RLGN 104: Analyzing Perceptions & Objections to the Gospel Message

This discussion board post, created for RLGN 104, examines the various ways the gospel message is perceived within contemporary culture, drawing parallels to the time of Jesus Christ and the challenges of accepting religious truth. It explores moral objections, such as questioning God's justice and the existence of suffering, citing relevant biblical references to address these concerns. Emotional reasons for rejection, including feelings of unworthiness and the impact on relationships, are also analyzed, with scripture used to offer guidance. Furthermore, the post delves into intellectual objections, such as the challenges of believing in an unseen God and the conflicting teachings of different religions. Finally, it outlines strategies Christians can employ to better communicate the gospel message, emphasizing the importance of seeking divine guidance, demonstrating patience, and treating objectors with respect, ultimately aiming for clarification and acceptance.

Running Head: SOCIOLOGY
SOCIOLOGY

Running Head: SOCIOLOGY
Table of Contents
Question 1........................................................................................................................................3
What are various ways the gospel message is perceived in our culture?.....................................3
Question 2........................................................................................................................................3
What are some specific moral reasons people may reject the gospel message?..........................3
Question 3........................................................................................................................................3
What are some specific emotional reasons people may reject the gospel message?...................3
Question 4........................................................................................................................................3
What are some specific intellectual reasons people may reject the gospel message?.................3
Question 5........................................................................................................................................4
What can Christians do to address these objections and better communicate the gospel
message?......................................................................................................................................4
References........................................................................................................................................5

Running Head: SOCIOLOGY
Question 1
What are various ways the gospel message is perceived in our culture?
If the culture of the today is perceived in detail it is no different than the time when the
culture was prevailing in the time of the Jesus Christ. His aim was to save the people whereas he
denied the fact that some people did not like him and he was sent to die to repay for his own sins.
The truth of the today is that the reality is not accepted by the individuals. The message of the
Gospel is looked after in such a manner that God will always forgive for our sins and there is no
need to be a better person at all. Nobody can be perfect but learning from our own mistakes is
what is stated in bible in (Ephesians 4:22-24, New King James Version) (Bock & Simpson,
2017).
Question 2
What are some specific moral reasons people may reject the gospel message?
The moral objections interrogate the validity, simplicity and the correctness of God. The
common notions would be “Why good people die or how could a man who loved a God is
condemned to hell. Whereas there as several answers given by God in bible. In (1 Thessalonians
4:13-18) there is a detail about the happenings after death. Also in (Revelation 21:8) in the bible,
it explains why God is just in condemning people to Hell (Ehrman, 2017).

Running Head: SOCIOLOGY
Question 3
What are some specific emotional reasons people may reject the gospel message?
According to our emotional attachment with God we people often tend to reject the
gospel message as they have made sins against God, and he will never forgive anyway. The next
objection could be people may let the other non-Christian lovers and make them far away from
God, his gospel message just because they are becoming in different towards the other people.
Henceforth, it is important to have a clear relationship with God, as he warned as there is a prior
warning in bible (James 4:11-12). It’s all upon God who can judge and condemn on the basis of
the deeds or individual (Hession, 2016).
Question 4
What are some specific intellectual reasons people may reject the gospel message?
At times it becomes difficult for the people to have an acceptance level of the things that
are not being able to prove on their end. For example one can question “How can one believe in
a God whom he have not seen yet?”. The another reason is the bifurcation of the different
religions and their different teachings and what is different and how does Christian Gospel
claims of the truth which is different than the other religions (Sellke, 2016).
Question 5
What can Christians do to address these objections and better communicate the gospel
message?
In order to communicate the message in the better manner, the primary step is to ask God
to provide the correct answers from his word. One must ask God for providing all the strength

Running Head: SOCIOLOGY
and remain calm and patient. It is also observed that those people who raise the objections are
clearly ready to diffuse the argument. Further there shall be no difference in treating the person,
whether he/she is in the objection position or not. The good goal can be termed as the situation
where the objection is treated with equality, as once the objection is clarified one can ask God for
acceptance (Ehrman, 2017).

Running Head: SOCIOLOGY
References
Bock, D. L., & Simpson, B. I. (2017). Jesus according to Scripture: Restoring the Portrait from
the Gospels. Baker Academic.
Ehrman, B. D. (2017). Jesus Before the Gospels. Harpercollins Publishers Incorporated.
Hession, R. (2016). Broken People, Transforming Grace: The Gospel’s Message of Saving Love.
Clc Publications.
Sellke, F. W. (2016). Finding the truth in the guidelines and gospels. The Journal of thoracic and
cardiovascular surgery, 151(6), 1474-1475.