Easter is such an astounding and spectacular occurrence that Christians naturally want to share the excitement with others.
Christ is risen!
As the holiday has been recently shared it is important to remember the concept the rest of the year. This is because the idea is central to Christianity. This post is to counter the ideas that would make a person not believe in order to strengthen the concept of believing.
Listed below are some common reasons for a person to not believe in Christianity, along with some counterpoints.
1. They don't see God
God is not directly accessible through the human senses. Yes, there is prayer, but it is not the same.
If a person can not see, hear, smell or touch something then its' presence seems implausible and unconvincing. Some even associate mental illness with this.
It goes without saying that God knew this about humans a long time ago. After all, he created them.
Here are some verses from the Bible to respond to this phenomenon:
For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? - Romans 8:24
God, in his infinite wisdom, thought it would be better for humans to not see him in this life.
Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed." - Gospel Of John 20:29
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, - 1 Peter 1:8
2. Contemporary society is critical in general.
Modern society tells a person to not believe everything they hear, lest they are naive.
For some the idea of God coming to earth and suffering as a human is ludicrous. They think God shouldn't have to do that (which he doesn't). Why would he go through all that if he didn't have to?
However, God knows the whole picture and humans do not.
However, the Bible warned a long time ago that some would not follow sound judgment.
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 2 Timothy 4:3
3. A person spends a lot of time around negative people.
If you are around people long enough then it is normal to think more like them, even if it is unconscious and negligible.
As with the first two sections there is a Bible verse to address the scenario, recorded a long time ago.
He that walketh with wise [men] shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
- Proverbs 13:20
People absorb things at different rates, of course, but things start to wear unconsciously. For example, some people start to use a slightly different dialect after being down South for only a couple of weeks.
4. The concept sounds to good to be true.
The idea that God has done his work and all you have to do is believe and repent sounds too simple to some.
In Imperial Russia leaders thought the idea of Christianity was like a fairy tale and didn't want that belief to interfere with daily life. Thus they didn't want it preached because it sounded too good to be true.
It should sound too good to be true.
The idea of Bible verses like these were unthinkable to them:
"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." - Romans 10:13
The truth is that should not let anyone stop them from belief.
5. The Bible is difficult to reconcile with daily life.
When you read the newspaper or life daily life it seems contradictory to the Bible message. Life seems full of suffering and the idea of a loving God can seem far away.
This might seem true, but it should not stand between a person and belief. This Bible verse addresses this issue.
In this world you will have trouble.B)"> But take heart. I have overcomeC)"> the world.” - Gospel Of John 16:33
6. The Bible seems to contradicts itself.
It is a common belief that the Bible contradicts itself (although it doesn't if you look deeper). There are two creation accounts in Genesis and a violent God in the Old Testament. There are also statements like "love your brother" and "do not love the world" or "You are saved by faith alone" and "Faith without works is dead."
Some of these topics have been discussed in previous posts. Some responses were that Bible authors wrote at different stages of their development and that a deeper reading reveals the Bible is not contradictory.
Christ is risen!
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