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Convert me!
By Cygnus
Under no
circumstances will "The LORD works in mysterious ways" or other
arguments in that vein be acceptable. If a question does not apply
to your particular sect, please explain why.
Explain why God's only son
had to die so we can go to magic happy land when we croak.
Did everyone who died before
Jesus died go to Hell? Justify your answer.
If a Catholic, justify the
Inquisition and other persecutions of "heretics" throughout the
centuries, concentrating on why the Pelagianists, the
Priscillianists, and the Manichaeans were persecuted; if a
Protestant, justify the witch trials and the way that
Protestants constantly hunted down native Americans until there
were so few that the government could simply take their land; if
a member of an Eastern Orthodox church, justify the persecutions
of the Old Believers after the reforms of the seventeenth
century.
Explain why your sect
(whether Catholic, Protestant, or Eastern Orthodox) pursued,
tortured, and killed people who were not Christian.
Explain why your sect
(whether Catholic, Protestant, or Eastern Orthodox) pursued,
tortured, and killed people who were not members of your
particular sect.
Explain why I should believe
that your god is all-good when the only real information we have
about him is the Bible, which clearly describes him as both good
and evil. (See Isaiah 30:32, Luke 14:26, Numbers 31:17-18,
Matthew 10:34, Amos 3:6, Deuteronomy 18:8, Deuteronomy 20:16,
Exodus 20:5, Exodus 32:27, Isaiah 45:7, Psalms 52:5, Luke 22:36,
and Jeremiah 18:11 for a small sample of Biblical passages which
describe Jehovah as having an evil morality at times).
Explain why children should
submit to their parents' decisions even when those decisions are
clearly evil. Answering this question entails refuting
Deuteronomy 21:18-21, Proverbs 13:24, and Hebrews 12:7-8.
Explain why, if God loves us
all, more than half of us are going to Hell after we die.
Specifically, refute or explain the following words of Christ,
as presented in the New Testament: "Many are called but few are
chosen," and "Straight is the gate, and narrow is the way that
leadeth unto salvation, and few there be that find it." If your
god loves all of us, couldn't he find a better way?
Explain what type of offence
could possibly justify eternal, unbearable torture in Hell; if
your sect does not believe in Hell, then refute every passage in
the Old and New Testaments which describes Hell (such as 2
Thessalonians 1:8-9 and Revelation 20:15).
Explain why possession by
demons and/or other evil spirits was common during the time of
Jesus, but hardly mentioned in the Old Testament, and apparently
has been explained completely away today by things such as
epilepsy and schizophrenia.
What is Heaven like?
What is Hell like?
Explain why getting dunked in
or sprinkled with water will prevent me from being eternally
tortured for the original sin.
Explain why some people
(James, Peter, Paul, Thomas, etc.) should get convincing
physical proof of miracles, while the rest of us are supposed to
take these happenings on faith.
Why are the stories of the
resurrection inconsistent?
If you are a Protestant or a
member of an Eastern Orthodox church, explain why you are still
using the Catholic Bible, which was formalized by a vote among
(supposedly divinely inspired) cardinals and bishops in the
fourth century CE, when you disagree with the idea that the
Pope, who is higher in the Catholic hierarchy, is divinely
inspired; if a Catholic, explain why your church accepts the
canonical Bible while rejecting the Apocrypha (do not use the
"divinely inspired" argument).
If Judas was willing to go to
Hell for humanity (see #31), didn't he make more of a sacrifice
than Jesus, who spent only three hours in pain? Shouldn't you
then be worshipping Judas?
Why should we accept the
words of the gospel writers as truth when they are known to be
liars? (See Romans 3:7).
Do you believe that God is
anti-homosexual? Refute or explain away Leviticus 20:13 and
Romans 1:26-27.
According to the Gospels,
from the Christian standpoint, Jesus was the most important
person to ever live. From the Roman standpoint, Jesus was an
annoyance because of his political activities. Explain why
nothing was written about his life for over thirty years after
his death, and nothing except the Gospels was written until the
third century CE.
Define the word "Christ,"
including references to the pagan origins and meaning of the
word.
Explain why Jesus, who was
anti-Gentile (see Mark 7:25-29) and anti-sex (see Luke 14:26 and
Matthew 19:12), would want to be anointed with oil in a pagan
sexual rite after his death.
In light of Matthew 10:34,
explain why Jesus is called the Prince of Peace.
The name "Jesus" has been
anglicized. What was the original (Hebrew) name of Jesus? Where
did you get this information?
Why is it that the life of
Jesus was so similar to the lives of pagan Christs, particularly
Herakles, Dionysios, and Asklepios?
If God requires that people
believe in him and follow his orders through their own free
will, why do Christians push their views on public policy?
Explain why being a good
Christian requires you to push your beliefs on others. If you do
not believe that you have to push your views on others (no
matter how much this annoys them), explain why you do not
believe this despite the fact that the New Testament seems to
suggest that you must do this to get to Heaven (for instance, in
Matthew 28:19-20).
Explain why spreading the
"truth of Christ" requires you to spread lies about other
religions, such as the idea that Wiccans (so-called "white
witches") worship the Christian devil. (Incidentally, they
don't, and this rumor has been persistently spread by Christians
since the second century CE). Why is it not wrong for Christians
to spread rumours that Muslims are essentially terrorists
inspired by the devil?
At no point in the four
Gospels did Jesus claim to be the son of your god. (He said "son
of man" quite frequently, and at one point referred to himself
as "a son of God," but that was a common Hebrew expression at
the time. Someone who was "a son of god" was a Jew. This
reflected the Israelites' belief that they were the chosen
people of God. See Job 1:6). Why, then, do you believe that
Jesus was divine? If you don't believe that Jesus was divine,
then why do you call yourself a Christian?
Given the fact that Jesus did
not say anything original (the Golden Rule and the "turn the
other cheek" idea were from Buddhism, and Jesus clearer said he
has come to reiterate the message of the Old Testament; and the
Beatitudes were common in the Jewish devotional literature at
the time), why do you see Jesus as such a great thinker/
philosopher/ ethicist?
When Jesus said, "Resist not
evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to
him the other also," why do you suppose that most Christians
fight for their rights? To put it another way, why don't we, as
a country of 85% Christians, let the government abuse us?
Why are so many Christian
holidays on the same day as Pagan holidays? Couldn't the early
Church fathers have converted pagans only by appealing to their
reason and/or faith if Christianity is the true religion?
Explain how God can be "just
and merciful" in light of Exodus 20:5.
Do you believe that the Old
Testament should be accepted as part of Christian theology? If
so, explain how you can worship such cruelness (see Numbers 31:17-18, Deuteronomy 20:16, Proverbs 20:30, Amos 3:6,
Deuteronomy 13:8, Psalms 3:7, Psalms 52:5, etc.); if not,
explain how you can believe that Jesus is the promised savior
sent by God without the messianic prophecies and the ruling
rights of the line of David, both of which are in the Old
Testament in books such as Isaiah, Zechariah, Daniel, Psalms,
etc.
Explain why a "just and
merciful" God sent bears to kill forty-two children who called
his prophet Elisha "baldhead." (See 2 Kings 2:23-24).
If prostitution is wrong, why
are there so many examples of it in Genesis? (For instance, Gen 19:8, where Lot offers his daughters to a mob so that his guests
can avoid gang rape).
What is the sin that people
committed that is so incredibly bad that God had to become flesh
and die to correct?
Are all members of other
faiths bad? Are they all damned to Hell? Justify your answer
with quotes from the Bible.
Are all
atheists/agnostics/humanists bad? Are they all damned to Hell?
Justify your answer with quotes from the Bible.
Explain how you can believe
in Satan when your faith is directly descended from the Jewish
faith, when the Jews did not even believe in Satan until they
absorbed the Egyptian god Set while they were captives in Egypt.
If Jesus is perfect, justify
the parable of the fig tree (Matthew 21:17-19, Mark 11:14-20).
Explain why Christians (that
includes all branches of Christianity) have spread the lie that
Jews put Jesus to death when, in actuality, it was the Romans
who put Jesus to death. (For a good example of New Testament
anti-semetism, see 1 Thessalonians 2:15).
If we are created in God's
image and likeness (Gen 1:27), how can we also be imperfect?
Why would God confuse people?
(See 1 Sam 7:10 and Gen 11:9). Isn't life confusing enough
already?
Why would God want to damn
people by making them believe false things? (See 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12).
Should the book of Revelation
be taken literally? Explain your answer.
Would it be good for men to
castrate themselves? Justify your answer, taking Matthew 19:12 into account.
All of the various Christian
sects ignore parts of the Bible, usually because those parts of
the Bible are inconvenient. Explain which parts of the Bible
your sect ignores, and explain why it is OK to ignore those
parts of the Bible.
If Jesus and his father are
one (John 10:30), then why does Jesus have to pray (i.e. Matthew 26:39)?
Explain your belief in heaven
in light of Job 7:9 and Ecclesiastes 9:5.
Christ giving himself up on
the cross was a great gesture, true, but wouldn't it have been
more sensible for him to continue spreading his message until he
died a natural death?
What is your interpretation
of the temptation of Christ by Satan in the desert (Matthew 4:5-8, Luke 4:5-9)?
In view of Matthew 6:5-6,
shouldn't prayer in public schools be discouraged? Support your
answer with scripture quotes.
Do you feel that the last
words of Christ were significant? If so, why do the four gospels
attribute three different sentences to Christ as his last?
(Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34: "My God, My God, why hast thou
forsaken me?"; Luke 23:46: "Father, into thy hands I commend my
spirit"; John 19:30: "It is finished").
Matthew and Mark say that the
last words of Christ were, in Hebrew, "Eloi, Eloi, lama
sabachthani?" This has traditionally been translated as, "My
God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" However, a more
accurate translation would be, "My El, My El, why has thou
forsaken me?" El is the name of a specific pagan god. Why would
Jesus call out to a pagan god at the moment of his death?
The Bible constantly
describes God as male. In view of the fact that your god
supposedly created everything, and creation is very much a
female function, isn't this at least a little bit absurd?
Justify your answer. If God is all mighty and above mankind, why
does he have to have a gender?
In light of the Trinity,
angels, the Virgin Mary, etc., isn't Christianity polytheistic?
If the Trinity is three who are one, why the three names?
Justify your answer.
Have you read the entire
Bible? If not, how can you be devoted enough to try and convert
me to a religion that you don't know that much about? Isn't
knowing as much as possible about something necessary to
understanding it? Isn't understanding something necessary to
being completely devoted to it?
Why is 2 Kings 19 exactly
identical to Isaiah 37?
Is Jesus's three days in Hell
really an ultimate sacrifice, when more than half of humanity
going to spend eternity there?
If your sect considers the
King James Bible to be the official and/or authoritative
translation, justify this in light of the fact that when King
James commissioned his translation to be poetic rather than
accurate. How can you possibly use an inaccurate translation as
your reference for what is/is not the word of God? If your sect
does not use the King James Bible, what translation do they use?
Justify the use of that particular translation.
If it was foretold that Jesus
was to be crucified, and if he knew this, and if he was the son
of God, why did he do everything he could to avoid being
crucified? (See, for instance, Matthew 26:39).
If the Holy Spirit/Ghost is
the father of Jesus (Luke 1:35), then why is the central figure
of your trinity called God the Father?
The original Hebrew word for
the Holy Ghost/Spirit includes the idea that the Holy
Spirit/Ghost is female in gender. Isn't this rather silly when
you consider the fact that the Holy Ghost/Spirit is actually the
father of Jesus (Luke 1:35)?
Matthew 28:11-15 contains an
account of a conspiracy between the Jews and the Roman soldiers
to spread the story that the disciples stole the body of Christ.
How could Matthew have known about this, since no Jews or Romans
would have admitted to it? If it was such a transparent
conspiracy that an outsider could have seen it, why didn't the
other three gospels mention it? Why didn't the Roman soldiers
get into trouble?
Jews believe that people are
basically good people and can work to overcome their sinful
tendencies. Most Christian sects, following the teaching of
Psalm 51:5, 1 Kings 8:46, Ezekiel 18:4, Isaiah 59:2, and Psalm 143:2, believe that people are completely debased and hopelessly
lost in sin, and that only God can lift us out of this state if
he decides to bestow his gift of grace on us? Isn't this an
incredibly negative view of people? Aren't Judaism and Islam
more mature faiths just for this reason?
How do you, as an individual,
feel about Psalm 51:5?
What does your sect teach
about Psalm 51:5 (and 1 Kings 8:46, etc.), predestination, and
similar matters?
Revelation 22:16 says that
Jesus is the "offspring of David." Mary was not descended from
David, but Joseph was. Doesn't this mean that Jesus wasn't the
son of God at all, but the (mortal and not divine) son of
Joseph?
What would the correct thing
to do be if God gave you a command that was harmful and/or
destructive to you? A common argument, which comes from Paul,
states that because clay pots don't complain about what the
potter does with them, people shouldn't complain about what
their maker (supposedly, God) does with them, but this
completely ignores the vitally important argument that clay pots
have no sense of self-awareness and cannot think or feel love,
pain, anger, etc. If you want to make this argument, you have to
deal with this difference.
What (or who) does your sect
believe the number 666 represents? Justify your answer.
If your god is "just and
merciful," why would he take Solomon's kingdom away from
Solomon's son while not punishing Solomon, when it was Solomon
himself who committed the sin of idolatry? What did Solomon's
son do to deserve punishment? (See 1 Kings 11:12).
Why is Solomon commonly
considered to be the paragon of wisdom by many Christians, when
he constantly sinned against God (1 Kings 11:4-10, etc.)?
Don't you think that an
anti-sex position (see question #22) is a rather silly position
for your sect to take when the biblical book "Song of Solomon"
is a piece of erotic poetry? (For instance, in Song of Solomon 8:2, the bridegroom proposes to "drink of spiced wine of the
juice of the pomegranate." The pomegranate was a symbol of the
female genitalia, and the "spiced wine" represented menstrual
blood).
Does it bother you that the
cross, supposedly a Christian symbol, was actually stolen from
the Egyptians? Why or why not? (The Egyptian cross, the ankh,
was a male-female symbol similar in concept to the yin-yang.
When the Christians stole the ankh from the Egyptians, they
removed the female symbol, or yoni, leaving only the masculine
symbol-- a subtle way of reinforcing the idea that women are
lesser beings).
How do you explain that
Christians are twice as likely to have sadomasochistic
tendencies as non-christians?
What is the incredibly
important doctrinal difference that requires the fighting
between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland?
What do you think the word
"Satanist" means?
How do you explain the fact
that the word "blood" occurs over 400 times in the Bible? Isn't
this a rather savage way to write a book that is supposed to be
at the center of an ethical system?
Throughout the Bible, God
commands his followers to wage merciless war on unbelievers
(Luke 22:36, Deuteronomy 13:8, Exodus 20:23-25, Deuteronomy 20:16, Matthew 10:34, Numbers 31:17-18, etc). If you are one of
his followers, why aren't you out waging merciless war on
unbelievers?
Numbers 23:21 says that God
"has not seen wickedness in Israel." If this is so, explain why
your god burned Israelites for complaining (Num 11:1), sent a
plague against them for eating the meat he had given them (Num 11:33), why he burned people for using incense (Num 16:35), why
he sent a plague against the Israelites who accused Moses of
wrongdoing (Num 16:44-49), and why he sent fiery snakes among
the Israelites (Num 21:5). Is the Bible inplying that God lies
when it is a matter of convenience?
How do you explain that
Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus?
Matthew says that the
prophecy given in Matthew 27:9 was given by Jeremiah. How do you
explain that this prophecy was not given by Jeremiah at all, but
by Zechariah (in Zech 11:12)?
Matthew says (in Matt 2:21)
that Jesus dealt in Nazareth so that he could fulfill a prophecy
stating that the Messiah would be called a Nazarene. Where is
this prophecy in the Old Testament?
Matthew says that on the
triumphant entry into Jerusalem, Jesus was riding on an ass and
a colt (Matt 21:7). How do you explain that the original
prophecy (Zech 9:9) stated that Jesus would be riding on only
one ass, and the other gospel writers place Jesus only on one
ass (Mark 11:7, Luke 19:35, and John 12:15)?
In Matthew 1:23, Matthew has
the angel say that Jesus would be born of a virgin. However, the
prophecy that Matthew is referring to, Isaiah 7:14, uses the
Hebrew word almah, which simply means a young woman. It has
nothing to do with sexual purity; the Hebrew word for virgin is
bethulah. How do you explain this?
Isaiah 7:16 seems to say that
before Jesus had reached the age of maturity, both of the Jewish
countries would be destroyed. Where is the fulfillment of this
prophecy in the New Testament?
Matthew 1:23 says that Jesus
would be called Immanuel, which means "God with us." Why does no
one (not even his parents) call him Immanuel at any point in the
New Testament?
How many inconsistencies in
the Bible, other than those mentioned in this paper, do you know
of? Cite chapter and verse.
If even the contemplation of
sinning is a sin (i.e. "sinning in your heart"; see, for
example, Matthew 5:28) and if Jesus was tempted by Satan in the
desert (Matthew 4:5-8, Luke 4:5-9), how can you say that Jesus
was without sin?
What does your sect think of
the government? Read Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 13.
Now what do you think of the government? If necessary, reconcile
the two views.
What is your definition of
the word Christian?
Why do you think it is that
the ancient Greeks, who had a very liberal sexual morality, had
many fewer sex crimes (compared to the population) than the
United States, which is 85% Christian?
What are the requirements for
being saved? Some sects says that faith alone is enough; others
say that faith without works is dead. The Bible supports both
these viewpoints. What does your sect think?
What is the name of your
sect?
How is your sect organized?
How can I get in touch with a
priest (minister, etc.) of your sect?
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