What Are the Hardest Questions of Christianity?
Judaism
"Our transgressions and our sins weigh heavily upon us; we are sick at heart about them. How can we survive?"— Ezekiel 33:10 (Tanakh-JPS) Ezekiel 33:10
This question is fundamentally Christian in framing, but Judaism shares several of the underlying tensions—particularly around theodicy, human sinfulness, and divine justice—making a partial comparison meaningful.
One of the hardest questions Judaism shares with Christianity is: How can a sinful people survive before a holy God? The prophet Ezekiel records the community crying out:
"Our transgressions and our sins weigh heavily upon us; we are sick at heart about them. How can we survive?"Ezekiel 33:10 This is essentially the same existential crisis that drives Christian soteriology. The Tanakh doesn't resolve it easily.
Another shared hard question concerns prophetic authority and divine communication. Jeremiah 23:33 shows God rebuking those who casually invoke divine speech, suggesting that knowing what God actually says is itself a fraught, contested matter Jeremiah 23:33. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (20th century) argued this ambiguity is intentional—God's hiddenness is a feature, not a bug, of prophetic religion.
Judaism doesn't face the Trinity problem or the Incarnation dilemma, but it does face the hardness of human hearts as a recurring theological obstacle. Jesus himself, in Mark 10:5, cited Mosaic concession to hardness of heart as an explanation for legal accommodation Mark 10:5—a concept rooted in Jewish legal reasoning about human moral limitation.
Christianity
"Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!"— Mark 10:24 (KJV) Mark 10:24
Christianity is squarely in scope here. Several questions have proven genuinely, persistently hard—not merely difficult to answer, but difficult to even frame without contradiction.
1. The Problem of Evil (Theodicy)
If God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent, why does suffering exist? This question has no universally accepted Christian answer. Alvin Plantinga's Free Will Defense (1974) argues moral evil is the cost of genuine freedom; others like John Hick propose a "soul-making" theodicy. Neither fully satisfies critics.
2. Who Is Saved?
Jesus warns in Mark 10:24 that entering God's kingdom is extraordinarily difficult—even for the seemingly righteous:
"Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!"Mark 10:24 But the harder version of this question is: what about those who never heard the Gospel? Exclusivists, inclusivists, and universalists have clashed on this for centuries, with no magisterial resolution across all denominations.
3. The Trinity
How can God be one and three simultaneously? The Nicene Creed (325 AD) asserts it; it doesn't explain it. Tertullian coined the Latin terminology, but even he admitted the concept strains language. Eastern Orthodox theologians like Gregory of Nyssa used the term perichoresis (mutual indwelling) to gesture at the mystery rather than resolve it.
4. Free Will vs. Divine Sovereignty
Mark 10:5 records Jesus acknowledging that God permitted something (divorce) because of human hardness of heart Mark 10:5—implying God accommodates human stubbornness. But if God is sovereign over all things, how is genuine human freedom possible? Calvinists and Arminians have debated this since the 16th century with no consensus.
5. The Incarnation
How is Jesus fully human and fully divine without contradiction? The Council of Chalcedon (451 AD) declared "two natures, one person"—but this is a boundary marker, not an explanation. Theologian Karl Barth (20th century) called it the "great miracle" precisely because it resists rational reduction.
6. The Problem of Hell
A God of love who condemns people to eternal conscious torment is, for many, morally incoherent. Rob Bell's Love Wins (2011) reignited this debate. Annihilationism and universalism have gained scholarly traction (e.g., David Bentley Hart's That All Shall Be Saved, 2019), but traditional evangelical theology holds firm on eternal punishment.
Islam
"True sovereignty, that Day, is for the Most Merciful. And it will be upon the disbelievers a difficult Day."— Quran 25:26 (Sahih International) Quran 25:26
The specific doctrinal hard questions of Christianity—Trinity, Incarnation, atonement—are not applicable in Islam, since Islam explicitly rejects these doctrines rather than struggling with them. However, Islam does share the broader theological challenge of divine judgment, human accountability, and the severity of the Last Day.
The Quran describes the Day of Judgment in terms that parallel the existential weight Christianity places on salvation:
"That Day will be a difficult day — For the disbelievers - not easy."Quran 74:10 Quran 74:9 And Quran 25:26 affirms:
"True sovereignty, that Day, is for the Most Merciful. And it will be upon the disbelievers a difficult Day."Quran 25:26 Islamic theology (kalam) has its own hard questions—predestination (qadar) vs. human free will is a major one, debated between the Mu'tazilites and Ash'arites from the 9th century onward—but these are distinct from Christianity's hardest questions and deserve their own treatment.
Where they agree
All three traditions agree that human moral failure is a genuine and weighty problem—Ezekiel's community asks "how can we survive?" Ezekiel 33:10, Christianity's hardest questions orbit around salvation and sin, and Islam's Quran underscores the severity of divine judgment Quran 74:9. All three also agree that knowing God's will with certainty is difficult—Jeremiah 23:33 shows even prophets getting this wrong Jeremiah 23:33. And all three acknowledge that human hardness of heart is a persistent obstacle to righteousness Mark 10:5.
Where they disagree
| Question | Judaism | Christianity | Islam |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Trinity | Rejected as incompatible with monotheism | Affirmed but acknowledged as rationally mysterious | Explicitly rejected (Quran 4:171) |
| The Incarnation | Not applicable; no messianic figure is divine | Central doctrine; source of deep theological tension | Rejected; Jesus is a prophet, not God |
| Eternal Hell | Gehenna is generally temporary in rabbinic thought | Debated: eternal conscious torment vs. annihilation vs. universalism | Hell (Jahannam) is affirmed; some scholars allow eventual mercy for Muslims |
| Salvation mechanism | Covenant faithfulness and repentance (teshuvah) | Faith in Christ's atonement (with wide internal debate) | Submission to God, deeds, and divine mercy |
| Free will vs. predestination | Both affirmed in tension (Talmudic paradox) | Major split: Calvinism vs. Arminianism | Debated between Mu'tazilites and Ash'arites historically |
Key takeaways
- Christianity's hardest questions include theodicy, the Trinity, the Incarnation, free will vs. sovereignty, who is saved, and the nature of hell—none fully resolved across all denominations.
- Mark 10:24 captures a core Christian tension: entering God's kingdom is described as genuinely hard, not automatic Mark 10:24.
- Judaism shares the existential question of how sinful humans survive before a holy God (Ezekiel 33:10 Ezekiel 33:10) but doesn't face the Trinitarian or Incarnation dilemmas.
- Islam explicitly rejects the doctrines that generate Christianity's hardest internal questions, but shares the broader challenge of divine judgment and human accountability Quran 25:26.
- Human hardness of heart—cited in Mark 10:5 Mark 10:5—is a concept rooted in Jewish legal tradition and acknowledged across all three faiths as a persistent obstacle to righteousness.
FAQs
Why does Jesus say it's hard to enter the kingdom of God?
Is the problem of evil unique to Christianity?
What do scholars consider the single hardest question in Christian theology?
Does Islam have equivalently hard theological questions?
Judaism
Not applicable. Concerns Christian scripture/practice; no direct counterpart.
Christianity
And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!
Christianity’s hardest questions are often the ones its own Scriptures pose, pressing conscience and doctrine at once. Mark 10:24 Mark 10:5 Jeremiah 23:33 Zephaniah 1:15 Ezekiel 33:10
- Why does Jesus say it’s “hard” for those who trust in riches to enter God’s kingdom, and what does that mean for wealth, security, and salvation today? Mark 10:24
- Why did God permit concessions (like divorce “because of your hardness of heart”), and how should Christians understand continuity and change in moral law? Mark 10:5
- What is the “burden of the LORD,” and how can Christians discern true prophecy and reject false claims while remaining receptive to God’s word? Jeremiah 23:33
- How can a God of love be reconciled with Scripture’s own dread-filled “day of wrath,” and what does final judgment mean for justice and mercy? Zephaniah 1:15
- When sin weighs heavily—“How can we survive?”—what grounds assurance before a holy God, and how should confession, repentance, and hope be held together? Ezekiel 33:10
Christians don’t all answer these the same way, and the texts themselves force the questions rather than allowing easy resolutions. Mark 10:24 Mark 10:5 Zephaniah 1:15
Islam
Not applicable. Concerns Christian scripture/practice; no direct counterpart.
Where they agree
Within Christianity, there’s broad agreement that Scripture itself identifies these as difficult matters—wealth and salvation, permitted concessions, judgment, prophetic burden, and the weight of sin—so they warrant humility and careful study. Mark 10:24 Mark 10:5 Zephaniah 1:15 Ezekiel 33:10
Where they disagree
| Issue | Where Scripture presses the question | Contours of Christian debate |
|---|---|---|
| Wealth and salvation | “How hard…for them that trust in riches” to enter God’s kingdom. Mark 10:24 | How to apply Jesus’ warning to economics, generosity, and discipleship today. Mark 10:24 |
| Divorce and moral law | Concession “for the hardness of your heart.” Mark 10:5 | How concessions relate to enduring moral norms. Mark 10:5 |
| Judgment imagery | “A day of wrath…trouble and distress.” Zephaniah 1:15 | How to hold divine justice and mercy together. Zephaniah 1:15 |
| Prophetic burden | “What is the burden of the LORD?” Jeremiah 23:33 | Criteria for discerning true vs. false claims of God’s message. Jeremiah 23:33 |
| Assurance amid guilt | “Our sins weigh heavily…How can we survive?” Ezekiel 33:10 | Pastoral practice of confession, repentance, and hope. Ezekiel 33:10 |
Key takeaways
- Jesus himself calls salvation hard for those trusting riches, making wealth a spiritual discernment issue. Mark 10:24
- Some biblical permissions are tied to human hardness of heart, provoking moral reflection in Christian ethics. Mark 10:5
- The prophetic “burden of the LORD” demands reverence and careful discernment to avoid false claims. Jeremiah 23:33
- Biblical judgment imagery is severe, compelling Christians to face divine justice and mercy soberly. Zephaniah 1:15
- Scripture names the weight of sin and the desperate question of survival before God, driving believers to repentance and hope. Ezekiel 33:10
FAQs
Why does Jesus emphasize the spiritual danger of trusting riches?
Did God change moral standards by permitting divorce in Moses’ law?
What does the Bible mean by the “burden of the LORD”?
How should Christians think about the severity of final judgment?
What hope exists when sin feels unbearable?
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