Sometimes people have objections about Christianity, such as “a loving God would never send people to hell,” or “since evil and suffering exist, a good God cannot,” or “miracles contradict science, so they cannot exist.”
One objection is that a loving God would never send people to Hell. Though Hell exists, it doesn’t mean that God sends people there. People have a choice whether to go to Heaven or Hell. It all depends on whether you accept God or not. If you don’t accept God right off the bat and then all of the sudden die, it doesn’t mean that you’ll be sent to Hell. It says in the Bible, whoever repents God is willing to save. The main consequence of not accepting God into your heart is forever separation from God in Hell. Though Hell is the worst punishment possible, it is not covered in flames and unimaginably hot. When it mentions flames in Hell in the bible, it is speaking figuratively. In the Bible it says how Jesus arrived surrounded by flames, with a sword in his mouth. To arrive with a sword in his mouth means that he used very powerful words (and I don’t mean that his words had super powers). Hell is supposed to be a place of darkness anyway. Flames would light things up. Again, God doesn’t send people to Hell; they have the choice to go there. The only sin that could get you into Hell is not accepting God, slamming the door in His face, and mocking Him.
Another commonly suggested objection is that, if evil and suffering exist, a good God cannot. I’m going to start out with an example. If you were to help your child along the way with everything they do, they wouldn’t exactly learn anything. They would end up being 34 and still living with their mother. In another situation, if you come across a bear caught in a bear trap the good thing to do would be to help it get free. You want to help but it tries to kill you every time you get close because it’s afraid. Then you shoot in with a tranquilizer dart and now it really thinks you’re out to get him. You then have to push his leg farther into the trap to release the trap. The bear would be thinking, “Why are you making me suffer?” This is basically what everyone goes through sometime in their life. Everything that God does is for your own good, even when it SEEMS that he could never hate you more. God also gives you the choice to love him or not. If he didn’t give you the choice then it wouldn’t be called real love. It’s just like how if you have a doll that will say “I love you,” every time you pull a string. That’s not real love. That’s forced love. Even when in suffering, no matter whom you are, killer or Christian, God loves you with all of His heart and more.
My last objection is that miracles contradict science so they cannot exist. “Suppose an apple falls from a tree. That illustrates the law of gravity. The apple will simply fall to the ground. However, what if I reached out and caught the apple before it hit the ground? Am I overturning the laws of gravity? Am I negating the law of gravity? No, not at all. All I am doing is intervening. And that’s simply what God does when he performs a miracle. He doesn’t suspend the natural laws that govern the world or over turn them; he simply chooses to intervene. If I can intervene and catch the apple before it hits the ground, then certainly God can intervene in a similar way to accomplish what he wants to accomplish,” J.P. Moreland, philosopher. J.P. Moreland is saying that God doesn’t contradict science; all he is doing is intervening or catching the apple.
Again, many people have objections about the Christian faith, but there is a point where objections will keep coming until the person will realize that God is the correct path to take. A loving God will allow suffering for your own good. He will intervene in your life. He will teach discipline and most of all He will love you, no matter who you are.
See also:
Lee Strobel’s “The Case for Faith for Kids” summary with commentary
See also:
Lee Strobel’s “The Case for Faith for Kids” summary with commentary
Ichthus77 