Did anyone say it would be easy? Do atheists, or does anyone at all for that matter, sit in any ivory tower of knowledge, with the ability to answer every question that comes their way? Far from it. And nobody really expects it. But putting a heavy “burden of proof” on those with whom you do not agree is a common tactic when debating life’s big questions.
The Christian is encouraged to “always being prepared to make a defence to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet 3:15). There certainly are difficult questions for Christians and we need to face up to them. However that does not mean that the Christian hope is invalidated if a single difficult question cannot be easily answered. It is no more fair to expect a Christian to be able to comprehensively answer any and every question than for any individual to answer every question applicable to their framework of belief.
Imagine asking a physicist a question about quantum physics to which there is as yet no clear answer. Is the physicist deficient if s/he simply acknowledges the limits to present knowledge? Absolutely not! So we should play by the same rules whatever field of knowledge we are dealing with. Of course that doesn’t mean that we can claim to be a physicist if we have no knowledge of the field whatsoever. Christians, like physicists, must have some knowledge of their field in order to credibly call themselves such. It would just be unreasonable to expect every physicist to answer every question in the field of physics. Some questions may be answerable but those answers simply lie outside of an individual’s current sphere of knowledge, and other questions may exist to which answers are simply unknown in general.
All that said there are certain questions that are commonly presented as arguments against the Christian faith, and we will try to build a growing list of those on this page. The difficulties involved in answering these questions will vary. We will try to present some scriptural and logical responses where possible. Yet it is always preferable for anyone to humbly admit that they do not have an answer in preference to trying to “fudge” an answer that doesn’t satisfy any standard of human reason.
Questions and Answers
Please click on a question for more information.
Isn’t a Christian an atheist with respect to all “gods” except the Judeo-Christian God?
Isn’t your religion just a game of chance based upon your place of birth?
Why do humans suffer?
Why do animals suffer?
Who made God?
Ask New Questions
Please send new questions through our contact page. We’ll try to address all reasonable questions on this page, or via a more complete article. It might take time to do this, but we’ll prioritize the more common questions.
I promise to publish any reasonable and question relevant to Christian belief on this page, or within an appropriate article. I will do my very best to be intellectually honest at all times. If I don’t know any satisfactory answer at this time I will still publish the question, and perhaps in time other people will send comments that will help me to provide answers. If you leave your email address via the contact form then I promise to give you an email reply to let you know what the status of any question is.
Questions can be from any perspective, e.g. atheist, agnostic, Muslim, Jewish, or simply from doubting Christians.
For those asking questions in order to disprove Christianity, then fair enough. There is no reason that you should not raise what you consider to be logical objections, and Christians should be able to defend their faith and respond in a logical way.
For those of us looking to bolster our Christian spirituality by raising important questions to which we do not currently have the answers it is important to know that the Bible candidly records many people who asked rational questions. They were never condemned for questioning the Almighty as if we humans are overstepping our boundaries by doing so. Rather the Creator of all things is ready and willing to fulfil our desire for satisfying answers.
Recommended reading: Proverbs 2:1-9