"Upon graduation I was a professor in a Baptist college and for 10 years I taught Greek, English Bible, Theology, Church History, and Apologetics. It was then I began to have my first doubts about the validity of my faith. The more I studied and the more I thought, the less I believed. I finally came to the conclusion that all religions are man-made and represent wishful thinking on the part of the believers. All of us want to think that there is some meaning in life and that we will see our loved ones again. Religion offers simple answers to those and other deep questions.
One of the major stumbling blocks was the whole concept of the atonement. How could someone else be punished in my place and I go free? That strikes against any sense of fairness. We would not allow that in any court of law. Punishment is only valid if it is the guilty person being punished. I have read every major theologian's discussion of the atonement and I have never been satisfied by the various answers."
2006-12-18 09:02:22 · 14 answers · asked by TG 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
from: http://www.users.bigpond.com/pmurray/exchristian/stories/0262.html
2006-12-18 09:02:54 · update #1
Like you, I spent a great deal of time studying my religion (Catholic), and then expanded to study others, like Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, etc... What I found led me to leave the Catholic church.
The contradictions, the hypocrisy, and the intolerance I found led me to eventually give up on religion in general.
Now I have a basic belief - either all religions are real and correct - which is impossible if each religions claims to be the only true religion. So, all religions must be false. Man-made to explain the other wise unexplainable. And to comfort and relieve thoughts of death. Religions also generally offer some means of forgiveness for our errors and 'sins', thereby relieving our feelings of guilt.
Just my .01
-dh
2006-12-18 09:09:56 · answer #1 · answered by delicateharmony 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Some, but only because they are not capable of the fairly heavy thinking that such analysis requires. The business of atonement was one of the early issues that I took with the biblical tales; it is basically a bill of attainder, and those are outlawed in the Constitution for good reason. But my first doubts about religion arose when, at the age of eight, I realized that the biblical tales could not be reconciled with science. And, since science is obviously right (it works!), the bible had to go. I have been working for some time on a more formal analysis of what we can and cannot know, and hope to get my textbook on the subject completed within the next year or two.
2006-12-18 09:11:31 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
IF YOU DOUBT THE VALIDITY OF YOUR FAITH THEN YOU HAVE NO FAITH.
FAITH IS NOT THE SAME AS RELIGION
APPARENTLY I HAVE CAPS LOCK ON AND I APPEAR TO BE ANGRY.
lol. Our proof of God comes from God not rationality. Having faith is the key to having proof. So no faith= no proof
We are all guilty. We have all sinned. We all deserve hell. god showed his love by sending his son to bear our sins and take our place. He is the only one worthy. Sounds like this guy needs to take a look at his lack of faith, not faith.
"A man's desire for evidence will lead him to destruction but faith will reveal the wonders of God"
It's a proverb.. not sure of the verse.
2006-12-18 09:07:44 · answer #3 · answered by Doug 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Look up the definition of faith o' wise one. How many people would continue to disbelieve in GOD if they actually stopped to think about it? Have you never had a prayer answered? You know better!
God Bless You.
2006-12-18 09:09:01 · answer #4 · answered by Mrs. T 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Faith is something that just can't be calculated, as it seems you have tried. It is something that is felt more than thought. Ask God, maybe he will just give you a taste of what his presence is like. I have tried over and over again to think on what faith is but it just isn't comprehend-able to words to explain it.
2006-12-18 09:08:14 · answer #5 · answered by Michael C 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yeah well your decision was based on reason and most of us do not put all our trust in human reason as it is has flaws so I think that the majority of believers will still go on faith.
2006-12-18 09:06:05 · answer #6 · answered by Sentinel 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
a lot of people would continue no matter what. even if some people find faults within their religion they will go on with it because that's what they've lived to believe. but also, there are hundreds of thousands of people who find true light in other religions and follow it.
2006-12-18 09:05:43 · answer #7 · answered by amdirien 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
hmmm - not sure. but i know i do have family that knows it's (organized religion) - BS but they continue to engage in their faith as it helps them in their day to day to life. which i can understand. and power to ya if it does. you sound like someone who might be interested in taking a sociology class. like most things in the past - what people did not understand thanks to science - they made up stories. that's why the ancient civilizations had river gods, and moon gods, and volcano gods etc. at one point someone came along and tried to condense it and the stories get more and more dilute with emerging science.
2006-12-18 09:07:30 · answer #8 · answered by bbq 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
In my experience, when I have doubted, questioned, or had felt confused, my faith came back stronger due to what I discovered.
2006-12-18 09:06:30 · answer #9 · answered by <><><> 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
That is probably because you are the only one responsible for your sins and you alone will have to answer for them on judgement day. Christ died for our sins but we must follow his teachings. No one else is responsible for your salvation except you.
2006-12-18 09:07:16 · answer #10 · answered by TG 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋