I spent a long time as a Christian. I’m able to look back on much of that time very fondly. I loved my fellow brethren, and I truly wanted to learn more about God’s will and do my best to follow it. But there was also a deep fear tied to my belief. I think that’s fairly common among fundamentalists, but it may apply to more moderate Christians as well.
Where did this fear come from? There are certainly a number of passages that talk about God’s love for mankind:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? – Rom 8:31
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Rom 8:38-39
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. – 2 Pet 3:9
But despite his love, God can get angry too. And you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry:
For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. – Heb 10:26-31
The scariest thing about this is that facing God’s wrath will be a complete shock to some people. There are those who think they’re doing what God wants, but are completely missing the mark:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” – Matt 7: 21-23
What if you believe in Jesus and love God, but aren’t doing God’s will? Is your sincerity enough? This was a thought that plagued me when I believed. If some people would get to Judgment Day only to find that they weren’t acceptable, then why couldn’t such a thing happen to me? How did I know my beliefs were the correct ones? My brother and I used to talk about this a lot. Through study, he and I both began to think that a couple of the doctrines we had always been taught in the Church of Christ were incorrect. Coming to that conclusion was extremely difficult. Were we reading and understanding our Bibles correctly?
As an illustration, consider a minor passage: 1 Corinthians 11. The beginning of this chapter says that women should have their heads covered when they pray. But the passage is confusing. Paul says that since women have long hair, they should also wear a covering when they pray or prophesy. He spends several verses giving reasons why a woman should cover her head, but then in verse 15, he also says that her long hair is given to her as a covering. So do they still need a separate one? Most confusing at all, verse 16 says:
If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.
What does that even mean? Does it mean there’s not a practice of being contentious? That sounds like a crazy thing to have to say. So maybe he’s saying that the head covering is not supposed to be a practice if anyone makes a fuss over it. But that doesn’t make sense either. I mean, what other doctrines are given that caveat? Did any of the 10 Commandments have such an escape clause? The whole passage is confusing. What are Christians supposed to do? Either God wants the covering, or he doesn’t, but that passage can be read any number of different ways.
And of course, that’s far from the only vague passage. When you’re raised in a denomination, you’re taught to read the Bible a particular way. “Predestination” means something very different, depending on who you’re talking to. Who’s right? And what if you were raised in one of the groups that thinks they’re right, but to whom God will say “depart from me, I never knew you”? My brother and I realized how difficult it is to unpack all those preconceptions in order to clearly see the scriptures for what they really say. It’s scary.
Here’s the Point
But eventually, I realized that my fear was needless. The Bible says that God is fair, he doesn’t play favorites, he loves us, and he wants us to find the truth. Jesus said “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matt 7:7). If those things are true, then there’s no reason for us to be so worried about getting it wrong, as long as we’re sincerely seeking the truth.
It’s important to realize how significant that point is. If we’re really looking for the answers, then no question is going too far. So if we dig into the Bible and think “it doesn’t make sense to me that God would send people to Hell,” we shouldn’t run from that thought — we should investigate it. It’s okay for us to ask why God would command genocide in the Old Testament. It’s okay to wonder why he seems so hidden. It’s okay to ask why he would inspire people to write a message, but not protect the originals or ensure its accuracy. If God supports our search for truth, then all of these questions are valid. In fact, the people who pursue these questions obviously take the issue seriously. Wouldn’t that be more pleasing to God than those who never question what they’ve been told?
If you believe in God, then have faith in his character. Have faith in his promises. And take him seriously enough to challenge those who claim to speak for him (the writers of the Bible). Don’t let people tell you that you can’t question God whenever you express doubt about a passage. The Bible is not God. So show God the respect he deserves and critically examine the Bible before you accept the claim that he inspired it. If he’s real, he’ll be much more pleased with an honest seeker than with someone who’s too scared to ask the tough questions.
Finding Truth 
Special deal, Si – this week only – I’ll tell you where the “everything” came from, if you’ll tell me where your god came from. Deal?
The US just finished a years-long war in Iraq and is still mired in one in Afghanistan, while officially atheistic China is fighting no one – how do you account for that?
I cannot POSSIBLY imagine more social disaster than has transpired among religious countries over the past two or three millennia.
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Personally, I prefer, “Happy Winter Solstice!” – which is the REAL reason for the season.
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I doubt he knows either – I think he just enjoys wallowing in his own mouth-froth.
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Actually, Si, Rome was doing quite well until they adopted Christianity, as their official religion. Clearly you don’t know any more about Roman history than you do anything else.
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Arch,
We live in Christian Western Civilization.
Happy Holidays is spoken by people who never took the time to learn about their miraculous Christian culture.
December 25 is Christmas, the day all of mankind celebrates the birth of Jesus Son of God and Savior of mankind.
Merry Christmas!
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Arch,
What’s the suicide rate in Sweden?
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Silenceofmind, let’s not discuss atheism vs Christianity. If you’re inclined to believe that atheism is ridiculous, that’s fine with me – i wont argue with you on that.
let’s just discuss the good news. You seem a bit unfair to apply so much “reason” to atheism, but then abandon it when defending Christianity by saying that faith trumps the bible’s factual and logic short comings.
isn’t that too dismissive? shouldn’t we at least expect the bible to be internally consistent and free of errors?
how is ignoring the flaws of a book, because the same flawed book says your faith should trump that, make it okay to believe in its ridiculousness?
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silenceofmind, as well as saying “atheists are stupid” is working for you, maybe we should try an better route. this blog, and others like it, have made real and honest attempts at illustrating the problems seen within religion and the bible in particular.
Your time may be better utilized addressing those concerns and issues. If you show someone where their reasoning is flawed, they’re typically more receptive than merely saying “you’re dumb.” show them, and us agnostics too. Show where the bible can withstand the scrutiny.
Prov 15:1 & 18:13 my friend.
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William,
Stupid is as stupid does and as stupid thinks.
Atheism is the belief that their is no God.
That means everything came about all by itself.
Such a notion is pure, single malt stupid.
If after applying reason the conclusion is that atheism is stupid, then people should avoid atheism.
Reason’s purpose is to direct the person who uses it to wise thought and action.
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Arch,
You are correct. Christianity was antithetical to pagan, savage Rome.
Rome had to fall before the new Christian civilization, Western Civilization could rise to untold heights.
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don’t be so hard on yourself.
and if something from nothing is stupid, then created god if god isn’t stupid?
the avoidance of stupidity is why I left christianity.
a question though, if someone were to leave atheism, where should they go and why? be specific, please. for some people it’s hard to just accept what someone says, so providing actual reasons for your position would be helpful.
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William,
Authentic Christianity is attractive, reasonable and it works.
Martin Luther, the first successful reformer, made it possible for any self righteous, sanctimonious blow hard hypocrite to name himself as inspired by the Holy Spirit.
The Protestant splintering of Christianity is the greatest argument in favor of atheism.
That’s why I often call Protestants and atheists, spiritual and philosophical brethren.
Protestants teach their children to hate the Catholic Church before they teach them to love Jesus Christ.
That is even more sad than atheists being convinced that everything happened all by itself.
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You can call it Sadie Hawkins’ Day if you like, that doesn’t change the fact that Bethlehem is located at 32° 72 minutes North Latitude, which puts it just a few minutes north of Dallas, Texas, at 32° 47′ N. Lattitude. The temperature there, as we speak, is 43 degrees, with an overnight low of 39 – I can double-damn guarantee you, ain’t no shepherds, out in no fields, watchin’ no sheep!
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I have no idea, what’s the suicide rate in Japan?
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Arch,
“We” is you and the rat in your pocket.
You and the rat don’t get to redefine Western Civilization.
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“Authentic Christianity is attractive, reasonable and it works.” it’s this claim of “reasonableness that I’d like you to expand upon. Have you looked at the issues this blogger has written about? what about those issues is reasonable?
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Arch,
Atheist always, and I mean always, pick some country, some person, some absurdity and then set it up as the example of perfection.
Sweden. Shmeden. Who gives a flying flock about Sweden?
Only atheists on their mission of eternal propaganda.
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Good effort, William, but I’m afraid that such logical reasoning is WAY over his head!
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William,
Atheist issues are nothing but leftist propaganda.
What I know about Christianity I learned at graduate school through hard core study.
The atheist argument against Christianity and God is nonsense because it creates issues that are completely irrelevant to the topic.
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You never did answer my question, Si – where did your god come from?
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Arch,
“Where did God come from?”
The answer to that question is obvious.
Please leave atheist imbecility behind, get a brain and start using it.
I answered that question when I was 8 years old.
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Interesting you should say that, Si, as the Holy Roman Empire was taken over by Germany, and moved there – in fact, the last Caesar (spelled Kaiser, in German) was Kaiser Wilhelm, who initiated WW I.
Following WW I, we had the sequel, the ever-popular WW II, brought to you by your favorite religious fanatic, and mine, Adolph Hitler, who once said:
He seems to echo your own sentiments – warped minds DO think alike!
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“What I know about Christianity I learned at graduate school through hard core study.”
you’re old enough to have made it through high school? was the college accredited?
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“I answered that question when I was 8 years old.”
what questions have you answered here?
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Arch,
There’s a saying, “He can’t see the forest for the trees.”
That saying was created for people like you.
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