I will try to provide some answers to your questions, but given that my last comment was unsatisfying to you, I’m not sure this one will be either. I don’t claim to have all the answers after all, but hopefully what I do share will be of at least some value. Sharing a bit more about your background (without getting too personal or revealing identifiable details of course) might help people to give more satisfying answers.

It sounds from your first paragraph that you have been on the receiving end of “Christians [supposed Christians] behaving badly.” I have no interest in trying to defend such behavior, so I won’t. I will suggest that those who do such things are not reflecting the kind of values (the kind of “fruit” so to speak) that we would expect to see from someone who claims to follow Jesus. In terms of suing people, it shouldn’t be a Christian’s first resort against another Christian, but then it could still be justified in some circumstances. See here for example.

With regard to the “other inconsistencies in the Bible,” I’m not sure any response I could give could be adequate to your central query re more bad things happening to Christians, since if I disagree with you, you’ve already said that I am just a “hypocrite,” which I don’t think is really fair. You’ve made the objective claim that more bad things happen to Christians than non-Christians; even saying it is “100% guaranteed.” Can you prove that this is always true? (I don’t mean to downplay your apparently negative experiences at all, but only to suggest that the experiences you’ve had and seen may not be uniformly representative.)

For the sake of argument, even if it is true that Christians have more bad things happen to them (which, at the risk of being a “hypocrite,” I don’t think is true, at very least not always true), Jesus spoke often about how Christians would have trouble … ex, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) and the entire passage headed “The World Hates the Disciples” (all Christians are disciples) in John 15:18-27. I don’t know why a Christian would be surprised that they suffer trouble? Nowhere does Jesus say “Come be a Christian and relax on easy street forever.”

Re evolution, this is just my own opinion, but I don’t think that God-guided evolution (aka theistic evolution) is incompatible with the Bible or Christian faith. The way in which God chose to create and work in the world isn’t important to me, only that He did. There are a lot of modern misunderstandings or exaggerations about things like the church persecuting Galileo. My views on the relationship between science and faith can be found here if anyone is interested.

My last comment is that I don’t think it’s accurate to portray my beliefs as being “there is basically no difference in what kind of life God grants Christians and non-Christians” as you’ve stated Jen. I would say that a Christian’s life will be easier in some ways and more difficult in others, but in all ways can and should be more fulfilling, since a Christian will be living the kind of life they were always meant to live in their design by their creator. We will always have unanswered questions; some questions we will discover answers to eventually with perseverance, others we may never fully understand. But there will come a time when instead of us asking questions, it will be God asking US questions. I hope that when that time comes, I hope that we are ready to respond.

Looking at it at an objective point of view, the Bible is not consistent and full of holes. Aside from the issue I mentioned before (which you did not really answer directly), more inconsistencies are found. You have supposedly Church leaders and pastors committing sin by using church money for their personal gains and lavish lifestyles, and on general so many self-righteous hypocritical christians running around preaching and exclaiming the word of God, but committing unremorseful bad deeds even to their fellow christians. And whenever this bad thing happens, we are supposed to just rebuke and “pray” for the erring Christian and not advisable to sue that person. Why? I’m still waiting for “justice” from God, I might die if I hold my breath.

And then you have the other inconsistencies in the Bible: why do more bad things happen to Christians than non-Christians? (Christians who do not admit this happens are really hypocrites as well) Why are there disasters that kill even “good” Christians? Why is there no mention of the creation of micro-organisms in the Book of Genesis, though it is very clear they were first created even before the plants animals and man? Why are Christians so arrogrant ego-centric people, first believing the Earth is the center of the universe (which they were proven wrong by science), and now believing Man just appeared all of a sudden in Eden as opposed to coming from ape-like animals? Christians are in denial that evolution does exist, because Christians cannot accept that Man came from evolution from animals. And why did God create mosquitoes and other parasites? All these questions and no clear answers.

A very clear answer on all these issues will be appreciated, as opposed to the unconvincing answer mentioned earlier by Darren, because based on what he said what the Bible said, there is basically no difference in what kind of life God grants Christians and non-Christians. In fact, your life will denifitely be more difficult as Christian. 100% guaranteed.

Jesus once said that “God causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45) God’s mercy extends to all human beings who He created. Why should God be faulted for giving good gifts to the people he made? (Remember that non-Christians have no more righteousness of themselves than Christians do, since a Christian is “credited with righteousness” (Romans 4:5 et al))

I think when the author spoke about being unable to live apart from God, she was referring to living the kind of life God meant for us. She said “we can’t live the Christian life on our own” which I think is entirely true. To live that kind of life requires first to understand the kind of freedom living God’s way offers (ie, the freedom to become the way we are truly meant to be) and second to be reborn and have the Holy Spirit live within us to guide us.

And so tell me… if that were true, why does God allow success to non-Christians, especially to non-Christians? Andy why can these non-Christians live on their own? It’s really a bunch of bullcrap. I honestly tried to see the logic and reasoning for this way of thinking, but it just does not make sense.

Blessings Adrianna

Shernett (Jamaica)