How to answer the tough questions. By Rusty Wright

Hurting people everywhere need God. Many are open to considering Him, but they often have questions they want answered before they are willing to accept Christ. How then do you deal with these questions? Here are some short responses that might be useful.

Why is there evil and suffering?

God, though sovereign, gave people freedom to follow Him or to disobey Him. This response does not answer all concerns (because He sometimes does intervene to thwart evil) but suggests that the problem of evil is not as great an intellectual obstacle to belief as some imagine.
Pain’s emotional barrier to belief, however, remains formidable. Jesus understands suffering. He was scorned, beaten, and cruelly executed, carrying the guilt of our rebellion against God (Is. 53:10). In Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection I have seen enough to trust him when he says he “causes all things to work together for good to those who love God” (Rom. 8:28).

What about all the contradictions in the Bible?

Time and again, supposed biblical problems fade in light of logic, history, and archaeology. The Bible’s track record under scrutiny argues
for its trustworthiness. An example: omission does not necessarily create contradiction. Luke, for example, writes of two angels at Jesus’ tomb after the Resurrection. Matthew mentions “an angel”. Is this a contradiction? If Matthew stated that only one angel was present, the accounts would be dissonant. As it stands, they can be harmonized.

What about those who never hear of Jesus?

God’s perfect love and justice far exceed our own. Whatever He decides will be loving and fair. A friend once told me that many asking this question seek a personal loophole, a way so they won’t need to believe in Christ. C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity wrote, “If you are worried about the people outside [of Christianity], the most unreasonable thing you can do is to remain outside yourself.”

How can Jesus be the only way to God?

He claimed it. His plan of rescuing humans (“by grace … through faith … not … works,” Eph. 2:8-9) was distinct from those requiring works, as many other religions do. These two kinds of systems were mutually exclusive. Both could be false or either could be true, but both could not
be true. Was Jesus’ plan true? Historical evidence for his resurrection, fulfilled prophecy and deity, and for the reliability of the New Testament,
convinced me I could trust his words.

Isn’t Christianity just a psychological crutch?

Bob Prall has often said, “If Christianity is a psychological crutch, then Jesus Christ came because there was an epidemic of broken legs.” Christianity claims to meet real human needs such as those for forgiveness, love, identity, and self-acceptance. We might describe Jesus not as
a crutch but an iron lung, essential for life itself. Christian faith and its benefits can be described in psychological terms, but that does not negate
its validity. Evidence supports Christianity’s truthfulness, so we would expect it to work in individual lives, as millions attest.

I could never take the blind leap of faith that believing in Christ requires.

We exercise faith every day. Few of us understand everything about electricity or aerodynamics, but we have evidence of their validity. Whenever we use electric lights or airplanes, we exercise faith—not blind faith, but faith based on evidence. Christians act similarly. The evidence for Jesus is compelling, so one can trust him on that basis.

It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere.

A person could be sincere in what he believed, but be sincerely wrong. In the 1960s, many women took the drug thalidomide sincerely believing it would ease their pregnancies—never suspecting it could cause severe birth defects. Ultimately, faith is only as valid as its object. Jesus demonstrated by His life, death, and resurrection that he is a worthy object for faith. Your questioners may be turned off because
many Christians haven’t acted like Jesus. Maybe they’re angry at God because of personal illness, a broken relationship, a loved one’s death, or
personal pain. Ask God for patience and love as you follow Peter’s admonition: “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).