Questions Theists Should Ponder

  1. Why Can’t Prayers really heal people, like the blind or someone with AIDS?
  2. Instead of praying and not getting answers, why aren’t you getting up and doing something about the homeless and the unfortunate? Do you really feel accomplished because you prayed?
  3. How can you be a Christian and judgmental at the same time?
  4. How do you justify God punishing Adam and Eve for something they did before having any knowledge about good and evil?
  5. What will happen in the Afterlife to the people who never heard about your religion?
  6. What if the god you believe in isn’t the real God? How do you know it’s not some animal or tree?
  7. What makes your “evidence” so compelling?
  8. Why do you hate Atheism so much?
  9. Why does the Bible order you to kill so many people? And why does it support things like slavery?
  10. Why is the Bible inconsistent?
  11. How do you decide what parts of the Bible to take literally?
  12. Why does God not make any appearances, now that we have the technology to record and measure it?
  13. Why do you think your God is paying attention to you?
  14. If knowing God and Jesus is so important then why would god leave it up to man to take care of it for him?
  15. Why are you so hell-bent on asking Atheists, “How did you get here”?
  16. Can you prove to me that God exists in a way that will also show that Zeus does not?
  17. If Gen 3:24 is true, why hasn’t anyone found the Cherubim and the ” flaming sword which turned every way”?
  18. It’s been proven that modern humans originated from Africa. Yet, the Adam and Eve story claims the first Humans lived in a garden in Eden, near 4 rivers. ( Most of which no one can find). One of these rivers mentioned is the Euphrates, which runs through Iraq, Syria and a portion of Turkey. What’s the truth? Did man come out of Africa or near the Euphrates River?
  19. How can a God have emotions, i.e. jealousy, anger, sadness, love, etc., if he is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent?
  20. “God is all merciful,” we hear quite often. Wouldn’t it be more merciful of God to simply snap sinners out of existence rather than send them to hell?
  21. Why haven’t we seen God reattach severed heads, restore someone who was burned alive or regrow amputated limbs?
  22. Why does God entrust the spreading of ‘His’ word to sinners? Why doesn’t he do it himself?
  23. If God is calling these people “home”, why are we putting the murderers of these victims in prison? How can we punish a man or woman for doing God’s will?
  24. Why can’t we wait until we get to Heaven to worship God ? Why would it be too late?
  25. What is the purpose of prayer? What can a finite being on Earth possibly tell an omnipotent, omniscient deity that he doesn’t know already?
  26. Revelations is supposed to take place on Earth. What if we colonize the moon or Mars or inhabit a self-sustaining space station? Do we escape “judgment”?
  27. If the earth was covered by a complete global flood, every living creature killed except those surviving on the ark, why are there many completely unique animal species in Australia that are found no where else on the earth?
  28. If god created the universe out of nothing, why did he need dust to create a man; why did he need that man’s rib to create a woman? Why not create them the same way he created the universe?
  29. In the “Last Days” Jesus is supposed to appear in the clouds. How are the Christians on the opposite end of the world going to see him? Are there going to be millions of Jesus’? What about people that work underground? What about people in deep space?
  30. The highest rainfall ever recorded in a 24 hour period was 47inches in the Reunion Islands in 1947 (during a severe tropical storm). To cover the whole earth to a depth of 5.6 miles, and cover the mountain tops (i.e. Mount Everest), it would need to rain at a rate of 372 (three hundred and seventy two) inches per hour, over the entire surface of the earth. Can rain fall at such an astronomical rate? Where did all the water come from?? Where did it all go to??? And would not the dynamics of the earth be so out of balance (tides etc.) that the earth would become so unstable that it would wobble off into outer space?
  31. If Noah’s flood supposedly covered the earth for a year, regardless of whether or not all the animals could fit on the ark, what the heck happened to all the plants? Can you imagine a cactus surviving under 4 miles of water for a year?
  32. Christians say that God is NOT the author of confusion. Can you say, Tower of Babel?
  33. After 9/11 a lot of people have been tossing around ” god bless America”. Why do they keep saying this? From the looks of it god hasn’t blessed anything. If god had blessed America, the 9/11 event would’ve never happened.
  34. If the garden of Eden was a perfect paradise as Xians claim, then why did Eve even want to eat the fruit? Wouldn’t a perfect place provide everything a person would want or desire and thus she would want nothing?
  35. I have often heard that faith is all that is necessary to believe in God and accept the Bible as true. If this is true aren’t all supernatural beliefs true since they also require “faith”?
  36. Why didn’t God just kill Adam and Eve after the Fall and start from scratch? Actually, if God is all-knowing wouldn’t he know that man would need to be killed eventually anyway, (the biblical flood)? Why create Adam and Eve at all?
  37. Many Christians believe that God is a thinking being, that he solves problems and makes a way for them when troubles come. Does God Think? If God is thinking, did he know his thoughts before he thought them? If so, again, where is his freewill and how is God thinking at all if everything seems to be one uncontrollable action/thoughts?
  38. Genesis 1:28-29 shows that man and all the animals were first created herbivorous. Most young-earth Christians (ones that believes the earth is less than 10,000 years old) say that the fall of man resulted in carnivorous animals (hence death of animals). So, why did God punish the animal kingdom, making animals kill and devour each other because of man’s mistake? Or, if you’re an old-earth Christian (one that accepts that animals existed on earth for billions of years before man came on the scene) then how come fossils show carnivorous animals existed before man?
  39. I have often heard from many believers that even Satan has a presence in the church, which is why even in church people can still have impure thoughts. If Satan can find his way in the church, how do Christians know that Satan didn’t find his way into the Bible and twist the whole book?
  40. Does God know his own future decisions? If God is all-knowing he actually shouldn’t have any decisions to make at all. Nor can he choose anything over something else. For that would mean that he is neither omniscient nor omnipotent?
  41. If God is all-knowing, how could he be disappointed in his creations?
  42. If a spirit is non-physical but the human body is physical, how does a spirit stay in our bodies?
  43. God struck down the Tower of Babel angry at the intent of the people that built them, if this is the case, many of the great pyramids ( which are bigger than any ziggurat) around the world should be rubble also, yet many still stand today. Were not the Egyptians and many other ancient pyramid builders reaching toward God /The Heavens?
  44. Why did God flood the earth to remove evil?
  45. Why would an all-powerful god become flesh in order to sacrifice himself to himself so that his creation might escape the wrath of himself. Couldn’t god, in his infinite wisdom, come up with something a little more efficient?
  46. The Bible says that God is a jealous God . How is this an example of a moral absolute of which man is supposed to follow?
  47. If god is omniscient and ” god is love,” why would he allow a child to be conceived, knowing that that child would one day reject him and spend eternity burning in a lake of fire?
  48. What is the purpose of prayer? What can a finite being on Earth possibly tell an omnipotent, omniscient deity that he doesn’t know already?
  49. Some say Jesus was the all-knowing God. Jesus would have known then that when he died he’d be in heaven in less than 3 days to rule. If Jesus is alive and ruling today, what did he sacrifice?
  50. God knows that men are sinners, untrustworthy and evil, why does God leave it up to fallible man (clergy..etc) to teach others about his word? Why would he put our eternal souls at risk if he loves us so much?
  51. If God has such a tremendous problem with uncircumcised penises, why did he make man with foreskin in the first place?
  52. Did Noah have fish on-board? Salt or Fresh? Since fresh water fish would die in salt, and salt water fish would die in fresh, only one type of fish would survive. Yet….?
  53. Why does the omnipotent, omnipresent God need help from man or angels to spread his word or do acts?
  54. How did Jesus ascend to Heaven in the Flesh when Paul says that flesh cannot inherit the kingdom of Heaven?
  55. If God wants us to live right and choose “the good,” why did he create evil?
  56. I hear Christians all the time speaking of a spiritual war between Heaven and Hell, if this is true does God have limitations of power?
  57. The Bible is full of phrases beginning with, “and the lord saw”. Didn’t he know before hand?
  58. How can a psychologist condone belief in something not proven to exist, when people are put into mental institutions on a daily basis for the same thing? i.e. aliens, fairies, imaginary people (Multiple Personality Disorders..)?
  59. If Christians say they know God exists and that he will work miracles, what do they need faith for?
  60. Brain, or shall I say, body transplants, will eventually be possible, where would the soul be then? Where is the soul?
  61. If God really wants us to know him, why doesn’t he place the knowledge of him in our minds at birth?
  62. If God was Jesus’ father (not Joseph), then why is Jesus’ family tree traced through Joseph?
  63. What image of God was man made from? Couldn’t have been a moral one or physical one.
  64. Why can’t God appear before everyone at the same time? Everyone in the world would then “know” he exists and not have solely “believe”?
  65. According to the New Testament Matthew 5:17 says “Do not suppose that I have come to abolish the Law and the prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to complete. I tell you this: so long as heaven and earth endure, not a letter, not a stroke, will disappear from the Law until all that must happen has Happened.” So since Jesus has not returned the “Law” is still in effect, so why aren’t we still burning witches, stoning adulterers and disobedient children, killing homosexuals, ostracizing people that work on the Sabbath (nurses, doctors etc.), flinging blood onto the horns of the alter, pulling off the heads of small birds, and don’t forget human sacrifice to God (Leviticus 27 P.28 )?
  66. If there is freewill in Heaven yet everyone has chosen good and is happy, isn’t that proof that God could have made us with freewill, choosing good ( God ) and still being happy on Earth?
  67. Why does God have a plan? Man is limited in power so we make plans because we are not all-knowing nor all-powerful. If God has a plan, isn’t he reduced to a mere finite being?
  68. How could the all-merciful/loving God watch billions of his children burn over and over again for eternity?
  69. Before reading and writing were invented (5000BC), on what basis did God use to judge the people who died before the Hebrew and Greek text (BIBLE) were written?
  70. Many Christians tell me that I will “burn in hell”. If I have a soul, how can a soul burn? Aren’t souls non-physical entities?
  71. How can one hold to the barbaric belief that something has to DIE in order to appease a god for a bad deed?
  72. Why does SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) occur? Why would God allow a baby to live for such a short period of time? Why not just let them not be born in the first place?
  73. If Jesus was nailed and died on Friday evening, and walked out of the tomb on Sunday morning, where’s the 3rd NIGHT he predicted?
  74. Many Christians claim that hell is merely existence outside of God? presence. If this is the case, then Jesus could not have descended into hell (being God Himself). As a result, are you sure your sins are forgiven?
  75. Ten to twenty percent of all women who discover they are pregnant suffer a miscarriage. Also, it is estimated that anywhere from 14 to 50 percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage. Seeing this is all part of God ‘s plan, does this make God the world’s number one abortion provider?
  76. What if, when you get to Heaven, you saw God causing pain and suffering out of anger or for the purpose of entertaining himself. What if he required people in heaven to praise and worship him non-stop even to the point of causing his worshipers discomfort, pain and boredom. What if, when he was bored, angry, or jealous, he would create natural disasters to make himself feel better. Would you still follow him?
  77. In Leviticus, the bible condemns homosexuality as an “abomination”, giving some Christians a reason to hate, harass, torture and kill gays and even picket their funerals with ” God hates fags” signs. In the same book of the bible the eating of shellfish is equally an “abomination”. Are these Christians planning to go after the patrons of Red Lobster next?
  78. Christians will tell you that if a baby dies it goes to heaven. Why then are they so against abortion? All the child is being deprived of is the opportunity to go to hell. Either that or god expects unborn fetuses to accept Jesus.
  79. If one could prove to you incontrovertibly that Jesus and God were all human fabrications would you still believe?
  80. It is often said that God allows evil because one could not meaningfully appreciate good without experiencing its opposite. Why is it necessary to experience the opposite of something in order to appreciate it? Must I experience death in order to meaningfully appreciate life?
  81. Bible literals want you to believe that God’s Word in the Bible is meant to be taken literally. If this is the case, why was Jesus fond of explaining things in parable and metaphor? Was Jesus literally discussing the biology of mustard seeds, or was the mustard seed parable meant to be interpreted figuratively as faith?
  82. Liberal Christians say some parts of the Bible are literally true, but much else is to be interpreted figuratively as allegory. How do you know which is which? What distinguishing criteria are used? How can you be certain “God” is a literal and not a figurative concept?
  83. Consciousness is the result of a physical brain, how could God being metaphysical be said to be conscious or sentient without having a brain?
  84. Considering how Leviticus is considered old law, and that Christians do not obey it anymore, why do they always use it to defend homosexuality being an “abomination”?
  85. Why did this alleged god create humans as an animal form of life that gets sick and die and experience pain and has a limited mind when ‘it’ could have created humans as a form of pure energy or of some indestructible material, and was totally sinless; and had pure thought? If  god was omnipotent ‘it’ could have easily have done this.
  86. If a god is omnipotent how did ‘it’ fail to foresee that Satan would turn against ‘it’?
  87. If God is omnipotent and he has a plan, then why did he not create the universe as it will be one second after the plan has succeeded? Who or what prevented him from doing that?
  88. What is a god supposedly made of?
  89. Exactly how did the alleged worldwide flood kill off all the world’s sea creatures? How does one go about drowning a fish?
  90. The large majority of people who have ever existed could not have learned of the Bible or Jesus Christ. And many people after-wards have found other religions or no religion at all to be more convincing, sometimes while being very virtuous. Do all these people really deserve eternal torment because of that?
  91. Is it reasonable for the Creator and Ruler of such a vast Universe to be preoccupied with the sexuality of a species living on a tiny little planet?
  92. If the Christian god was all loving and all knowing why did he let religious figures such as Mohammed or Gautama Buddha be born, knowing that they would mislead people from the ‘true’ faith and trick the majority of the world’s population into burning forever in hell?
  93. If one is obliged to follow all the teachings of the bible then why is engaging in homosexuality or adultery any worse than “suffering a witch to live”, “muzzling the ox that treadth the corn”, “reaping the corners of thy field”, “marring the corners of they beard”, “plowing with an oxen and an ass”, “hating thy brother in thy heart” or “eating frogs, shellfish and eels” ?
  94. How did Mary get pregnant without insemination?

Islam

  1. ‘A religion of peace’, you say? Explain: Koran 3:28, 3:85, 5:33, 8:12, 8:60 – 65, 9:30, 47:4, 22,19…..
  2. How could your god allow other gods to coexist on the same planet, but let its people fight and kill each other as they “watch”?
  3. How can Allah know what is hidden? “Say: none in the heaven or on earth, except Allah, knows what is hidden” (Surah 27:65), “With Him are the keys to the unseen, the treasures that none knoweth but He” (Surah 6:59). Moaz said to Mohammed, “… if Allah wills and you will”, and Mohammed interrupted him saying, “How could you make me equivalent to Allah? No one in heaven or on earth knows what is hidden but Allah.
  4. How is it logically sound to follow a god who is always told what to say? How exactly does that make Mohammed a god?
  5. How can one religious text be superior to another if the words of the “original” bible cannot be known?
  6. Why were there so few that were allowed to know god’s first words? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to show the entire world?
  7. If there’s an Allah, how did ISIS happen?
  8. How were the scriptures corrupted and when?
  9. Why didn’t god warn Mohammed of the poison in his food?
  10. Why would god send his message to a man who can’t read?
  11. People have their whole lives to change their religious beliefs, how can they do that if you kill all the unbelievers? To add, doesn’t the Quran specifically concentrates on conversion for unbelievers?
  12. Mohammad was allowed to have 20 wives but other believers could only have 4, why is that? Why did he command that they only have 4?
  13. Why are all the sources of Embryology information in the Quran is copied from 3 different doctors?
  14. Can you provide any new and detailed information that was revealed in the Quran about Embryology that wasn’t already revealed or was new?
  15. It states in the Quran that the book is perfect. 6:19, 6:38, 6:114) Why are there Muslim scholars that say that the Quran’s laws aren’t clear? Why is Hadith needed to clear up the Quran?
  16. Why is there inadequacies on the amount of angels present that were speaking to Mary? Sura 3:43-45 contradicts Sura 19:17-21.

For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can’t readily accept the God formula, the big answers don’t remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command nor faith a dictum. I am my own god. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us. –Charles Bukowski

**Unfinished. I will add more of different religions when I have time. If you’d like, you can add to it and I’ll post them when I have the chance.

33 comments

  1. Wow! I just came across this and am shocked at the cringy Christian answers and replies to this from years back. I am a Christian and was just looking for some question based mental exercises within Christianity, so thanks for the list. Seems like you put a good amount of thought and effort into this when you wrote it. If you would like, I’d love to take the time into giving solid thought-out questions from a Biblical Christian perspective based in doctrine and theology, rather than the opinions and emotions that may typically get thrown at you. Of course, it has been many, many years since you wrote this and you may have a narrower or broader scope of questions, or perhaps you are not interested to talk to me at all, which is perfectly fine. Let me know and once again thanks for sharing the list no matter how old it is

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  2. very thought provoking questions. I do believe that there is a force/spirit/energy connects all living things. Some refer to it as God. I don’t think “God” is an actual person…mainly a force that cannot be seen or touched. Religion is man-made.

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  3. have see these serious questions by Real Afrikan Truth facebook… Have liked strongly…and have given my comments by real afrikan truth site…one thing more…would wish to get connected to you guys, my like minded…
    freethinker mutazilites nsajigwa
    Dar es salaam Tanzania

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  4. I look at it this way…the stars, the sun, the planets etc., exist but yet if all of life on earth suddenly just died would the universe and all in it care? The question is why we exist at all since it seems that space itself and everything in it really does not need us to exist. Why then is life even here in the first place when we all know for sure we will die in the end?

    The question remains is how and why does life exist and how did space exist and what sustains it? One can say that there is no evidence for a creator and yet one can also state it cannot be proven there is no creator.

    The weird thing is we never really get any answers to anything and are left to guess, speculate, theorize, postulate, have faith etc., as to why really all this exists?

    It really seems so sad that we come into this world, learn all this knowledge, build things, have relationships etc., yet knowing in the end we have to die…makes no sense at all. At least for me I would like an eternal life, to enjoy forever the friends, gardening, hobbies, work etc., that I have done in my life.

    Yet when you assume that a creator exists for everything, then it seems that at least we can guess at least that maybe when we die there is something out there for us, that made the reason we are here and have to go through this life and all its uncertainty, meaningful.

    Lets face it, we all do not really understand all this and get really confused and depressed about the whole thing. Might as well tell the baby that’s born, forget about doing anything with your life because in the end it will not matter anyway. Yet if we assume a creator then at least we have some hope to make sense of ones life.

    Then we have to think also where did life if it came here from outer space, come to exist in the first place? Where is that beginning? We do not know this and to this day cannot even answer it?

    Seems if I did come from out there somewhere, I should at least be able to in my lifetime visit that place before I go.

    Maybe the Bible means well, but maybe we have to look beyond it to understand the Creator? It just seems that there has to be something that put us here for a reason instead of just mindless existence that came from mindless evolution with a permanent ending!

    The funny thing is that we understand some of the processes of the human body and our planet, but yet we cannot create another planet with all the needed conditions to sustain life as we have here on this one. We exist in it, but yet are dependant on it and cannot even control the weather on it.

    Then there is all the diseases and starvations on this world, yet we seem powerless to even stop it.

    With all of this going on, it just seems that even though we will not get relief or true answers in this life, it just seems that there has to be a reason for it all to exist beyond just saying it does.

    We feel we are in control but really we just exist in a body and world we really have not much control over as far as the life sustaining processes such as oxygen, sunshine, water, human body functions such as heart, breathing etc.

    So in summation, based on just my own observations and feelings, it seems there has to be a creator to make sense of all this and also to answer why, when good people die, that just maybe there is going to be an eternal bliss for us.

    In the end do we really know anything for sure as pertains to the why and how of this lifes purpose? Not really, but we still try just the same to explain it.

    Your 92 questions list is something everyone probably asks at sometime and maybe the answers will only be known when we die.

    It is all a big mystery and very tough to understand!

    Peace

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  5. Lee,

    For your question, and proof of God without the bible, here’s my answer. The human body, its so complicated and complex how could all that come out of nothing? Please note, I may be wrong, but then again I may be right. If you have any objection to this, I would look forward to hearing your side of my opinion.
    -a Christian

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    1. Who said it came out of nothing? See, that’s what wrong with Christians, they’re so quick to think what we think on how we got here. Of course I’m going to object, if I had a nickel for everyone who gave me the same argument you just gave me, I’ll be richer than Oprah.

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  6. After reading this post, I asked a friend to give it a read too and he started talking typical religious talk about atheists being satanists.

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  7. Hey, nice looking site. Saw one of you comments on SupportAtheism.com. So, I thought I would stop by and check out your digs. Love this list of questions.

    I suppose the problem is whether the person asking them cares whether the answers to them are true or not. Sadly, theists don’t.

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    1. I know. The ones that had told me said that I hate Christians and that my questions are “shallow”. Their immediate rebuttal is that I hate Christians when that’s the furthest from the truth. I dislike bullshit that is religion.

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      1. And yet they chose to express them in a private form rather than list them here in the commentary (as you intended, I’m assuming). That alone speaks volumes about the level of confidence they must have had in their response to said inquiry.

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  8. Question to any Christian that wishes to discuss it: Can you present any verifiable proof of a god without resorting to the circular reasoning of using your bible as “evidence”? The burden of proof is upon those that make the claim of existence, so the ball is in your court.

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    1. hi lee. for answering your question, what do you mean by verifable proof? do you mean in terms of the scientific method or by if God wants to revive this man, He’ll do it right now? The scientific method cannot be used to “prove” that God exists. It would be invalid because the scientific method is based on repeatable events. So that a different scientist could repeat the same experiment and achieve similar results. For example, How can you prove that I went to lunch yesterday? We can’t prove I did through the scientific method of experimentation because that is a non repeatable event. We can prove it through the history-legal method mainly using oral testimony, written testimony, and artifacts. My friends saw me, the waiter remembers me, I have the restaurant receipt. How can we prove God created the universe if it is a non-repeatable event. Thus, scientific method cannot be used. We must use the other method of oral testimony, written testimony, etc. The bible is a collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. That is why we go back to the Bible. Sorry its a long answer.

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      1. Eye witnesses? Then why is it inconsistent, full of contradictions and gaps? Do you realize how many times this bible has been translated and translated over the years? How many books of the bible weren’t even added? The bible is in an invalid source. It doesn’t apply to the here and now. Even the morality is called into question simply because who this god person is in your book.

        The fact that none of it can be proven (there are hieroglyphics and old-age writings that can be proven with science) tells me a lot.

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