79 Are atheists angry at God

Believer says: Atheists are just angry at God. 

But skeptic says: Well, Christians are angry at Ganesh, the Hindu deity, and that’s why they don’t believe in him. Now Christians might want to protest that my statement is inaccurate. But by the same token, I say that theirs is inaccurate, too.

78 Does the Bible have any contradictions anywhere

Believer says: The Bible contains no contradictions. It is totally consistent throughout the Old Testament and New Testament.

But skeptic says. Oh, that’s a good one. The claim is addressed on my blog--Wild Bible. It provides items of inconsistencies in the Old and New Testaments. 

It's just that whenever the Christians don't want to believe something the Bible says, they wish it away. They say the Bible just talks in a way people could understand in Bible times. So the problem verse didn’t mean what it said, but Christians claim they know what it really meant. 

I say the readers should decide if there’s a contradiction. 

Christians play off one verse against another, too. They enlist a certain verse to overrule a troublesome one. But I say it could be done the other way around: the trouble-maker verse (the verse they don't like) could overrule the one they like. I doubt that Christians are going to do it, though, since my rule can’t work in their favor.

Related post:

59 Are there any contradictions in Bible anywhere

77 Is Laminin the mark of the cross in our bodies

Believer says: Laminin is what holds one cell of our bodies to the next cell. Since it looks like the image of the Christian cross, it’s the mark of the Creator in our bodies.  

But skeptic says: The illustration that Christians keep re-surfacing on the internet is a man-made diagram of the laminin structure. It's an ideal representation of laminin and it's included in scientific literature. It so happens it resembles the Christian cross.

Christians parade the image, claiming it's an inspirational message.

The actual shape of laminin is the following one:

In fact it can be more battered-looking than the photo shows. It can look like this:

Recap: Yes the photo shows either an X shape or a Christian cross. Or a Chinese character if you like. It largely depends on the observer. It's just that the artificial diagram is different from the image in the photo. So is it a completely honest Christian claim--what do you think?

76 Atheists lack a standard for objective morality

Believer says: A non-theist worldview can’t account for objective morality. If there’s objective morality, there’s a God. 

But skeptic says: It seems to me that you have to know what objective morality is in order to have it. We all know what subjective morality is, morals that tend to change from culture to culture. Christians say God put objective morality in the Bible. But they can't provide good evidence that God exists. For all they know it's a Bible of men and not of a God.  

Related post:
68 Atheists lack a higher power for morality

75 Is a day with the Lord 1000 earth years

Believer says: We can be certain that a day with God is a thousand years with us, thanks to what it states in the letter 2 Peter: 

2 Peter 3:8 [D]o not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

But skeptic says: Well, that New Testament verse was derived from Psalm 90 and it says:

Psalm 90:4 A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.

A day with God is like a thousand years on earth. Or it's like a watch in the night, which is just four hours long! It isn't both if the time is going to be literal. It's just one or the other. It sounds as if it isn't literal time, anyway, just poetical expression. So it's moot that a day with God is a thousand years with us.

74 Did God ever begin to exist

Believer says: Everything began to exist thanks to God. But God did not begin to exist since God is eternal. 

But skeptic says: It’s what we hear from the so-called cosmological argument, which is supposed to prove that God made the cosmos. The argument fails to say why it has to be the Bible God. It just goes as far as word definition, saying God exists since a word definition for God exists. Are you with me so far? And God must be eternal "by definition," so God is eternal. And that settles it. Well, there's not much substance there. Just a circle.

73 Mt Rushmore proves intelligent design in cosmos

Believer says: If you look at Mt. Rushmore you’d immediately say somebody carved it. By its facial features you could detect the effect of intelligent activity. We can detect the effect of intelligent design in life, too. For instance, we see Mt. Rushmores in the cell. Therefore, we can prove that there’s Intelligent Design to the world and universe.

But skeptic says: But in a natural mountain slope, we don’t see the hand of an intelligent designer. There's the familiar pattern in the faces of Mt. Rushmore but not in the mountain slope. Besides we already know that sculptors do works such as Mt. Rushmore. 

As far as the biological cell goes, we don’t know that a super-being made the cell. Religious people claim an intelligent designer did it. They reason mainly from a religious impression, not so much from secular research in the origin of the cell. 

That is, religious people assume a humanlike hand in creation. And so to them it involved an intelligent designer.

But whether an intelligent designer really had a hand in it, well, that’s up to you.

72 Did Jesus appear at the best time in history

Believer says: You may ask, What about the people who lived before the Christian era? Did they miss out on Christ? Well, there are far more people now than before Jesus. In fact there has been some-90% more people since the Christian era. So you see, to establish his church, Jesus came along at the best time in history.

But skeptic says: Well, it sounds to me as if the people who lived before the Christian era didn’t matter to Jesus at all. Thus the estimated world population for any time in history has little or nothing to do with “who is chosen.” No matter the time of history, the majority don't seem to fit into the Christian God's master plan. As the New Testament says, "many are called but few are chosen."  

Recap: I argue that although 90% of all people have lived after the first century AD (or so it's claimed) the Christian doctrine leaves the vast majority unsaved, anyway, thanks to where it says "many are called but few are chosen." Therefore the vast majority are unimportant in God's grand scheme of things. The so-called "best time in history" has little to do with it when "few are chosen."  

Related post:
89 What motivates you to live honorably in the world

71 Not believing it, doesn’t mean it isn’t true

Believer says: Just because you don’t believe Christian doctrine doesn’t mean it isn’t true. 

But skeptic says: But not believing it is largely beside the point. We look for validation.

Look at it the other way: Just because you assert a doctrine, it doesn’t mean it's true. It’s really a matter of finding out whether the claims are true. A Christian may want to claim authority in the Bible, but he needs to explain why his source is true. I don't mean merely say, "Because it’s the Bible."

Recap: Just because you don't believe the atheist perspective doesn't mean it isn't true. 

70 Did men trust women's testimonies

Believer says: Although women’s testimonies were not highly regarded in the first century, the Gospels report that women saw the empty tomb first. It’s strong evidence that the Gospels are true.

But skeptic says: Well, actually there’s some wiggle room there. The Gospel of John puts stock in a woman’s testimony  

John 4:17 "I don't have a husband," she answered. Jesus replied, "You are right when you say you don't have a husband. 18 You have been married to five men, and the man you live with now is not really your husband. You have told me the truth." 19 "I see you are a prophet, sir," the woman said. ... 39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they begged him to stay with them, and Jesus stayed there two days.

Recap: The Samaritan townspeople entreated Jesus to stay with them for a while “because of the woman’s testimony”; so indeed they put stock in a woman’s testimony.

Related post on my other blog:
72 So when did Mary see the risen Jesus