I've wrestled with all of these myself. Some of them I've found solid answers for. Others, I'm still challenged by. But we can't let these objections stop us from actually seeking the truth.
Leaders in churches have hurt people. Christians have done awful things. That's real. I've heard so many people talk about what happened to them or someone they loved in the church and how that caused them to walk away. If that's been your experience, I don't blame you for being angry. And I used to get frustrated by the hypocrisy I saw from "religious people".
But a bad messenger doesn't change the truth of the message.
If your third grade teacher that taught you how to multiply numbers turned out to be a horrible person, it doesn't change the fact that 5 × 2 = 10.
This one is easy for me. The actions of human beings in the church are unrelated to whether or not God is real or Jesus died for our sins. They are unrelated.
What if God is real, even if His followers mess up?
This is one of the hardest questions for me, and honestly, I still wrestle with it. I don't think anyone has a perfect answer. But here's how I've learned to think about it.
As a parent, I started to understand something: love doesn't always mean protecting your child from every struggle. Sometimes love means allowing challenges because you want your child to grow.
There were so many times I could have stepped in and made things easier for my kids. When they wanted cupcakes for dinner, I said no. When my son wanted to quit summer camp after two days, I still made him stay. He needed to learn how to handle discomfort, make friends, and discover that he could find joy in a new environment. He didn't understand it. He was frustrated. And from his perspective, it felt unfair. But as his father, I knew something he didn't: short-term struggle can produce long-term strength.
Is it possible that God allows struggle now because He's preparing us for a forever we can't fully imagine yet?
If Heaven is real and eternal, then our entire life on earth is barely a blip. Let's say you had to experience two minutes of horrible pain in order to enjoy perfect health for the next 100 years, would you choose that? I would.
I can get past this objection not because I have all the answers, but because it's at least possible, even reasonable, that God sees a bigger picture than we do. And if eternity is real, that perspective changes everything.
This is one that I got caught up in when I started learning about evolution and the Big Bang Theory in school. But now that I have a little more life experience and wisdom, I'm absolutely convinced that no matter how smart we are (or think we are), humanity understands only a tiny fraction of reality.
We've mapped out the laws of physics, we've explored biology, and have investigated some of outer space, but for every question we've answered, we find 100 more we can't explain.
Think about the questions science still can't answer:
These aren't small gaps. They're foundational questions. And science, by its own limits, isn't designed to answer them.
Science tells us how things work. Faith asks why anything exists in the first place.
If we live in a universe that began from nothing, is fine-tuned beyond comprehension, and contains conscious beings who long for meaning, then believing in God makes sense. And to me, it's much harder to believe that all of this happened by accident.
This is a fair question. Most of us don't choose our beliefs, we inherit them. We tend to believe what our family believed, what our culture taught us, or what we were surrounded by growing up. But it makes sense to ask: If I had been born somewhere else, wouldn't I believe something else?
But here's the thing: where we start doesn't determine what's true.
All of us, no matter our background, eventually face the same deeper questions: How come I feel guilty sometimes? How come people search for meaning? What is love actually, and why is love so important? Why am I here?
Is it possible that God put something inside humans that makes us search for Him?
People throughout history and in every part of the world sought after God or their version of God. Why is that? I don't know all of the facts but I believe that it is our job to search for God. I am not the final authority on what's true. I just deeply believe that we must seek God, even if we have some of it wrong.
Isn't it worth seriously asking God to reveal Himself?
This used to bother me. I would hear people say, "The Bible has been translated so many times. It has been rewritten. It is just a human book." And if that were true, it would definitely weaken the whole thing.
But here is what helped me think through it.
Yes, it was written by men. That is not hidden. The question is whether God could use human beings to communicate something true. Every history book, every scientific paper, and every law we follow was written by humans. That alone does not disqualify something.
As for it being changed, we actually have thousands of ancient manuscripts that scholars compare against each other. The core message — especially about Jesus' life, death, and resurrection — has not shifted. If God is powerful enough to create the universe, is He incapable of preserving His message?
Is it possible that God worked through imperfect people to record something real?
If He is real, that is not hard for Him.
I do not like being told what to do either. Our culture values freedom above almost everything. Do what makes you happy. Follow your heart. Live your truth.
But here is something I have learned. Everyone lives under something. Some people live under money. Some under success. Some under approval. Some under addiction. Some under their own impulses. We all serve something, even if we call it freedom.
The real question is not whether we will surrender to something. It is what we are surrendering to. If God is real, and if He created us, then maybe His boundaries are not meant to restrict joy but protect it. Just like a parent does not set rules to control a child, but to keep them alive and flourishing.
What if the One who made us actually knows how life works best?
I used to think like this too. I have not murdered anyone. I try to treat people well. Is that not enough? But when I am really honest with myself, I know I have lied. I have been selfish. I have hurt people. I have thought, said and done things I would be embarrassed to have projected on a screen.
The standard we usually measure ourselves against is other people. And compared to some people, we look pretty good. But what if the standard is not other people? What if it is perfection?
If God is perfectly just and perfectly holy, then even small wrongs matter. Not because He is cruel, but because justice matters.
Christianity does not actually say "be better." It says "You cannot be good enough. That is why Jesus came to save you."
If I could earn it, I would not need grace. If I am honest, I need grace.
If salvation is through Jesus, what about the person born in a remote village who never hears His name? Here is what I believe: if God is real, He is perfectly just and perfectly loving. More just and loving than I am.
I have met people who worry about the fairness of God but do not worry about seeking Him themselves. That challenged me.
I do not know exactly how God handles every situation. But I do know this. The Bible describes Him as a fair judge. And if He sees every heart fully, He is capable of judging rightly.
Shouldn't we trust God to evaluate everyone fairly instead of putting ourselves in the position of judging Him based on assumptions about what we think He would do?
Maybe you asked God to fix something, to heal someone, to take away pain, and He didn't do what you asked. Silence can be crushing. I have had prayers that felt like they hit the ceiling. And if God is real, why would He not respond clearly?
But here is something I have learned as a parent. Sometimes I say no. Sometimes I say wait. Sometimes I am working on something my kids cannot see yet.
If God answered every prayer exactly how we wanted, immediately, would we actually be trusting Him or just using Him? Would life be worth living if we just got everything we asked for?
I do not think unanswered prayer proves God is not there. It might mean we do not see the full picture yet.
And if this whole human experience is about preparing us for eternity, maybe unanswered prayers are part of the journey.
Belief is not something you can force. I cannot snap my fingers and suddenly believe gravity does not exist. And you cannot snap yours and suddenly believe something you are not convinced of.
But maybe belief is not the starting point. Maybe openness is.
What if instead of trying to manufacture certainty, you simply said:
"God, if You are real, show me."
Don't pretend. Don't fake it. Don't put any pressure on yourself. Just ask honestly. If God is not real, nothing happens. But if He is real, that prayer might change everything. And if Jesus really did die for our sins and eternity is real, then is it not worth asking?