If you are a Christian, you believe in God and Jesus. But have you ever taken the time to sit down and think about how your God works in our world?

You have read all about God in the Bible, heard all of these stories about God at church, but how does this information stack up here in the real world? Thinking through the implications can be an interesting and informative exercise that teaches you a great deal about God.

The most interesting part of the process is the contradictions that immediately and inevitably arise as soon as you begin thinking about God. Contradictions are interesting because they can prove that something is impossible.

Here are a dozen easy-to-understand contradictions that indicate the impossibility of the God story you have been taught:

God is defined in Christian mythology as perfect, omniscient and omnibenevolent. But he creates planet earth to be a place where billions of people end up in intense suffering (e.g. diseases, natural disasters, deep poverty, starvation, miscarriages, parasites, etc.). The contradiction is this: If God is omniscient, he knew that the suffering would occur, but an omnibenevolent and perfect being cannot create a place filled with suffering. In Christian mythology, a perfect, omniscient and omnibenevolent God creates a place of eternal torture and torment called hell, and in the mythology sends billions of people to hell without recourse. Most Baptist churches (largest protestant denomination in the U.S.) have something like this in their statement of faith: “That all who reject Christ will be in Hell and the Lake of Fire forever in the conscious torment of literal fire. ” Hell is unquestionably evil. The contradiction: an all-good, all-loving being cannot create an evil place. The second contradiction: an omniscient being who is all-good and all-loving cannot create anyone omnisciently, knowing they will end up in hell, without violating his definition. In Christian mythology, God starts with a blank sheet of paper as an omniscient being, custom-creates a universe, planet and species to his perfect specifications, then ends up hating what he created to the point where he he feels the need to destroy it in a world-wide flood. The contradiction: An omniscient being cannot regret what he creates. In Christian mythology, God is the “absolute moral authority” and is “absolutely good”. But then he floods the entire planet, killing nearly everything: men, women, children, infants, animals, insects, etc. The flood is an absolutely evil act. The contradiction: An absolutely good being cannot perform an absolutely evil act. By performing the act, God is evil. In Christian mythology, God requires a human sacrifice to appease himself. The idea of human sacrifice alone is absolutely evil. Even more bizarre: Jesus is the chosen human sacrifice, and Jesus is God according to the doctrine of the Trinity. So God sacrifices himself to himself to be happy. The contradiction: sacrificing yourself to yourself is ridiculous. In Christian mythology, God must remain “hidden” lest he take away faith. However, he also incarnates himself, writes a best-selling book, answers billions of prayers, has personal relationships. etc. The contradiction: A being cannot simultaneously hide and incarnate himself, answer prayers, and publish a book. What you realize, if you keep thinking it through, is that the Bible is a book of mythology, the incarnation is a myth, every “answered prayer” is simply a coincidence, and the belief in prayer is a superstition. Thus it is not the case that God is hidden, but instead that God is imaginary. In Christian mythology, God is all-powerful. However, God also needs your money. Lots and lots of money. A tithe of 10% of your income to be exact. The contradiction: A real God who can create a universe and a planet would not need any money from you. In Christian mythology, God wants you to sell everything and give the money to the poor. However, in the real world, God is complicit with the Vatican, which has billions of dollars in gold and other assets stored away despite the teachings of its savior. In Christian mythology, God is absolutely good. But God is also silent while thousands of Catholic priests sexually abuse thousands of young boys. The contradiction: standing silent and doing nothing while knowing about such an atrocity is evil. In Christian mythology, God is ready to have a “personal relationship” with people. However, God still needs pastors and priests to do the talking on Sunday. The contradiction: If God has a personal relationship with his followers, he would simply talk to his followers himself. In Christian mythology, God is an omniscient being who writes a book called the Bible. The contradiction is that the Bible contains nothing but the things we would expect a pre-scientific culture 2,000 years ago to know about. There is no mention of DNA, bacteria, viruses, medical procedures, immune systems, galaxies, science, mathematics, space, orbital mechanics, the age of the universe, fossils, extinct species, etc. If an omniscient being were writing or “inspiring” a book, we would see signs of omniscience. In Christian mythology, God answers the prayers of middle-class Americans by the millions. But in the real world, God lets millions of children die of things like starvation and simple diseases every year. If you think this through, you will realize that every “answered prayer” is simply a coincidence and the belief in prayer is a superstition.

If you would simply think about your God, you would see all of these contradictions yourself. They are obvious, and undeniable. Anyone who faces all of these contradictions with intellectual honesty realizes that God is imaginary. The book How God Works can help you through the process.