d forces them, against their will, to commit? Justify your answer. 25. Why should we accept the words of the gospel writers as truth when they are known to be liars? (See Romans 3:7). 26. Explain why prayer is OK, but spell casting is not, when both amount to the same thing: requesting that a superior supernatural force to intercede in a way that would be impossible according to the normally accepted laws of physics. 27. According to the Gospels, from the Christian standpoint, Jesus was the most important person to ever live. From the Roman standpoint, Jesus was a huge pain in the butt because of his political activities. Explain why nothing was written about his life for over thirty years after his death, and nothing except the Gospels was written until the third century CE. 28. Explain why you believe a person whose life is so poorly documented (see #27) was even ever born. 29. In light of Matthew 10:34, explain why Jesus is called the Prince of Peace. 30. The name "Jesus" has been anglicized. What was the original (Hebrew) name of Jesus? Where did you get this information? This is a bonus question. 31. Why is it that the life of Jesus was so similar to the lives of pagan Christs, particularly Herakles, Dionysios, and Asklepios?32. If your God requires that people believe in him and follow his orders through their own free will, why do Christians push their views on public policy? 33. Explain why being a good Christian requires you to push your beliefs on others. If you do not believe that you have to push your views on others (no matter how much this annoys them), explain why you do not believe this despite the fact that the New Testament seems to suggest that you must do this to get to Heaven (for instance, in Matthew 28:19-20). 34. Explain why spreading the "truth of Christ" requires you to spread lies about other religions. 35. At no point in the four Gospels did Jesus claim to be the son of your God. (He said "son of man" quite f...
