Can you tell a little about what they did or said that swayed you in your beliefs? Thank you!
2007-02-09 05:50:50 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I fell away many years ago for a period of 5 years.
I realised that I had to let go of my synicism and bitterness, and I allowed the Lord to soften my heart and reveal Himself to me afresh.
Those 5 years that I was away from Him was the most miserable of my entire life. I felt empty and without hope and purpose.
Since I came back to the Lord, He filled me with hope, joy and peace, and now I am living out that plan and purpose which he had waiting for me.
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.
2007-02-09 06:02:27 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋
Well I have an uncle who is a world respected scholar and he gave me some reference materials on the subject and told me to actually read the bible.
If you read the bible straight through (not cherry picking as most christians like to do) you will seriously begin to doubt it as the numerous contradictions, cruelty, and sheer absurdity really and uncomfortably begin to sink in. Many christians I know who've read the bible straight through have since become atheists.
Also if you do research into the subject (not the filth spewed by christian apologists sites but actual research) you'll find the amount of evidence for the bible is roughly 0, with tons against it. Many things in the bible never happened, King Herod's slaughter of children never happened (we have recorded history to prove it), there were never any Jews enslaved in or escaping from Egypt (again we have history and archeology to show this), "Jesus of Nazareth" is a lie since Nazareth didn't even exist until a couple hundred years AFTER he's supposed to have lived. Chinese recorded history goes back further than what the bible says was the creation of the world. Also the Sumerians invented glue and the babylons invented beer 1000 years prior to the biblical creation of the world, and the list is endless.
You hear of the modernism heresy? In the late 1900s the pope was unhappy that so many bible scholars didn't believe in it, so he picked several fundamentalists and non doubting christians to become bible scholars... however as these christians did research they too began to doubt the bible and so in 1904 Pope Pious X declared them heretics and the concept of modernism was abandoned. Some details may vary, but that alone should show you how rational people begin to see the absurdity of their beliefs.
Do research, read the book, and you'll begin to glean the truth.
Also science helps a bit.
2007-02-09 14:02:51 · answer #2 · answered by Mike K 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I was baptized at 12 for the sole reason to please my grandparents.... soon after I quit going to church alltogeather. in the next forty yrs I only went for funerals or weddings. Then at 53 I finaly reached a point that I needed God and He was their. I am now of The True Christian Faith.
Just because I was baptized at 12 it did not make me a Christian. Baptizim dose not make one a Christian at any age. A year after I finaly came to God at 53 I was honestly Baptized. But I had been of The True Faith for a year already.
While one of The True Christian Faith can "backslide" to a certain extent. Once one is of The Faith one is allways of TheFaith... Once one knows The Truth there is no loseing The Truth... No One of The True Christian Faith will ever "fall away" to the point of acting or speaking against God and The Truth. Any one who is so speaking against God and claiming they were once "Christian" is either lieing or misstaken in what they thought they "believed".
no one can be born a Christian or be made one by any decree of man, or be "baptized" into it, or just decide to be one. No act, ritual, doctrin or dogma of man can make any one a Christian... Only God decides who is a Christian... And unless God has told you, you are not.
2007-02-09 14:06:46 · answer #3 · answered by idahomike2 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My leaving was not due to people talking me out of it. I left because I actually took religion seriously, and seriously enough to say "I don't agree with this, so I'm not going to pretend to go along with it." Sad to say, I think most people go to church out of guilty feelings of obligation or fear of being ostracized by their family or community. I say if you find yourself believing in only 50% of what a religion teaches, it's time to find something else.
Nobody said anything that "swayed my beliefs". It was a gradual process that came to a realization around the age of 13 or 14, and was a mix of personal experiences, world knowledge, and learning more about the religion at hand.
2007-02-09 14:09:54 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
There was no single person. I would say that the Bible itself and the writings of many scholars in the areas of religion, philosophy, mythology, Biblical textural criticism, history and science all contributed to my rejecting my religion. I read Karen Armstrong, Joseph Campbell, Bart Ehrman, Richard Friedman, Darwin, Plato, Augustine, Aristotle, Ignacius and the list goes on and on. It had nothing to do with any particular person in my life. The more educated I became, the less I believed. Studying the historicity of Jesus was one of the last straws along with examining the history of the early Christians.Your welcome! Have a great weekend!
2007-02-09 14:06:54 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The greatest influence in my "falling away" would have been me. I actually began studying history to find the historical evidence of Jesus' existence, and found none. I also found where the god-man savior myth pre-dated any stories of Jesus by at least 400 years. I then began to research discrepancies in the "old" and "new" testaments.. I found that there are no real similarities in the God of the Jews and the God of the Christians. I had no choice but to abandon christianity soon after I finished my studies.
2007-02-09 13:57:50 · answer #6 · answered by Kallan 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
While I was raised in a religious home and went to church every Sunday, I never believed any of it. I didn't even realize I was supposed to believe it. However, I kept with it because that's what everyone around me did. Eventually, I realized other people didn't believe in this God thing either. So I guess society outside of my home and everyday life was the greatest influence in letting me accept my true beliefs and stop with the religious act. It showed me I wasn't alone and it wasn't wrong to not believe.
2007-02-09 13:55:29 · answer #7 · answered by Phoenix, Wise Guru 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I haven't been in that situation because I am a non--believer but my best friend was a good christian.He used to teach bible on weekdays and go to church every sunday. He was trying to convert people every chance he got including myself. He has read many books. He is almost a scholar. He was in this close minded community of people who brainwashed him with christian dogma and he was trying to brainwash others. These people prove to him that were all fake. I personally rarely see a good christian. They are all faking it. They don't love you etc... They love you as long as you agree with them. But to make the story short I think the reason he is not christian any more is 1) he was exposed to people that were non-believer or believed in different religions 2) He got sick of the fakeness of the whole experience 3) He understood that authenticity of Bible is highly questioned 4) He understood people just wanted to live in peace and don't like to be chased after by some psycho christians all the time. 5) He felt that it was all in his brain that he has a personal relationship with Jesus. He believes that as I believe people imagine things.... 6) He thought there are more important things in this world to do then waste his sundays to go to church and teach bible on the weekdays
I am not trying to insult anyone but this was a true story
2007-02-09 14:09:56 · answer #8 · answered by Lifesucks2333 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I was sitting in church listening to our minister giving a sermon. He was not a stupid man and actually was quite eloquent. At one point during this last sermon I attended it occurred to me that the whole premise of religion was based on an out of control fantasy for which there was no factual basis. I never went back. That was around 30 years ago, I think I was around 17 or 18 at the time.
2007-02-09 14:05:40 · answer #9 · answered by Murazor 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, the first thing I can remember is wondering when I was 12 how there could be any descendants if the only children of Adam and Eve were Cain and Abel. That one is easily resolved but that was the start. Then it was the other contradictions and then the lack of evidence and then the problem of evil.
2007-02-09 13:55:53 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
My brain.
I think another reason for my family leaving the church was my mother marrying a jewish man. The church refused to allow them to have the ceremony or participate in any form. Before hand my mother taught classes there, was friends with all the pastors and such for over 10 years.
Personal Research has also taught me alot, and has reaffirmed and strengthened my lack of beliefs in the Bible and Church.
2007-02-09 13:55:14 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋