The Logical
Fallacies of Christianity
Throughout
my Christian journey, I believe I have found many contradictions in the message
of Christianity. I will be using propositions in order to logically elaborate
on my argument presented in “The Contradictions of Christianity”.
Firstly,
we must set up our parameters:
For the
sake of argument, we will reason that God exists.
Christianity
is a religion whereby a person achieves one or more of 5 goals:
1)
Promise of life after death
2)
Redemption for past wrong doings
3)
Explanation for unanswered questions
4)
Guidance in how to approach life
5)
Promise for peace in this life (i.e. the
conscious life lived in the material world)
Though more reason can exists,
these are the ones will be focusing on.
However, each goal is not met by
Christianity.
A person can seek Christianity in
order to find peace in this life.
However, the Bible points out
that “being a Christian is not a pleasant life. There will be suffering, and
person will be required to bear their cross every day.”
As such, if suffering is
promised, then a person does not have peace, nor are they promised peace.
Reason 5 is invalid.
Christianity can be viewed
philosophically, and used in order to approach life in an ethically righteous
manner.
However, if righteousness is
based on the motivation, then supposedly righteous acts would be evil if the
motivation is evil.
Therefore, if Christianity can be
proven to have evil motivations, then Christianity would not be an ethically
righteous philosophy.
Reason 4 is invalid if this can
be proven.
A person can look to Christianity
in order to find answers for questions such as creation.
However, other philosophers, such
as Hume, explain how this is invalid.
Therefore, if Christianity’s
answers to these questions are wrong, then a person cannot look to Christianity
for these answers.
Reason 3 is invalid.
If a person has committed an
action that they feel guilty for and seek redemption, they may look towards
Christianity to find forgiveness.
However, if they find forgiveness
for themselves, and in the person(s) affected by the act, then they are already
forgiven in the physical world, and any other forgiveness would be presented
between God and Human.
If Gods was an artificial
construct of the mind, then the forgiveness would also be an artificial
construct.
Therefore, if forgiveness is
simply an artificial manifestation of the mind, then there is no forgiveness,
and this reason is invalid.
Based on this, Reason 2 is
invalid.
If God exists, then this
wrongdoing would be sin. This concept of the weight of sin will be discussed
later.
If a person follows Christianity,
then they would want to go to heaven after they die.
However, the methodology of what
qualifies a person to get into heaven is unclear.
Therefore, if a person does not
understand how to get into heaven, then they cannot get into heaven.
Reason 1 is invalid.
Reason 1 will be our next topic
of discussion.
Only a Christian can go to
heaven.
A person who isn’t a Christian
cannot go to heaven.
However, what qualifies a person
as a Christian?
A Christian can be thought of as
a person who fulfills three criteria:
1)
A person who believes in God
2)
A person who believes in Jesus Christ
3)
A person who believes the Bible
Belief is
found by following two criteria:
1)
The understanding of the principle
2)
The trust in the principle
If a
person does not understand the principle, then they cannot know what they are
trusting. If they do not trust the object, then they do not have faith in it,
and they don’t believe in it.
As such
if a person does not understand and trust God, Jesus Christ, and/or the Bible,
then they would not be a Christian.
Now, if a person decides that
Christianity is based on unfounded faith, then the only criterion for a
Christian would be the trust of God, Jesus Christ, and the Bible.
However, this trust can only
remain if propositions made between the two, person and principle, remained
true.
Therefore, if the propositions
were proven to be false, then there would be no trust, and the person would not
be a Christian.
If there is a methodology to get
into heaven, then Christianity would present this method and make the
propositions that would lead a person into heaven.
However, if all of the
propositions were proven to be contradictory and false, then there would be no
way for a person to get into heaven.
Therefore, Christianity would be
invalid, since the religion does not accomplish what it sets out to do.
This is what I am aiming to
prove.
Now, the
Bible also states “You must be fully committed to one master. If you have two
masters, you will love one and hate the other.”
However,
this would mean that a person must be fully, ultimately, and unquestionably
committed to God, Jesus Christ, and the Bible in order to be considered a
Christian.
Therefore,
a person cannot make the claim at varying degrees of grey, or with different
interpretations; they must be 100% Christian.
Christianity states that Jesus
was sacrificed for the complete forgiveness of all sins, and people who were
forgiven of sins could go to heaven.
However, before Jesus Christ was
sacrificed, there was no forgiveness of sin.
Therefore, it was Jesus’s
sacrifice that allows a person to go to heaven, and to be forgiven of sin.
Now, for the weight of sin, I
will be using numerical value to state the weight of sin. This is simply to
make logical sense of weight and to represent statement.
Now, if sin is wrong, then we
shall believe it is a negative effect and will be regarded as -1.
However, if Jesus’s death has
forgiven all sins, then it would mathematically be +Infinity.
Therefore, sin is meaningless,
since the actual cost of sin is outweighed by Jesus’s sacrifice.
Now if sin is meaningless, then a
person could sin as much as they want.
However, Christianity teachers a
person to flee from sin.
Therefore, Christianity must
claim that sin has a consequence in order to teach a person that it is wrong.
Now, if sin has a consequence,
then it would have a cost.
However, if committing an act of
sin keeps a person from getting into heaven, then they are not forgiven of
their sin.
Therefore, if a person’s sin
keeps them from entering heaven, then Jesus’s sacrifice was meaningless.
Now, if righteous acts are
considered +1, then we, as humans, can counter-weigh their own sins.
However, this would allow people
to enter heaven based off of their own actions.
Therefore, if a person can enter
heaven on their own actions, then Jesus’s sacrifice is meaningless.
Now, if a person could get into
heaven based on their own acts, then they can enter heaven without Jesus’s
sacrifice.
However, no person was able to
enter heaven before Jesus’s sacrifice because there was no forgiveness of sin.
Therefore, a person’s righteous
acts do not atone for their sins, and a person’s own actions cannot bring them
into heaven.
So far, we can find one
contradiction.
If Jesus’s sacrifice forgives us
of sin, then our sin would be canceled out.
However, Sin would have to have a
meaningful cost to be considered wrong.
Therefore, Christianity states
that Sin has a cost and consequence, but the sacrifice states that it doesn’t.
As such, we must discover what
the consequence of sin is and how it would interfere with a person entering
heaven.
Now, if a person needs to believe
in God/Jesus/the Bible in order to enter heaven, then they must trust them.
However, if they stopped trusting
them, then they would not go into heaven
Therefore, a person must remain
in trust in order to enter heaven.
Now, if sin causes a person to
distrust God, then it would have a consequence.
However, if a person had a
resolute mind, then they could sin and still trust in God.
Therefore, Sin has to have some
consequence aside from causing a person to distrust God
Now, if a person does not enter
heaven because of their sin, then their sin was not forgiven.
However, if a person’s sin was
not forgiven, then there would be a step in between sinning and being forgiven.
Therefore, a person must commit
some sort of action in conjunction with the sacrifice in order to be forgiven.
This action could be repentance.
Repentance is defined as following one or more of the following three criteria:
1)
To cease sinning
2)
To create barriers between them and sinning
again
3)
To commit to doing the opposite of the sin
Now, the
first criterion is the most essential, since a person cannot repent of sinning
if they are still committing the sin.
Now, if a
person repents and is forgiven, then it was the repentance that granted them
the forgiveness through Jesus’s Sacrifice.
However,
repentance cannot be judged fully until death, or else a person can return to
the sin between starting their repentance and their death.
Therefore,
a person must continue repentance throughout their entire life.
Now, if a
person must be free of sin, then they must be free of all sins, continually
repenting of all sins.
However,
this would mean that a person would have to live a sinless life, which is shown
to be near impossible.
Therefore,
if Christianity asks us to be sinless in order to obtain forgiveness, then only
the people who can meet a near impossible can enter heaven.
Now one
strange thing I feel is worth mentioning is the idea of timing. It can be
agreed that few people can know when they are guaranteed to die, as death is
usually unexpected.
Now it
can be reasoned that sins are forgiven from the point of repentance to death.
Therefore,
a person who repented at the age of 18 could live to be 100, then die, and
would be expected to remain sinless for the full 82 years.
However, a person who repented seconds before
death would be equally forgiven.
Therefore,
a person cannot be sure of how long they will refrain from sin.
Now, if a
person was to repent at 18, return to sin at 99, then die at 100, then the 81
years of repentance would be meaningless since they did not exhibit true
repentance.
However,
this would mean that repentance must be continual.
Therefore,
a person must always return to repentance whenever they return to sin in order
to be forgiven.
Now, if a
person switches back and forth between sinning and repenting, then they would
simply have to end on repentance in order to enter heaven.
However,
this would still discredit the sin and the repentance you did before the final
act of repentance.
Therefore,
it does not matter how long you repented, simply that you ended in repentance.
Now, if a
person simply needs to end in repentance to enter heaven, then the rest of
their life doesn’t matter.
However,
this would discredit living a full life in Christ.
Therefore,
Sin must have a consequence other than preventing us from entering heaven.
Now, a
passage in the Bible says “I know I can do all things, but not all things are
good for me,” which would state that sin is a punishment itself, that the sin
will hurt you in some way.
However,
what if a person morphs a sin to be ethically right, such as the Heinz dilemma
where you steal to save a life, or the Trolley car dilemma where you kill one
man to save the lives of several, etc.
Therefore,
not all sins are committed with evil intentions.
Therefore,
sins are not all ultimately evil.
Now, if
sins are not ultimately evil, then they don’t have to be a consequence unto
themselves.
However,
this would contradict sin hurting a person other than keeping them from heaven.
Therefore,
there is no consequence to sin if it doesn’t keep you from entering heaven,
does not sway your trust in God, and does not hurt us in this life.
Now, it
must be understood that sin is only morally righteous if the
motivation/intention and end result was ultimately righteous.
However,
if a sin is done for morally evil reasons and yielded an evil result, then the
act was a punishment unto itself since it has the potential to hurt the
perpetrator or the victim.
Now, for
the sake of being thorough, there is also the possibility that sin is not
forgivable, and anyone who has ever sinned cannot enter heaven.
However,
this would contradict the entire premise of Christianity.
Therefore,
sin must be forgivable in order for Christianity to be valid.
Now, the
Bible does state that all sins are forgivable, except for sins against the Spirit,
I.E. blaspheming the name of God, which is unforgivable.
However,
this would mean that there is sin that can keep a person from heaven.
Therefore,
there exists a sin that can keep a person from heaven, while other sins do not,
meaning that not all sins are of equal value.
Mathematically
speaking, this would mean that blaspheming the spirit would be –infinity-1, as
this is unforgivable past Jesus’s Sacrifice.
So far,
there are a collection of contradictions that need to be refreshed.
First, if
Sin keeps a person from entering heaven, then forgiveness atones for those
sins, allowing the person into heaven.
However,
how a person obtains forgiveness is unclear.
Therefore,
if a person does not obtain forgiveness, they cannot enter heaven.
Second, if
sins keep a person from entering heaven, the ultimate place of righteousness,
then sin must be evil.
However,
we have shown that certain actions can be marked as sin by title, i.e. the act
of murder, but can be proven to be ethically right for having morally righteous
intentions and results.
Therefore,
not all sins can be considered evil.
Third,
sin can be forgiven to allow a person into heaven.
However,
blasphemy cannot be forgiven.
Therefore,
blasphemy can keep a person from entering heaven.
Fourth, the
bible states that no sin is too great or done too much to be forgiven.
However,
we have shown that not all sins are equal, since a person can commit a sin
while being morally righteous or evil.
Therefore,
not all sins are equal in value, and must have some type of weight to them.
Fifth, if
a person wants to enter heaven and receive forgiveness, they must repent of
their sin.
However,
a person can authentically repent of their sin when they are seconds from
death.
Therefore,
a person does not have to spend their entire life devoted to God, only the last
moment of life.
Now I
would like to flow into a new topic.
For this
topic we must also set up a few more axioms.
During
the BC years, Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesized that a time would come when a savior
would be born. This savior would live, teach the message of God, be betrayed,
suffer, and finally be crucified for the complete forgiveness of all sin.
Now, at a
later point in time Jesus was born. He lived, became a rabbi, appointed his
disciples, and taught the message that is recorded in the New Testament.
Later in
Jesus’s life, he is betrayed by Judas, condemned to be flogged and crucified,
and dies. He then rises from the dead on the third day. This sequence of events
leads to the forgiveness of all sins, for Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice,
defeated death, and rose up from the dead. This act of condemnation,
crucifixion, and resurrection allowed people to enter heaven.
Now, if
the end result of this sequence is the forgiveness of all sins, then the
sequence would ultimately be a sequence of acts that are righteous.
However,
one of the acts is the betrayal of Judas.
Therefore,
in order to obtain the ultimate good, Judas’s sinful action had to occur.
Now, if
this is true, then it must be accepted further that sin can ultimately have
righteous results despite having evil intentions.
However,
we must also question whether it is the intention behind the action or the end
result that warrants whether or not a person deserves to be punished for their
action.
Therefore,
we must ponder whether Judas should have been punished or acquitted for
betraying Jesus.
Now, the
Bible states “It was at that time that the devil entered Judas, and he decided
to betray Jesus.” This could be interpreted in two ways:
A)
Judas made a sinful decision, allowing sin in to
his heart.
B)
Satan literally possessed Judas and overshadowed
his actions.
However,
if B is true, then Judas would not be accountable for his actions, since it was
Satan acting through his body that caused Jesus’s death.
Therefore,
Judas would be innocent.
Now, if
the former is true, then Judas would have betrayed Jesus out of conscious evil
intention.
However,
it is shown later that Judas regrets this decision. If this regret is
repentance, then he should have received forgiveness
Therefore,
Judas should have been forgiven of his sin, unless this is considered
blasphemy.
Now, if all these statements are
found to be true, then we would be left with unanswered questions:
1)
What is the true cost of sin?
2)
What weight does it carry in preventing us from
entering heaven?
Now, if
every statement was found to be true, and the questions left unanswered, then
the contradictions would still stand.
However,
this would mean that there is no clear method for a person to get into heaven
Therefore,
Christianity is Invalid.
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