Podcast
The Objection Map
Every challenge on the site, grouped by the question underneath it. Start where the objection actually bites.
New Testament (19)
- Given that the gospel accounts were written by BIASED Christians, their content can’t be accorded much legitimacy. Some sources had Al Gore inventing the…
- God can't make up his inspirational mind. Is justification by faith (Paul) or by works (James)?
- How can you take the gospels as inspired when they don't even make that claim for themselves?
- I fell out of faith as a Christian because of Mark 11:23-24 when Jesus says that God will grant us whatever we ask as long as we have faith. I did, I…
- I guess I can’t be a Christian because I don’t hate my parents. Why does Jesus tell us we need to hate our parents in order to be his disciple (Luke 14:26)?
- I only trust the words of Jesus. Why should I accept Paul and the rest of the New Testament?
- If "scripture" just is what has been accepted by the Church, then isn't the apocrypha scripture as well?
- If you want to know the truth, read the Gnostic gospels – you’ll then understand why the Christian church repressed them for 1,700 years.
- In Matthew 27:52-53, it says that after Jesus' death, dead people were resurrected and were walking around Jerusalem. Empirically, how could this have…
- Matthew quotes a prophecy that Jesus would be called a Nazarene (2:23), but no such prophecy exists in the Old Testament.
- Miracle stories were crafted after Jesus died, and then included just to make Jesus look like a Jewish wonder-working messianic figure. It's called…
- On what basis do Christians accept miracle-stories in the New Testament while rejecting those of other religions?
- Reasons why I don’t believe? Well, to start with, the Jesus Resurrection accounts in the Bible contradict one another. Need I go on?
- The "Gospel of Judas" was originally in the New Testament and was conveniently "exorcised," if you know what I mean. That was convenient.
- The New Testament authors were all influenced by pagan religions. Jesus is an unhistorical myth. If you don't believe me, Google Jesus Mithras Osiris Horus.
- The New Testament was written hundreds of years after Jesus, so it can't be historically credible.
- There's no evidence outside of the Bible that indicates the miracle stories about Jesus are authentic!
- Why does Matthew apply Hosea 11:1 to Jesus (2:15) when it is obviously referring to Israel?
- With no original texts and 400,000 contradictions in the COPIES of the New Testament, the bible is unstrustworthy. Read Bart Ehrman's 'Misquoting Jesus'.
Existence of God (15)
- Atheism is just a lack of belief. I lack belief in God, so the burden of proof is on you.
- Atheism is the DEFAULT position. The burden of proof is on the Christian asserting God exists. All we're asking is to see the convincing empirical EVIDENCE.
- Atheism is the DEFAULT position. The burden of proof is on the Christian asserting God exists. All we're asking is to see the convincing empirical EVIDENCE.
- Can we really be certain that God exists? If there is one thing that’s obvious, it is that the existence of God is NOT obvious.
- Could God have used fallible people to write an infallible book?
- How would you respond to Victor Stenger's assertion that religious argument leads universally to dismal failure and untold suffering?
- I hear a lot about “intelligent design.” Has this now proven God and falsified evolution?
- I prayed, "Dear God, forgive me. I’m sorry. Jesus wasn’t a myth." No bear hugs from God. No ‘truth switch’ turned on. It’s still all nonsense. Why?
- If Christian arguments are sound and cogent, then why aren’t they universally accepted? Even many CHRISTIANS have objected to the propriety of even offering…
- If God wanted to forgive sin, He's all-powerful — He could just forgive it. Instead He sent His Son to be killed. That's evil.
- If the universe needs an intelligence to explain its complexity, doesn't that intelligence need an intelligence to explain it?
- If there is such good evidence for the existence of the Biblical God, why don't more people believe in him? Are we just all 'suppressed'?!
- Isn’t it more plausible to suppose that all that exists is matter, since such an account posits only a single kind of substance whereas theistic accounts…
- There is no scientific evidence for God, just assertions.
- There is no scientific evidence for the existence of God...just assertions.
Old Testament (15)
- Christians make assertions; atheists just ask for evidence. What Old Testament evidence is there that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah?
- How can you expect modern people to accept the creation account as found in Genesis? PLEASE tell me you don't think the earth is 6,000 years old, do you…
- If a father ever killed his own son he would—all things being equal—be rightly judged immoral. But according to Genesis 22, God told Abraham to kill his own…
- If your Biblical Yahweh God is so ALL-good-fantastic, how could Satan fall if he was with God and had the chance to witness his existence? God made Satan…
- Job is described as “righteous” and “blameless.” Can these descriptions be taken seriously if the Bible is said to teach the universal sinfulness of mankind?
- Should we really be stoning homosexuals, disobedient children, adulterers and witches, as the Old Testament commands? What an all-loving god you serve,…
- So Adam and Eve lived for 900+ years and Methuselah celebrated 930 years. Is it just me, or do these claims not strain credulity beyond its limits?
- Sorry Christians, but the creation account in Genesis is borrowed -- it is based on the Enuma Elish.
- The Bible sanctions slavery, so a Christian who owns no slaves is out of integrity with his never-changing God.
- The biblical account of Noah was derived from the Babylonian myth of Utanapishtim — your mythical God didn't “inspire” it.
- The God of the Old Testament a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser, and a homophobic, racist, infanticidal,…
- The Old Testament commanded animal sacrifices. Isn’t that evil — and how could a good God require it?
- To accept the story of the Noah's Flood AS FACT flies in the face of practically all of the archaeological, historical, literary, meteorological, and…
- Where did Cain get his wife?
- Wouldn't we expect SOME evidence of the exodus from Egypt, if it took place? 2.5 million people wandering for 40 years in a specific geographic location...…
The Bible - General (15)
- Biblical Prophecy? Give me a break – all these ‘pre-enlightenment folk’ were a dime a dozen. Ever heard of Nostradamus?
- Dennis McKinsey single-handedly disproves Biblical inerrancy in his book, "Biblical Errancy" - your team should read it.
- Dennis McKinsey single-handedly disproves Biblical inerrancy in his book, "Biblical Errancy" - your team should read it.
- Given that we don't have the original manuscripts, why would God have allowed variant readings to creep into the textual tradition?
- How can anyone legitimately say that their interpretation is more accurate than others?
- I don't believe your book - there are over 1000 errors found in the bible
- If Jesus is God and God cannot be tempted, doesn't it follow that Jesus cannot be tempted? Yet Matthew 4 presents the temptation of Christ — another…
- People make up fantastic, epic, 'harmonious' stories all of the time. Lord of the Rings comes to mind. Perhaps Gandalf is the true Messiah! Read the Bible…
- So you believe in a book full of contradictions, one that endorses slavery, incest, murder, drowning babies, genocide and stoning homosexuals?
- So you believe in a book full of contradictions, one that endorses slavery, incest, murder, drowning babies, genocide and stoning homosexuals?
- The Bible is a collection of fairytales written by illiterate goat herders back in the Bronze Age. The Catholic Church cherry picked which fables to include…
- The Bible is a collection of fairytales written by illiterate goat herders in the Bronze Age, and the Catholic Church cherry-picked which fables to include…
- The existence of so many Christian denominations indicates the Bible is inherently unclear. If truly God's revelation, could we not expect Him to reveal…
- There isn't a shred of reliable evidence that Yahweh existed outside the imagination of long-dead kingships.
- You say the Bible was inspired by God. Back up that assertion with proof.
Nature of God (11)
- According to 2 Timothy 2:25, it is GOD who grants repentance. Yet, somehow, it is WE who are held responsible for our fate?
- Can God make a rock so heavy that even HE can't lift it?
- If God is all-good, why does God allow natural disasters, i.e. earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis?
- If God knows what I will do in the future, how can I be free?
- If the biblical God exists, he is self-centered and conceited, because he created an entire universe just to sit around and be worshipped.
- If those who die as infants go to Heaven, why doesn't God kill everyone in infancy in order to maximize the number of those in Heaven?
- Is it fair that a North Korean woman who never heard of Jesus is going to burn in hell for eternity because she didn't choose the right parents, geographically?
- My Grandma was a sincerely nice person who happened to NOT be a Christian. Your “all-loving” God is going to punish her in hell for eternity because she…
- So all infants and children who have ever lived and died as non-Christians are sentenced by God to suffer eternally in hell? That's kind and 'all-loving'.
- So God hears every prayer? I asked for a new car and got nothing. Therefore God does not exist.
- The Bible says that God’s eyes are too pure to look upon sin. So then how can the Holy Spirit be present at all times with people (even believers, who still…
Christianity (9)
- ALL sins are forgiven if you ‘accept Jesus as your savior’, right? What about the non-forgivable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit? We have a little…
- Don’t the numerous televangelists on TBN and other such networks show that Christianity is all about the money?
- I am homosexual and I was born homosexual – don't homosexuals have the right NOT to be hated and persecuted by the church?
- I tried Christianity but failed when the church bouncer told me to check my intelligence in at the door. Christians are stupid – ignorant, dumb,…
- If Christians really cared about promoting peace and love, they wouldn’t be so flipping INTOLERANT!
- Religion has caused most of the wars and evil in the world. Why do you want to perpetrate this?
- What does it mean to be a Christian? There are over 30,000 different groups, all of which answer this question differently. If agreement cannot be found on…
- Why do arrogant Christians think they're right about everything?
- Why do Christians think God is going to let them into heaven because they were better than everybody else?
Jesus (9)
- Aren't naturalistic explanations for the resurrection stories more probable than the resurrection itself, since they appeal only to elements common to our…
- Christianity is for pagan cannibals and is thus, FALSE. Why else did Jesus say we must eat his flesh and drink his blood in order to have life (John 6:53-54)?
- Did Jesus really claim to be God, or did His followers just say that about Him? Might not Dan Brown have been on to something?
- How could Jesus have been GENUINELY tempted if He could not sin?!
- How exactly does the death of Jesus secure salvation for anyone when the deaths of countless others matter not a bit in this regard?
- It should be called Paulianity – for centuries Christians have presented the ideas of Paul as the teachings of Jesus, and that’s a mistake. It was all…
- It’s irrational to believe that people rise from the dead. Even if it is possible, shouldn’t it always be judged improbable since it has happened so few…
- Jesus is a borrowed myth dressed up like a Jew. He never existed. There is zero sufficient evidence that Jesus ever existed.
- What’s so special about Jesus, anyway? Aren’t we ALL God’s children?!
Evolution (8)
- Do you REALLY think that it is just a "coincidence" that humans share 98.6% of their DNA with chimpanzees?!
- Doesn't evolution account for the origin and diversity of life on earth, thereby eliminating the need to appeal to God?
- Doesn’t the fossil evidence support the theory of evolution?
- How do you reconcile creation and science?
- I believe in god if you want to define god as "nature." It's called Evolutionary Naturalism.
- Is there any evidence for Intelligent Design?
- We have SEEN speciation occur in various species of plants. Evolution in action, folks. This should establish beyond all questionable doubt that evolution…
- What about vestigial organs like the appendix, or the gill-slits in fetuses? Surely you can't mean that makes more sense given theism than evolution?
Other Faiths (7)
- God sends everyone to hell who never heard of Jesus — the billions who lived before Him, and the billions who never got the gospel. That is not justice;…
- How do Christians respond to eastern systems of thought such as Buddhism and Hinduism?
- If I believed in god, which I don't, why would I choose Christianity over any other religion?
- If I were raised in India, I’d most likely be a Hindu. You would be a Muslim if raised in Saudi Arabia. Is it ‘fair and just’ of God to have billions of…
- Near-death experiences are the same in every religion — the light, the life review, even a Jesus figure. So all religions lead to the same place.
- So I'm to believe in a God who is one and three at the same time, with one of the three killing another of the three and then sending another to console…
- Truth is relative. Only narrow-minded bigots believe in absolute truth!
Problem of Evil (6)
- If God is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving, why does he permit starvation, child molestation, rape, torture and genocide? And don't tell me these…
- If God is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving, why does he permit starvation, child molestation, rape, torture and genocide? And don't tell me the…
- If the world was created by all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving God, why does he permit evil, pain and suffering in nature? Why does he allow disease,…
- Since God knows everything, He would have known how much suffering would come. Why didn't He stop the process before it started, and spare His creatures all…
- Your all-powerful God created the devil and evil - simply to set up "the fall." He did this KNOWING that most souls would ultimately suffer eternal…
- Your all-powerful God created the devil and evil - simply to set up "the fall." He did this KNOWING that most souls would ultimately suffer eternal…
Religious Language (5)
- Didn’t Jesus REBUKE Thomas for wanting evidence of the resurrection?! Wouldn’t this rebuke also extend to Christian apologists who seek to satisfy this…
- Doesn’t the very concept of faith preclude the offering of evidence and argument? Isn’t that the whole point of “becoming like a child”?
- How can human language be used to correctly characterize an infinite God?
- How can religious claims be meaningful if they are not empirically falsifiable?
- How can religious claims be meaningful if they are not empirically verifiable?
Hell (4)
- How can Hell be eternal when people commit only a finite number of sins?
- I know lots of people who don't believe in Jesus, and they live good lives. So they're all going to hell?!
- If God is love, why would He send anyone to hell?
- Is it really fair for one who does not accept Jesus to suffer in Hell forever?
Bible Transmission (1)
Creation (1)
Heaven (1)
Just Be Good (1)
Paul (1)
Questions for Atheists (1)
Red Letter (1)
Resurrection (1)
questions for atheists (1)
How we compare: the category audit.
How these are answered: our method.