Here are just some of the questions I’ve asked myself along the way.
Why does God need to be so hidden? (link)
Why is God so dependent on our belief in Him?
Why does there need to be shedding of blood in order for there to be forgiveness?
Why did God send Christ only to a small group of people?
If the Bible is a perfect holy book, why was it only given to a small group of people?
Why did God order so much murder in the Old Testament? (Remember how much was involved in securing the promised land.)
Why did God order the killing of people for very small crimes in the Old Testament? (ex. for a disrespectful child, for picking up sticks on the Sabbath?)
If the Bible is a perfect holy book, why did it take 300+ years, negotiating, and voting in order to put the New Testament together?
Why would God expect us to believe stories like Noah’s ark, a man in a fish’s belly, etc.
As parents we try to make the punishment fit the crime and we do it in order to teach our child. Why would God create an everlasting punishment of hell which outlasts any possible crime and has no teaching value or purpose?
If God really sends people to hell is it moral to align ourselves with such a god?
Why would God leave the spreading of his message to sinful people? If it’s so important shouldn’t he have found a better way to communicate?
Why did God allow suffering? (Remember he could have created any possible world.)
Why does God hold people responsible for sinning when he created them with the ability to sin? Isn’t that his mistake not ours?
If prayer worked, wouldn’t it be obvious? (link)
If we need God to be moral, why are nonbelievers just as moral as Christians?
Isn’t it MORE moral to do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do, not because you’ll be rewarded or punished?
Which is more likely, that miracles happened or that people wanted miracles to happen?
Why do we easily dismiss absurdities in other religions but bend over backwards to have them make sense in our own religion?
Why are Christians so sure they know the only way to God when they know so little about other religions?
Why are Christians not afraid of the Muslim god? (and vice versa)
If the existence of the Christian god is obvious, why do we have to constantly drill it into our children? Shouldn’t they automatically believe in his existence?
If everything needs a creator, then why can God exist without a creator? If he can exist without a creator then couldn’t we as well?
Who says there was ever ‘nothing’ and therefore this world had to be created? Maybe ‘something’ always existed.
If God is all-powerful why does he get all the credit when something good happens but none of the blame when something bad happens?
Is life really meaningless if there is no god? Why is meaning that comes from outside of ourselves better than meaning that we create on our own?
Left Christianity 
I don’t need to go into where we stand on questions of faith and spirituaity, but I am excited for this next part of your journey. To blindly accept a system of habit without testing or questioning is religion, and we too don’t want any part of it. It is one area where the Christian church has failed and that is to ask the hard questions.
Something that may add to your journey is a listen through a series that asks many of the questions posted above. Back in 2007, a tough series called “The God Debate”, and later in 2009 a series called “Duped!” wrestle with some of the content above. If you go to the website http://www.themeetinghouse.ca and click on the Teaching tab, you can listen/watch them there…just scroll down ’til you see the series I mentioned.
I trust you guys do not take even the suggestion to check these out as a way of trying to convince you of anything, but rather to add to the questions and the journey that we all need to make daily!
Blessings
Thanks for your comments Jeff! I edited out some of your post since it had personal info – but left all the relevant info.
I appreciate the link and I am happy to post if for anyone else who is searching and would find it helpful. In my two year journey I did more reading, watching, and listening than you can imagine. I did watch some of the Meeting House stuff online at the time and I respect the way they approach the tough issues. I don’t know that I feel like going back and rehashing all that right now. I’ve sort of been there, done that and came to my own conclusions about those questions I posted.
I really appreciate your response and am glad that you see the value in questioning and dealing with the hard issues.
All the best to you and your family!
I’ve been wondering if there will still be free-will in heaven? If so, will there be another rebellion? And another?
Here’s a great article on the topic of heaven that I’ve linked to before. I’d love to get your thoughts on it.
http://www.ebonmusings.org/atheism/pearlygates.html
Here’s the link to one of my posts on it if you want to discuss it there:
http://leftchristianity.com/2012/03/07/reposting-those-old-pearly-gates-the-doctrine-of-heaven/
Why do you agree with God’s 10 Commandments? You don’t like liars, thieves and adulterers and yet you have lied, stolen and looked with lustful eyes. “You hypocrites how shall you escape the damnation of hell?” – Jesus.
Why do you think you will get a different answer than the man that was sent to hell in Luke 16? God is no respector or persons. You will get the very same answer!
“If you don’t listen to the prophets (Isaiah)” – isaiah666.com
I have a very similar list on my blog, found yours very refreshing. http://universalserviceblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/20-questions-for-god/ that’s my list if your interested.
My browser refreshed and the answers just puffed from existence. I guess that’s good, so I can make it more brief than I had it. Here it goes.
Why does God need to be so hidden? (link)
I don’t believe God is hidden. If God is life–which is what I believe–then when you see your children grow, people interact, even watching the sunset you are “seeing God.” As a being, or spirit, the nature of a spirit is invisibility-I assume. So logically, He wouldn’t be seen regardless.
Why is God so dependent on our belief in Him?
Actually, if God is life, God will always exist before humans were here and after we all die. As a being, if no one believed in Him, by His nature and how the bible describes Him, the Creator would still exist (given before adam and eve) we are just not here to describe him and give him attributes that He may not even like.
Why does there need to be shedding of blood in order for there to be forgiveness?
Blood is life–as in the old testament Leviticus. As such, when you shed blood you kill. One of the commandments is do not murder. To kill a life is taking God’s creation. So….. on the other end of the extreme….since the shedding of blood is to die (say in a war) it is also used to die for others. Like as a parent, you’d die for your child so he/she can live. That’s the highest act of gratitude is dying for another regardless the reason. As for the forgiveness part. I understand how dying can save someone…but I never understood how the actual act of dying can forgive. I assume that’s the highest for of forgiving another is to die for them. Yeah! that’s it, that’s the highest form of forgiveness is dying for the person that harmed you.
Why did God send Christ only to a small group of people?
If the Bible is a perfect holy book, why was it only given to a small group of people?
Christ came down to save the gentiles–us and to “whosoever believed in Him”. He physically died for all, but only those who believe in Him take advantage of what His death represents and His message He gave via His own death.
Why did God order so much murder in the Old Testament? (Remember how much was involved in securing the promised land.)
I think its historical. If God is life, then people conquer lands, people colonize, customs are made, laws are written, et cetera. That’s part of history.
Why did God order the killing of people for very small crimes in the Old Testament? (ex. for a disrespectful child, for picking up sticks on the Sabbath?)
Its historical. Leviticus has so many rules for things its ridiculous. We don’t have that in the US, you get killed for not having the right size tent for worship. You turn into salt for turning around (which is pretty natural thing to do). It represents God’s authority and how we learn from the events to not repeat them.
If the Bible is a perfect holy book, why did it take 300+ years, negotiating, and voting in order to put the New Testament together?
You got me there. The book is perfect in the eyes who bases his life on it. The people in the New testament, Jesus included, based their lives on the Bible/Torah. So, the generation to generation of the spiritual book is perfect in that it tells about Jesus and gives life to those who believe in Him.
Why would God expect us to believe stories like Noah’s ark, a man in a fish’s belly, etc.
He doesn’t. If God is live, men who wrote the bible depicted how their culture viewed God and how their customs portrayed them in their stories, art, and legends. Aside from people, to other faiths, God is the Creator, period.
As parents we try to make the punishment fit the crime and we do it in order to teach our child. Why would God create an everlasting punishment of hell which outlasts any possible crime and has no teaching value or purpose?
Please let me know when you get an answer. This is one of the major reasons I left Christianity.
If God really sends people to hell is it moral to align ourselves with such a god?
No. (my opinion)
Why would God leave the spreading of his message to sinful people? If it’s so important shouldn’t he have found a better way to communicate?
Well, Moses was well liked in God’s eyes. He sinned but He repented by following God. So God entrusted him to write the first five books of the bible… and other people and so on. The spreading of the gospel was done by God’s favorites.
Why did God allow suffering? (Remember he could have created any possible world.)
If God is life, as a Buddhist would say, suffering exists.
Why does God hold people responsible for sinning when he created them with the ability to sin? Isn’t that his mistake not ours?
Yes and no. I concluded God gave us an ultimatum rather than a free choice. So, he’s responsible for our having the choice to sin but is not responsible for the sins we actually commit.
If prayer worked, wouldn’t it be obvious? (link)
Prayer, to me, is being aware and alert to what life gives you good and bad. Understand the cause of suffering and be active to how to live in it. So if I prayed for me to be cured from my epilepsy, that wouldn’t be realistic to expect anything outside of common sense. If I want control over my seizures, I take my meds and follow up with my doctor. If my seizures are controlled, I can say God helped in that. Saying God did it from a Christian gives him/her hope that their live is not in their hands but God. But the prayer was an action by me. Be alert and aware to the actions you take. The results of prayer aren’t obvious because what you do may not bring about a quick result (karma doesn’t work that fast.)
If we need God to be moral, why are nonbelievers just as moral as Christians?
We don’t need God to be moral. From Christianity, without God life cannot exist. No life, no morals.
Isn’t it MORE moral to do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do, not because you’ll be rewarded or punished?
Yes. Buddhism teaches we all have a Buddha nature–a clean nature that tells us right from wrong et cetera. We learn it by being aware–meditation, chanting, praying, whatever. There is no reward or punishment. Its like eating. We are “rewarded” when our tummies are full and punished when we don’t eat and starve. Its more common sense rather than God perspective. Terminology.
Which is more likely, that miracles happened or that people wanted miracles to happen?
I don’t understand the question. No biggie.
Why do we easily dismiss absurdities in other religions but bend over backwards to have them make sense in our own religion?
Ignorance. Spirituality is, by its nature, a open-minded way of life. When people adopt believes that lets them discriminate other people, its not a religion.
Why are Christians so sure they know the only way to God when they know so little about other religions?
Beats me.
Why are Christians not afraid of the Muslim god? (and vice versa)
Kinda like atheism. How can one be afraid of a god they don’t believe exists.
If the existence of the Christian god is obvious, why do we have to constantly drill it into our children? Shouldn’t they automatically believe in his existence?
If God is life, children are taught to live “with” God not believe He exist. That’s like trying to convince myself that I exist.
If everything needs a creator, then why can God exist without a creator? If he can exist without a creator then couldn’t we as well?
God, by Christian definition, does not need a creator. My opinion, nothing is created and nothing disappears. So if God is a being, He’s always been there. We were always here, just in different form, for lack of better words. Humans label, personality, try to make sense of the cycle of life. When that’s what it is, a cycle.. and some things we just don’t know.
Who says there was ever ‘nothing’ and therefore this world had to be created? Maybe ‘something’ always existed.
That’s what I believe. Something always existed.
If God is all-powerful why does he get all the credit when something good happens but none of the blame when something bad happens?
I think that’s from Christians not Christianity. In Psalms God is the creator of darkness and light.
Is life really meaningless if there is no god? Why is meaning that comes from outside of ourselves better than meaning that we create on our own?
It doesn’t matter. I learned from Christianity that if Christians don’t believe someone else is helping them (say a child needing a parent), they cant live. So its necessary for “them.” For, say a Buddhist, the meaning comes from within. Our own nature is within us. Some religions are outside in, others are inside out. I think that answer depends on who you speak with not with Christianity itself.
Anyway, I thought I answer these questions. Take them as a grain of salt. I assume they were thinking-out loud questions.
Take care,
Carlita