It’s a bold heading for Thought Catalogue number 6: ‘Evolution makes more sense’. But that isn’t the real issue here. (from the Thought Catalogue article ‘13 Atheists explain why they don’t believe in God’)

The challenge

“The question that comes up again and again is this one: you have this god with unlimited powers, who knows everything, and who is all-good, so why is there so much suffering in the world?

Inevitably when you ask a version of this question, your religious elders will give you answers that sound like they’re making up excuses. Or they will shut you down by telling you not to ask such questions.

Response

Yep, it’s a great heading, ‘evolution makes more sense’, simple, clear and bold. But is there an explanation offered for why evolution makes more sense? Nope. None. The logic is ‘God’ or ‘Religion’ doesn’t make sense therefore evolution. Consider if I’d just said, evolution doesn’t make sense therefore God…

Aside from the heading, there is an issue. To the writer, religion offers no good answers or rather, ‘answers that sound like they’re making up excuses.’ 

I cannot speak for every religion. And nor can I speak for every flavour of Christianity. But as I explored Jesus I found Christians engaging with Biblical Christianity invited hard questions and welcomed the search for answers. 

And I found answers that held up under scrutiny. I asked questions like: 

• Did the events recorded in the New Testament happen?

• And if events like this did happen can we be confident that they made it through 2000 years of history uncorrupted?

• And is Christianity unique or is it just one of the many ways to God?

• And what is the evidence for God as a Creator, or is there more evidence that the universe arose as a cosmic accident?

• And what about suffering?

As I fired out my challenges I found the Christians around me fired back - gently - substantial answers. And, they encouraged the questions. For they were confident that there were substantial answers. (See other my responses to thought catalogue for some of these.)

Regarding suffering, Christians pointed me to CS Lewis' book 'Mere Christianity'. And I found his answers compelling. There were answers that pointed out in an accidental universe (without a creator God), there was no basis to declare anything good nor evil. However, if I thought something was crooked then I must also think that straight existed and ought to be desired. But in an accidental universe, there was no way to account for this. (For more thoughts see the response to Thought Catalogue 2 .)

On the other hand, my atheist friends were dismissive of the various answers I found. They didn’t refute the answers, rather, sadly, they refused to engage. I was surprised. 

Does that mean that every answer nailed it? And that everything was explained to an infinite degree? No, of course not. But the cumulative effect of answer after substantial answer changed my mind about Christianity. 

Christianity ought to invite questions because it can offer answers - good answers. But also radically different answers when compared to other beliefs. Especially on the biggest questions.

If you’re interested in searching out some of those answers I want to recommend

The Reason for God by Tim Keller

And, Making Sense of God by Tim Keller.