Christians Turned Athiests - What caused the transformation?

Question

I am looking for sincere answers not hateful, I opened my eyes answers. What specific life events or event caused you to turn away from Christianity?

I am a Christian and I am strong in my faith. I have seen Gods hand in my life in so many ways and I have been through many difficult things. I wanted to know your story not to judge but just as an ear.

God has been so good even when my life was a mess and I have had miricles that could not be explained...but GOD. I have also had disappointment and pain but God gave me strength and the ability to get past those hurts. I can not change the hurts but I can share my testimony if your interested.

Answer 1

I was raised Presbyterian.

For me, it was my father's death, and the answers I received to the question of "Why?" The whole "God's will" thing didn't make sense to me, and I wanted more explanation and couldn't get one.

Combine that with the Born Again Christian who told me that my father must have done something awful to have been taken so young, and that he was burning in Hell now... well... any argument for a "kind and loving God" went right out the window.

I was atheist for a while - I was convinced that God didn't exist, then would have been considered an Agnostic - I didn't know if God existed, and didn't particularly care, but I wasn't convinced that there "absolutely wasn't" a God.

I eventually found my own spiritual path to where I am today. I believe in a Higher Power, but I don't believe It is the Judeo-Christian concept of God.

Answer 2

It wasn't any one specific event or series of events for me. I had the typical questions as a kid, such as "where did god come from", "how do we know Xianity is the right religion and the others are wrong", etc.

I couldn't find answers by asking people and I became old enough to read and understand the bible, so I started reading it. I read things that made me think long and hard about religion, then I started college. I took astronomy and started thinking long and hard about the things I was learning.

Basically I just learned about science, and realized that there is actual evidence backing up scientific claims. I started looking for evidence to back up biblical claims. All I found were versions of bible stories such as the flood, but these versions were older than the bible itself. I found that I could not believe in the Christian god any more.

So do I deny the existence of a creator or higher power? NO. But I do not believe in a sky daddy either. I am open to belief in higher power as long as there is evidence. Right now I consider Nature to be the higher power. Is there something behind Nature? I don't know, but signs point to no.

Answer 3

I was a christian for 15yrs. I went to a Christian high school and was the president of my youth group. I preached to ppl and gave them the good news. I even went one of the best Liberal Arts Christian Colleges in the East Coast. The point is I was very much a Christan. But there was something that really kept on bothering me. A lot of this stuff goes against the most basic logic. And once you see that a few things ain't real. made up ,a story and the rest of it falls apart and for the first time I could see the real world. Life is hard. Some ppl need to believe that there is a father figure who is all knowing, who looks after you and takes care of you. But in the end there is no proof for a God or against a God. And that is OK...it's empowering.

And now my life is great. No more fear, repression, guilt...just free...FREEDOM FROM GOD IS GREAT!!
I highly recommend

P.S For those that say we turned away because we didn't want to be responsible...
I take responsibility for the things I do...I don't sit around thinking someone is going to help me do sh*t...I want something I have to work hard for it!! It's called self reliance...something not readily taught in Christianity.

Answer 4

I have completely honestly found that for a lot (not all) it makes them feel smart or even sometimes superior. But I'm sure that some people have deep personal reasons for atheism. And those are the good ones, the ones that don't say hateful things online to believers, personally, I think that if you survey the answers and votes on this page, the most (again, not all) of the people who have answered or voted give atheists a REALLY bad name. I'm fine if you are atheist, it doesn't do anyone any harm, as long as you don't try to tell me that my faith doesn't exist, or call yourself a 'realist'.

God bless.
Moses bless.
Buddha bless.
No one bless.

Answer 5

These Christian questions are always so difficult to answer, primarily because different people mean different things when they say Christian. Some mean anyone who worships Jesus Christ. That would include Mormons, Catholics, Episcopalians, Eastern Orthodox, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc.

However, others----fundamentalist, bible-literalists mainly----will say that one of more of these Christian denominations are not real Christians. They will even say that those who, even though they worship Jesus, do not belief that the stories of the bible are literally true are not real Christians. Some will even call Christians who believe in evolution atheists.

So, without knowing what you mean by Christian(or even what you mean by atheist), it is difficult to know how to answer your question. I do not believe that the stories of the bible are intended to be taken as literal truth. Does that make me an atheist in your eyes?

I do worship the Lord Jesus Christ. Does that make me a Christian in your eyes?

So, you see, unless I know your definition of Christian and atheist, I cannot answer your question in any meaningful way.
I guess I can only say this: I am a Christian. I am not an atheist. I do not believe in talking serpents.

Answer 6

I think most atheists in America were born into Christianity.

I was born Catholic, went to Catechism for two years, and Catholic School for 8 years.

I still consider myself "Catholic" though I don't attend church and I don't believe in any of it.

I mean, once you're in, you are part of the church for life.--unless you get excommunicated-, they didn't reject me, I reject them.
The Catholic Church sort of just waits around hoping we will come back again, and whenever they do, they are grateful.
(Bless me father, for I have sinned, my last confession was 28 years ago).

I just couldn't swallow it all. It all just started to not make sense.
There are better explanations in life.
I don't have to be comforted, and I don't need the question to why I am here filled so badly that I'll take any hard to believe supernatural rubbish as the answer.

I am really just not that spiritual of a person. that's what it comes down to. I am rational, and I don't respond well to threats. If it doesn't make sense, I'm not going to be convinced by some nobody who in fact doesn't know tell me what the consequences will be for the sin of not believing EXACTLY as they do.

Answer 7

very likely the same things you are seeing but don't want to be true

so many people told me lovingly the truth and it didn't match make believe religion including christianity

suddenly the conflicts in bible were too much to smooth over (moon doesn't shine, sun does not travel across the tent of the sky, there are not four corners of earth, Gen 1 -man and woman created together, Gen 2 woman created as lowest life form and spare rib-

oh yeah. how about all the felonies and atroticities in bible that are XXX rated and not suitable for kids be we choke on obcenities?

huh!

many christians use religion and bible to manipulate, or just social center in churches but do not actually live 'christlike' or 'meek' or poor, or any other of the "Blessed are the...."

Answer 8

Although i'm still a christian, i used to have a strong faith and now I don't For me, it has been lack of answered prayer over 25 years, when the Bible seems to indicate otherwise. Also, the hunger for money and power in the church, it seems to me it's the same as outside .

Answer 9

Sorry to disappoint you, but when I turned away from christianity and toward atheism, there was no major life event or trauma.

I was 9 years old, and I began asking questions that christianity could not answer very well, so I began to search for those answers myself. When I found them, christian belief no longer made sense.

Answer 10

Doubt...sheer doubt. Even when I was little I just could not accept that what the bible said was real. As I got older I struggled very hard with that realization. Even tried harder to be a good christian. As I got older and more educated it just seemed natural to become an atheist.