Questioning my faith- anyone have any ideas?

Question

I grew up with Christianity, and always accepted it. Did the fundamentalist thing, but as I get older, the more I think about it, the more I question if I really believe any of it.
Do I only believe because I want to be part of something greater?
I simply can't accept it blindly anymore. I don't feel the presence of God like I used to, and would really be creeped out now if I did.
Also, I simply don't get how a loving God would give us free will knowing that some people would choose the "wrong" thing and go to hell. And how exactly would "free will" work in that case anyway? You don't tell someone you love them and then let them be punished for all eternity. And just how can an all-powerful God not be able to keep people from hell? Or even provide another option?
Ok, so there are supposed to be things that we can't understand in Christianity. We're told that we won't see clearly until after death- but by the nature of Christianity, that is way too late.

And Christians can't convince me. They are hypocritical and then use the excuse that they are weak and sinful, and were overcome by their own nature, which, again, hurts the "Free will" argument.

I'm beliving what I'm seeing. Science can provide answers and Christianity merely creates questions.

Has anyone else been through this, and what conclusion did you come to?

Well, the conclusion I am leaning toward is atheism...

Eldad- Thanks for the links. Yeah, the unicorns, dragons, etc...
I used to think that stuff was metaphorical, but nope, the Bible is pretty serious about it.

Answer 1

You're slowly breaking free of your programming: good luck!


Nobody can prove any gods, much less a specific god, exist; many people will tell you their god exists but no others, but will never be able to prove it, even if they think so. Some will threaten you with eternal pain or promise eternal joy to get you to believe in their god; these are all stories, created for people who were scared long before we understood the universe. Now we have no more reason for these superstitions.

How terrible the bible in particular is:
http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/
http://www.evilbible.com/

What's the origin of the Jesus stories?
http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcpa5.htm
http://www.near-death.com/experiences/origen048.html
http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/jesus.html

How silly and horrible religion in general is:
http://godisimaginary.com/
http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/

The alternative:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/
http://www.infidels.org/
http://www.positiveatheism.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarian_Universalism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_humanism

Read The God Delusion, learn what religion is and how it works, and be freed from it forever.

Answer 2

Yes, I went through something like this recently, and thought about it for a good long time (though I was sure to pre-occupy my body with something else so the time isn't wasted). I came to the following conclusions:
1) There is no proof supporting God's existence, but also no proof against, therefore I both believe and disbelieve in God simultaneously until I'm given solid, fallacy-free proof one way or the other. I also believe and disbelieve in the deities of all other religions for the same reason.
2) If there is a God, He has no power over our reality now that it's started moving and all the rules have been set in place, though it's possible this is untrue and God simply chooses not to interfere in the workings of the world. Either way, He pretty much built the machine and started it up, and then left it alone from then on. If there is no God, then everything makes more sense except for the question of how the universe came to be.
3) The point is, we exist, you can argue this point if you want to, but the way I see it (and I'm quoting Descartes), "I think, therefore I am." It's pointless to try to figure out why since it's impossible to know for sure, but we all exist and that should be good enough to make us happy (personally, I'm very happy I exist). We can attribute this to a deity if we want, it really doesn't make a difference, at the end of the day, we're all in this world together whether it's by design or blind chance.

In conclusion, hold on to your faith, but don't let it cloud your own personal judgement. One way or another, we all have free will, let's keep it.

Answer 3

You obviously are intelligent...
Because anyone with half a brain can see the ridiculously impossible contradictions and far-fetched claims that appear all through The Bible...
All four gospels contradict each other, but all four claim to be the "true" story, and all four gospels were written long after the story of Christ supposedly (and the key word here is "supposedly") happened.
They didn't have newspaper reporters back then tagging along with Christ dipping feathers in ink and writing down everything that happened.
And...
Even if every far-fetched "miracle" actually happened (using logical inference) that does not "automatically" mean that Mary was a virgin, and her kid was the offspring of some fantastigorical, bodiless, cosmic creator of the universe...
To mentally leap from "a human being doing extraordinary things that seem impossible" to "Golly gee! That human being must be the only kid of the creator of the universe!" is ridiculous, and leaves out a huge number of logically in-between steps of human reason that would have to be present for that logical inference to make even a modicum of sense.
Good job, oh wise one of the 21st Century!
You're thinking for yourself...
Keep up the good work, and if you do...
You'll discover a lot of other things in life that utter nonsense, too.
Pat yourself on the back for using your brain...

Answer 4

I used to feel very similar to you. I felt that most, or all, Christians were hypocrites. Then I started to realize that I really didn't understand in detail all of the differences between the different denominations. How could I call, for example, a Methodist a hypocrite when I had no idea exactly what they believed when compared to a Baptist? So I started researching. I went to websites for the specific faith, and read up. If I felt intrigued, I went to a local church of that faith, and attended a service and talked to the pastor. I was suprised at how different the denominations believe. I mean, night and day different. Democrat and republican different. So don't write off Christianity before you do your due diligence and fully understand the differences. I did, and I am certainly glad. Good luck!

Answer 5

Christianity for me was a building block.
I'm 62 years of age.

I realized at the age of forty that there must be more to the story than the clergy was telling me. And there is much, much more to the story.

Surely everyone within the Christian tradition will see me as a
turncoat, for I followed the teachings of Jesus as he ask of me, not as the clergy expected of me.

Jesus told his younger brother James to not worship him, and James became an outcast from the followers of Jesus shortly after the departure of Jesus. From this point on James went his own way.

A person needs to always keep an open mind, but before this takes place one must truly open the heart. When the heart is truly open, a wonderful event happens in man, it is called the dawning of "Wisdom". This is what James experienced, the dawning of "Wisdom".

Free will is a beautiful attribute if tempered with Wisdom.
Free will when tempered with Wisdom allows man to surrender his small will and allows Gods will to take over.

This is what Jesus ment when he said that we all must be "Born Again" or "Born Anew"......

Summing this up: When Wisdom dawns in man, clarity comes into ones life. You don't have to die to experience clarity. It is available to everyone that strives for Wisdom.

Ever wondered why there was such a bid deal made over Soloman and his great Wisdom. Wisdom is real and is sometimes overpowering......

Acquire Wisdom at all costs, for Wisdom is necessary to know
God while a person is yet alive.

Don't give up, dig in and be determined, and you will succeed.

Good Hunting.....
"May the wind be always at your back."

Answer 6

Without going too deep into the many things which are wrong in Christianity and just focus on the idea of a single god that exists.
You were brought up believed in the judeo christian god and just by the mere accident and fortune you might have been born into any of the other thousands of religions and sets of beliefs. Another thing is we are all born atheists and until god is indoctrinated in us we believe and grow up with that.

Answer 7

I know how you feel. Like a lot of people, I've struggled with the same questions. Unfortunately I can't say that I've found a lot of answers. But I have found contentment, and that's as close to faith as I can come sometimes. I don't know why people believe what they do, why they judge like they do, or why they condemn others like they do. I don't know if there really is a hell, or even a heaven for that matter. I don't know why God does the things that he does. I don't even know if He's really out there. There are so many things that I just don't know. But it doesn't matter that I don't know. Life is not a test of wisdom and understanding. 1 Cor. 13:13 says "And now abideth faith, hope, and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." And Micah 6:8 "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." There are so many things far more valuable in this world than wisdom and understanding, like compassion and courage and humility and perseverence and forgiveness and faith. There are so many things that I don't know, that I may never know, but I do know that God will forgive me for my ignorance, for now abideth three things, faith, hope, and love. Wisdom doesn't even make the top three. Tell God that you don't understand, that you're confused and disillusioned. It's not a sin. God accepts you as you are, ignorance and all. God loves you. If you only have faith enough to believe one thing, believe that. Cling to that one faint glimmer of hope, if all men condemn you, God loves you.

Answer 8

Before making up your mind, look at a nature based religion. If you have ever felt a spirit move upon you, it is hard to completely deny the existence of some sort of higher power. I see god more as a force than being and when you examine your view of the world from that standpoint a lot of things start making sense.

Answer 9

I have been thru something similar. It happened when I was at bible college and ti was brutal.

I came thru, years later. I am now happily married. Mom of 3. Proudly atheist. I volunteer, have a great marriage and my kids are awesome. I thought "no god" would be awful but its not. It is stunning to wake up and know that there is nothing I can't question. And to know that any god that was real, woulnd't mind an honest examination.

It's a difficult journey, to come to atheism. You ask yourself the hardest questions ever. You stare into the mirror and into the abyss. And...it's worth it. True things are.

Answer 10

I beleive everyone comes to this point, Christian or non-Christian. Its where you either strengthen your faith in God by studyng and finding God for yourself and realizing if Jesus was what He said He was. I was in the same boat as your about 6 yrs ago. I left the faith and rebelled immensly. But the more I wanted to know and the more I studied and really delved into asking if Christ was true. The more knowledge and understanding came to me and with the evidence I had, I knew I couldn't deny Him any longer.