Heirophant's Proselytizer Questionnaire

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The questions follow. Under no circumstances will "The LORD works in mysterious ways" or other arguments in that vein be acceptable. If a question does not apply to your particular denomination, explain why.

Thank you!

101. What would the correct thing to do be if your God gave you a command that was harmful and/or destructive to you? A common argument, which comes from Paul, states that because clay pots don't complain about what the potter does with them, people shouldn't complain about what their maker (supposedly, your God) does with them, but this completely ignores the vitally important argument that clay pots have no sense of self-awareness and cannot think or feel love, pain, anger, etc. If you want to make this argument, you have to deal with this difference. 

102. What (or who) do you believe the number 666 represents? Justify your answer.

103. If your God is "just and merciful," why would He take Solomon's kingdom away from Solomon's son while not punishing Solomon, when it was Solomon himself who committed the sin of idolatry? What did Solomon's son do to deserve punishment? (See 1 Kings 11:12). Is it right to send the son to prison for the father's crimes?

104. Why is Solomon commonly considered to be the paragon of wisdom by many Christians, when he constantly sinned against your God(1 Kings 11:4-10, etc.)? Personally, if I had a God talking to me, I'd do what he said.

105. Don't you think that an anti-sex position (see question#18) is a rather silly position for your denomination to take when the biblical book "Song of Solomon" is a piece of erotic poetry? (For instance,in Song of Solomon 8:2, the bridegroom proposes to "drink of spiced wine of the juice of the pomegranate." The pomegranate was a symbol of the female genitalia, and the "spiced wine" represented menstrual blood).

106. Does it bother you that the cross, supposedly a Christian symbol, was actually stolen from the Egyptians? Why or why not? (The Egyptian cross, the ankh, was a male-female symbol similar in concept to the yin-yang. When the Christians stole the ankh from the Egyptians, they removed the female symbol, or yoni, leaving only the masculine symbol-- a subtle way of reinforcing the idea that women are lesser beings).

107. What is the incredibly important doctrinal difference that requires the fighting between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland?

108. Even if your God did create the universe, why does He want to be worshipped? Is your God an egomaniac?

109. What are your beliefs concerning other religions? "whitewitchcraft"). How much do you know about about them?

110. What do you think the word "Satanist" means?

111. How do you explain the fact that the word "blood" occurs over 400 times in the Bible? Isn't this a rather savage way to write a book that is supposed to be at the center of an ethical system?

112. Throughout the Bible, your God commands His followers to wage merciless war on unbelievers (Luke 22:36, Deuteronomy 13:8, Exodus20:23-25, Deuteronomy 20:16, Matthew 10:34, Numbers 31:17-18, etc). If you are one of His followers, why aren't you out waging merciless war on unbelievers?

113. Numbers 23:21 says that your God "has not seen wickedness in Israel." If this is so, explain why your God burned Israelites for complaining (Num 11:1), sent a plague against them for eating the meat He had given them (Num 11:33), why He burned people for using incense (Num 16:35), why He sent a plague against the Israelites who accused Moses of wrongdoing (Num 16:44-49), and why He sent fiery snakes among the Israelites (Num 21:5). Is your God a liar, or was it just more convenient for Him to lie at that particular place and time, or what?

114. What was it that was so bad about eating an apple that death had to result from that act? 

115. What was it about humanity's torturing and killing of your God's only son that made your God so happy that He again promised eternal life to everyone who believed in Him.

116. How do you explain that Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus?

117. Matthew says that the prophecy given in Matthew 27:9 was given by Jeremiah. How do you explain that this prophecy was not given by Jeremiah at all, but by Zechariah (in Zech 11:12)?

118. Matthew says (in Matt 2:23) that Jesus dealt in Nazareth so that he could fulfill a prophecy stating that the Messiah would be called a Nazarene. Where is this prophecy in the Old Testament?

119. Matthew says that on the triumphant entry into Jerusalem, Jesus was riding on an ass and a colt (Matt 21:7). How do you explain that the original prophecy (Zech 9:9) stated that Jesus would be riding on only one ass, and the other gospel writers place Jesus only on one ass (Mark11:7, Luke 19:35, and John 12:15)?

120. In Matthew 1:23, Matthew has the angel say that Jesus would be born of a virgin. However, the prophecy that Matthew is referring to, Isaiah 7:14, uses the Hebrew word almah, which simply means a young woman. It has nothing to do with sexual purity; the Hebrew word for virgin is bethulah. How do you explain this?  

121. Isaiah 7:16 seems to say that before Jesus had reached the age of maturity, both of the Jewish countries would be destroyed. Where is the fulfillment of this prophecy in the New Testament?

122. Matthew 1:23 says that Jesus would be called Immanuel,which means "God with us." Why does no one (not even his parents) call him Immanuel at any point in the New Testament? 

123. How many inconsistencies in the Bible, other than those mentioned in this paper, do you know of? Cite chapter and verse for as many as you have room for.

124. If even the contemplation of sinning is a sin (i.e."sinning in your heart"; see, for example, Matthew 5:28) and if Jesus was tempted by Satan in the desert (Matthew 4:5-8, Luke 4:5-9), how can you say that Jesus was without sin?

125. Do you believe that the existence of your God can be established through a formal proof? Why or why not?

126. Pick a famous argument for the existence of your God, then criticize that argument. (Assume I mean for you to use the academic definition of criticize).

127. Pick an argument against the existence of your God. If it is not a famous argument, copy it down here. Criticize this argument.(Assume I mean for you to use the academic definition of the word criticize).

128. What does your denomination think of the government? Read Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 13. Now what do you think of the government? If necessary, reconcile the two views.

129. What is your definition of the word Christian?

130. Why do you think it is that the ancient Greeks, who had a very liberal sexual morality, had many fewer sex crimes (compared to the population) than the United States, which is 85% Christian?

131. If someone accepts Jesus, and is "saved,"but then turns away from Jesus, is that person still saved?

132. Where did your God come from?

133. What are the requirements for being saved? Some say that faith alone is enough; others say that faith without works is dead. The Bible supports both these viewpoints. What does your denomination think? 

134. If I decide I like the answers to the above questions, where can I get in touch with you? (Give name and email if available).

135. What is the name of your denomination?

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