Why is it Atheists and other's think that Christians got their belief from what someone told them?

Question

Most Christians who follow God's word and have faith in their hearts, didn't obtain their belief from what they were taught as a child. Nor did they start believing because of what a preacher or another christian told them about God. In fact their are many Christians out there that haven't read the bible.

I have seen many statements made by Atheists and other religions, that state how Chrisitans are brainwashed. How is that possible, when their belief in God came from God and not another Human being?

Answer 1

Because from what I've seen from most of the answers given by atheists they cant accept the fact that many christians have their beliefs from personal experiences. They dont seem to realize that we dont all belong to a man made religious organization and what they dont understand they mock. There have been some really great questions and answers from both atheists, christians and other religions, but it is the immature, ignorant ones that from all sides that arent here to learn anything, but apparently only come here to belittle anyone who doesnt believe the way they do.

Answer 2

Um, because let me put it this way...

I was born into a family that does not believe, I was raised as, and still am, an atheist. Religion, gods, etc was not a part of our life. It was never taught to me, and I was never told that junk was real.

Other people I know that don't believe from the get-go were generally not raised with any religion either.

And those I know that ARE believers...grew up in a family where religion, god(s) etc were a part of their family and the beliefs of the people in that family.

So yes, it's easy to conclude that they were taught it, no matter if it comes from family, church, or whatever else. They did not just pull this belief out of their @ss, um, heart.

I'm sorry, but as someone who was raised with the exact opposite, I'm in a good position to be able to say that yes, people have to be taught it if they are to believe it and believe what is said to be the "right" way of it.

Answer 3

Give it up. Some Atheists will never accept that there are alot of intelligent people who have thought out their Christian beliefs and that it is their choice not brainwashing. (they tend to forget some of the smartest people in history have been Christian as well as Atheist).

Same as some Christians will never accept that there are alot of Atheists who are understanding, caring, compassionate people who really and truly are not "just mad at God" but believe he does not exist.

I know several people raised Atheists and prior confessed Atheist (parents did not believe in God, never went to Church (obviously), anything) who are memebers of various religions today. One even went back to school and received a Masters of Divinity.

I also know several people who were raised Christian and Church was their families main activity in life who are now Atheist.

We all make choices.

It is only the insecure and childish Atheist that insult Christians and only the insecure in their beliefs and pompous Christians that insult Atheists.

You find very few really secure in their beliefs or lack thereof or with REAL in depth knowledge of their beliefs or lack thereof on here.

Answer 4

Atheism:
The belief that there is no god or the lack of belief in a god. The position held by a person or persons that 'lack belief' in god(s) and/or deny that god(s) exist
Critique and denial of metaphysical beliefs in God or divine beings.
Unlike agnosticism, which leaves open the question of whether there is a God, atheism is a positive denial. It is rooted in an array of philosophical systems. Ancient Greek philosophers such as Democritus and Epicurus argued for it in the context of materialism. In the 18th century David Hume and Immanuel Kant, though not atheists, argued against traditional proofs for God's existence, making belief a matter of faith alone. Atheists such as Ludwig Feuerbach held that God was a projection of human ideals and that recognizing this fiction made self-realization possible. Marxism exemplified modern materialism. Beginning with Friedrich Nietzsche, existentialist atheism proclaimed the death of God and the human freedom to determine value and meaning. Logical positivism holds that propositions concerning the existence or nonexistence of God are nonsensical or meaningless.
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/atheism/108370

Answer 5

Faith not based on fact is fantacy... For those of The True Christian Faith God is The Fact... based on the personal relationship between God and The individual...

No mortal can "prove" God to anyone... the proof the Atheist needs can only come from God... all we of The Faith can do is offer our witness and our testimony... spouting Bible verses to an atheist is like pouring gasoline on a fire... The Bible will never prove God to an Atheist... Unless they become open to the Leading of God... Only those open to the leading of God through The Holy Spirit will find God.... and the atheists will never understand that ... untill God allows them to.

Answer 6

If you were raised in a bubble or a vacuum, then I would say your idea that "most Christians ... have faith in their hearts, [and] didn't obtain their belief from what they were taught as a child" would have validity.

The truth is, almost all of us, from Christian to atheist to pagan, has heard at one point in our early lives about god, afterlife, Jesus, etc. For some the exposure was minimal. For many, the exposure was frequent, even if it was subtle. If you were born to atheist parents on a deserted island, and they never told you about the Bible, do you honestly believe you would have knowledge of Jesus? Your notion of Jesus came from someone.

Answer 7

A religion is a set of beliefs and practices generally held by a community, involving adherence to codified beliefs and rituals and study of ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and mystic experience. The term "religion" refers to both the personal practices related to communal faith and to group rituals and communication stemming from shared conviction.

Belief is the psychological state in which an individual is convinced of the truth of a proposition. Like the related concepts truth, knowledge, and wisdom, there is no precise definition of belief on which scholars agree, but rather numerous theories and continued debate about the nature of belief.

Dogma (the plural is either dogmata or dogmas, Greek δόγμα, plural δόγματα) is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, ideology or any kind of organization, thought to be authoritative and not to be disputed or doubted. While in the context of religion the term is largely descriptive, outside of religion its current usage tends to carry a pejorative connotation — referring to concepts as being "established" only according to a particular point of view, and thus one of doubtful foundation.

Answer 8

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
It would be a very sorry and pathetic "Christian" that did not read the Bible, or ever listen to a sermon.
My parents taught me what they could, preachers taught me what they did, I read the Bible, and other works from theologians.
This does not make me brainwashed. It means I've been taught, trained, educated. So?

Answer 9

Are you implying that there are Christians who never read a Bible and were never told about the Bible and just came to believe in it anyhow? That makes no sense at all.

In order to be a Christian you must follow Christian beliefs. There is no way to do that without hearing or reading what they are. Your faith that it's all true is not the same as the beliefs you are indeed told to have.

Answer 10

Atheists don't know even this much:

FAQ: What books are in the Word and what are apocrypha?




"The books of the Word are all those which have the internal sense; but those books which have not the internal sense, are not the Word. The books of the Word, in the Old Testament, are the five Books of Moses, the Book of Joshua, the Book of Judges, the two Books of Samuel, the two Books of Kings, the Psalms of David, the Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi: and in the New Testament, the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; and the Apocalypse. The rest have not the internal sense" (Arcana Coelestia n. 10325 or Heavenly Doctrine n. 266).




FAQ: Why different testaments and books in the Word?

"As regards the Word particularly, it has existed in every age, though not the Word we possess at the present day. Another Word existed in the Most Ancient Church before the Flood, and yet another Word in the Ancient Church after the Flood. Then came the Word written through Moses and the Prophets in the Jewish Church, and finally the Word written through the Evangelists in the new Church. The reason why the Word has existed in every age is that by means of the Word there is a communication between heaven and earth, and also that the Word deals with goodness and truth, by which a person is enabled to live in eternal happiness. In the internal sense therefore the Lord alone is the subject, for all goodness and truth are derived from Him" (Arcana Coelestia n. 2895).