mpb1

This is my first post here. I was a lifelong dedicated Christian, who left the faith over a period of about three years. My decline in faith started when I began to look at the evidence against Young Earth Creationism, and it gradually faded as I continued to study all the other evidences against Christianity.

I'm almost as passionate about what I now understand to be the TRUTH as I was when I lived for eternity - and passionately shared the Gospel of Christ. Although, I'd still consider myself a reluctant atheist, since I much preferred living with the hope of heaven and an imaginary friend who was my lifelong companion...

So while I'm still getting used to the idea of living as an atheist, I'm working on a site where I can clearly and succinctly explain the evidence against Christianity - for anyone I come in contact with who questions my reasons for leaving the faith.

So far, I've compiled the 'evidence' listed below, and I wanted to see if others here could help me continue building (and/or revising) this list. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

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EVIDENCE AGAINST CHRISTIANITY:

1.) Multiple fields of science have proven the universe is approximately 13.7 billion years old. Multiple fields of science have proven the earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old.

2.) Genetics research has proven shared ancestry exists between primates and humans, making evolution practically irrefutable.

3.) Biblical genealogies leading to Creation/Adam date back less than 10,000 years.

4.) Pre-human / hominid bones date back over 3 million years. Modern human bones date back 50,000 - 200,000+ years.

5.) Geology has proven that no event even remotely like the biblical Flood ever occurred.

6.) A majority of scholars believe many Old Testament stories and supernatural Christ stories evolved from similar pre-existing mythologies, and there is ample evidence to substantiate these claims.

7.) There is virtually no ancient historical record of Christ's existence, apart from Scripture, and no historical record whatsoever of any miracles.

8.) Over 1,500 years, 66 books were written and compiled into what we call the Bible. The compiled book is filled with hundreds of inconsistencies and contradictions, many of them serious. Even the selection of included/excluded books was debated for centuries.

9.) Because of its contradictory content, Christians have been fighting over biblical doctrine for 2,000 years, with widely varying interpretations and teachings being derived from its content, even regarding crucial issues of doctrine.

10.) The Bible contains records of prophecies that have been proven false, including the words of Christ himself, claiming that his return would take place and his kingdom would be established during the lifetime of his audience.

11.) The morality of God as recorded in Scripture is hardly a standard for all times and all places. In fact, it could easily be considered worse than that of history's cruelest dictators.

12.) The Bible contains records of God performing and ordering the mass extermination of men, women, children and infants.

13.) The Bible contains a record of God ordering his people to (personally) kill even their closest relatives and friends as punishment for attempting to lead them to follow other gods.

14.) The Bible also contains records of God decreeing death as punishment for dozens of other supposed crimes, including cursing one's parents, childhood/teenage rebellion, female pre-marital sex, adultery, blasphemy, working on the Sabbath, various dietary and temple laws, and a host of other offenses.

15.) The Bible contains records of God's laws treating women like cattle and approving of human slavery.

16.) The Bible contains records of God ordering soldiers to capture and keep women as sex slaves, as well as allowing men to sell their daughters as sex slaves.

17.) The Bible contains records of God acting as a puppet master, intentionally hardening the hearts of certain individuals - against his purposes - and then punishing them with a vengeance for what he admittedly caused them to do.

18.) The Bible teaches that God intends to punish all unbelievers in Hell and/or the Lake of Fire for eternity.

19.) The Bible contains records of hundreds of supernatural events - human, natural, and astronomical - none of which can be proven. There is no evidence of any supernatural events (suspension or violation of natural laws) in recorded, verifiable history.

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bacht

hi mpb

This one pretty much kills most of the New Testament. Once you take out the miracles and the afterlife promises there isn't much left.

As for the others, most are part of the literalist/inerrantist approach to scripture, which thankfully isn't all Christianity. Since the 17th C it's been clear that the geocentric cosmos of antiquity is wrong, and most of the other "scientific" ideas in the Bible are similarly out-of-date.

WilliamFearless

Wow, this is pretty much the list of things (and in the right order) that led me away from the church. Although, before #1, I would have put "Fellow brothers and sisters in Christ repeatedly acting like assholes"

But that was just my catalyst.

Welcome to the forums, mpb1

Kritikos

Welcome to the forum, Mpb1. Congratulations on finding your way out of creationism.

I was going to say something similar. It seems to me that Biblical literalists are not just ignorant of science but ignorant of Christianity itself -- of most of its history as well as of most of its present manifestations. Biblical literalism as a popular movement is a comparatively recent and local phenomenon, not much more than a hundred years old and with little influence outside of the United States (though it may, unfortunately, be gaining adherents in some parts of the world). Sixteen hundred years ago, Augustine of Hippo blamed people who interpreted Genesis literally for making Christians look like fools.

show_no_mercy

Bah! Augustine is just some damn dirty Catholic.</fundy>

James Brown

Good list. Defending even one of them could take a lifetime against a truly committed fundamentalist, but at least a list like yours would give pause to those who would explain away your deconversion on the grounds that you left Christianity for emotional reasons or because you want to commit the sins of your choice without guilt.

Hang on to your list, in case nagging doubts ever enter your mind about the truth of Christianity, as it occasionally does mine.

Minimalist

Hello, mpb. You can now considered yourself "saved" from a lifetime worshiping a fairy tale. That has to be worth something.

;-)

mpb1

Thanks for the welcome, guys.

While I was struggling through the 'creationism vs. science' issues, I looked at all the possibilities, including a non-literal interpretation of Genesis. But I came to the conclusion this was intellectually dishonest.

From chapter one onward, Genesis is written in a very literal sense, with historical facts, genealogies, etc. And it is referred to in a literal and historical sense in the New Testament as well, even by Jesus himself.

After studying through all the scientific issues, I created two sites on the topic (which I haven't updated since losing my faith):

CreationCrisis.com and OriginScience.com

Comparison chart here:
OriginScience.com/origin-views-comparison-chart.htm

I've had a number of scientists and researchers look at the information on these sites (and the chart), and while I skewed the information toward theistic evolution (my bias at the time), I think it's accurate for the most part, although I need to remove the second law of thermodynamics as an obstacle for the origin of life.

Though I'm pretty sure the information on these sites is still largely accurate, I finally gave up on trying to reconcile Scripture with science. I believe Genesis has to be read literally and historically (in the context it is written), and I don't think there's any way to honestly reconcile it with science...

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Minimalist

You might try to get hold of William G. Dever's "Did God Have A Wife? (or via: amazon.co.uk)" and find out just how many lies they were telling you.

The early Judahites were no more monotheistic than anyone else in the region until much later on. After the Persians sent back someone to call themselves "Jews" according to Philip R. Davies.

Kritikos

Can you please explain what you mean in the part that I put in bold type? I just don't understand it, even grammatically.