A Popular Misconception About Christianity
It is a dismissive comment that one hears ever so often even from people who ought to know better “More people have been killed in the name of God and religion than any other cause. I can’t be bothered with Christianity.”
Apart from the sloppiness of thought involved in this quotation—there is no link established between the tenets of Christianity and the alleged killings “in the name of God”— the allegation of religion and God as the cause of the worst killings is simply not true. Institutionalized atheism leads the field in human carnage. As Christian Apologist Greg Koukl says in his fascinating recent book Tactics (Zondervan, 2009), “…over 66 million wiped out under Lenin, Stalin, and Khrushchev; between 32 and 61 million Chinese killed under Communist regimes since 1949; one third of the eight million Khmers—2.7 million people—were killed between 1975 and 1979 under the communist Khmer Rouge.” (p.177, his emphasis).
The Guinness Book of World Records 1992 (Facts on File, 1991, 92) is the source of Koukl’s statistics. It may be helpful to point out that the estimated war dead from World War I is 15 million and for WWII, 48.2 million.
Another Christian Apologist, Ravi Zacharias tackles this popular misconception in similar vein and after mentioning the killings under Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Mao, et al, urges “The attackers of religion have forgotten that these large-scale slaughters at the hands of antitheists were the logical outworking of their God-denying philosophy. Contrastingly, the violence spawned by those who killed in the name of Christ would never have been sanctioned by the Christ of the Scriptures. Those who killed in the name of God were clearly self-serving politicizers of religion, an amalgam Christ ever resisted in His life and teaching…Atheism, on the other hand, provides the logical basis for an autonomous, domineering will, expelling morality.” (Can Man Live Without God, Word publishing, 1994, 22-23).
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11 Responses
Some great stats here. I’ve always thought, this is one of the lies satan uses to keep people bound to himself. In our present culture we are being entertained into ignorant skeptics and knowledgeable fools. Its unfortunate that we know more about who is the coolest star on tv, but nothing about our history and fundamental Christian beliefs that can actually save our souls.
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Dnash, you are so right. It seems Christians today are uninterested in being prepared to respond to critics of the faith.
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Yes, Christians today seem uninterested in readying themselves to respond to critics of Christianity.
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I’m slightly concerned that you think atheism leads to a logical justification for mass murder, any explination for this?
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Kaypee, you said:
“Some of the most honest folks I have met are Swedish, and that nation is rated as having more than 75% of its population atheist.”
That sounds like an opinion, however…the Bible does not teach that unbelievers (atheist) does not have the ability to do good, in fact if Christians do not do good, they are considered worst than an unbeliever (atheist).
“If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever (atheist) . 1 Timothy 5:8
You have to realize that Christians are not Christians because they are good, they are Christians because they have accepted the good works of Christ, His payment for our sins on the cross.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
We are saved by God’s Grace (free gift) not by good works, because our good works are filthy in the sight of God. We continue to do good works after we are saved.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works so that no-one can boast” Ephesians 2:8,9
The next thing that sounds like an opinion and not a fact is ….
“Christianity may be spreading in Africa, but it will spread wherever ignorance and illiteracy abound, and where folks are comfortable with superstition.”
Christianity is not only spreading in Africa, but is actually spreading all over the world, and Africans are not Illiterate and superstition exist everywhere, even in the most developed countries. yeah, here is a small list that exist in the United States …horoscopes, Astrology, Ouija boards, Soothsayers, Fortunetellers, Omens and Charms, Sihar, Magic, Jadu, Mysticism. God is not thirsty for blood, he has poured out His blood for us on the cross, He actually loves us in-spite of our sin and wickedness.
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kaypee Reply:
February 26th, 2011 at 5:01 pm
The information about the Swedish people is not an opinion. It is fact. They are among the least corrupt nations in the world. Do some research.
Regarding blood sacrifice, I want to understand how the pagan idea that the invisible powers could only be appeased by blood, was transferred to the Judeo-Christian belief that blood was necessary for “salvation”. Do you realize that from earliest times when man watched natural forces, he noted that most catastrophes resulted in death and bloodshed. One New Zealend resident who experienced the earthquake in Christchurch recently claimed she saw the ground open up and a bus with passengers fell in the crevasse, which closed in the next rumble, swallowing the bus with its passengers.
Now can you imagine the absolute terror of primitive man, begging the Powers who controlled the earthquake to spare his life? This idea that you had to shed blood to appease the Great Powers was born out of fear and the observation that whenever a disaster occurred, blood was shed. So man thought, “ok, let me give them some blood, so they don’t have to come for mine”.
This idea that Jesus died to “save” us makes no sense to me. I accepted it when I was growing up, but I really don’t know what it is we are to be saved from. I do not think the lake of fire called hell exists — again what would our ancestors think when they saw a volcano spitting fire and ash, and hearing their neighbors screaming in terror as they became engulfed by the molten rock? If you see a volcano erupt at night (I have in Indonesia), the lava flow looks exactly like a river of fire, flowing down the sides of the cone. To primitive man who had not yet discovered fire, this was the one of the enigmas concerning who controlled the planet.
I refuse to continue believing in something that makes no sense.
And think of it. God made Adam and Eve.
They sinned. God curses them and their progeny. Chases them out of the garden. What? Didn’t he know this would happen?
Later on he gets angry again, and wipes out the entire planet save Noah’s party. Then the earth was repopulated and soon became wicked again. Is God really all-powerful? Why are we created sick and commanded to be well? What sense does it make to curse the race for Adam’s fall in the garden of Eden?
You see, none of this makes any sense, no sense at all. You have to check in your brain and your ability to reason at the door to really swallow this nonsense.
Obviously we are not reading the same books, but even America is seeing an increase in secularization. People have become disenchanted because of the Catholic scandals, and the very many sex and financial scandals in their evangelical circles.
As for me, I reckon that when my body dies and my brain is dead, that’s it. And I have no desire to live forever. Doing what? Ever wondered? I’m okay with oblivion, so this life means a lot to me, for I don’t have an afterlife. You believe the “eternal life” story? I chuckle. People face death with hope when they are convinced they’ll see their loved ones again. But some of us can deal with the reality and still die with dignity.
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Stephenson Reply:
February 26th, 2011 at 9:12 pm
Kaypee, I took your advice and did some research and did find out that Sweden is one of the least corrupt countries in the world at a score of 9.2 out of10 (0 being the most corrupt for the year 2010) http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/results In our human eyes that may sound good, but compared to the righteousness of God we are all filthy, because even in our “goodness” we are still filled with sin (America scored a 7.1 and we know how corrupt America is today).
Regarding blood sacrifice and God, first we have to understand why God demands blood for our sin. we must go back to God’s declarations regarding blood in the Old Testament: “the life of the flesh is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11, 14). God tells us that life and blood are essentially one and the same. The blood carries life-sustaining nutrients to all parts of the body. It represents the essence of life. In contrast, the shedding of blood represents the shedding of life, i.e. death.
Contrary to pagan religions, the God of the Bible takes sin seriously and gives a death penalty for it. Sin is not a small matter. It is the simple sin of pride that turned Lucifer into a demon. It was the simple sin of jealousy that caused Cain to slay Abel, etc. And in Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit, they believed the deceiver over a good and loving God, choosing to rebel against His love and denying the goodness of His character. Christianity views sin as a holy God views it—seriously.
God takes sin so seriously that the blood of animals and burnt offerings was not sufficient to atone for our sins, that is why Jesus was the perfect sacrifice, because he was perfect in all His ways. Although Christianity presents a bloody sacrifice in these regards, it is the only religion that is bloodless in the end. The opposite of death is life. In Jesus’ death, He brought life as is shown in so many verses. And in trusting Christ and His atoning sacrifice for our sins, we are saved from death and has passed into life (John 5:24; 1 John 3:14). In Him is life. All other paths lead to death (Acts 4:16; John 14:6). There is no comparison to Pagan religions, because Christianity is the only Religion where you do not have to sacrifice blood for your sins anymore, because God himself sacrificed His son for us on the cross and that is how much He loves us.
You said: “but I really don’t know what it is we are to be saved from.”
If you are honest with yourself (Christian or Atheist), you would have to admit that this world and life we live is sinful and goes against God himself, we can’t go a full day without breaking one of God’s law or in some way rebelling against Him. What are we saved from? We are saved from “wrath,” that is, from God’s judgment of sin (Romans 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:9). Our sin has separated us from God, and the consequence of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Salvation refers to our deliverance from the consequence of sin and therefore involves the removal of sin.
I see that you try to rationalize everything from the fall of man to Noah’s flood etc, etc. But you have to realize that God placed man on this planet for a reason, it was not a mistake that we are here. He placed us on this earth so that we can seek after Him and have a relationship with Him, yes he knew we would mess up, but he had everything planned so that we could be saved even before he made the heavens and the earth.
God chose Him (Jesus) as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days. 1 Peter 1:20
For He made from one [common origin, one source, one blood] all nations of men to settle on the face of the earth, having definitely determined [their] allotted periods of time and the fixed boundaries of their habitation [settlements, lands, and abode], So that they should seek God, in hope that they might feel after him and find Him, although He is not far from each one of us. ACTS 17:26-27 Amplified Bible
You say you once believed in what the Bible teaches but now you reject it, you look for answers to questions that seem difficult to answer and some questions are difficult, but if we search the scriptures you will find the answers (Some answers we just will not find), but this much we know….God loves you so much that He will never stop chasing after you and He has given us a way out through His Son, Jesus Christ.
You said that at the end of life you will basically accept that your brain will die and you will go into oblivion, life will just cease to exist and that is fine with you and you chuckle. But at the end it will not be a laughing matter, we are promised once to die and then we must face the judgment seat of God…all of us Christian or not, Atheist or not, we must give an account for the life we have been given here on earth, unless we believe that life evolved from nothing, or from some primordial soup, that gradually progressed over millions and millions of years, therefore we do not have to give an account for our lives (good or bad) to anyone, because there is no God.!?!
You said: “And I have no desire to live forever. Doing what? Ever wondered?”
I unlike you would love to live forever, life is the only true gift we have and if death is the only thing you have to look forward to, that sounds hopeless….doing what?….just consider this….God took 6 days to create the earth for us and I don’t know of anyone person who has enjoyed everything the earth has to offer, just imagine how spectacular heaven will be….Jesus left the earth 2000 years ago and said he is gone to prepare a place for us, given that he is spending 2000 years, compared to six days, we cannot imagine how wonderful heaven will be, you see God is not a kill joy, he is the maker of all things that are good, heaven will not be a boring place, not when God is in charge, how can it be, look at earth how wonderful it is, even though we are living it in its sinful form, there is still much to enjoy! I hope to be in heaven one day and I hope I will see you there, we could walk down those streets of gold and have a chat and just laugh at this whole conversation 
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Clinton Chisholm Reply:
February 28th, 2011 at 6:26 am
Kaypee, before I respond to a few issues raised by you let me thank Stephenson (whom I don’t think I know) for filling in while I was otherwise engaged.
I ask that we do not dismiss the rational capabilities of the ancients simply because they lived thousands of years prior to our times. We moderns may have access to more information but it certainly does not follow that we are necessarily more adept in logical thinking. We still struggle, some of us, with following the arguments advanced by a Plato or a Socrates and we are still baffled/humbled by the engineering expertise behind the pyramids of Egypt and elsewhere.
Additionally we must be careful to read ancient texts responsibly and well, showing due regard for what the text actually says and taking time to understand something of the context behind the text. Let me illustrate with the Abraham/Isaac account. Apart from the minor misreading Kaypee that “Abraham’s 1st directive from God was to go kill his son”, one needs to note how unshocked and lacking in outrage Abraham seemed to have been in this account that so horrifies some of us. The text and wider context help. God had promised Abraham that he and his wife, though quite old, would have a son, Isaac, from whom nations and kings would arise (Gen. 17:17-21). Ishmael too was blessed but…Notice the words of Abraham to his servants on that fateful day when he set out to obey God’s gentle command in Gen. 22. [Scholars have noted that the unusual Hebrew construction at v. 2, is better translated "Take your son, I beg you, your only son..."]. He says to them “Stay here…while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” (v.5). Abraham knew that God would preserve Isaac somehow even if resurrection became necessary.
Abraham knew much more than the modern reader even if that one is a Christian and when you add the New Testament perspective that God sacrificed his one and only son for our sins then raised him from the dead, context vivifies the text.
The non-theist must declare the source of his/her yardstick for calling anything wrong or evil. We dare not presume to know more than God or have a superior ethical yardstick than he does!
Kaypee I think you know that what makes no sense to you is not therefore non-sense but just something that is not yet appreciated as sense by you. I urge you to keep thinking and if you are in Jamaica stay tuned to Religious Hardtalk because Ian Boyne has served me notice to discuss the ethical problems seen in the Old Testament by the New Atheists, sometime in March while I’m in Jamaica.
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Clinton Chisholm Reply:
June 11th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
I am not suggesting that atheism necessariy leads to a justification of mass murder but without a basis for objective ethics, atheism as a worldview, lacks a rational basis for pronouncing on the wrongness or heinousness of any atrocity like mass murder or whatever. Without objective ethics or God, anything is permissible. Moral responsibility is not inherent in atheism or humanism as even humanist Paul Kurtz admits. He says …”…the humanist is faced with a crucial ethical problem: Insofar as he has defended an ethic of freedom, can he develop a basis for moral responsibility? Regretfully, merely to liberate individuals from authoritarian social institutions, whether church or state, is no guarantee that they will be aware of their moral responsibility to others. The contrary is often the case.”
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kaypee Reply:
February 15th, 2011 at 3:59 pm
I am surprised that any Christian could think that atheism “lacks a rational basis for pronouncing on the wrongness or heinousness of any attrocity…” when the Old Testament is awash with the blood and gore of thousands who were thouht to have offended God, or just worshipped other gods. When I ask if God takes pleasure in forcing people to worship him, I am told no, he gives us a choice. I guess it’s the same choice a man gives the suitor of his daughter when he holds a shotgun to his head and says “marry her or else!”
With God, it is “worship me or die!” As an agnostic, I realize that my welfare is dependent on the welfare of my fellow man. My personal philosophy is “Do no harm to anyone”. I believe it goes even further than loving one’s neighbor as one’s self, since many people may not love themselves to start with. Hence they kill their neighbors and commit suicide.
Christians overlook the immorality in the old testament, because what God does is acceptable to them, no matter how heinous. So where do we draw the line? I do not have to embrace any religion to help my fellow man; I do it our of a sense of brotherhood. Even lower animals can realize they are dependent on each other, and will nurture and care for one of their own injured or in need. You don’t need religion to tell you some things are injurious to society. Some of the most honest folks I have met are Swedish, and that nation is rated as having more than 75% of its population atheist. Conversely, some of the most twisted, corrupt and murderous people live in countries where there are more churches than hospials and hih schools.
There is a massive wave of atheism at present because people are beginning to think. The old excuse for believing the myth (the bible tells me so) is not enough anymore, for the bible itself is losing veracity, courtesy of the actions and antics of believers and leaders within Christendom. Christianity may be spreadin in Africa, but it will spread wherever ignorance and illiteracy abound, and where folks are comfortable with superstition.
The greatest slauhter of human beings on this planet was the flood the bible claims was authored by God himself, when he drowned everyone on th planet, save Noah his family and thousands of animal species in the ark. If you insist the biblical account is true, then this is mass murder, in addition to the other wanton slayings that were commissioned by God who blows his top when he is not paid due homage. It’s almost psychotic. Are you folks okay with the OT god of rage and fury? What example has he set for man? Why do we think Muslims likk in the name of their God? it’s the same principle. Abraham’s first directive from God was to go kill his son.
This God seems to love the sight and smell of blood. Why?
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Stephenson Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 1:21 pm
Kaypee, would you call a “human judge” a murderer when he gives the death sentence to
someone who murdered your father, raped your mother, sold your child into sex slavery
then burnt your dog alive? God is a just God and he lays down punishment on evil men
because that is what they earned, we cannot pull God down to our level and say because
he wiped the earth clean of evil men, then he murdered them, he wiped the earth clean
of evil men because he is a good and just God, if he did not, then you would say he is evil.