Answering the Hard Questions: Learning Answers to Understand and Defend the Christian Faith

By Robert R Hill

LEARN THE ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS TO THESE QUESTIONS AND MORE:

1. How can God be real when secular science claims that everything has an explanation without God?
2. If God is real, then why doesn't He show himself?
3. If God is real, then why does He allow suffering and evil to continue?
4. If God is a merciful, kind, and

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Oct 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9798890411662

Robert R Hill

Robert Hill has taught adult Bible studies and Sunday school in his church for over thirty years, where he first developed and taught this material. Robert shared this information at a pastors' conference in Honduras and a Bible school in Russia. He has two degrees - one in medical technology and one in pharmacy. Robert can empathize with non-believers because he was an agnostic until he became a Christian when he was thirty-one.

Book preview

Introduction

This book was written to help prepare genuinely born-again Christians to be able to answer the questions that will come up as they interact with people about the Christian faith and the biblical narrative. I want you to be confident that there are answers to many questions about the Bible and the Christian faith, and I want you to be ready to share your knowledge and beliefs. You will see that I repeat things frequently throughout this book because some ideas and concepts apply to multiple topics.

Every Christian is automatically an ambassador for Christ simply because we wear the label Christian. The people in your sphere of influence watch and listen to how you respond to life in word and deed. Many of these people have questions about the Bible and Christian worldview, so they look at your life and listen to your words to evaluate Christ and Christianity. Your children are looking and listening too. As ambassadors for Christ, we must be able to give answers to the hard questions that have been around for quite a while. But the hard truth is that most Christians in this information age don’t know the answers to the questions the world has about God and the Bible. Even though some questions are a mystery in this life, many hard ones can be answered if we educate ourselves.

The world is actively converting and brainwashing our American society into a secular humanistic worldview.¹ People need to see that we are different and that our message is true and believable, not just because the Bible says it, but because actual science and logic support the biblical worldview. They need to see us all speaking and believing the same fundamental doctrines² of the faith. They must see us confidently, clearly, and convincingly defend and explain the Christian faith and the Bible. But we must do this in a winsome and loving manner because if all we do is answer questions and win debates, we may push people away from Christ by our uncaring attitudes and demeanor. First Corinthians 8:1b (NASB)³ says, Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. It’s not just about answering questions and winning arguments but bringing souls into God’s kingdom. Christians must exude the love of Christ in their lives so that people can see it in us and be drawn to Christ. First Corinthians 13:2 (NASB) says, If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

The world has questions, and we must be God’s ambassadors to people who have only heard negative things about Christ and Christianity in the secular news and media. Now you do not have to be a scientist to be able to defend the truth. But you should know where people can get the deeper technical information if they want the details.

This book does not give quick sound bites and trite answers like, Just believe! I attempt to build an understanding by looking at reality from God’s point of view. Please journey with me as we explore reality through the biblical lens. But even if you are not a Christian, I pray that you consider this reasonable presentation of the Christian faith for your evaluation. I want everyone to continue their critical thinking skills, but we all have internal beliefs and presuppositions that bias our view and assessment of reality. Confirmation bias, the tendency to only accept evidence and arguments that align with our current worldview and beliefs, is a part of human nature. I ask that we all be honest about that, even Christians. The truth may be suppressed because of incorrect worldviews and religions, but ultimately, it will be found if people seek it.

Here is a classical challenge about the existence of an all-powerful, good God.

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.

Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.

Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?

Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?

—Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher

There is another reasonable option to consider, as we shall see. But it can only be answered in the biblical worldview context. (See Chapter Four.)

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1 Worldview—what a person (or persons) believes to be true about reality based on their internally accepted beliefs about what is truth. For example, atheists believe there is no God, so they reject anything or any belief based on God or religion.

2 Doctrine—beliefs and teachings that are accepted as true and correct.

3 The reader is strongly encouraged to verify all quoted Bible verses throughout this book in your own Bible. Permissions on quoted Bible verses are on the copyright page.

Chapter One

The Root Questions

The Attacks of Atheism Against the Christian Worldview

No question should be off-limits if it is asked with the intent of seeking the truth. But many Christians do not know how to answer some hard questions about the Bible and the Christian faith.

The following questions are from a militant atheistic website. These ten questions were intentionally designed to devastate the faith of a Christian who would stumble upon them. Could you answer these questions? What would you do as a Christian if an unsaved friend asked you one of these questions? What would you do if your children asked you one of these questions? If you are a non-Christian, have you ever wondered about these questions?

Why won’t God heal amputees?

Why are there so many starving children in the world?

Why does God demand the death of so many innocent people in the Bible?

Why does the Bible contain so much anti-scientific nonsense?

Why is God such a huge proponent of slavery?

Why do bad things happen to good people?

Why didn’t any of Jesus’ miracles leave behind any evidence?

How do we explain that Jesus has never appeared to you?

Why would Jesus want you to eat His body and drink His blood?

Why do Christians get divorced at the same rate as non-Christians?

There is a multitude of questions and challenges to the Christian faith that come up in the marketplace of ideas. It is impractical to carry around a set of answer books or constantly go to an answer app on our mobile devices. We can learn the answers to most of the challenge questions by getting to the root of the questions. And when you know the answers and the reasons behind them, you will be confident and competent to share your faith. Your doubts will disappear. You won’t be afraid of people’s questions but rather eager to talk to people. You won’t need an answer app or book.

Root Questions

Just as a tree has roots that go deep and a myriad of branches that stem out from the roots, so likewise, questions about Christianity have a multitude of branch questions, which can be traced down to a root question. Now in apologetics, you can spend much time clipping at the many branches, or you can get to the roots.

You will see seven root questions in bold print below. Underneath each root question, you will see several branch questions. If you learn the answer to the root question, you can answer most branch questions that stem from it.

1. How can God be real when secular science claims that everything has an explanation without God? God is just a myth from the past that some still foolishly cling to. (See Chapter Two.)

If you know how to answer this root question, then you could answer these branch questions more easily:

Why does the Bible contain so much anti-scientific nonsense?

How could the sun stand still in the sky without everything being flung off the ground?

How can anyone believe the Bible, which says the universe is thousands of years old when science can see stars that are billions of light-years away?

Considering all the discoveries of modern science, how can anyone say evolution is false?

2. If God is real, why doesn’t He show Himself? Why can’t we see Him? Where are the miracles? Or, as the people asked Jesus, What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? (John 6:30b, NIV) (See Chapter Three.)

If you know how to answer this root question, then you could answer these branch questions more easily:

Why won’t God heal amputees?

Why didn’t any of Jesus’s miracles leave behind any evidence?

How do we explain that Jesus has never appeared to you?

3. If God is real, why does He allow suffering and evil to continue? Why hasn’t God stepped into the world and made things right? (See Chapter Four.)

This root question covers these branch questions:

Why are there so many starving children in the world?

Why is God accused of being a proponent of slavery?

Why do bad things happen to good people?

Why did God allow ________ to happen to me? (You may fill in the blank.)

Why did my spouse leave me for another?

Why does God allow human trafficking and torture to continue?

Why does God allow opposing religions to flourish?

Why does God allow holocausts and religious persecution?

Why doesn’t God stop pedophiles?

4. If God is a merciful, kind, and forgiving God, then why did He order the slaughter of whole people groups, including men, women, children, and their animals too? (See Chapter Five.)

This root question covers these branch questions:

Why did God demand the death of so many innocent people in the Bible?

Why would God call for the stoning of disobedient children?

Why did God change from being mean in the Old Testament to kind in the New Testament?

5. Why would a loving God send anyone to eternal hell? (See Chapter Six.)

This root question covers these branch questions:

Why is there an infinite punishment for a finite set of sins?

Why is Jesus the only way to God and heaven?

Why should we be punished for the sin of a distant ancestor?

Why does God send people to eternal hell if they have never heard the Gospel?

Why does God cause eternal torment of the lost in a lake of fire in a body that cannot be destroyed or die? That seems sadistic. Isn’t eternal separation enough?

6. How can God be real since the Bible says God is love but commands the brutal death of innocent animals in the Old Testament, and Jesus says to eat His body and drink His blood? And there are other weird things in the Bible too. (See Chapter Seven.)

This root question covers these branch questions:

Why would Jesus want you to eat His body and drink His blood?

How can looking at a bronze snake on a pole heal anyone from snakebites?

How could a donkey talk to a man?

How could a sea part in one night, and the Israelites walk through it on dry land?

7. How can God be real since we do not see a difference between people who call themselves Christians and the rest of the world? (See Chapter Eight.)

This root question covers these branch questions:

Why do Christians get divorced at the same rate as non-Christians?

Why don’t we see Christians doing what Christ told them to do (e.g., feed the poor, adopt orphans, visit the prisons)?

Why is Sunday morning the most segregated hour in America?

Why do some non-Christian religions display better acts of righteousness and compassion than most Christians?

Why do Christians shoot their wounded?

Chapter Two

How Can God Be Real When Secular Science Claims that Everything Has an Explanation Without God?

"God is just a myth from the past that some still foolishly

cling to."

If you know how to answer this root question, then you could answer these branch questions more easily:

Why does the Bible contain so much anti-scientific nonsense?

How could the sun stand still in the sky without everything being flung off the ground?

How can anyone believe the Bible, which says the universe is thousands of years old when science can see stars that are billions of light-years away?

Considering all the discoveries of modern science, how can anyone say evolution is false?

The Diminished View of Omnipotence⁴ Within the Christian Community

In Genesis 18:14a (NIV), God verbally and in person asked Abraham a rhetorical question: Is anything too hard for the Lord? In Jeremiah 32:27 (NIV), God declares to the world, I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?

Sadly, many well-educated church leaders and theologians do not believe that God made the universe in six days of twenty-four-hour length. This leads people in and out of the church to believe in the worldview cast by secular science over Scripture. If you cannot trust one part of the Bible to be true, how can anybody know which parts are true and which are false? Why would anyone submit to the authority of the Word if there are errors and contradictions in it?

If God is truly omnipotent, we can be certain that He made sure the Bible we have in our hands today is correct and without errors. After all, eternal souls are at stake. The Christian community must agree to the answer to this question once and for all: Is God omnipotent or not? So, if we decide yes, is our view of God’s omnipotence such that we believe God could and did make the earth, the land, the waters, and the vegetation in just three days of ordinary twenty-four-hour length?

Let’s read Genesis a few verses in Genesis chapter one.

Then God said, Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds. And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. And God said, Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth. And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

Genesis 1:11–19