A Rebuttal to Three Common Objections to Christianity

Recently (and in times passed), I have managed to talk to many different people on the internet about accepting Jesus as their Savior. In speaking with them, one of the most interesting things that I have observed is that each person had several COMMON objections to Christianity. Here are the top three that I have observed;1

1. The Bible promotes slavery!2

2. God kills innocent people!3

3. Christianity promotes hatred and violence!4

Now I must admit; when these objections have several Bible verses after them, it most certainly APPEARS that those objections are true! However, the only way a person could believe those objections is if they took them at face value; I find this common place, ESPECIALLY on the internet where many people can be found who only enjoy and believe what they see because someone made something "look" or "sound" exciting. 5

Now here are some important things to keep in your mind before I begin my rebuttal; NEVER take ANYTHING at face value! In other words, don't just believe something because it SOUNDS interesting or LOOKS appealing or FEELS good and ENTERTAINS YOU! Always examine all claim(s) to see if something is really what it claims to be, and last but not least, look at things from BOTH points of view. If you do these things, then you will be thinking for yourself--and finally, please remember this too; "If you will not think for yourself, then someone will do YOUR thinking FOR you!"6

So now, without further hesitation, here is the promised rebuttal...7

Objection #1--God condones slavery!8

Answer: From the beginning of time, God NEVER wished for anyone to look down on others and enslave them and treat them as though they were inferior; after all, the Bible claims that God is love. Therefore, if God never did condone slavery, why did He allow Israel to have slaves? Well, this instance is an example of God working with a culture that had a PRIMITIVE view of their fellow man--after all, if God is love, then He isn't going to "push" His ideas onto ignorant people but rather, He works with them. However, even though God DID allow slavery, He also established some rules:9

A. The slave was not to be abused!10

B. The slave was to be considered one of the family.11

C. The slave was to be well taken care of.12

D. If the slave was a Jew and decided that he wished to serve his master for a lifetime, then he became his master's bondservant; when you're a bondservant, you COULD be put in the will, take over your master's affairs while he was away on a business trip, and so on.13

I think that this historical lesson teaches us that God truly is a merciful and gracious God who loves people and doesn't hate them!14

Objection #2--God told Israel to kill "innocent" people!15

Answer: There are a few verses in the OT (Old Testament) that make it clear that God allowed Israel to kill "Amelekites and Midianites". Many people PRE-ASSUME that these were "innocent" people; but this is NOT the case! You'll soon see why, but first, I must give you a little background; the Amelekites and Midianites had existed LONG before God led Israel out of Egypt and in fact, LONG before Israel had even set foot in Egypt! 16

This only means one thing; that ALMOST a thousand years had gone by before God decided to have them slaughtered. But why would God have Israel slaughter them? Well, one of the things that Midian and Amalek practiced continually was child sacrifice; see, they had this giant incinerator and on "holy" days (which quite often tended to be a festive occasion and music would be playing loudly) they'd take a child, or maybe several babies, and hurl them into the massive incinerator!17

Now God hates child sacrifice; we know this because in the Bible, He said so and He never told Israel to sacrifice babies or children to Him. So, how would that barbaric culture know what God liked and dislike since the Ten Commandments weren't even around then? Well, there's this "inner law" deep down inside of everybody that everyone knows exists; and it tells them what's right and what's wrong. I'm sure He used that inner law to talk to those Midianites and Amalekites and tell 'em to stop the child sacrifices but you know, sometimes people ignore those "pricks" inside; see, they know that something is wrong but they keep on doing it anyway and as a result, that inner law eventually stops talking to them and pretty soon, it doesn't bother them to hurt folks. Anyways, if you keep ignoring God, there comes a day when God has to pass judgment--that's just the way it is. Otherwise, God wouldn't be just!18

Now when God passes His Divine Judgment, He always looks at His Cup of Justice--if it's full and running over, He passes judgment. If it isn't full yet, He shows grace and waits a little longer, extends the grace period on occasion, warns a little longer, and just waits to see if there's any change. Since God is merciful, then He will grant much grace--but you better not take advantage of it or one day you will find the cup near to overflowing!19

Objection #3--Christianity promotes hate and violence!20

Many people like to PRE-JUDGE and PRE-ASSUME that because someone CLAIMS to be a Christian, then they ARE one and therefore, evil actions they commit are viewed as being condoned by all Christians as a whole! Nothing could be further from the truth; why, even the White Supremecists [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Supremacist] call themselves Christians but spread hate! Therefore, the question now becomes "What makes a Christian a Christian? Can a Christian create their own standard [a rule or principle that is used as a basis for judgment] and live any kind of lifestyle that they want?"21

The answer is "no" because the BIBLE is the STANDARD for EVERY BELIEVER!22

2 Timothy 3:16-17--All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.23

Here is what the Bible has to say about how we Christians should live...24

Luke 6:46--"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you?" 25

John 15:10--"If you obey my commandments, you will live in my love [as] I have obeyed my Father's commandments, and in that way I live in His love." 26

It's that simple; therefore, those who use the scriptures to promote hate are "twisting" the scripture to suit their own ends.27

In closing, here are four Greek words that will assist you in remembering "the motto": 28

1. Gregoreo: Be vigilant!29

2. Spoudazo: Don't take anything at face value! Study things out.30

3. Dokimazo: Examine the claim(s) from both sides with the intent of finding the truth31

4. Logizomai: Think for yourself; because if you will not think for yourself, then someone ELSE will do your thinking FOR you!32

Farewell until next time, my friends! 33

--JD