Honest answers to honest questions

You have questions about God, the Bible, or Jesus. Good. You should. Faith that can't face a hard question isn't worth much.

This page takes the questions people ask most and gives you a short, straight answer to each one. Then it points you to people who've thought about them for a long time. Read, watch, push back, and keep asking.

True truth

The title of this page comes from Francis Schaeffer. He was a pastor who, with his wife Edith, opened their home in the Swiss Alps to anyone with questions. They called it L'Abri, French for "the shelter." Students, skeptics, and wanderers came from all over the world. Schaeffer didn't brush off their doubts. He sat with them and gave honest answers to honest questions.

He also believed truth was real, not just "true for me." He had a phrase for it: "true truth." He didn't mean we know everything. He meant that what God has told us is actually true, about God, about us, and about the world.

That's what we're after here. We won't pretend every question is easy. We will tell you what we believe is true, and why.

"Evangelism, then, is two things: first of all, giving honest answers to honest questions to get the blocks out of the way so that people will listen to the Gospel as a viable alternative, and then secondly, showing them what Christianity means across the whole spectrum of life."

Francis A. Schaeffer, interview in Christianity Today, October 1976

"...though we do not have exhaustive truth, we have from the Bible what I term 'true truth.'"

Francis A. Schaeffer, Escape from Reason (1968)

Schaeffer used the phrase again in He Is There and He Is Not Silent (1972): God "has told us true truth about himself." Learn more about L'Abri, which still welcomes people with questions, at labri.org

Ten honest questions

1. Does God exist?

We can't put God in a test tube, but we can follow the clues. The universe had a beginning, and things that begin have a cause. The laws of nature are fine-tuned for life to a startling degree. And we all know some things are really wrong, not just unpopular, which points to a moral law above us. None of that forces anyone to believe, but together it makes God the best explanation of the world we live in.

2. Isn't faith just believing without evidence?

Not the faith the Bible describes. In the Bible, faith is trust based on good reasons, the way you trust a friend who has kept his word. The Gospel writers said they wrote down what happened so that you could examine it and believe (John 20:31). Christianity invites questions. It doesn't ask you to turn your brain off.

3. Can I trust the Bible?

That's a fair question for any ancient book, so test it the way historians test other ancient books. The New Testament was written within living memory of Jesus, and we have far more early copies of it than of any other ancient work, so we can know what the authors wrote. Where the Gospels mention real places, rulers, and customs, they keep checking out. You don't have to take the Bible's word for it. You can look at the evidence.

  • Why Should I Trust the Bible? (Timothy Paul Jones, The Big Ten series, Christian Focus), an honest, readable book written for skeptics by a seminary apologetics professor
  • Text & Canon Institute articles (Phoenix Seminary), plain answers on how the Bible was copied, collected, and translated
  • Wes Huff on YouTube (Wesley Huff), short, friendly videos on the manuscripts behind the Bible
  • The Case for Christ (Lee Strobel, Zondervan), a former atheist journalist puts the Gospels on trial
  • Cold-Case Christianity (J. Warner Wallace, David C Cook), a homicide detective tests the Gospels like eyewitness testimony
4. Did Jesus really rise from the dead?

This is the question everything hangs on. Even the apostle Paul said that if Jesus didn't rise, Christianity is false (1 Corinthians 15:14–17). Most scholars who study this, including many skeptics, grant that Jesus died by crucifixion, that his followers sincerely believed they saw him alive again, and that a doubter (his brother James) and an enemy (Paul) changed their minds. The question is what best explains those facts. We think the simplest answer is the one his followers gave: he rose.

5. If God is good, why is there so much suffering?

This is the hardest question, and we won't give you a slogan. The Bible doesn't hide from suffering. It's full of people who cry out to God in pain. It says the world is broken by sin, and that God is not distant from our pain: in Jesus, He entered it and suffered with us and for us. Christianity doesn't explain every tragedy, but it promises that suffering won't have the last word.

6. Aren't all religions basically the same?

They share some moral teaching, but at the core they say very different things. Some say God is personal, some say God is everything, and some say there is no God. Some say we are saved by our good works, and Christianity says we're saved by grace. They can't all be true at once. Jesus made a bold claim, that He is the way to God, and that claim deserves a look before it's dismissed.

7. Doesn't science disprove God?

Science is great at explaining how the natural world works. It can't tell us why there is a natural world at all, or why it can be understood. Many founders of modern science, like Kepler and Newton, believed in God. They expected to find order in nature because they believed in a Lawgiver. Plenty of scientists today still do. The real conflict isn't between science and God. It's between two worldviews that both try to explain science.

8. Hasn't the church done a lot of harm?

Yes. People who claimed Jesus' name have done real and terrible wrong, and we won't excuse it. But notice the standard you're judging them by: love your enemies, care for the weak, tell the truth. That standard comes from Jesus. When Christians do harm, they are betraying Him, not following Him. And the same faith has also built hospitals, fought slavery, and cared for the poor for two thousand years.

9. What is the gospel, really?

"Gospel" means good news. God made us to know Him, but all of us have turned away and done wrong, and that separates us from Him. Jesus, God the Son, lived the life we should have lived, died on the cross for our sins, and rose again. Anyone who turns from sin and trusts Him is forgiven and brought home to God, not because they earned it, but as a gift.

10. How do I begin following Jesus?

You start where everyone starts: by coming to Him honestly. Tell God you've sinned, ask Him to forgive you because of what Jesus did, and put your trust in Jesus as your Lord. You don't need special words or a clean record. Then begin to get to know Him. Read the Gospel of John, find a church that teaches the Bible, and tell someone what you've decided.

  • The Gospel of John (ESV.org), the best place to start reading the Bible; begin with chapter 1
  • Gospel of John overview (BibleProject), a short animated guide to read alongside John
  • Christianity Explored (Christianity Explored Ministries), a free course that walks through Mark's Gospel, alone or with a friend
  • Peace with God (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association), a simple next-steps guide for new believers
  • SBC Churches Directory (Southern Baptist Convention), find a Bible-teaching church near you

What if it's all true?

If you've read this far, maybe you've started to wonder. Here's the heart of it, in the Bible's own words.

God made you, and He loves you. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

We have all turned away from Him. "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." (Romans 3:23)

Sin leads to death, but God offers life. "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)

Jesus died in our place and rose again. "...Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures..." (1 Corinthians 15:3–4)

It's a gift, not a reward. "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8–9)

So turn and trust Him. "...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9)

If you're ready, you can talk to God right now, in your own words. Tell Him you've sinned. Thank Him that Jesus died and rose for you. Ask Him to forgive you, and tell Him you're trusting Jesus as your Lord. He hears you.

And if you're not ready, that's okay. Keep asking. Jesus said, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). That invitation doesn't expire.

Read the Gospel in Five Verses

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Want to talk?

You don't have to figure this out alone. If you have a question we didn't answer, a doubt you can't shake, or you just decided to follow Jesus, we'd love to hear from you. A real person will write back.

Email us at info@reasonforhopeministries.com

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