I became a born-again Christian in 2014, holding a fundamentalist, literal view of the scriptures. But in 2022, I began to question my faith. During that time, I became involved with a close group of believers who held very different theological convictions. Through many deep and honest debates, I came to a startling realization: we each believed the other was sincerely misled. That realization shook me—I saw that I could be just as wrong about what I believed as they might be. And that's when the avalanche began. I needed to pursue the truth, so I began to question everything, even the things I took for granted. I knew these questions wouldn't be resolved quickly, so I started writing them down. Before long, the document had grown to several pages. It all started with what seemed like "insignificant" issues:

• Does Paul really mean all men will be justified in Romans 5:18?
• Is the mustard seed really the smallest of all seeds, like Jesus says in Mark 4:31?
• Why does Mark 1:2 quote Malachi and Isaiah when he says, "as it is written in Isaiah the prophet"?

The scope of my questions became broader:

• Can the Bible have errors and still be infallible in its message?
• Why do Jews and Muslims reject the deity of Jesus when it seems plainly obvious?
• Can God use myths, legends, and stories to communicate his message?

Finally, my questions became faith-shaking:

• Why does an omnipotent and omnibenevolent God allow suffering?
• Why did God create the universe if he did not need to?
• Why would God create scientific evidence that appears to be at odds with the Bible?
• Is my belief in eternal conscious torment (hell) that lasts longer than a googolplex (10¹⁰¹⁰⁰) years reasonable?

When I looked closely at why I believed, I saw that my reasons were not as strong as I thought. Most of my faith was based on what others told me, personal feelings, and things I never questioned. When I started to examine these reasons, they didn't hold up. The evidence and arguments for my beliefs were weak, and the more I reasoned, the less convincing they became.

This website is a resource of data and questions to challenge others to examine why they believe what they believe and the reasons behind it.

At this point, I would describe myself as a naturalist. Regardless of where you or I stand, I hope you find the information on this website honest, thought-provoking, and informative.

• My properly basic, core presupposition is that the universe exists and has the properties it has.
• I presuppose that my senses and reasoning are generally reliable.
• Claims should be proportionate to the evidence supporting them.
• I value updating our belief credences when presented with more evidence.
• The criteria of testability, reproducibility, and parsimony are the best tools for understanding reality.

• I find insufficient evidence to confirm the existence of Yahweh.
• The scale of indiscriminate suffering and unanswered prayers are the most significant challenges to the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and benevolent God.
• Doctrines about God's nature face significant logical issues and lack clear, undisputed evidence.

• The Bible in both Old and New Testaments contains internal inconsistencies, discrepancies, mistakes, and errors.
• Narratives including the Flood of Noah, the Exodus, and the Conquest of Canaan are not supported by extra-biblical evidence.
• The Old Testament includes morally problematic instructions including beating slaves, and marrying war captives.
• The Gospels are theological stories based on a historical Jesus in the context of first-century Judaism. They are anonymous documents, written decades after the purported events, by non-eyewitnesses, in a language that neither Jesus nor his apostles spoke, and share a significant amount of direct copying, interpolation, and variants.
• The Pentateuch was not written by Moses in 1600 BCE but was a later composition in around 800 CE to unify the scattered Jewish people.
• The existence of Abraham, Moses, Noah, and other major biblical patriarchs is ultimately unknowable.
• The Bible teaches a flat, 6000-year old Earth with a solid dome separating the waters of the heavens from the waters of the Earth.

• Jesus was a preacher in first-century Judea who was venerated by his followers, eventually concluding he was God himself.
• The birth narratives about Jesus in Matthew and Luke are theological constructions that did not occur in reality, for they differ significantly in details, chronology, and geography.
• Claims of fulfilled Old Testament prophecy regarding Jesus are later theological interpretations rather than clear, pre-existing predictions matching his life events, as indicated by phrases such as "this took place to fulfill..."
• The resurrection narratives in the Gospels contain contradictions regarding who discovered the empty tomb, what they saw, what time of day it was, and the appearances of Jesus, indicating that they are not historical accounts.

• The natural world is all there is.
• Everything that exists is made of matter and energy iterating through natural laws.
• Time is an emergent property of different coordinates within the spacetime continuum, not a separate entity or force.
• Complex phenomena like consciousness, purpose, and morality emerge from simpler underlying processes.
• Evolution by natural selection provides a well-supported naturalistic explanation for the diversity of life.
• The universe is not designed for us - we evolved to fit the universe.
• Cosmological models offer a coherent account for the evolution and large-scale structure of the universe.
• Current science cannot explain abiogenesis (the origin of life from non-life) or the initial state of our universe at the moment of the Big Bang.

• The universe is a necessary entity and is not contingent.
• Time is a necessary property of the universe.
• Logic and the uniformity of nature are necessary properties of the universe.