The Top Atheist Objections to Christianity
This list is a work in progress; please check back for additional responses in the future
 There are Two Sides to Every Case
In over twenty years of police work, I’ve been in court hundreds of times; involved in hundreds of criminal cases as either a witness, arresting officer, or detective. On each of these occasions I’ve observed prosecutors make their case for the guilt of the defendant. Many of these cases have been evidentially overwhelming. In some of them, the suspect was observed by a number of witnesses, left fingerprints and DNA at the crime scene and then confessed when he was caught. Even in cases such as these, when the evidence appeared conclusive and convincing, the defense attorneys have mounted a series of objections and a case of their own. Virtually every case (except those in which a defendant pleads guilty) has two sides presented in a court of law. The mere fact that the defense has a case of its own does not mean that the suspect is innocent. Yet there are times when what ought to be a convincing and compelling case fails to convince and compel a jury.
Those of us who believe that God exists and believe that the Christian view of the world is accurate must eventually make a case to the world around us. As we do so, we shouldn’t be surprised to find that many will object to our evidence and make a counter case of their own. There are two sides to every argument, and one of these two passionate positions just happens to be false.
The Power of a Short Answer
As Christians, we need to recognize that the Christian Worldview has managed to survive over two thousand years of objections and counter-arguments. It hasn’t survived simply by hiding from the fight. Some of the greatest thinkers in the history of mankind have carefully and exhaustively worked through the issues and developed cogent and persuasive arguments defending the truth of Christianity. Many of us desire deep, academic and exhaustive responses to the objections that surround us. Those answers are certainly available on the shelves of bookstores and libraries around the world.
But many more of us are engaged in short day to day conversations that truly matter and have eternal consequences. In these brief moments, we find ourselves challenged with objections that require concise and pointed responses. Not many of our friends are willing to listen to a 14 page dissertation. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to respond quickly to an objection, knowing that we could always point people to the historic and substantive work that has been done by scientists and theologians over the centuries? That is our desire here. This page contains a list of common objections to Christianity, and links to brief responses that hope to capitalize on the power of a short answer:
Challenges Related to the Presence of Evil
Perhaps the single most expressed objection to Christianity is this profound objection to the existence of an all-powerful God who is also supposed to be all-loving. How could a God of this nature allow evil to exist?
OBJECTION: The presence of moral evil in the world proves that an all-powerful, all loving God simply doesn’t exist. God is either not powerful enough to stop evil, not loving enough to care one way or the other, or simply does not exist in the first place.
OBJECTION: Christians claim that God is all-powerful and all-loving. If this is the case, why does God permit natural evil (earthquakes, tsunamis and other natural disasters) to kill so many people? If God exists, it is certainly within His power to prevent such things.
OBJECTION: Christianity is the source of so much historic evil (like the Crusades and the Inquisition), that it simply cannot reflect the existence of a true loving God (even if there was one).
OBJECTION: The God of the Old Testament often seems anything BUT loving. He sometimes commands the pillaging and killing of the Israel's enemies with great brutality. A God who would command the brutal destruction of Israel's enemies is clearly immoral and unworthy of our worship.
OBJECTION: Christians claim that God is good, all-powerful and all-loving. If this is the case, why does God permit the pain and suffering that we see all around us? A good god would not allow the kind of suffering we see in our world.
Challenges Related to the Evidence for the Existence of God
While there are many evidences for the existence of God, not everyone sees these evidences as ‘proof’ that God exists.
OBJECTION: Christians claim that an invisible being (God) actually exists. The burden of proof for such a mysterious life form lies with the Christian. Atheists don't need to prove that their position (the lack of belief in an invisible being); their belief is the most reasonable given the absence of evidence to the contrary.
OBJECTION: God's existence cannot be known with evidential certainty. The evidence for God's existence is entirely circumstantial and therefore cannot be trusted. There are no items of direct evidence that can be examined today to determine if Christianity's claims about God are true.
OBJECTION: Christians claim there is more than enough evidence for the existence of God. Even the Bible says that unbelievers are “without excuse.” If there is such good evidence for the existence of God, why isn’t everyone a believer?
OBJECTION: Christians believe Christianity is true simply because they were raised in a Christian culture. If they were raised in a Muslim culture, they would believe that Islam is true with the same passion and certainty.
OBJECTION: If the Christian God exists, why doesn’t he consistently answer the prayers of his followers? The prayers of devout, deserving Christians go unanswered every day, and these unanswered prayers are evidence that the Christian God simply does not exist.
OBJECTION: There is no evidence for the ancient existence of Adam and Eve. The Idea of all humanity emerging from a single pair of humans is primitive and preposterous.
Challenges Related to the Nature of the Christian God
While some people may eventually come to the conclusion that theism is reasonable, this is still a far cry from accepting that Christianity is true. Many theists would argue that the very nature of the Christian God is offensive or illogical.
OBJECTION: Christians believe that God is sovereign (He's in complete control), and that God alone calls believers to repentance. Those who choose to believe and accept Jesus as their Savior are predestined by this all-powerful God. If this is true, then humans are just puppets under the direction of an all-powerful God who controls all decisions and dictates the final outcome.
OBJECTION: Christians claim that God created everything. The existence of God is illogical, however, because it simply begs the question, "Who created God?" Whatever caused this God's existence would, by definition, be something greater than God.
OBJECTION: If God exists, why would he hide in the way that he apparently does? Why wouldn't God just come right out and make it obvious to everyone that He exists?
OBJECTION: Christians claim that their God is “all-powerful”. They must, therefore, answer the classic question: “Can your all-powerful God create a stone so heavy that he cannot lift it?” If He cannot create such a stone (or cannot lift what He has created), He is not all-powerful. This paradox proves that an all-powerful Being cannot exist in the first place.
OBJECTION: Christians claim that God is incapable of lying, yet we see examples in the Bible where God appears to lie or use a deceptive spirit to deceive his people. If the Christian God exists, He seems to be very comfortable with deception and therefore cannot be trusted.
Challenges Related to the Nature of Jesus
At the center of the Christian controversy is the man we know as Jesus. Many of the “New Atheists” deny he ever lived. Others are skeptical about any supernatural claim related to Jesus. While the Bible is the most well attested and resilient document in the history of mankind, it is not without its detractors. Some are skeptical of its reliability and some are simply opposed to what it teaches.
OBJECTION: Jesus is simply a reiteration of prior dying savior mythologies like Mithras, Horus and Osiris. There are many examples of gods who were born of a virgin, taught disciples, performed miracles, died for the world and were later resurrected. Jesus is just another in a long line of copy-cat mythologies; he never actually lived.
OBJECTION: Jesus never claimed to be God. While Jesus may have been special in many ways, and perhaps one of the world's greatest moral teachers, he was just a human being. In fact, Jesus himself never actually claimed to be God!
OBJECTION: Christians claim that Jesus was born of a Virgin. This claim, in and of itself, is completely irrational and disqualifies Christianity before it ever gets started.
Challenges Related to the Existence and Nature of Hell
For many, the concept of an eternal place of judgment (and torment) seems offensive and contrary to the idea of a "loving" God. While some might entertain the idea of an afterlife, they reject the existence of a God who would torment his created children forever.
OBJECTION: If God is all-loving, why doesn’t he “reform” people rather than simply “punish” them in Hell? Even human prison systems understand the value of reform. A God who simply punishes his children in Hell is a sadistic and vengeful God.
OBJECTION: A Loving God would never create a place like Hell. Any God that would send people to a place of punishment and torment is unloving by definition.
OBJECTION: The idea that our temporal, finite sin on earth should deserve an eternal punishment of infinite torment in hell is ridiculously inequitable. The punishment does not fit the crime. Why would God torture infinitely those who have only sinned finitely?
OBJECTION: A Loving God would not punish everyone in the same way. It’s unfair to send someone like Gandhi to Hell (simply because he was not a Christian) alongside someone like Hitler (who committed unspeakable atrocities). A reasonable and just God would not be the source of such inequitable punishment.
OBJECTION: There are millions of good people in the world who are not Christians. It is unfair for God to penalize people who are otherwise good, just because they haven’t heard about Jesus. A good God would not send good people to Hell.
OBJECTION: A Loving God would love all of His creation. He would make sure that everyone goes to Heaven (regardless of what they might believe in this life). A loving God would never limit Heaven to a select few and allow billions of people to suffer in Hell.
Challenges Related to the “Exclusivity” of Christianity
In a world that is less and less comfortable with the existence of transcendent, objective truth, we shouldn’t be surprised to discover that the ‘exclusivity’ of the Christian truth claim would become more and more offensive.
OBJECTION: All truth depends on your perspective. What may be true for you is not necessarily true for me. No one can really be sure that they know the truth because no one knows everything that can be known about any particular topic. It's arrogant to claim that you know something to be objectively true!
OBJECTION: A loving God would not send good people to Hell. If there is a good, loving God, He would not send good people to hell simply because they don’t know about Jesus or haven't accepted Him as their Savior.
OBJECTION: Christians claim that no one can be 'saved' unless they accept Jesus as their Savior, but they also believe that many Old Testament saints are in heaven even though they lived and died long before Jesus ever walked on earth. If Old Testament saints can go to heaven without knowing or trusting Jesus, then why can't people today get to heaven by simply obeying the Ten Commandments?
Challenges Related to the Reliability of the Bible
While the Bible is the most well attested and resilient document in the history of mankind, it is not without its detractors. Some are skeptical of its reliability and some are simply opposed to what it teaches.
OBJECTION: The New Testament Gospels claim to be eyewitness accounts, but everyone knows that they appear too late in history to have been written by anyone who was actually alive during the time of Jesus. With all the time that passed, they were easily infused with legendary and mythical qualities.
OBJECTION: The "Canonical Gospels" aren't the only stories about Jesus. There are a number of ancient Gospels that describe a Jesus that is very different from the one crafted by the Catholic Church when they chose their version of the story. For all we know, the alternative versions of Jesus are the truth and the Church's versions are lies.
OBJECTION: There is insufficient non-Christian historical evidence to substantiate that Jesus ever lived. All the supposed eyewitnesses of the life of Jesus were Christians. They cannot be trusted because they were biased.
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