Essay/Term paper: Flaws in christianity

Essay, term paper, research paper:  College Papers

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.