I can’t remember who gave me these questions but at some point I must have said to someone, ‘ask anything you like about Christianity, it can stand up for itself. It either has good answers or it doesn’t’ and then I got this list in response.

• If God loves his people so much, why does he allow pain & suffering?
• All religions believe theirs is the truth, therefore how can you be certain yours really is the truth?
• It clearly states in the Bible that Jesus was a Jew, why is it not obvious then, that the correct religion is Jewish?
• If God is so loving, caring, powerful & intelligent, why is the world such a mess?
• If God has no gender why are they referred to as ‘God the Father’ and ‘God the Son’? Why is the man the ‘head of the household’? Why aren’t men and women equal in God’s eyes?
• When there are billions of people on this earth how can you be sure Jesus really loves you? How do you know he didn’t die on a cross to save a certain person or a certain group of people?
• Why has God made it so difficult to be a Christian? If he wants everyone to turn to him, why has he made so many rules/ regulations/ right answers?
• What happens to miscarriages, abortions, small children, severely disabled, the mentally challenged, how will God judge the people who never had a chance of life or who cannot spell their name, let alone grasp the basics of religion?
• What is the purpose of life?
• Why does God answer some prayers and not others? Why is it He helps some people but not everyone? How does he choose which prayers to answer? He hears every prayer, every cry for help, but how do we really know He listens? Why is it important to pray?
• When you pray who should you address your prayer to? Is it God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit or al three of ten?
• Who is really to blame for the way the world is today? Is it God, Satan or man?
• Why does God push humans beyond their limit?
• Who is in control of the world at the moment?
• Why is God letting the world get so much worse? How bad will it have to get before he decides its time to end it once and for all?
• When judgement day comes what will God do with the people who worship another God or follow another religion?
• For people who make it into heaven, will God erase their memories? If He doesn’t how can people be happy with thoughts of their past and their friends and family that didn’t make it?
• I know in God’s eye all sin is sin, no matter how big or small. However will the punishment be greater for those who have committed greater sin? FOr instance would a child that stole sweets get the same punishment as a paedophile? If so, how can God be called fair?
• How do you have faith in someone you can’t see or hear?
• What should your base your faith on?

These are good questions and people all around you and your church would love to know the answers. We have to address the questions that sometimes stand in the way of relationship with Christ. Your response might be in your preaching or in the way you run a course like Alpha or Christianity Explored or in might be in how you equip your people to be able to answer these questions themselves. I would be interested to hear how your church seeks to answer these questions.