Is Christianity true? If so, it can stand a little critique. This blog is that critique—50 big ideas that every Christian should understand (but rarely do) and that each take a couple of minutes to read. The goal is not to deconvert Christians but simply to inform them. Think of this as a friend giving honest feedback.
This is the blog your pastor warned you about! Read an overview of this project here or get started with big idea #1 here.
Great initiative with a new outlook but you are still locked up in a Christian framework. If you were going to write a critique of politics for example, and if you spoke only of Capitalism, or Marxism or Socialism,etc. you would be doing which ever one you chose a favor by giving the impression that their -ism is the only one worth considering. Good luck.
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Maurice: Thanks for the feedback.
I’m focusing on Christianity (rather than all religions or all worldviews) because Christianity is the 800-pound gorilla in American society today. I’m critiquing Christianity, not religion.
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Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Raheem.
All praise is due to Allah ﷻ, Lord of the Worlds. May peace and blessings be upon the final Messenger, Muhammad (ﷺ).
So, basically your question I think is:
That’s absolutely correct, any truth claim must withstand scrutiny. But let’s be consistent: if Christianity can be critiqued, so can secularism, atheism, and agnosticism. And if this blog aims to inform, then allow us, from the Islamic perspective, to clarify where the argument falls apart and why Islam stands firm where Christianity has crumbled.
Christianity’s Core Doctrines Are Inherently Contradictory
You claim to “critique” Christianity but stop short of addressing its core contradictions:
These aren’t just “big ideas,” these are fatal flaws.
Islam Doesn’t Share Christianity’s Errors
Let’s make one thing clear: Islam does not need to deconstruct Christianity to stand as truth. Islam critiques falsehood with facts and reason, not to “deconvert,” but to clarify what is authentic revelation versus human fabrication.
Where Christianity fell into confusion, Islam maintained clarity:
Honest Feedback? Then Start With Scripture
If your blog is truly “honest feedback,” then ask yourself:
Now compare that to a Bible with contradictory genealogies of Jesus, multiple endings to Mark, and books that were added and removed over centuries.
You say this is “the blog your pastor warned you about.” Good. People should be warned. But while you deconstruct Christianity, don’t stop halfway. You’ve only torn the house down, now you need to build. And only Islam has the foundation:
My final thought is, critique is good. But if your critique leaves a vacuum, you’re just producing confusion, not clarity.
So here’s a sincere challenge:
Like I said in my other comment on a different blog, pick up the Qur’an. Read it, not with arrogance, but with sincerity. Ask yourself, “Could a man really have produced this 1400 years ago without error or contradiction?”
We invite you not to stop at “informing Christians,” but to seek true guidance, the guidance of Allah ﷻ, the Lord of Jesus, Moses, and Muhammad (عليهم السلام).
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“But let’s be consistent: if Christianity can be critiqued, so can secularism, atheism, and agnosticism.”
Christianity, Mormonism, Buddhism, and so on are religions. They do more than simply make claims about our world; they might have moral teachings, theology, and more.
But now compare Christianity (or Islam) with atheism. Atheism is the lack of belief in god(s). That’s it. No morality and no theology.
“Christianity’s Core Doctrines Are Inherently Contradictory You claim to “critique” Christianity but stop short of addressing its core contradictions”
I critique Christianity’s contradictions plenty. I spent 10 years and more than a million words on my blog https://crossexaminedblog.com/ (let me know if you can access it—I’ve had some problems lately).
Your list has some merit, though they’re not all “contradictions.” I’m in rough agreement with you.
“These aren’t just “big ideas,” these are fatal flaws.”
My goal with the book (the blog is just a copy of the book) is to reach Christians. Wagging my finger at them about the stupidity of their religion isn’t going to get me many readers. My goal instead is to point out some big issues and leave the conclusion to them. If they want to remain a Christian after reading and understanding the book, that’s fine, but they will at least be aware of problems with Christianity that the majority of Christians have never heard of.
“Islam Doesn’t Share Christianity’s Errors”
No, it has its own problems.
“Where Christianity fell into confusion, Islam maintained clarity:”
That’s a theological claim. It’s faith. Believe whatever you want, but don’t tell me it’s anything more than belief. It graduates to facts only when you provide convincing evidence.
“Honest Feedback? Then Start With Scripture”
You do understand that I think Christianity is nonsense, right? I think we’re on the same page here.
“The Qur’an says: “Do they not reflect upon the Qur’an? Had it been from other than Allah, they would have found in it much contradiction.””
Islam isn’t contradictory because the Law of Abrogation identifies points of contradiction and eliminates them. That’s cheating.
You’re living in a glass house.
“Now compare that to a Bible with contradictory genealogies of Jesus, multiple endings to Mark, and books that were added and removed over centuries.”
Again: I agree with you that Christianity is false. Christianity doesn’t provide sufficient evidence to support their unbelievable supernatural claims.
But then again, I think the same about Islam.
“You’ve only torn the house down, now you need to build. And only Islam has the foundation:”
Yes, according to Islam. But it’s just a claim. I see zero evidence.
“A Book that has never changed”
You need to read about the Uthmanic Recension. The “Quran” has been a moving target.
“My final thought is, critique is good. But if your critique leaves a vacuum, you’re just producing confusion, not clarity.”
I can’t solve all the world’s problems. If I can educate some Christians (and maybe some Muslims, too), that may be all that I can hope for.
“Like I said in my other comment on a different blog, pick up the Qur’an. Read it, not with arrogance, but with sincerity.”
Why? Why approach Islam with sincerity? Are you going to do the same to Mormonism, Shintoism, and the thousands of other religions? And if not, why should I give Islam special treatment?
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Your whole framework is built on a contradiction you don’t even recognize:
You say atheism is “just a lack of belief”, but then you write books and blogs filled with philosophical, theological, moral, and metaphysical claims about religion. That’s no longer passive disbelief, that’s an active worldview, a belief system with its own assumptions about truth, purpose, morality, and the universe. If atheism is just disbelief, then why write a single word beyond “I don’t believe”? Your behavior exposes your inconsistency.
“Atheism is the lack of belief in god(s)”
If that’s true, then atheism is useless in a discussion about what is true, meaningful, or moral. If atheism makes no moral claims, then it has no basis to say what is good or evil, including slavery, grape (sensory of words in case children/minors find this), genocide, or even lying. That’s the moral vacuum your worldview produces. And if atheism offers no theology, then it has no ability to critique theological doctrines, which makes your blog logically self-defeating.
“Islam has its own problems.”
“It’s just belief.”
This is a cop-out. You demand evidence from religion, but then when Islam offers clarity, preservation, consistency, and a divine challenge unmatched in history, you dismiss it as “just belief.” That’s intellectual laziness.
None of what you accuse Christianity of exists in Islam. So instead of dismissing it, refute it, if you can.
“Islam isn’t contradictory because of abrogation. That’s cheating.”
That’s like saying correcting errors in a scientific model is “cheating.” Abrogation is a structured legal mechanism, not a contradiction. Unlike the Bible, which hides contradictions and calls them harmonies, the Qur’an openly explains when a previous ruling is replaced. That’s clarity, not confusion.
“You need to read about the Uthmanic Recension. The “Quran” has been a moving target.”
False. That’s misinformation based on Christian missionary narratives. The Uthmanic recension wasn’t a change in the Qur’an, it was a standardization of dialect and script, not content. The variations that existed were dialectical, due to the oral nature of the Qur’an revealed to a diverse Arab audience. These things are called hafs and warsh. The hafs and warsh readings are like UK vs US spelling, not different messages.
As for the so-called “7 Qur’ans”, that’s another distorted claim that users use. What you’re referring to are the 7 aḥruf (modes) and the 10 qirā’āt (recitations), authentic, mutually reinforcing methods of reciting the same Qur’an, all rooted in tawātur (mass transmission), going back to the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) himself. These are not different books. There is only one Qur’an, revealed by one Allah ﷻ, preserved through oral and written transmission, without contradiction.
Try that with the Bible. You’ll end up with entire verses missing, like in the RSV vs. KJV. Even the ending of the Gospel of Mark is debated.
Unlike Christianity’s textual chaos, Islam’s preservation of the Qur’an is a linguistic, historical, and mathematical miracle.
So no, the Qur’an hasn’t changed. It’s one Book, preserved in the hearts of millions, unchanged since it was revealed, and protected by Allah ﷻ Himself:
“Indeed, it is We who sent down the message [i.e., the Qur’ān], and indeed, We will be its guardian.” [Surah Al-Hijr 15:9]
“Why should I read the Qur’an with sincerity?”
Simple: because you’re pretending to be sincere. You say you’re just “giving honest feedback” and you want people to think critically — but you won’t read the Qur’an with even the same openness you demand from Christians?
That’s hypocrisy.
And if you dismiss Islam the same way you dismiss Christianity, you’ve refuted nothing. You’ve just left a vacuum and called it a worldview.
My final thought is, you tear down beliefs, but offer nothing coherent in their place. Islam does more than critique, it builds. It preserves a Book that’s memorized by millions, offers a moral system that doesn’t change with public opinion, and invites all people to reflect, reason, and submit to their Creator.
“Then do they not reflect upon the Qur’an, or are there locks upon [their] hearts?” [Surah Muhammad 47:24]
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BTW, tell me about yourself if you feel comfortable doing so. Do you live in the US?
“You say atheism is “just a lack of belief”, but then you write books and blogs filled with philosophical, theological, moral, and metaphysical claims about religion. That’s no longer passive disbelief, that’s an active worldview, a belief system with its own assumptions about truth, purpose, morality, and the universe. If atheism is just disbelief, then why write a single word beyond “I don’t believe”?”
There are two things here. (1) Atheism is just a lack of belief. Nevertheless, I’m able to (2) discuss many things beyond this, and that discussion is not atheism.
“If that’s true, then atheism is useless in a discussion about what is true, meaningful, or moral.”
The same is true for chemistry. Chemistry is very useful, but it doesn’t help us understand morality.
“If atheism makes no moral claims, then it has no basis to say what is good or evil, including slavery, grape (sensory of words in case children/minors find this), genocide, or even lying. That’s the moral vacuum your worldview produces.”
My worldview sees no evidence for gods, but my worldview is much more than that.
“You demand evidence from religion, but then when Islam offers clarity, preservation, consistency, and a divine challenge unmatched in history, you dismiss it as “just belief.” That’s intellectual laziness.”
As I told you, I wrote more than a million words in my Cross Examined blog. That’s not laziness. I wrote about a lot more than just my conclusion that there are no gods.
“Where is the contradiction in the Qur’an?”
You do know about the Law of Abrogation, right?
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/search?q=law+of+abrogation
“None of what you accuse Christianity of exists in Islam. So instead of dismissing it, refute it, if you can.”
Why? My position is the default. The burden of proof is yours. Go.
“That’s like saying correcting errors in a scientific model is “cheating.””
Quarks either exist or they don’t. If a scientific model says that quarks exist and then is later updated to say that they don’t, one of those statements is/was wrong. If the Quran says X and then later says not-X, one of those statements is wrong (assuming that the word of Allah is always correct and unchanging).
“The Uthmanic recension wasn’t a change in the Qur’an, it was a standardization of dialect and script, not content.”
When you round up manuscripts and burn the ones that disagree with your single interpretation, that suggests that the message was corrupted with time.
But this is boring. You have yet to make any argument that the supernatural claims in Islam are more valid than those of any of mankind’s thousands of other religions.
“Try that with the Bible.”
Stop insisting that Christianity is flawed. I get it. I’m an atheist, remember?
“You say you’re just “giving honest feedback” and you want people to think critically — but you won’t read the Qur’an with even the same openness you demand from Christians? That’s hypocrisy.”
You first. Give Mormonism a sincere try. Let me know what you conclude. Fix your own hypocrisy first.
“And if you dismiss Islam the same way you dismiss Christianity, you’ve refuted nothing. You’ve just left a vacuum and called it a worldview.”
When you have measles and go to the doctor, the doctor doesn’t replace measles with yellow fever or dengue or smallpox; the doctor cures you of the disease. You leave the doctor disease free. Similarly, if a Christian wanted to debate religion with me, I wouldn’t recommend upgrading to Islam; I’d suggest that he become religion-free.
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