Christianity is NOT the Answer to Everything

Image credits belong to: qimono | Pixabay

Many versions of Christianity claim that Jesus is the answer to your sin, guilt, condemnation, fear, worry, disease, hopelessness, despair, and loneliness [1]. They say that God uses agonizing situations to force us to change [2]. They say our problems will dissipate once we surrender to God's Will instead of our own [3]. However, some Christians will admit that the remedy cannot be entirely God's doing. GlobalRize's director of evangelism, Marten Visser, states, "Life is hard, and we cannot sit back and expect God to take care of us without our own effort" [4].

All of that is quite confusing once you realize that plenty of people in this world can employ coping mechanisms that do not involve Jesus. They can have a clear conscience and avoid misdeeds without prayer against sin. They can repair their relationships without Biblical wisdom. They can recuperate from illness and injury without prayer to Jesus. They can have hope and freedom from anxiety without begging Jesus for it.

The assumption that all nonbelievers are "living in darkness" becomes hard to uphold when we witness any form of happiness, good health, productivity, good deeds, resilience, and rectitude among nonbelievers. It becomes hard to uphold the assumption that all Christians are "living in the light" when we see Christians continuing to suffer despite all their supplications, good deeds, fidelities, abstinences, etc. How can Jesus and Biblical living be the world's panacea when unbelievers can live a good life and believers can live a bad life no matter what the Bible says and accomplishes for people?

Image credits belong to: GDJ | Pixabay

Mental Health Struggles in a Religion Claiming to Heal You

Some Christians can even suffer from various psychiatric disorders. Depression is one disorder that the Church has notoriously misunderstood, claiming that the causes must be lack of willpower, unconfessed sin, God's punishment, self-pity, and a lack of faith [5].

"Why would an all-loving God allow them to think things about him that cruelly detach them from reality? Does God not want them to know reality?"

These are jarring questions we must ask whenever a Christian suffers from delusions and hallucinations that have content about the religion of their choice [6] [7].

This puts Christianity in an awkward position. There are many examples of calamities spurred on by religious delusions.

In 2009, a man killed his son to save him from the anti-Christ [8].

In 2010, a man lacerated a woman's face and choked her with a lamp cord, saying, "God commanded me to kill you" [9].

In 2009, Vince Li heard a voice from God telling him to kill another man on a Greyhound bus in self-defense. Li believed the man would come back to life, so he dismembered the body and strewed the parts on the bus [10].

In 2005, a man claimed that God commanded him to shoot and stab his pregnant girlfriend [11].

Although these cases are isolated and rare, I am stating this to demonstrate that psychopathologies can undermine your brain's ability to make moral decisions regardless of your choice of deity.

Neuroimaging studies show some evidence that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), amygdala, temporoparietal junction (TPJ), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) are some of the brain regions linked together in evaluating moral situations. Antisocial behavior could originate from the same social decision-making regions implicated in morality [12].

In light of the doctrine of sin and free-will, I would expect the Christian Church to still blame the person with a psychopathology as exercising choice in a calamity spurred on by their psychopathology. I think these jarring propositions still apply to those who are disadvantaged by psychopathology but still find hope, meaning, and purpose in Christianity.

"Your sin is holding you back."

"You are not right with God."

"You are not praying hard enough."

Please tell me if those dismaying responses sound familiar. These responses are expected when your suffering is prolonged despite all your prayers and petitions. Statements like these always attack your self-esteem and nag you every time you do something believed to be hypocritical. To add insult to injury, complaints from unbelievers coupled with sermons from pastors deriding Christian hypocrisy can perhaps force the following message onto all Christians: "All of you better get your act together or else the nonbelievers will not be persuaded by your life nor turn to Christ."

Much of this becomes a recipe of stress, making you wonder if any of this makes sense and if you could seek satisfactory answers outside of the Bible. I think a mental hostage situation occurs when a suffering Christian is told, "you cannot seek answers elsewhere that could compromise your faith and put you in darkness." You are set up for a bizarre and abusive self-narrative when you are repeatedly told that there is darkness somewhere out there in the world, but you already feel darkness with the deity of your inner monologue telling you that you cannot leave.

Image credits belong to: Mocho | Pixabay

When Christianity Does Not Work

Michael Horton, professor of systematic theology and apologetics at Westminster Seminary California, admits that God deliberately eludes us in troubling times while it is in our nature to find explanations and purpose behind what is happening to us. He also admits that Christianity does not work for everyone.

"Christianity isn't true because it works. In many cases, in fact, it doesn't work. It doesn't solve all of the problems we think it should solve." He goes on: "We're not called to judge God. He didn't promise any of us health, wealth, or comfort. Rather, he tells us that we who expect to share in Christ's glory will also participate in his suffering. Christianity is true, not because it works for people but because nearly 2,000 years ago, outside of Jerusalem, the Son of God was crucified for our sins and raised for our justification" [13].

This kind of Christianity asks for the impossible: to neglect our problems/needs and shift all the focus onto an alleged revenant 2,000 years ago. It should be obvious to anyone that negligence of your problems/needs will not make life better. Something that has the power but refuses to fix our marriages, relationships, health, and finances is not a source of support, nor is it something to which you should dedicate your life. Horton's statement that "Christianity offers hope even when it doesn't work" makes no sense as a self-help guide. His logic implies abuse even though he may not be intending that implication. [13].

An all-powerful being who refuses to answer our life's quandaries is more than just disappointing. It is a form of abandonment, especially after promising he would be there! Then, to be told we should shift our focus away from our needs/problems and onto that all-powerful being is a way to tell everyone they should ignore their instincts urging them to turn away from the abandoner.

This reflects a dictatorship instead of a democracy. This reflects a slave-driver cracking the whip. This reflects the sycophantic, codependent role someone is expected to play when partnered with a narcissist. This disregards the mutual concessions and compromises that characterize an authentic partnership. Suppressing every thought and emotion that would try to warn you about your abuser/abandoner can turn into a form of self-gaslighting. Compare Yahweh to what some licensed counselors have to say about narcissism [14].

Image credits belong to: OpenClipart-Vectors | Pixabay

The God Who Gaslights

It is hard to identify the gaslighter when he/she is said to be inaccessible to the five senses and not proven to exist. So, you have to wonder: is this self-gaslighting? In the context of Christianity, I believe the self-gaslighting is a result of internalizing Christian doctrine.

Healthline. com discusses some commonplace things that a gaslighter says to a victim [15]. These particular phrases can be likened to what we hear from evangelical Christianity:

"You are too dramatic, emotional, sensitive or crazy to be right about this"... looks similar to... "You are too sinful to understand the things of God."

"I did not mean it like that; you are exaggerating"...looks similar to... "you are blaming something on God for which you are responsible" or "you are trying to excuse your sin."

"It's all in your head"... looks similar to... "your sin is blinding you."

"If you were more/less ____, this would be different"...looks similar to... "if you were less sinful or more righteous, God would forgive you and this misfortune would stop."

"You started it, it is all your fault"... is similar to... "you sinned, it is your fault. Adam and Eve sinned and cursed us all."

"If you loved me then you would not do this"... is similar to... "If you loved God, you would not get inebriated, not have premarital sex, not lose your temper, not talk profanely, not feel stressed out, not be gay, not have sexual thoughts, etc."

All of these evangelical phrases undermine your independence, your confidence, and your instinctual alarm bells about the tyranny and abuse in your head.

General Disclaimer: All sources are hyperlinked in this article. The author has made their best attempt to accurately interpret the sources used and preserve the source-author’s original argument while avoiding plagiarism. Should you discover any errors to that end, please email thecommoncaveat@gmail.com and we will review your request.

All information in this article is intended for educational/entertainment purposes only. This information should not be used as medical/therapeutic advice. Please seek a doctor/therapist for health advice.

Works cited:

[1] https://www.christianity.com/wiki/jesus-christ/is-jesus-always-the-answer.html

[2] https://www1.cbn.com/biblestudy/gods-purpose-behind-your-problems

[3] https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Jesus-will-help-you-solve-your-problems-1228794.php#:~:text=The%20Bible%20says%2C%20%22The%20way,when%20we%20face%20difficult%20times

[4] https://www.biblword.net/does-god-solve-them-or-should-we-solve-them-ourselves/

[5] https://cmda.org/downcast-do-real-christians-get-depressed/

[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4440877/

[7] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4031576/

[8] https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/02/12/Dad-God-told-me-to-kill-my-son/71281234475937/?ur3=1

[9] https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-2010-11-30-mc-allentown-slashing-god-20101130-story.html

[10] https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2009/03/04/god_told_man_to_kill_bus_passenger.html

[11] https://www.nj.com/mercer/2011/02/new_trial_ordered_for_morrisvi.html

[12] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6372234/