r/AskAChristian

I'm curious. I know Christian who takes the bible 100% as the truth and others that believe until the Crossifiaction, again others that see it more as moralic stories.

I'm an atheist, and I'd like to ask religious people:

How do you perceive atheists? Do you see us simply as people with different beliefs, or do you think atheism says something about our character or morality?

And do you personally feel that you genuinely follow the principles of your religion in everyday life?

I'm genuinely curious and not trying to start an argument.

And do they also never sin?

Prompted by an earlier conversation I had here. I can't tell if the Christian I'm speaking to is agreeing with me or not.

Maybe you guys can weigh in. I was certainly under the impression that angels have free will and lack sin. I thought you guys agreed. What's the verdict?

by reading the Bible I mean sitting down and reading it like any other book. start at Genesis , finish at Revelation.

doing it piecemeal, out of order, as part of a Bible study, or just randomly reading the section your sermon of the week is on counts as NOT having read the Bible.

As the title states. Just curious what it means or represents. Im sure it varies from person to person. Is it just a reminder for you of your faith? A declaration to the world? A protective amulet? Why do some people wear a rosary like a necklace?

The title. I am an atheist, and it's been some time since I've been looking to be illuminated, to see something, to feel something, but I don't get any signals.

Question is open to those who were religious all along too.

Yes, the problem of evil is a question as old as time, but it still doesn't satisfy my answers.

Now, I understand the problem of evil, and I know many prominent theologians and scholars have tried to answer it. I've read some of the arguments surrounding free will, the fall, human responsibility, soul-making, and God's sovereignty, and while I can understand where these answers are coming from, they still leave me with more questions.

How can Adam and Eve eating from the tree result in so much destruction entering the world?

And I know the most common answer is free will, and I do somewhat agree with that. Humans can make choices, and a world where humans genuinely have freedom will inevitably involve the possibility of evil.

but what about the things that aren't caused by human choices?

What does free will have to do with a baby being born with a severe disability?

What does free will have to do with a child developing cancer before they're even old enough to understand what death is?

What does free will have to do with earthquakes, tsunamis, genetic disorders, miscarriages, or diseases that have existed long before any person could choose anything?

And then there's the question that bothers me even more: why would a loving and all-powerful God allow suffering to begin in the first place if he already knew exactly where humanity's choices would lead?

If God is omniscient, then he knew Adam and Eve would eat the fruit.

He knew the consequences.

He knew generations of people would suffer because of it.

He knew babies would be born into a world where they could experience pain before they ever could make a moral choice.

So why create humanity knowing all of this would happen?

and if the answer is that God allows suffering because he wants humanity to have genuine freedom, then where do we draw the line between suffering caused by human freedom and suffering that seems completely unrelated to human choice?

I am still so confused about this, and I will appreciate your answers.

I promise I’m asking this question in good faith.

Last week, I told a coworker about my upcoming vacation. I was looking forward to doing some hiking but saw rain in the forecast. This coworker told me, “Remember you can pray the bad weather away.”

So I’m just wondering, is this something the majority of Christians believe in and do? I was raised Catholic and always got the impression that prayer was more about connecting with God and asking for His guidance rather than a free ticket to get what you want. Like, I never thought God would change the weather or something for me just because I asked nicely.

I understand that this may vary between denominations too. All perspectives are welcome!

how is it not stealing?

Ok so it seems we are evolved from animals and our religions are ways to cope with concepts that are so complex for our minds to fully understand. Sexuality being a good example. As animals we have a predilection for a desire for sex, however to act on that desire causes many problems in this society. Unwanted pregnancy, hatred after sex, infidelity, emptiness after the fact from thinking about what you've done. What humanity did in order to control that was say: sexual desire for someone other than your wife is against God, find a wife and don't cheat on each other. These things help maintain society and keep us from degenerating our own primitive nature.

sometimes when i am in a bad mood i want bad things to happen to me. sometimes i even wish i was ra#ed. yes i'm pretty sure i have sometimes thought about stuff like that because sometimes i just hate myself. there is a reason why i try to avoid online Christianity in a way while also still trying to be Christian. it's because of fear, worry that i am sinning, worry that i am not really saved, worrying too much. worry that i am sinning by enjoying the things i enjoy like my little pony. etc.

I was scrolling on instagram and I came across this preacher talking to a member of the lgb community about how homosexuality is a sin but that didn’t mean he hated her or thought she was disgusting and the. My wife interjected about how thinking it was a sin is homophobic because and I quote her words here “why is the choices I make or that others make to live happily in life a sin she basically just doesn’t understand why it’s a sin.

For the readers of this just to know she’s not a believer of Christ

Then I explained to her that it’s a sin because it in the bible more the one time saying it is that’s when she calls me homophobic I interjected and said no u can love the sinner but hate the sin But then she just goes into circles saying im homophobic asking me why it’s a sin . And truthfully I don’t know why it’s a sin I just know it is because I’ve read the hole bible so I know its true and in there. Long story short how would you respond to so this

My wife is bi sexual which makes her biased

Its likely that Christianity, Islam, etc., are just cultural institutions, with reasons ranging from tradition to social control to assuaging the fear of death, to charlatanry (for those in the business itself).

If you could see that its just a dog and pony show, would you want to know, are you open to knowing?

I saw a Instagram comment say “ European culture was destroyed when they started worshiping a Middle Eastern deity” they were referring to the God of the Bible, and other people in the comments said the same type of things, is it true that paganism is the reason indigenous European culture existed and that Christianity destroyed it? If not then why doesn’t it exist anymore? What happened to native indigenous European culture? Why is it that Africa in Asia Continue their indigenous native culture but Europe doesn’t continue their ancient traditions? Europeans today never seemed to talk about their Celtic, Anglo-Saxon or Viking past anymore, and a lot of people are saying because of “Christian conquerors” is this true? I am a Christian so I don’t wanna think that this is true because I like ancient Europe, I don’t wanna think that Christianity despises Europe’s ancient history

I’ve been thinking about this for a while now and my question to the christian people. Why would god let black and other indigenous groups or minorities suffer the way they did? I was going through some black history facts and i heard of the horrible things that was done in the name of faith and christianity. Many black people were turned into furniture, taken from their homes and their people, sold as property, and beaten to death(not even some the worser things done). I’m not going to say that world was just here. I can’t believe that but I also can’t believe that a god that loved his people would let the horrific things happen to a whole group. My next question would be, why are people who are some of the worst people on the planet be alive and thriving and good people die?