About the Christianity articles

by Marcus Loane

The critique of Christianity on my web site is aimed at those who already believe in it, as I did, until my early teens. I no longer reject Christianity because of the contradictions within it, even if that is what made me reject it initially. The simple lack of evidence for the fantastic claims of Christianity is enough for me to reject it. I apply the same principle (as do many Christians) to other world religions. When Christians hear the stories and beliefs of Moslems for example, they dismiss them as ridiculous. My dismissal isn't even as quick and automatic as those who accuse me of being narrow minded. I will consider (and have considered) ideas that sound fantastic at first, but if it turns out they have no evidence to support them then I will reject them.

For non-Christians, lack of evidence is enough. However that rarely convinces those who already believe, who regard personal experience as evidence. Once you are outside of the belief system you can see "personal experience" as a product of brain activity. It can be explained both on the level of psychology and increasingly on the level of neuroscience (see here).

If you were brought up Christian or Muslim or Hindu, you have to ask yourself, "Where do my beliefs come from?" A very common answer, if you are being honest, is that they are the result of constant repetition of teachings in childhood. Children cannot analyse, and have no knowledge of competing belief systems. Once they are old enough to acquire these abilities it may be too late. The earlier beliefs have become entrenched. If you were brought up Christian just imagine having been born in another culture and taught Hindu beliefs for example. You could be absolutely convinced that the Hindu elephant headed God is real and communicating with you.

It would feel natural and obvious the way the doctrine "Jesus was the son of God" seems obvious to Christians. A person's beliefs (especially the type based on faith) are an accident of birth. The power of childhood indoctrination should not be under estimated.

The lack of evidence for the outrageous claims of Christianity is sufficient for being rational in rejecting it. It is not required to show that Christianity leads to logical contradictions. However, in actual fact, Christianity is internally inconsistent.

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Marcus Loane