A bit of background about me. I was a Christian apologist for many years, and I was very good at it.
However, even during that time in my life, ranging about 20 years, I am quite certain that I did not display the blatant intellectual dishonesty, or naivety or even blindness that I see Christians displaying today. I’ll admit I glossed over things I did not like. I ignored things and I concentrated on what I thought were more favorable things.
However, I am also quite certain that the arguments I put forth today, as a skeptic, would have at least given me pause back then. Truth and honesty were always important to me.
Here are the most common excuses or ‘rebuttals’ I hear, and why they are inadequate or wrong. These are just the various ways to ignore truth and make it all seem righteous and fair in the mind of the believer.
Out Of Context
This seems to be the most common one. When they don’t like a scripture, they scream, “Out Of Context”!
How convenient! What a simple way to ignore verses you don’t like.
I’ve also noticed they have no idea what “out of context” actually means.
What does it mean? It means that the quote alone means one thing, but when you add the surround context, or surrounding words or sentences, the meaning of the quote actually changes.
Here is an example: (This is not a real quote, but just using it for the purpose of defining the concept.)
The quote: Dr Phil On First Girlfriend – “I love her”.
Sounds scandalous right?
Yes, he did say that, but when you look at the full quote, you see that this is not really what he meant.
The full quote: “My first girlfriend and I went out in senior year for a month. We quickly realized we made a terrible couple, but we remained good friends to this day and get together with her and her husband about once a year for dinner. I love her like a sister. Robin loves her. Her husband and I get along famously. He’s just a great guy all around.”
So the context is what changes the meaning of the quote.
It’s actually rare to see an out of context quote. If you’re going to scream “out of context” when you see a Bible verse you don’t like, you need to prove that the context (surrounding words) changes the meaning of the said quote. When push comes to shove, that does not happen.
Cherry Picking
While “Cherry Picking” is, indeed, frowned upon in debates, again, Christians do not seem to know what it means.
First off, let’s see what the true definition of cherry picking, according to AI, is this..
“Cherry-picking, also known as the fallacy of incomplete evidence or suppressed evidence, is the act of pointing to individual cases or data that confirm a particular position while deliberately ignoring a significant portion of related cases or data that contradict that position.”
Basically, in this case, cherry picking would be presenting Bible verses for one argument, while not presenting verses that counter that argument.
Christians cherry pick all the time!
Many Christians argue incessantly with each other on message boards and Facebook groups about the various areas of concern – baptism, age of accountability, once saved always saved, rapture, tribulation, the role of women, hair length, gays, tattoos, worship music, alchohol, speaking in tongues, etc, etc, etc – hundreds of items.
The real problem that they don’t seem to realize, is that they can all argue with Biblical support because the Bible gives varying views and opinions! One believer has a position on a certain topic and gives Biblical support while another believer believes the opposite also gives Biblical support. The Bible is a source of confusion and division. So they cherry pick. They present only the verses that suit their position.
Now, as a skeptic of the Bible, if I present Bible verses to support my position on a topic, for instance, that the Bible supports slavery, and do not present verses that might oppose that position, am I cherry picking? Hmmm.
My position as a skeptic is that there are inconsistencies and contradictions and here are the verses that prove that.
That’s Metaphorical!
If they don’t like a verse, they’ll say “it’s metaphorical”! Or “it’s symbolic”. They decide what is literal and what is metaphorical or symbolic. If they like the verse, it’s literal. If they don’t, it’s metaphorical. It’s very convenient. And truly disingenuous.
Refusal To See Contradictions
Bible believers refuse to see contradictions. If they are convinced that the Bible is the perfect, holy word of god they have no choice but to ignore what is there in black and white. It’s a stubborn refusal. If the same contradictory sentences or verses were in any other book they would be able to see them very clearly. But since they come from the Bible, they obstinately refuse.
When presenting the Christian with the idea that there are contradictions and I am asked to provide them, I always set a ground rule.
I say “First, let us determine what a contradiction is. If I told you that I had seen the Grand Canyon, and later tell you that I had never seen the Grand Canyon, would that be a contradiction?
To date, I have never received a direct answer to this the first time asking. The answer has always been avoided. They don’t know what’s coming, but they know they do not want to answer.
However, I stay the course and continue asking this direct and simple question until I get the answer we both know to be true. “Yes, that is a contradiction!”
Then I present them with the most simple and direct contradiction from the Bible, which is presented in various verses.
Simply, there are four verses in the old testament that say that men have seen god face to face. Then, in the New Testament, written much later, there are verses to say that no man has ever seen god.
Here they are.
From the Old Testament:
And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved (Genesis 32:30).
So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend (Exodus 33:11).
But since there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face (Deuteronomy 34:10).
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple (Isaiah 6:1).
NOW, LATER from the New Testament
No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, but the only is at the Father’s side, has made him known (John 1:18).
God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. (1 Timothy 6:15-16)
There are many other contradictions in the Bible. Even the accounts of the discovery of the empty tomb and the calling of the first disciples have varying, inconsistent and contradictory accounts.
Mental Gymnastics
This is very common.
This happens when a story or verse right out of the Bible, right there in black and white, verbatim, clearly tells one story, the believer will change the story or verse completely or add his or her own items or thoughts that are not there because the story not a palatable one.
Perhaps the story or verse shows the god of the Bible in a bad light, doing evil or being limited in knowledge. To counter what is there in black and white and clearly laid out for all to see, the believer will go through some very inventive mental gymnastics, making up a whole new narrative, or adding his or her own excuses, to make the story sound palatable.
Here are two great examples from recent online discussions.
Example 1:
In relation to the lack of foresight of the god of the Bible, clearly shown to us in scripture, my points are below:
1) This god didn’t seem to know Adam and Eve would take the bait (the fruit from the Tree Of Knowledge of Good and Evil) – lack of foresight.
2) This god regretted making humans – lack of foresight.
3) This god regretted making Saul king – lack of foresight.
4) This god didn’t know Abraham’s heart when he told him to stab his son as a proof of his loyalty – lack of foresight AND obvious psychopathic tendencies.
The mental gymnastics that follows is from a debate opponent, Floyd Pulley.
“Metaphysically, God’s “regret” and “testing” aren’t signs of ignorance but symbols of consciousness refining itself through choice and reflection, humanity learning to align with divine awareness. Explaining this to you feels redundant, though; you keep interpreting metaphor as literal flaw, reacting emotionally with mockery instead of reasoning. Until you grasp symbolic language, you’ll keep missing the meaning and arguing against shadows.”
Mr Pulley is actually using two false claims in his answer. He pulls the “That’s Metaphorical!” card, plus an obvious display of “Mental Gymnastics” in his answer.
Example 2:
The topic being discussed is from the story of Adam and Eve – the first humans. (Read Six Weird Things About The Adam And Eve Narrative).
My point:
So, the god of the Bible actually thought that a suitable “helpmate” for the first man ever created, Adam, would have been an animal. It was not until it was realized that a suitable ‘helpmate’ could not be found, that this god then decided to create Eve, the woman. Clearly, this is just stupid. It’s either a slam against women in general or it goes to show this god being touted as the creator of all, was limited in intelligence. And the words are written out clearly. There is no mistaking it.
The mental gymnastics that occurred follows:
“Oh man, you’re reading Genesis like a divine game of hot potato—God tosses animals at Adam like, “Eh, Fido? Nah, Fluffy?” 
But nah, that’s not the plot twist of a bumbling deity; it’s masterful storytelling straight from the Creator’s playbook. Check Gen 2:18-20: God knows upfront it’s not good for dude to solo (boom, first “not good” in a perfect world—spotlighting our wired-for-relationship design). Then He parades the critters by for naming and vetting, not as a failed Plan A, but to let Adam experience the gap. No animal clicks as that “ezer kenegdo” (helper fit for him)—a counterpart, equal in essence, bone-of-bones vibe (v.23). It’s like God saying, “See? Rover’s loyal, but he ain’t debating theology or sharing dominion (Gen 1:28). You need her—your missing rib, your perfect match.” Animals? Great sidekicks, zero spiritual synergy. This ain’t error; it’s education—Adam’s “aha” moment seals the beauty of human complementarity, no mistakes, all wisdom.
Kinda poetic, right? That raw ache of aloneness hits universal, even in 2025’s swipe-right era. But here’s the stump: If the Bible’s just ancient fanfic from goat-herders, why does this nail human loneliness so spot-on without therapy-speak? Evolved ape brains glitch? Or echoes of the God who made us for more? Your “truth” sighting’s cool, but did you ever catch how it points to Christ’s bride—us—as the ultimate “helper” redeemed (Eph 5:25-32)? Your move: What’s one “oops” in your no-God origin story that doesn’t scream fine-tuning? Let’s keep peeling this onion, friend.”
Refusal To See Coercion And Abuse
If a man tells a woman, “If you leave me, I will kill you”, does that woman have free will?
Any reasonable person know the answer to this question is ‘no’. The woman is coerced and manipulated and does not have free will.
However, whenever I have asked this question to a Christian, they know where I’m headed. And, remarkably, rather than recognizing the coercion and the abuse, they respond with “Yes, she does have free will”.
I usually abruptly end the conversation with them at that point. They are beyond hope. They cannot recognize abuse and coercion when a blatant example is right in front of them. Or more likely, they refuse to recognize it.
If you’re wondering what the question alludes to, that they know it alludes to, it is the threat of their god that tells us, “If you do not believe in me, I will make sure you burn alive in hell forever”.
That is not free will. It is coercion, manipulation. It is abuse. It is the furthest thing from love imaginable.
You’re Not As Spiritual As I Am
It’s usually when I get to the point of proving them wrong on every other level that they finally resort to the old “You’re not as spiritual as I am” argument that tells them that they see things properly while I do not. I am told that I do not have the holy spirit so I am just unable to comprehend the verses correctly.
It’s ridiculous, demeaning and silly and a cop out.
Basically they are saying that any regular human cannot pick up the Bible and read it, because he or she will read it incorrectly, if they read it as it has been written.
I tell them the truth – that when I prayed for truth, no matter where it might lead me, and I started reading the Old Testament, I was able to see the truth. I was able to finally see past my indoctrination. I was able to see the stories of horrific violence and bloodshed, manipulation and coercion, antics of tricksters, liars and the true character of an angry, jealous, vengeful and evil god who condoned so much evil.
Free Your Mind 
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