To those who say they once truly believed but don't anymore?

Question

How was your personal relationship with God. You know, the fellowship you had with Him when you weren’t in church, a Christian school, or just doing what your parents told you to do. But when it was just you alone with God. Did you love Him? If so why? Isn’t real love unconditional? Did you pray to Him and meditate on His Word? Did you ever hear the Holy Spirit speak within you?

I ask this because I’m a Christian and I can’t even fathom the idea of turning away from the Truth. Therefore, I just wanted a little insight on those who did. Did you really have a personal relationship with God??

Answer 1

I am a christian but I have recently been going through this thing where I question everything. I would never turn my back from God. I believe with all of my heart that there is a God and Jesus Christ is His Son. But, I find myself questioning things from time to time and it has been destructive to my relationship with Him. Right now I still have not fully restored the relationship that I had with Him at one time when I just accepted everything with no questions. I think a lot of it has to do with the confusion surrounding all of the different religions.

Answer 2

I grew up with a strong pull toward spirituality that nobody else in my immediate family had and was a devout Christian during most of my teen years. I had, what I felt to be, a close relationship with God. Love, honor, respect, humility, and awe were all part of it. I prayed daily and once felt the presence of what I believed to be the Holy Spirit. It was a very powerful and humbling experience that I still carry with me.

I left the religion in my late teens after struggling with the fact that my beliefs and values didn't match up very well with Christianity. The relationship I had was never completely severed, although it is distanced. I still respect God because he is the god of my family and...well, I honor all of divinity. There's an element of love there too from the past relationship. But I do not belong to His flock anymore and I have devoted myself to other gods.

Being a polytheist (something that took me a long time to come to terms with), this doesn't seem wrong or even strange to me. I can fully appreciate how it must come across to a devout Christian though. I don't generally discuss it with folks like yourself because there's such a huge disconnect in experience and understanding. It can make communication...troublesome.

Answer 3

I am one to whom your question was pointed. And, I can't say that I ever truly "loved" god or heard the "holy spirit" speak. I did however meditate on scriptures and tried to get to know god as detailed in the bible that you all love so much. And, as I read on I found out that, if you take the bible literally, god is a major jerk and genocidal magical dictator who only want us around to kiss his gigantic behind, and tell him how great he is. That really put me off to start with. Then, after many attempts at truly selfless prayer, I also noticed that he wasn't out to do any favors even after you got done boosting his galatic ego. And, my decision to not believe that he exists at all is not even totally based on my own experience, but also in the experiences of many others who had much more faith than I could ever have had. You see my father was a baptist preacher and I grew up in church, and know it quite well. So, for me there are only two possibilities... 1 That god actually does exist, but is the biggest jerk in the universe. or 2 god is not real at all. I'll take #2. Have a nice day.

Answer 4

You could say that I truly believed when I was a kid because I was taken to church and taught to do so. I sang in church. I prayed. I learned some of the stories. My family wasn't strcit about it, but they were clearly christians.

I stopped beleiving when I grew up a little and didn't see any evidence to support my beleifs. I never had a prayer answered and never saw a sign that pointed towards God being real, so I concluded that God either wasn't there or didn't care to listen and respond. When I discussed my doubts with others, I often found their pro-god arguments to be fraught with irrationality and assumptions. When I took a philosophy course, I learned a name for their logical error, usually begging the question. So now, the idea of giving myself to a religious beleif system is simply incompatable with my way of thinking. It seems like most religious people value their faith on the strength of their convictions. I prefer to value a perspective based on rationality or empiricism. I don't feel like I need religion to life a good life and death doesn't scare me, so my behaviors can't be swayed by the threat of hell.

Answer 5

After reading the Bible and realizing that the God depicted in it was not good I tried to figure out where the lies originated and I discoverd that the most likely point of origin was the first verse in Genesis.

So although I claim to be an atheist I am only completely convinced that the Judeo-Christian god does not exist.

I assume the the ancient Greek and Roman gods do not exist as well.

Answer 6

Dude,

Praying is one thing, but if you have a "personal relationship" i.e. having a conversation, you are mentally ill and should seek help.

Reading a storybook and praying is one thing, but hearing voices of deities is another.

I truely believed the bible and was so scared of hell that I prayed every night. As I grew older, I started to realize that the bible did not stand up to any criticism and was only created as a means of control.

I am a very happy free thinker, who holds a high moral standard that was not handed down by any abrahamic religion.

Answer 7

Yes I did. But it wasn't a good relationship. I didn't understand Him, like we weren't speaking the same language. But now I changed the way I worship and we're doing great now. I have a very close relationship with Her. Blessed be.

Answer 8

You're looking for someone who REALLY had a personal relationship and turned away because you dont think that exists.
I am that man.

I didnt like turning towards the truth and away from comfort.
But I did do it.

Answer 9

yep.

i did. and i did have a great relationship he was an imanginary father when mine left.

Then i found out how corrupt his bride the church is. and left. They cursed me, i cut a deal with god. i'd stop making his clergy leave the faith if he'd stop screwing in my life. deals worked for me.

Answer 10

The truth, the 'truth' as you perseive it to be. Life is not over yet my dear, your time will come.
The bible can not stand the test of time, you'll see.