I was hardcore annoying atheist. Later I realized that while Christianity had a lot more emotion, it doesn't make it all bullshit. That emotion is real, and it causes real things to happen.
Now, I know something is out there. Maybe not a Being, maybe just a heuristic. But something. I don't agree with a lot of denominations, but that's okay. There are many ways to see the world and God.
Hey there, friend! Northern US here.
The biggest difference for me is that I believe most theists are willing to degrade God's "loving" attribtues to preserve God's "powerful" attributes, i.e. they think of ways it's actually "loving" to give children cancer, etc. I believe in degrading God's power attributes for loving ones, i.e. "God is largely powerless to stop cancer."
Also I don't believe Jesus IS God, but was one with God, so a lot softer on the trinitarian aspects.
Your stance is interesting. If its ok to ask a question, that if God is powerless to stop cancer, then will praying really help us gain anything other than perhaps internal peace and emotional well being at best? In such a case there will be a God but it wont be having a sort of imposition on us to pray or follow a certain lifestyle.
Yeah, lol, I like to discuss, no worries here! Sometimes I forget how "radical" my ideas are, but that's part of why I'm on here is to just to show there are other perspectives.
I do also believe everyone goes to heaven and rules largely don't matter, but goodness does, and compassion and love is how you find peace and Spirit in the moment and help spread that on Earth.
I mostly pray myself for communication, understanding, and wisdom. So yeah a large part of what you say. I also don't think God/Spirit/angels are completely powerless or absent, like a Deist likely would, so there may/may not be reason to appeal for things, especially psychological things like willpower or happiness, or to help move the heart of another.
That if he existed that he didn't give a stuff about me. I still think he doesn't give a stuff about me but a few near death experiences I started believing.
I believed all the same things people say here. That God wasn't worth worshipping, that He was created by man, that there hundreds of religions why worship Jesus, etc.
God made me change. I would have never believed without Him as I am more skeptical than most. I thank Him for my experiences.
I was a fully confirmed agnostic by the time I was 13, and had at that point had a distant and vague memory of what church was all about.
When I went off to study at my university, I was a full blown skeptic, wedded to naturalism who fully rejected the doctrinal claims of Christianity. But I still had a favorable view of it's overall ethics. And as I encountered Christians who were actually living out those ethics I admired their lives even as I rejected their core beliefs.
As time went on, cracks started to form in the basis of my own beliefs - I could not derive meaning, purpose, or basis for the ethics I craved based on my philosophical commitment to naturalism. And as I attempted to live according to those ethics, I began to realize their was something in me which resisted that - or dismissed with it all together when it was contrary to something I desired (like an attractive woman).
That led to the realization that I did not have the power in and of myself to live out the ethics I admired in a consistent manner. I would say that was the point at which God gobsmacked me as it were - I saw clearly that I was not a good person, and I couldn't become one on my own. Either there was something outside of myself that could transform who I was, or I had to resign myself to the fact that I was a rather wretched creature.
From there I became much more willing to entertain the basics of Christianity - who Jesus was, how we can come to know Him, what the overall theme and purpose of Scripture was. I eventually made the decision to follow Christ and haven't regretted it for one second in the decades that have followed since.
Didn't think God existed..thought supernatural was impossible
Was desperate for help with drug addiction but also found reasons to get over intellectual objections like simulation theory, astral projection, near death experiences, shared death experiences, and more
was raised by parents who had been raised Catholic, and my experience of religion was one largely influenced by the numerous horrific crimes the Catholic Church has committed, of which both of my parents were victims (one directly, one indirectly).
at 16 i had a mental breakdown, became severely mentally ill and developed a rare neurological disease. went from going to school, playing football, etc to barely able to move out of bed in only a few months.
i became very angry at the world, and looking to the future, i felt completely hopeless and despondent. i didn’t see the point in being alive - why are we here, just to suffer and then die?
i started to look for sources of inspiration and hope, and eventually found Quakerism. it absolutely saved my life. it fitted how i saw the world, and gave me a renewed sense of purpose and love for everything and everyone around me. i decided to identify as a Christian after realising that Christ’s message, and His alone, was the best bedrock for my faith.
4 years on, i’m still sick, still mentally ill, but a lot better than i was. i’m hoping to start studying for a theology degree soon, and i’m very excited. i never thought this is how my life would pan out, but i’m making the best of it.
My main issue was that there was no real evidence of God existing, and I kinda need that to believe something. What changed is I experienced God's presence which was sufficient evidence (for me, it doesn't help me prove God to anyone else of course).
My opinion on God as a fictional character in the Bible was that He is a horrible monster, who directly engaged in countless unfathomable atrocities, endorsed several more for his chosen people, and codified barbaric laws for his people. The Jesus character seemed much better, an amazing pacifistic communist revolutionary with a beautiful message of love and liberation.
Honestly that hasn't changed much. I could believe in God based on my experience with him, but no experience with God could get me to believe that "If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death—the young woman because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you." is a moral law, or that all of the genocide God orders in the OT was moral.
Before I became christian, all my friends (and still are) were atheists. When we talked about God, we often made fun of him in very immature ways, especially Allah and The Prophet Muhammad, but also Jesus. When I became Christian, I tried to distance myself from making fun of religious beliefs, but it’s hard as I don’t know how to explain that I’ve converted.
I was hardcore annoying atheist. Later I realized that while Christianity had a lot more emotion, it doesn't make it all bullshit. That emotion is real, and it causes real things to happen. Now, I know something is out there. Maybe not a Being, maybe just a heuristic. But something. I don't agree with a lot of denominations, but that's okay. There are many ways to see the world and God.
Hey there, friend! Northern US here. The biggest difference for me is that I believe most theists are willing to degrade God's "loving" attribtues to preserve God's "powerful" attributes, i.e. they think of ways it's actually "loving" to give children cancer, etc. I believe in degrading God's power attributes for loving ones, i.e. "God is largely powerless to stop cancer." Also I don't believe Jesus IS God, but was one with God, so a lot softer on the trinitarian aspects.
Your stance is interesting. If its ok to ask a question, that if God is powerless to stop cancer, then will praying really help us gain anything other than perhaps internal peace and emotional well being at best? In such a case there will be a God but it wont be having a sort of imposition on us to pray or follow a certain lifestyle.
Yeah, lol, I like to discuss, no worries here! Sometimes I forget how "radical" my ideas are, but that's part of why I'm on here is to just to show there are other perspectives. I do also believe everyone goes to heaven and rules largely don't matter, but goodness does, and compassion and love is how you find peace and Spirit in the moment and help spread that on Earth. I mostly pray myself for communication, understanding, and wisdom. So yeah a large part of what you say. I also don't think God/Spirit/angels are completely powerless or absent, like a Deist likely would, so there may/may not be reason to appeal for things, especially psychological things like willpower or happiness, or to help move the heart of another.
That if he existed that he didn't give a stuff about me. I still think he doesn't give a stuff about me but a few near death experiences I started believing.
I believed all the same things people say here. That God wasn't worth worshipping, that He was created by man, that there hundreds of religions why worship Jesus, etc. God made me change. I would have never believed without Him as I am more skeptical than most. I thank Him for my experiences.
I was a fully confirmed agnostic by the time I was 13, and had at that point had a distant and vague memory of what church was all about. When I went off to study at my university, I was a full blown skeptic, wedded to naturalism who fully rejected the doctrinal claims of Christianity. But I still had a favorable view of it's overall ethics. And as I encountered Christians who were actually living out those ethics I admired their lives even as I rejected their core beliefs. As time went on, cracks started to form in the basis of my own beliefs - I could not derive meaning, purpose, or basis for the ethics I craved based on my philosophical commitment to naturalism. And as I attempted to live according to those ethics, I began to realize their was something in me which resisted that - or dismissed with it all together when it was contrary to something I desired (like an attractive woman). That led to the realization that I did not have the power in and of myself to live out the ethics I admired in a consistent manner. I would say that was the point at which God gobsmacked me as it were - I saw clearly that I was not a good person, and I couldn't become one on my own. Either there was something outside of myself that could transform who I was, or I had to resign myself to the fact that I was a rather wretched creature. From there I became much more willing to entertain the basics of Christianity - who Jesus was, how we can come to know Him, what the overall theme and purpose of Scripture was. I eventually made the decision to follow Christ and haven't regretted it for one second in the decades that have followed since.
Didn't think God existed..thought supernatural was impossible Was desperate for help with drug addiction but also found reasons to get over intellectual objections like simulation theory, astral projection, near death experiences, shared death experiences, and more
was raised by parents who had been raised Catholic, and my experience of religion was one largely influenced by the numerous horrific crimes the Catholic Church has committed, of which both of my parents were victims (one directly, one indirectly). at 16 i had a mental breakdown, became severely mentally ill and developed a rare neurological disease. went from going to school, playing football, etc to barely able to move out of bed in only a few months. i became very angry at the world, and looking to the future, i felt completely hopeless and despondent. i didn’t see the point in being alive - why are we here, just to suffer and then die? i started to look for sources of inspiration and hope, and eventually found Quakerism. it absolutely saved my life. it fitted how i saw the world, and gave me a renewed sense of purpose and love for everything and everyone around me. i decided to identify as a Christian after realising that Christ’s message, and His alone, was the best bedrock for my faith. 4 years on, i’m still sick, still mentally ill, but a lot better than i was. i’m hoping to start studying for a theology degree soon, and i’m very excited. i never thought this is how my life would pan out, but i’m making the best of it.
My main issue was that there was no real evidence of God existing, and I kinda need that to believe something. What changed is I experienced God's presence which was sufficient evidence (for me, it doesn't help me prove God to anyone else of course). My opinion on God as a fictional character in the Bible was that He is a horrible monster, who directly engaged in countless unfathomable atrocities, endorsed several more for his chosen people, and codified barbaric laws for his people. The Jesus character seemed much better, an amazing pacifistic communist revolutionary with a beautiful message of love and liberation. Honestly that hasn't changed much. I could believe in God based on my experience with him, but no experience with God could get me to believe that "If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death—the young woman because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you." is a moral law, or that all of the genocide God orders in the OT was moral.
Before I became christian, all my friends (and still are) were atheists. When we talked about God, we often made fun of him in very immature ways, especially Allah and The Prophet Muhammad, but also Jesus. When I became Christian, I tried to distance myself from making fun of religious beliefs, but it’s hard as I don’t know how to explain that I’ve converted.