Compiled by: Rev. Vic Logan

Christianity does indeed offer the purest route to personal fulfillment. Yet, Christianity, in particular, is filled with paradoxes and difficult demands. As Charles Colson asks, "If we were making up our own God, would we create one with such harsh demands for justice, righteousness, service and self-sacrifice as we find in the biblical texts?"

Jesus said: Love your enemies. Turn the other cheek. Pride is a sin. If you want to become rich, give away your money. If you truly want to be great, you must be a servant. He said that if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! And He said being persecuted in His name is a blessing. (Wow!)

According to Jesus, the rich are poor; the up are down; the down are up; the self-righteous are sinners; the sinners are forgiven. The last are first and the first are last.

This kind of talk is not what one would expect to draw throngs of people to meet their psychological needs! This is the opposite of much of modern psychology's emphasis on "self-esteem" or "I'm OK, You're OK." Indeed, as Charles Colson says, the words of Jesus challenge one to the very core of existence, putting at risk one's whole reason for living.

R. C. Sproul points out that the question of origin of religion is really not a psychological one but an historical one. The truth of Christianity is not determined by how it could have started, but how it did start.

Which is the greater psychological crutch-Christianity or atheism? We submit that atheism and agnosticism are really the philosophies to be challenged. Is not atheism a psychological invention to get rid of moral obligation? Because of our egocentricity, God can appear as an awesome threat to us. Atheism and agnosticism want to cover that up by refuting God.

The greatest psychological threat to man is the fear of loss of one's autonomy. This fear is even greater than the loss of meaning. This is the psychological background as to why the atheist is willing to suppress the truth that is clear to an unbiased observer.

Why are Christians so judgmental?

This question implies that the questioner has himself made a judgment about Christianity -a negative one. So everyone judges. The question is whose judgment is correct?

There are two probable situations here. The first is that the person asking this question has something in their life over which they simply do not want to be judged. We were given a conscience by God and even without an intellectual understanding of the Bible we all understand by nature and conscience what is right and wrong. But the human condition is that we want autonomy; we want to reject a God that subjects his judgment on us. Plain and simple.

But of course, just because we do not want to be judged does not mean that God does not exist. We will be judged whether we like it or not.

Sometimes people say something like, " My God would not judge." Of course, your statement is correct. Your God indeed would not judge because he does not exist. He is a figment of your imagination. You have created a god in your own image. Such attitude is idolatry, which is a violation of the Second Commandment-a very serious sin.

Actually, it is not the Christian who is judging, but God. A second probable situation here is that the person asking this question just does not appreciate the holiness of God compared to the unworthiness of us humans. They take sin too lightly, failing to understand the depth of all our sin. The Bible says that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23 ) and are deserving of God's wrath (Romans 1:18, 2:5 ). We have all broken every one of the Ten Commandments in thought, word, or deed. Thus there is an unbreachable gap between God's standard of holiness and our unworthiness. But the good news is that God provided a way to be reconciled to him. As it says in the Bible (Romans 5:8 ):

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.