Got Questions

Got Questions is a conservative Evangelical Christian ministry based on a question-and-answer format focusing on many of the big questions surrounding Christian doctrines, general religion, science, and what the Bible says about such things. It was founded by S. Michael Houdmann in February 2002. The website claims to have over 300,000 questions answered, and says that 75% of all questions asked will be answered "instantly."

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Point of view

Got Questions is written from a typical conservative Evangelical point of view. To no surprise, Got Questions denies Darwinian evolution,[1] supports Young Earth Creationism and seems to be highly skeptical of anthropogenic global warming.[2] The ministry is also highly supportive of the state of Israel.[3]

Further the website claims that "Secularism permeates all facets of our society."[4] Of course Christianity would never do that. Also, Got Questions has apparently found the foolproof methodology of proving Christianity to be the only real correct religion among the approximately 4000 which exist today.[5] This haphazard "framework" usually misrepresents every position that conflicts with theirs, among them being that Agnostics don't believe in absolute truth, Hinduism being Pantheistic, and most importantly uses the Cosmological Argument as the ultimate "Gotcha!" in its supposedly conclusive proof. The more subtle errors usually revolve around simple philosophical aspects, the most blatant example being their claim that "absolute truth" is self-defeating simply because 2+2 = 4.[6][note 1]. This Straw man attempts to imply that philosophical belief systems can be absolutely proven as Arithmetical truth.

They are very critical about the Roman Catholic Church, referring to them as idolatrous non-Christians[7] despite being a site dedicated to answering and defending content in a compilation of books that Roman Catholics canonized.

Got Questions is written from a Calvinist point of view, although it does acknowledge there are other points of view that are within the realms of orthodoxy. Other fundie websites, of course, criticise Houdmann for his Calvinist view, with one of them awarding him a Skull and Crossbones award. [8]

Relative moderation

Being grounded in orthodox conservative Protestant doctrine, Got Questions is generally more moderate than the variety of fundies seen on the internet, like Jack Chick's ministry and jesus-is-savior. Its articles' tone is generally the most stable of the bunch. Got Questions is in line with big Evangelical lobbying groups like Focus on the Family: some of the views are nutters, but there is a modicum of maturity compared to isolated fringe groups.

This makes for a long list of stopped clock moments, including:

Thank God for SEO

Got Questions's branch of Christianity is not representative of the majority of Christendom in the world or throughout history. Its Protestant beliefs are at odds with those of the most historical churches, like the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. So why, then, is it almost always the first website that pops up when you search for a Bible question?

Part of the answer is that Got Questions does good Search Engine Optimization. As a result, despite representing a small minority of Christendom, it ranks higher than comparable sites like Catholic Answers.

“”So, we began to pray, how can we prevent people from visiting these unbiblical sites? In response to our prayers, God led us to search engine optimization. ... God has blessed our efforts...
—History page[17]
gollark: https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/3e910d5310f3d44045435bdce2899089?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&cropH=480&cropW=480&xPos=0&yPos=0&width=862&height=862
gollark: This is documented behaviour.
gollark: It's hardcoded as UTC for now.
gollark: ABR's time parsing code is one of those "perfect and without flaw" things.
gollark: ++remind "saturday 10am" meme classifier (CLIP+classifier and/or something something text extraction)

Notes
  1. It's obviously 5

References
  1. Got Questions: "What are some flaws in the theory of evolution?"
  2. Got Questions: "How should a Christian view global warming?"
  3. Got Questions: "Should Christians support the nation of Israel?"
  4. Got Questions: "What is secularism?"
  5. Adherents.com: Major Religions of the World Ranked by Number of Adherents
  6. Got Questions: "With all of the different religions, how can I know which one is correct?"
  7. Got Questions: "To whom are we to pray, the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit?
  8. Got Questions: Is S. Michael Houdmann a false teacher?
  9. Got Questions: What does the Bible say about the prosperity gospel?
  10. Got Questions: Is Barack Obama the antichrist?
  11. Got Questions: What is the Mandela Effect?
  12. Got Questions: What is Christian dominionism?
  13. Got Questions: What is the KJV Only movement?
  14. Got Questions: What is the Charismatic movement?
  15. Got Questions: What are the Quiverfull and Patriarchy movements?
  16. Got Questions: "What does the Bible say to do with a rebellious child?"
  17. Got Questions: History
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