Christianity Essay, Research Paper

Christianity is a religion in which events are claimed to have

occured but which can never be proved. Those who practice it live by

different morals than are preached by the most holy texts. It is an

institution in which the most holy scripture is contradictory, and wherein

the supreme being, by the very definition, cannot exist. Christianity is,

therefore, a fundamentally flawed religion.

According to the Bible, events have occured which are even more

miraculous than the resurection of Jesus Christ. Events such as the stopping

of the sun by Joshua (Joshua 10:12-14), the reversal of the sun’s course by

Isaiah (Isaiah 38:7-8) , the resurrection of the saints, and their subsequent

appearance to many (Matthew 27:52-53) were witnessed by thousands of people.

The stopping and reversal of the sun would have been visible worldwide. The

idea that people could have witnessed these events without having been amazed

by them is, quite simply, ludicrous. Other cultures having witnessed this

would certainly have offered their own explanations in keeping with their own

cultural and religious beliefs. Surely a society existing at the time would

have documented this miraculous event. Yet nowhere have such works been

found. In the instance of the resurrection of the saints, Matthew is the

only person to mention this occurence in the Bible. Surely other

first-century Christians would have used this as further proof of Jesus’

divinty. It would fall to reason that Paul and the gospels would have mentioned it.

This is not, however, the case. Nowhere else in the Bible is this mentioned or even hinted at.

These events are then, at best, highly unlikely to have occured. The fact

that Matthew is alone in writing of the resurrection of the saints leads us

to believe that certain writers of the Bible had differing views on

christianity.

The christian Bible is highly contradictory, not just to modern day

christian beliefs, but in and of itself. Today’s society is of the belief

that all people are created equal, and Christians submit that their god is of

the same belief. Modern Christians believe that their god loves everyone,

and that they are all equal. However, after Adam and Eve had eaten from the

tree forbidden by god, this deity said to Eve “I will intensify the pangs of

your childbearing; in pain shall you bring forth children. Yet your urge

shall be for your husband, and he shall be your master.” (Genesis 3:16).

This tells us that, according to the Christian religion, women shall

naturally be dominated by men. This kind of behavior is not conducive to a

being who believes in inherent equality. Women are repeadtedly treated as

objects and told to be submissive in the Bible. “According to the rule

observed in all the assemblies of believers, women should keep silent in such

gatherings. Rather, as the law indicates, submissiveness is indicated for

them. If they want to learn anything, they should ask their husbands at home.

It is a disgrace when a woman speaks in the assembly.” (1 Corinthians 14:34-35).

“Man was not made from woman but woman from man. Neither was man created for

woman but woman for man. For this reason, a woman ought to have a sign of

submission on her head.” (1 Corinthians 11:8-10). The Bible also permits

bondage. “Slaves, male and female, you may indeed possess, provided you buy

them from among neighboring the nations. You may also buy them from among

the aliens who reside with you and from their children who are born and

raised in their land. Such slaves you may own as chattels, and leave to your

sons as their hereditary property, making them perpetual slaves.”

(Leviticus 25:44-46). This same Bible gives laws on the punishment of slaves.

“When a man strikes his slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his

hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two,

he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property.” (Exodus 21:20-21)

We find further examples of prejudice in Deuteronomy. In the Bible, it is stated

that “No one whose testicles have been crushed or whose penis has been cut

off may be admitted into the community of the Lord. No child of an

incestuous or adulterous union may be admitted into the community of the Lord,

nor any descendant of his even to the tenth generation.” (Deuteronomy 23:2-3).

Consider the first statement. If a faithful Christian were to get in an

automobile accident with a resulting injury to his genitals, he would not be

admitted into Heaven. The second statement is even more ridiculous than the

first. An innocent child, through no fault of its own, is born a bastard. He

may not be admitted into heaven. But more than that, none of his descendants

may ever be admitted. These are not characteristics which are normally associated with

justice and goodness. These are petty, cruel actions. This is not the only

discrepancy in the christian Bible. Judah’s daughter-in-law, Tamar, is said

to have been a harlot (Genesis 38:24). Because of her harlotry, she became

pregnant (Genesis 38:25). She had twins and named them Perez and Zerah.

“These are the descendants of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron

was the father of Ram, Ram was the father of Amminibad, Amminibad was the

father of Nahshon, Nahshon was the father of Salmon, Salmon was the father of

Boaz, Boaz was the father of Obed, Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse

became the father of David.” (Ruth 4:18-22). Therefore David, King of Israel,

was a descendant of a bastard and subsequently should not have been allowed

into the community the Lord. This is a huge contradiction, as David is such

an important figure in the bible.

The contradiction involving David pales in comparison, however, to

the one of the very definition of a supreme being. In Christianity, Christ

is central in atoning for the sins of mankind. Had there been no sins of

mankind, there would be no story of Christ. The nature of sin must then

therefore be analysed. It is accepted by Christians that god created

everything. If this is true, then this same god created evil. It is written

in the Bible that god is all-knowing (1 John 3:20). God is, in effect,

omniscient. If god is omniscient and creates, he then knows all possible

outcomes of all possible creations of all possible universes. If he created

our universe, he chose what its destiny would be. In doing so, he chose the

paths of our lives. Thus, we can conclude that the universe is completely

deterministic to god and, by being a creator, he cannot allow freewill to

exist unless the universe is no longer predetermined to him. If this is true,

then humanity is merely a collection of automotons. If this is not not true,

then god cannot be omniscient.If the Christian god were omniscient, then he

could foresee his own future. If this being knows its own future, he does

not have the power to change it. Considering, however, that god is

omnipotent, there is a major conflict with his omniscient nature. If god

were able to change his future, that would mean that god would not be able to

foresee when he would make sudden changes in his future and what changes

would result, eliminating the possibility of his being omniscient. Therefore,

these qualities cannot be held simultaneously by one being.

It is important now to look at the possibility of omnipotence. The

Christian god is perfectly good and omnipotent. Yet evil exists. If god is

omnipotent and perfectly good, he could and would dispell evil. Three

possible conclusions arise from these statements. God is perfectly good but

evil exists, so he is not able to dispell evil and thus is not omnipotent.

The second possible conclusion is this: that god is omnipotent but evil

exists, and god is therefore not perfectly good. The last possible, and most

feasible, conclusion is that god does not exist.

It can easily be seen that Christianity is a religion based on

falsehoods and has many intrinsic flaws. They are seen by the fact that

the followers of this religion do not conduct themselves in the manner

proscribed by their most holy texts. These errors reside in the facts that

these same texts are contradictory, and that their very god cannot possibly

exist. These errors and omissions are then covered by a vague concept: faith.