Why are some Christians telling me that if I left the religion, I was never a Christian at all?

Question

I was raised a Christian and blindly followed it like you wouldn't believe for my first 18 years. I even told my friends at school all about it when I was in the 4th/5th grades (in that age range). I actually read the Bible quite a bit and got to know some of it really well (including some of the books nobody reads, like those prophecy books at the end of the OT). Anyway, I went to college and with nobody patronising me any more, I began to have a more critical opinion of the Bible and began to do some research about the Bible and I began to feel something was amiss. Ultimately, I was convinced that at least some of the Bible was fabrication (I still think some of it was true, not necessarily for the explainations provided however). Anyway, I'm being told I never was a Christian. How can that be true? It doesn't make sense to me at all.

Let me clairify.

I PREACHED TO MY GRADE-SCHOOL FRIENDS!!! Why? BECAUSE I BELIEVED IT!!!

Answer 1

They tell you that because they have a mob mentality. You're either with them or against them and if you leave, then you never WERE one of them. They also hope to impart fear in you... make you afraid of what might be out there without God.

But I can honestly tell you... the water is fine... jump on in. :-) An atheist would never tell you if you became a believer then you were never a non-believer. To each his own.

Answer 2

Only you know if you are or ever were a Christian. You apparently think you were but I'm just going by what you have just said:
You say you "blindly followed". Contrary to some opinions, a true Christian doesn't just blindly follow anything. I don't. You were just a child and maybe that was why you never Questioned anything. You didn't say you ever were truly a believer, just a follower. Again, I don't know you, I'm just going by what you said. Questioning the inerrancy of the bible doesn't necessarily make you a non-Christian now( unless that is what you are saying you are) many people have different interpretations of what is literal and allegorical when it comes to the bible. It doesn't make them non-believers.


I think the real reason people say what they do is because they don't believe it is possible for anyone who is truly saved to lose their salvation. I happen to agree with that. If you were a true Christian, then Christ will stay with you even through all your questioning. Anyway I hope you find what is true and have a relationship with God that works for you.

Answer 3

going to church, knowing, saying and doing all the "christian stuff" is not what makes one a Christian. Mayn are raised in this environment and know the Bible front to back but never develop the relationship that is the core, the heart of what Christianity is. One is not a Christian because they understand Christianity- though many many calim this- because they do all the right things and believe the bible that makes them a Christian. What truly makes one a Christian is truly believing in and believing Jesus- having a relationship with Him and giving up your own will and following after Him. Christianity is not supposed to be like other religions, where you say you believe the teachings and call yourelf after that title and there you are- Christianity revolves around Jesus who died and lives today- it is complete faith in Him and not works thatmakes Christianity what it is and it is an understanding and receiving of this sacrifice on a personal level and living after that that makes one a Christian. Nothing of what you described is what makes a person a Christian

Answer 4

Because,if you were a Christian,and you knew the Lord,you are in rebellion and you know it.If you never knew the Lord,then you were never a Christian to begin with.It's not reading the Bible or being raised in a Christian home that makes you a Christian.

Answer 5

There is a clear distinction between a follower of Jesus and being a Christian.

See:
http://one-faith-of-god.org/final_testament/bible_of_god.htm

Typically being a christian means you must continue to follow the doctrines first defined by Paul of Tarsus and Josephus (St Luke).

But being a follower of Jesus Christ means you do not subscribe to any of the orthodoxies of the church, nor to their 2,000 yr reign of evil.

Of course, this is not what loyal christians want you to do. If people actually thought for themselves, then the world would be a better place and Christianity would be out of business.

Answer 6

Because it appears that your faith was only because that is what you were raised to believe. You never came to it on your own, and you basically "bred" into it. It doesn't matter how many times you go through the Bible, what matters is how many times it goes through you. Your conscience never truly led you to Christianity. You were born into it and as you matured you realized you did not accept the things you were taught in your infancy.

Answer 7

In the Quran, you can never find the sort you mentioned of the bible. It is also stated that if anyone with the help of all humans or even the jinns(God's creation unseen to human) can make a single passage as in the QURAN , THEY WILL NEVER SUCCEED. THE CHALLENGE STILL STANDS TODAY.

Answer 8

You may think you have fallen from the faith, then again you might not have.

If you adopt a Calvinist approach to the Scriptures, the answer is quite satisfying. God's elect were chosen before the world began, and the elect will be gathered by God. The elect will not be able to resist God's grace, so they will have their "chance". Moreover, God has revealed Himself to everyone in the world around us. We have no excuse to say, "We had no chance to know You."

In short, the whole notion of John 3:16 only applies to those God has foreordained to be saved. This means that Christ did not come to save everyone, only the elect chosen by God on whom he decided to have mercy. The five principles of Calvinism are easily remembered by the acronym, TULIP: Total depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace
Perseverance of the saints.

How does one know if he or she is one of the elect? We don't! Instead we are urged to keep God's commandments, live righteous lives seeking to please God, and pray continuously that His mercy falls upon us as one of His elect.

Some may say that a Calvinistic theology is unfair. But the counter to this is that God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy. That is His right as the Creator of everything. "Shall the pot say to the potter, why have you made me thus?"

In short, with the irrestible grace of God, you will find your way back to Him if you are among His elect.

Answer 9

You are a Christian.
Only protestants would say such a thing to you.
Instead of believeing what non-Catholics have been telling you about Catholics your whole life, look into Catholicism for yourself.

Answer 10

I am an ex hardcore Christian and I get the same. They just can't believe that someone who was "saved" would leave their religion. It's their ignorance and intolerance, not yours that is the problem.