Welcome to Part II of our series, where we answer some of the most challenging questions that Christians and new believers might have.
If you haven't read Part I, where we answered these five questions:
- Why does God allow suffering and evil if He is all-powerful and loving?
- Is there evidence outside the Bible for the existence of God?
- Why does God remain hidden if He wants people to believe in Him?
- How can an all-loving God send people to hell?
- Why are there so many different interpretations of Christianity?
Then I encourage you to read that here.
In this teaching, we will be answering the following questions:
- Can morality exist without belief in God?
- What about people who have never heard of Jesus?
- How do you reconcile science and faith, especially evolution?
- Why is faith in one particular religion the path to salvation?
- What about the contradictions or difficult passages in the Bible?
Let's dive right in!
- Can morality exist without belief in God?
Yes, because God created morality, whether you believe in Him or not. You only know the difference between good and evil because you know what goodness and evil are. It is born within us, an innate instinct to help, love and care.
- What happens to people who have never heard of Jesus?
The thing I love most about God is His mercy and understanding. Some people in the Bible did some terrible things, yet God still loved them and showed them mercy. Even to the Gentiles and Pagans, He showed them mercy and understanding. God would do the same for those who have never heard of Him or His son. There is a phrase in the Christian community called “the age of consciousness” or “age of understanding”. That is someone at an age where they understand the consequences of sin. It is why the Bible tasks parents with disciplining and bringing up their children correctly so that they may know good from bad. But only when a child is at the age of understanding, is it the point where they can then be judged. This is why Jesus says to have the faith of a child because they have no concept of sin, they don’t understand or act out of evil or malicious intent.
Now in saying this, God is also merciful and understanding of those who have never heard of Jesus, let alone believe in Him. There are tribes in the Amazon that have never seen another person who is a different colour from them, let alone a Bible! But one amazing characteristic of God that He placed in us is the yearning to be with Him, that there is more to life than this! “The skies declare Your glory”, a passage proving that even looking at the stars and the sunset can make one believe there is a God. So God will be merciful, and He will judge accordingly and with understanding, just like He would us.
Now, that doesn’t excuse you from never having to spread the gospel. That is one of your purposes as a Christian, to spread the gospel and tell people of the amazing wonders of God and believe in His Son, Jesus! We are instructed to “go to the four corners of the earth.” You never know, someone’s redemption could happen just by your willingness to say His name.
- How do you reconcile science and faith, especially through evolution?
I truly believe science was given to us to be able to prove that God exists and that we were created! There are concepts in science and mathematics that are difficult to understand. I mean, I studied Maths, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology in high school and there are still things I cannot fathom! But just the little bit I learned was proof enough of God’s existence? because once you realize how complex everything is, even down to the microscopic level, even down to the atomic level, you will realize that none of this world is by accident. None of this was an accidental random occurrence on a Tuesday afternoon because a random star exploded out of nothing and took billions of years to form. The likelihood of that coincidentally happening is so impossible. Let’s explore a few other topics where God's existence can be seen:
- Mathematics:
The fact that mathematics, numbers, and equations work out so perfectly on a global level, is a miracle on its own and could have only been created by an intellectual being outside of our system that made everything line up so perfectly. That nations who have never met hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago could come up with the same equations for the same things that line up perfectly is beyond a doubt that it was a higher designer outside of space and time.
E.g: The Fibonacci Sequence
There is a sequence of numbers in nature that correlate to a spiral. What? How is it possible that most of nature can all have the same sequence of numbers in their design? That is because it is not possible by accidental random occurrence alone!
A designer, a perfect intelligent creator had to have this sequence, this pattern and implement it into His creation as evidence that they were designed by Him! If there is a pattern reoccurring in places where a person made something you will logically assume, “Someone has been here and this is their design.” It is the same thing of God, “He has been here and this is His design.” And if a human uses patterns to create things that are man-made, Then who created the things and patterns of nature? Someone outside of man, outside of this earth, and that is Yehovah.
- Physics:
We use Newton's Laws in Physics A LOT. Physics is pretty much how objects move, attract, and work. Now simply put, Newton's 1st law tells us that an object won't change its motion unless acted upon by a force. Newton's 2nd law tells us that heavier objects need a larger force to move them. Newton's 3rd law tells us that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
In the first law, this emphasizes the fact that, if the earth is moving at 1000mph, something had to have started it because then it used to be standing still. Well, no one or thing existed before the earth did, so something outside of the earth, outside of the universe had to make it move? Introducing, God. God has and always will be outside of time and the universe. There had to have been an immovable mover to start the movement of the universe and essentially the earth.
In the second law, heavy objects need something to move them or they won’t move. E.g: an ant cannot move a tennis ball, but a human can whack it out of the park. Something larger than us, than the earth, than the universe had to have such a larger force, or power, to move it. Who else could have made the universe and all in it move but God, the one who is outside of space and time?
The third law is equals and opposites. Now something outside of space and time, outside of everything, had to have existed for things to attract and repel. Think of a magnet, for example, one side attracts, and one side repels. That is an invisible force of magnetism. Now tell me, how could these “magical forces” have existed before human beings, before atoms were even created? Someone had to have created this for the rest of the universe to be created and work perfectly.
I want to explain the complexities of atoms and their subatomic levels, how chemistry is magical and how these chemical reactions have occurred before science says the first lifeform was on earth, and in biology how our God’s name is written in the pattern and language of our DNA (yes our own human DNA has its own language, and if only living creatures have language, something outside of us that created us humans must’ve used language to create us, that’s God) and so many more things and exactly why PhDs and jobs are created around these things because it is so complex, but let’s jump right into that last part of the question; evolution.
Evolution is a theory, not a fact and that is why when it is taught, it is called ‘The Theory of Evolution’. Now this is not to say it isn’t true or aspects of it can be true because natural selection has been observed in nature and is real. But there are dark histories surrounding Darwin’s research that I would rather not get into and that you can research yourself. So there are good points and there are bad points (just like any theory), all I will leave with you is some of Darwin’s final words on his deathbed: “I was a young man with unformed ideas. … People made a religion out of them.”
He had converted to Christianity on his deathbed while others claim he had not. But what is known and written in his handwriting is that he was an Agnostic, which is someone who believes there is a God, just not sure which one.
But whether you believe in evolution or not, does not refute your belief in Christ Jesus and God the Father and creator of the universe, and His Spirit with us.
Why is faith in one particular religion the path to salvation?
Because each religion contradicts the other. You cannot have one religion stating Jesus is not the Messiah, but the Bible is true, and then another religion stating that Jesus is the Messiah, but not the Son of God, yet God asks you to kill and take captive anyone who doesn’t believe? Or that there is no God, you are god. Or that there are multiple gods. Or is it that there is one true God, who sent Jesus His Son to die for us and He loves everyone? Which is it?
To say that all the religions are true is to say none of them are true, because they each contradict each other.
Because Christianity is the only religion in which God makes a way, to die for us through His Son, so that we no longer have to work for salvation, but be free through faith in Him and His Son, Jesus Christ. In what other religion do you find a God dying for humans and loving them so much, every single one, even the ones that don’t love Him back? Even the ones that commit the worst sins, He still died for them. And what other religion has a God that’s Spirit comes to live with us on earth?
Every other religion says we have to either work for salvation, or that God is some celestial being too far to reach and you need to sanctify yourself to even try and be a fraction closer to Him, or you need to reach such a peaceful state called nirvana to feel God’s peace, or that Jesus didn’t die for you and that their god rejoices at the fact that his children will be destroyed.
When I read about those religions (I did religious studies, and I have read about many of them out of fascination or for inquiries because I might have wanted to be part of that religion pre-Christianity) I realized that Christianity is the only way to the One True God, through His Son Jesus Christ.
I will give you a good example of what I found in my studies:
Confucious says: I am not the way. (But he did believe there was a true way and that 'wise teachers' get sent to us by a higher entity)
Taoism says: Jesus is someone to look up to in Tao.
Quran says: to read the Bible and that Jesus is the Messiah, but did not die and resurrect, therefore not God's Son. The Quran however, re-affirms his miraculous birth and his miraculous abilities
Atheism says: there is no God. But everything was created out of absolutely nothing and by random coincidence. (this is a refuting and redundant argument as science proves something can't come from nothing)
Agnosticism says: there is a God, but which one?
Buddhism says: there is no God. But Jesus was an enlightened messenger.
Hinduism says: A Hindu views the entire universe as God's and everything in the universe as God. The Hindu belief is non-exclusive and accepts all other faiths and religious paths; therefore they accept Christianity as a truth.
Judaism says: The God of the Bible is the One true God and a messiah still to come.
What do these religions have in common?
That there is God who created everything, and that there's a Messiah, and his name was Jesus, and that one needs to follow Him and His teachings.
Now, that sounds like Christianity to me. And that is why Christianity is the one true path to salvation. Because, if every major religion in the world has God and the Messiah/Jesus in it, but Christianity has none of the others? Well, that speaks volumes to me already.
,What about the contradictions or difficult passages in the Bible?
There are no contradictions in the Bible, but there are difficult passages that can cause a person who has not studied the bible and its context (both historical, cultural, and language) to form contradictions, as well as those who like to just cherry pick a verse and assume one thing where if you read the entire chapter, the answer would be there.
For example; people assume Peter said you don’t have to follow the food laws anymore because of one cherry-picked verse, only if people would simply read to the end of the chapter, Peter clarifies that his vision was about separating the believers from the non-believers.
As for difficult verses, yes, I agree, even now as a seasoned Christian who has read and studied the majority of the Bible, I can easily say that there are still parts of the Bible that are difficult for me to understand. But I highly recommend researching every single book, scripture, chapter, verse, even person of the Bible. Especially by historical, cultural, and language context because that helps with understanding.
Also, many people don’t read the Old Testament anymore, especially the first five books. Those are of utmost importance in all of Jesus' teachings, yet I know people who have been Christian for decades and STILL haven’t even read Genesis. I promise you that just reading the first five books of the bible will actually make everything else a lot easier to understand, specifically Jesus’ teachings and why, when, and how He died.
Next Steps
Now you go and pray and study your Bible. God will always reveal Himself to those who seek Him with all their hearts and bless you with wisdom if you ask. And now if anyone asks you these questions, you will be equipped to answer them and to do so with love, because, “if I have ‘gifts/faith/knowledge’, but I have not love, I have nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the journey to understanding faith, science, morality, salvation, and the Bible’s teachings is one of profound exploration. Each question posed challenges us to think deeply, seek truth, and embrace the wisdom God has provided through His Word, His creation, and His Spirit.
Morality, as an innate gift from God, demonstrates His presence even in those who do not yet know Him. His mercy and justice extend to all, even those who have not heard His name, reflecting a love that surpasses human comprehension. The harmony between science and faith reveals the intricate design of a Creator whose handiwork is evident in the laws of physics, mathematics, and the patterns of nature. Evolution and scientific discovery do not negate faith but instead, magnify the God who designed it.
Salvation through Christ is unique among all belief systems as a testament to God’s love and grace—requiring no works but faith in His redemptive plan. Christianity stands apart in its assertion of a personal, relational God who died for humanity and lives within His believers through the Holy Spirit.
Finally, while the Bible can present challenges in understanding, these difficulties invite us into a deeper study and reflection. The pursuit of understanding God’s Word is not just a study of text but an encounter with the living God.
Ultimately, the Christian faith provides answers that not only satisfy the intellect but also nurture the soul, affirming that the God of the universe seeks to reconcile and restore all to Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ. May this teaching inspire you to continue your own exploration of faith, truth, and the love of our Creator.
I hope you enjoyed this teaching!
