Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life.

In the time it takes to get to work.

I'm Jeff Parrott.

What if Christianity is just a bunch of wishful thinking, a big fictional game of people chasing their hopes and their desires. That's one of the

key critiques that Sigmund Freud had of religion in general. He wrote this nearly 100 years ago

in the future of an illusion. Religion is a system of wishful illusions together with a disavowal of reality, such as we find nowhere else

but in a state of blissful, hallucinatory confusion. Religion's 11th commandment is,

Thou shalt not question. It's a big statement. Have you ever felt that way? Maybe you're newer to exploring the Bible

or newer to considering the existence of God to begin with, and this is one of the questions

holding you back. What if Freud is right? What if this is just a system of wishful illusions,

and you're not supposed to question it?

Or maybe you're in a different spot. Maybe you've been in the church or you've considered yourself

a Christian for many years and Freud's critique of religion strikes an uncomfortable chord within you.

You're going through the motions of religious activity, yet you're wondering behind the

scenes, is all of this just a wishful illusion? Am I in a state of blissful, hallucinatory confusion?

You may wonder if it's too dangerous to ask questions, and therefore you settle into a version of

faith that minimizes thought to maximize safety.

Decades after Freud wrote that, another thinker and writer made this claim.

Christianity is mainly wishful thinking.

Even the part about judgment and hell reflects the wish that somewhere the score is being kept.

Dreams are wishful thinking.

Children playing at being grown up is wishful thinking.

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