Ten Questions That a Theist Can’t Answer

Turnabout is fair play

As a followup to an essay from last year in which I answered “Ten Questions That an Atheist Can’t Answer” (you can read that essay here), I thought I would now pose the opposite: ten questions that a theist can’t answer. Let’s see how well my theist readers fare. (NB: Seeing that Christianity has the largest number of adherents of all the religions in the world, my questions are directed primarily toward Christians with a nod toward Biblical writings, though it does seem to me that any Muslim — and therefore a believer in Jahannam — could respond to questions 9 and 10.)

1. “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the Earth.” Nice opening line. “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” Love that “darkness was upon the face of the deep.” Also, that comma after “form” is great. It’s beautiful writing. Actually, it’s more the case that the King James Version is a beautiful translation. But never mind that. Instead, notice that the Bible opens with a wildly bold assertion: that God created the Universe. As far as I know, this claim is never substantiated anywhere in the Bible. We’re only encouraged to assume that God created the Universe, and then let things go on from there. But if the Bible is supposed to be the go-to source on how existence came to be, bold assertions need to be substantiated. Can any of my theist readers point me to where evidence is presented in the Bible that supports the assertion that a Celestial Being (“God”) created the Universe? I’m having no luck chasing down this evidence. Thanks for your help.

2. The Big Bang is regarded by some as the “beginning” of the Universe; others refer to it as a “change of state.” Whichever it is (I don’t know if there’s a third hypothesis), a plain fact about our Universe remains: There is no evidence that a super-natural source (deliberate hyphen for emphasis) is behind it or set it into motion. Consider “demonic possession.” It was once thought to be the cause of certain ailments; today, we’re well acquainted with the germ theory of disease and neurological disorders. Thor was once believed to be the cause of storms; today, we understand that meteorological forces account for thunder and lightning. You may not know anything about neurology or meteorology, but you have no reason to believe that the specialists in these fields are lying. You accept what they say, not on faith but on trust, and anyway, an investigation into the…