To anyone who has studied the Christian faith or is a part of it, you have probably noticed that some things are just plain strange and totally against rational human thought. Here are a few things that have raised my eyebrows in the church pew.
1. There is full access to God.
Wait, what? How is that possible? There definitely needs to be a middleman: a priest or guru that you confess your sins to and they can talk to God for you. But nope, Christianity preaches that all who believe in Jesus Christ have full access to God through the Holy Spirit. What do you have to do? "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9; ESV). You just "believe?" It seems too simple to be true. "For through Him we have both access in one spirit to the Father" (Ephesians 2:18; ESV). Jesus made it possible for us to talk directly to God? Weird.
2. We are inherently evil.
Huh? I thought all people are typically born decent human beings. There are just a few bad apples, you know? But the bible says "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9; ESV). And "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, false witness, slander" (Matthew 15:19, ESV). So this is telling me that my very heart is evil?. "As it is written, 'None is righteous, no, not one...'" (Romans 3:10; ESV). This seems counterproductive to my human ego.
3. We are to love our neighbors as ourselves.
OK, yea that sounds cool. Love everybody and peace on earth. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these" (Mark 12:30-31; ESV). That sounds really nice, but I still need to look out for Number One (me). If I don't fight for myself, who else is going to? It's up to me to stay on top. "So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 7:12; ESV). OK, everything? That seems a little excessive. In order to survive in a Darwin sense, I need to look out for me first. "And he (Jesus) sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them 'If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all'" (Mark 9:35; ESV). Jesus is telling me to be last? OK, no.
4. We are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
Alright. This is getting too weird for me. I can understand loving my neighbor, but my enemies? "But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you" (Luke 6:27) and "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..." (Matthew 5:43-44; ESV). Why on earth would I do that? How does that give me any advantage in this evolutionary world? Whoever penned this must come from another planet.
5. We are to have joy, always.
Yes, OK, I know. Be happy. Smile. Don't flick someone off in traffic. Don't roll your eyes when you are in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles. I'm joyful, right? After all I am a good person! "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds" (James 1:2; ESV) Okay, what kind of trials? My food order being late? No, not exactly. James is talking about something else. Persecution. Death. Hatred. Losing someone you love. Finding out you have cancer. "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33; ESV) That is a bold statement for Jesus to make. I can have peace in Him, regardless of my circumstance? OK, sure...
6. Men and women are created equal.
Umm, according to the Bible men and women are certainly not equal. A women is supposed to "submit" to her husband, right? Well yes, but only if he is willing to die for her, provide for her, and ensure that she is satisfied (spiritually, emotionally, and sexually). It is a two-way street. "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her...In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it..." (Ephesians 5:25-31; ESV). And by "submission", the bible is not indicating that he can physically or emotionally beat on her. It means that in spiritual and familial matters, the couple looks to the final guidance of the husband. Not to mention that in the bible the first two people to find Christ resurrected were women. In a day and age when women were reckoned powerless with no intellectual substance, why would the writers of the New Testament include this? Only an idiot would believe a woman! If they were trying to get their "religion" to take off, this was certainly a dumb mistake on their part (derived from Killing Jesus, Bill O'Reilly).
7. The celebrated Savior was a lowly carpenter with no organization or system backing him up.
Is that all they could come up with? Not to mention that Christians celebrate a birth in a barn and a gruesome, bloody, Roman-style death on a cross. The most famous man on earth achieved world fame and adoration with no money and no organization behind him. Never in history has this been done. (Killing Jesus, Bill O'Reilly) That seems a little odd to me, don't you think?
8. The Faith depends on historical accounts of people having "seen" Jesus and the things he did.
Who actually believes this? Even though there is sufficiently more evidence for Jesus's existence than Plato and Socrates, I am doubtful. The Gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) were written 30 years within his death. That is unheard of in history recollection. Archaeologists have uncovered thousands of copies of the New Testament, and our current New Testament documents are more than 99.5 percent textually pure. But still, it is too good to be true. So I will ignore all of these facts and continue on with my life.
9. The faith has deep-seated Jewish beliefs.
Wait, what? I thought Christians and Jews hated each other? Considering more than 3/4 of the Bible is the "Old Testament," Christians owe the foundation of their faith to Jewish beliefs. Jesus was a Jew? Wait, why don't people ever mention this?
10. Jesus came to free us from religion.
Alright, I think I've had enough. It's time to hit the "X" button at the top right corner of this article. Romans 3:23 says "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". No amount of prayer, fasting, or good deeds will get you to heaven. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God..." (Ephesians 2:8; ESV). So you're telling me I need to trust Jesus as my Lord and Savior and allow the Holy Spirit to guide my thoughts and actions? That's a thing?
Yes, and over time my Christian faith has become less of "Don't do this, don't do that," and more of "I want to do this for God because of all He has done for me."
"Christianity is not the sort of thing anyone would have made up" -- C.S. Lewis
