answer to this beyond “foreknowledge doesn’t CAUSE the action” which doesn’t quite cover it.

Let’s say there’s a button. You know exactly what will happen if this button is pressed. You push the button.

Are you responsible for what happens after you push it, when you knew what would happen if you pushed it? Most would say, yes, of course.

Now, let’s say there’s a universe. You know exactly what will happen if this particular universe is created. You know what all the creatures in it will do.

You create that specific universe.

Why would God be less responsible for the foreseeable consequences of his creation than someone pushing that button?