Questions from a Christian lacking in faith

[RLB]

I'm a Christian but the past few years I've started having more doubts and faith issues. I thought maybe some people here could answer some of the questions that have caused my faith to weaken. 1) There are human remains that have been found up to (if not exceeding) 2 million years BC. Correct me if I'm wrong, but before Jesus was born people had no way of knowing about the need to accept Christ, meaning they all went to hell. Is this right? Wouldn't it be similar to a person who's from a completely remote section of the world today who lives a full life having never heard of Christ? How can it be that for millions of years all people and even still today some people are born, live full lives, and die never having the opportunity to learn how to go to heaven, meaning they go to hell. 2) It seems like we pick and choose what parts of the Bible we want to be true. The way we look at and treat women today is much different that in Jesus' day. The Bible says when I woman is menstrating she isn't to leave the house for those days because she's unclean. There are several other similar rules for women. Why do we think God has changed his views on these things? 3) Why was it neccessary for Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sins? He taught us that God forgives us for our sins, which sounds like a choice God has made to give us the opportunity to spend eternity in Heaven. I don't understand what Jesus dying a horrible death has to do with God making the decision to forgive us for our sins. 4) Why does the Bible have people who are hundreds of years old? I've heard that it's possible that time was measured differently, but there are some things contradict that. If that was the case, the 40 days & nights of the flood would have been just minutes or a couple of hours at best. 5) Why do we believe that Noah really was able to build a ship and heard 2 of every species? That means that for all of those days and night hungry wild animals lived side by side with what they consider to be food but didn't eat. 6) How could God have the ability to do anything and everything, but let 1000's of children die of cancer and other diseases while rapist and murderers live long healthy lives? 7) The Bible says a lot of things that we choose to not interpret literally, yet while there is physical proof of evolution in many plant and animal species, we choose to take the story of Adam & Eve literal. Why? Thank you very much for your answers. I hope your answers fill the voids that have caused my faith to weaken.

 

[ForYou]

1) God made the earth,he made the man on the earth,BC means Before Christ. But God is the Alpha and Omega (beginning and end) So yeah. They knew about God because God made them,and spoke to them.2) I do not thinks God's views have changed,but our own. Some things as a society we have come to accept,and thinking about back when the women did not have much to do besides housework,so seeing a women in the house and not leaving was normal. Now with work women working with man they can't let their cycle get in their way.3) You use to have to sacrifice animals to be forgiven of your sins,Jesus showed God's love by dying on the cross,he forgave us of our sins THROUGH HIM so therefor we no longer had to do it through animals etc. Sorry I am so tired.5)Not once do you hear Noah gathered the animals,God took care of all of that. And I am sure he fed the animals,just as he fed his family. 6))Why would you want to live here? I think heaven would be much better,god does heal. 7) What proof is there in evolution? None. Adam and Eve is not something we take literal besides first peoples to be born and inhabit earth. There is so much more to the story of Adam and Eve.I really am sorry my answers are dull. I am so tired. And I forgot number 5 darn. Well I will come back tomorrow and add on. God bless and Pray it helps gain faith.

 

[RLB]

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. I'm really hoping for a much more indepth answer. Your answers (while appreciated greatly) are the same things I hear in church but can get reasoning behind.For example, evolution: I'm not saying we came from monkeys, but there's undeniable proof that we can see with our own eyes about animals evolving to fit their habitat, and even humans evolving to an extent over millions of years.I still don't understand how a "cave man" just knew about GOD because man was created by God. I do believe in creation, but that leaves a big question of what happens to those who never have the opportunity to hear about GOD (such as people living in very remote locations in other parts of the world). Saying "why would you want to live here instead of heaven" doesn't answer the question of how GOD could let 1000's of innocent children die when he has the power to heal them, yet let rapist and murderers live. My sister's baby died, and my cousin died as a child. Sure we're happy that they are in heaven, but GOD let the lives of 2 mothers be nearly destroyed when he had the power to stop that. Have you ever been to the zoo? Now think about how what you saw was less than 5% of the world's species. How could there have been an ark with 2 of everything? Doesn't that seem more like a make believe story that's just there to teach us a lesson or make a point? I have a really hard time taking that one literally.And about women, I know their roles have changed but Jesus himself said that women aren't to leave their home while menstrating because they are unclean. Just because roles and times change, why does that change? I disagree with that, but it seems like an example of how we choose only the convenient parts of the Bible to take literally.Thanks again for your response.God Bless!

 

[RLB]

Just a few other thoughts on thisDukester;43009)
1) God made the earth,he made the man on the earth,BC means Before Christ. But God is the Alpha and Omega (beginning and end) So yeah. They knew about God because God made them,and spoke to them.
If GOD spoke to cave men and others from tens of thousands of years BC, why didn't record this with drawings? We've found art from 10000+ years ago, but I haven't heard of anything that depicts a GOD like figure speaking to them.Also, why didn't GOD speak to the Ancient Greeks to tell them their religious beliefs were wrong? And today, why doesn't he speak to anyone in the middle east?(Dukester;43009)
3) You use to have to sacrifice animals to be forgiven of your sins,Jesus showed God's love by dying on the cross,he forgave us of our sins THROUGH HIM so therefor we no longer had to do it through animals etc. Sorry I am so tired.
I still don't understand why Jesus HAD to physically be sacraficed on the cross? GOD has the power to do anything, so why was this neccessary?

 

[ForYou]

[quote name='RLB;43049]Just a few other thoughts on this:If GOD spoke to cave men and others from tens of thousands of years BC' date=' why didn't record this with drawings? We've found art from 10000+ years ago, but I haven't heard of anything that depicts a GOD like figure speaking to them.Also, why didn't GOD speak to the Ancient Greeks to tell them their religious beliefs were wrong? And today, why doesn't he speak to anyone in the middle east?----------God can not speak to the unwilling,if you are unwilling to listen you will not get your answer,Middle east is mostly Islamic religion,they are not the Christian faith. God does speak to the ones in the Middle East who listen,I think you are making a completely opnionated assumption.Again the Ancient Greeks did not want to listen. Many strived from the teachings of God,and a lot were punished. We do not have any thing that depicts a God like figure,well "cavemen" drew many things,they did not know what God looked like,and we may look at the pictures all we want and never completely figure out what they mean,there could ne pictures of Sacrifice of Animals I think I have heard about,which could show they did know God. Also think of it this way,You know your Mother and Father produced you right,same thing with the caveman they knew who created them. I do not know exactly what they do,but most who do live there do not teach the teachings of God and are based off of other stuff. I am not codeming to hell or anything,I am saying really I exactly don't know,I am not GOD. Okay you say the murderers do not get punished are you BLIND (not being mean) They get the worst punishment of all(if they don't repent and accept God) Hell. So do not tell me they will not have a punishment and go scotch free. God has a reason for taking the lives he does,he does not have to tell us why. The Ark to me sounds just as believable as my hands,Back then there were not as many animals,not as many species,Through the times,we cross breeding animals,making new ones,"better ones" And the ARK WAS HUGE,So it could support those animals,Again not as many species,also not all animals were big like birds,who take up barely any room. Just think about it,how many times to we find a new breed because of somebody cross breeding them? See Jesus said it was unclean and not to leave the house,but I know this sounds weird,but they did not have tampons that could stop the leak,I believe it was unclean because of this. It does not say it is a sin. So you are not defying God about it. I am a guy,I really would need a girls help of this. Sorry.I found an interesting long link,of the Jesus dying on the Cross. Here check it out.[url=http://wcg.org/lit/disc/07whydie.htm']http://wcg.org/lit/disc/07whydie.htm[/url]Maybe that will helpKriss,Letsgofishing,two, I am interested in what you have to say a lot, and everyone else lets hear your replys.

 

[Jerusalem Junkie]

Dr Phil has a saying "you cannot change what you don't acknowledge" that said knowledge is a powerful tool and there is so much that can be gained by searching for that knowledge. Its not about G-ds existence but about weather you choose to explore the fact that he does exist. Being here proves you are willing to at least acknowledge that you have some inclination to want to acknowledge G-ds existence. Its all about (emunah) faith or belief since the word faith does not exist in the Hebrew language...

 

[Christina]

(RLB;43004)
I'm a Christian but the past few years I've started having more doubts and faith issues. I thought maybe some people here could answer some of the questions that have caused my faith to weaken. 1) There are human remains that have been found up to (if not exceeding) 2 million years BC. Correct me if I'm wrong, but before Jesus was born people had no way of knowing about the need to accept Christ, meaning they all went to hell. Is this right? Wouldn't it be similar to a person who's from a completely remote section of the world today who lives a full life having never heard of Christ? How can it be that for millions of years all people and even still today some people are born, live full lives, and die never having the opportunity to learn how to go to heaven, meaning they go to hell. Answer I will correct you here there has never been a human man skeltal or otherwise ever discovered more than 8000 years old all others are ape like creatures there has never been a missing link discovered it is speculation by evoulutionists not the facts. Futher more I believe the bible says that the creation week was 7000 years long and 6000 thousand have passed untill now putting this earth age at 13,000 years old.2) It seems like we pick and choose what parts of the Bible we want to be true. The way we look at and treat women today is much different that in Jesus' day. The Bible says when I woman is menstrating she isn't to leave the house for those days because she's unclean. There are several other similar rules for women. Why do we think God has changed his views on these things? Answer you are making a wrong conclusion these are old testsment Ordances and Stautes Christ fulfilled them All so the old testament was fulfilled in Christs death on the cross anothers Words we do not sacrafice lambs anymore because Christ became our sacrafice 3) Why was it neccessary for Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sins? He taught us that God forgives us for our sins, which sounds like a choice God has made to give us the opportunity to spend eternity in Heaven. I don't understand what Jesus dying a horrible death has to do with God making the decision to forgive us for our sins.There was no forgivness of sin before Christ died sacrafice ext. just covered it up it didnt forgive it. It is much the same idea if you had a child that did something wrong for the childs sake you would punish him so he would learn. God let Christ die for all our sins because he loves us the sins can not go unpunished or his chilren will never learn 4) Why does the Bible have people who are hundreds of years old? I've heard that it's possible that time was measured differently, but there are some things contradict that. If that was the case, the 40 days & nights of the flood would have been just minutes or a couple of hours at best. Because their was no pullotion no sickness none of things men have done to cause our bodies to deterioate as they do now look at all the chemicals in the air, the water, pesticides in the soil man has created his own shorter life span not God5) Why do we believe that Noah really was able to build a ship and heard 2 of every species? That means that for all of those days and night hungry wild animals lived side by side with what they consider to be food but didn't eat. Its called faith and belieing in Gods Word and who says there wasnt cages and food God didnt. It would have been no different than the way we transport animals today no one ever said they all running lose6) How could God have the ability to do anything and everything, but let 1000's of children die of cancer and other diseases while rapist and murderers live long healthy lives? God gave us free Will to do as we will otherwise we would just all be robots he wants us to realize we can not do it on our own so he gave us free reinlook what we have done!! And again many of these deases are caused by man not God. And God doesnt see death the way we do he see death of the flesh as the soul coming back home to him. 7) The Bible says a lot of things that we choose to not interpret literally, yet while there is physical proof of evolution in many plant and animal species, we choose to take the story of Adam & Eve literal. Why? The word of God only says one thing men misinterpt it through there own ignorance and traditions of men if you learn Gods true word you dont have these problems there are rules to inteptation most religions of men do not follow the rules so they get misinterptations its all in learning what God calls rightly diving the Word a lost art today. There is no such thing as evoulution it is called the THEROY OF EVOLUTIONbecause thats what it is a theroy that to this day has no proof. God created a law of nature called survivail of the fittist it is real a 2000 year old snail looks the same as a two week old snail. Thank you very much for your answers. I hope your answers fill the voids that have caused my faith to weaken.
Hope this helps

 

[RobinD69]

(RLB;43004)
I'm a Christian but the past few years I've started having more doubts and faith issues. I thought maybe some people here could answer some of the questions that have caused my faith to weaken. 1) There are human remains that have been found up to (if not exceeding) 2 million years BC. Correct me if I'm wrong, but before Jesus was born people had no way of knowing about the need to accept Christ, meaning they all went to hell. Is this right? Wouldn't it be similar to a person who's from a completely remote section of the world today who lives a full life having never heard of Christ? How can it be that for millions of years all people and even still today some people are born, live full lives, and die never having the opportunity to learn how to go to heaven, meaning they go to hell.The dating system is flawed and unprovable so millions of years is a theory and not a fact. As for those who preceded the coming of Christ, there faith is what saved them just as it was with the OT Prophets. They looked forward to the coming of Christ and had faith in His saving grace as He presented it throughout the OT. 2) It seems like we pick and choose what parts of the Bible we want to be true. The way we look at and treat women today is much different that in Jesus' day. The Bible says when I woman is menstrating she isn't to leave the house for those days because she's unclean. There are several other similar rules for women. Why do we think God has changed his views on these things? God hasnt changed His views, He has merely returned to the original intent before man started demanding ways to worship thru works. It is man who has changed and rejected the truth, God has stayed the same.3) Why was it neccessary for Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sins? He taught us that God forgives us for our sins, which sounds like a choice God has made to give us the opportunity to spend eternity in Heaven. I don't understand what Jesus dying a horrible death has to do with God making the decision to forgive us for our sins.Perfection had to bare the brunt of our trangressions. God has forgiven all those who have asked, His sacrifice is a symbol of that forgiveness. Jesus was God in the flesh, so God took sin upon Himself so we wouldnt have to. Would you like to suffer for all your sins or would you rather God just forgive you? Christ is Gods way to forgive you without just showing a blind eye. If God was to just forgive us without any sacrifice then nothing could truly be considered sinful. 4) Why does the Bible have people who are hundreds of years old? I've heard that it's possible that time was measured differently, but there are some things contradict that. If that was the case, the 40 days & nights of the flood would have been just minutes or a couple of hours at best.You must understand that man was much closer to perfection before the flood and that sin acts as a cancer and errodes that perfection to the point of mans limited lifespan. We also must understand that God limited mans lifespan to that of 120 years or less in order to slow the effects of sin after the flood. Time was measure the same or at least very close to the same, but one must realize that a day is like a 1000 years and a 1000 years is like a day to God. It is His choice as to what is what. 5) Why do we believe that Noah really was able to build a ship and heard 2 of every species? That means that for all of those days and night hungry wild animals lived side by side with what they consider to be food but didn't eat.The hand of God was in it all. 6) How could God have the ability to do anything and everything, but let 1000's of children die of cancer and other diseases while rapist and murderers live long healthy lives?Sin causes all these things and the only cure for that sin is God. He is letting this limited life run its course, He reaches out to everyone but not everyone hears and responds because they are too wrapped up in their sins to pay attention to God. 7) The Bible says a lot of things that we choose to not interpret literally, yet while there is physical proof of evolution in many plant and animal species, we choose to take the story of Adam & Eve literal. Why?Where is this evidence for evolution you speak of? Minor changes and mutations can be interprited as evolution or the taint of sin. Evolution is nothing but alot of unprovable theories presented as facts. The Bible is fact that is believe by many to be myth because they will not meet God on His terms so they may understand the truth. Thank you very much for your answers. I hope your answers fill the voids that have caused my faith to weaken.
I hope what I have presented will help you to better understand the nature of what is truth and what is theory. Remember do not take my word for any of this and rely on the Holy Spirit to guide you thru all the confusion to the truth.

 

[its_victoria08]

While I'm no expert on the matter, here's my best answers for you.1) There are human remains that have been found up to (if not exceeding) 2 million years BC. Correct me if I'm wrong, but before Jesus was born people had no way of knowing about the need to accept Christ, meaning they all went to hell. Is this right? Wouldn't it be similar to a person who's from a completely remote section of the world today who lives a full life having never heard of Christ? How can it be that for millions of years all people and even still today some people are born, live full lives, and die never having the opportunity to learn how to go to heaven, meaning they go to hell.Even before Jesus was born, people heard the voice of God. People don't need to be told about God to be able to understand. God speaks to us every day, but because of our modernly busy lives, we miss out on His Voice.2) It seems like we pick and choose what parts of the Bible we want to be true. The way we look at and treat women today is much different that in Jesus' day. The Bible says when I woman is menstrating she isn't to leave the house for those days because she's unclean. There are several other similar rules for women. Why do we think God has changed his views on these things?We don't really pick and choose. If you think about it logically, it makes sense. I know that Jesus said menstruating women should stay home because they were unclean, but think about it. They didn't have the luxury of pads/tampons to take care of that. It wasn't sanitary for a menstruating women to be out and about as she was bleeding because they didn't have the ability to contain it like we do. It's just like reading Literature in an English class. You have to remove yourself from modern times and place yourself into the context in which it was written. When you do that, a lot more will make sense to you.3) Why was it neccessary for Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sins? He taught us that God forgives us for our sins, which sounds like a choice God has made to give us the opportunity to spend eternity in Heaven. I don't understand what Jesus dying a horrible death has to do with God making the decision to forgive us for our sins.As someone else mentioned, before Jesus, God required animal sacrifice to cleanse humans of their sins. You can see it all through the Old Testament. Well, Jesus shed His blood for us so that we would be forgiven before His Father. If it weren't for Jesus dying on the cross, Christians would still be sacrificing animals. God does forgive us, but for a price. And Jesus paid that price with His suffering.4) Why does the Bible have people who are hundreds of years old? I've heard that it's possible that time was measured differently, but there are some things contradict that. If that was the case, the 40 days & nights of the flood would have been just minutes or a couple of hours at best.Time was measured differently, which also explains how God made the world in "6 days". If you were to go a whole day without clocks out in the country with no other people, days would probably feel to last a lot longer. You may come back and had only been gone a few days and it may have FELT like a week.5) Why do we believe that Noah really was able to build a ship and heard 2 of every species? That means that for all of those days and night hungry wild animals lived side by side with what they consider to be food but didn't eat.Noah didn't heard the animals. God brought the animals to him. And, I'm sure he fed them. Just because the Bible doesn't say Noah fed them, doesn't mean it didn't happen. The Bible doesn't mention when men use the restroom either, but I'm sure they did. Hehe. Oh, and as far as the boat... man today has built things far more advanced than what Noah built, so I can see how it is feasible if one has the Lord on their side!6) How could God have the ability to do anything and everything, but let 1000's of children die of cancer and other diseases while rapist and murderers live long healthy lives?The thing that helps me deal with this issue is to remember that all of those innocent children spend eternity in Heaven, which is better than this world could ever be; while all those rapists and murderers have to spend eternity in Hell, far worse than any sort of prison or guilt-ridden life they could live here on Earth. Even though it may not seem fair all of the time, God is always just and fair and right. You have to trust Him to make the decisions that we cannot make, and know that His decisions are right and just, even if it doesn't seem like it to us humans.7) The Bible says a lot of things that we choose to not interpret literally, yet while there is physical proof of evolution in many plant and animal species, we choose to take the story of Adam & Eve literal. Why? I know many Christians don't interpret the Bible literally, but I do. I think that interpretation of God's Word is the main reason for a lot of bumps in relationships between Christians. It is up to you to read His Word daily, study it, and interpret it as best you can for what God was saying. You'll never be satisfied if you let preachers, friends, family, or anyone else interpret the Bible for you.I understand that you are going through a rough time. The two most important things you can do to help get you through this is to continue praying, even if you are unsure about God, and continue reading His Word, however skeptical you may be. Pray for God to help you and for Him to help you understand His Word as He intended it. I just know that if you pray, you will find your way again.I send my best. May God bless you and help you to know and love Him again.