To Christians (at least read this)?

Question

Chrisitians; every time an atheist posts something that is against your beliefs you say that "you just don't understand because you aren't a believer" or "if you would just open your heart to Jesus, you would understand". I was a Christian once and I did open my heart to Jesus and guess what? I still left the religion. I was at one time a hardcore Christian.

I thought that the Bible was the absolute truth and I accepted Jesus into my heart. But still I saw that Christianity wasn't the truth. I saw that the Bible is flimsy and riddled with holes and I saw that it wasn't the truth?

How do you explain this? How do you explain that a firm believer who has accepted Jesus could still fall? How am I mistaken? How could this have happened?

Answer 1

I rarely see answers such as you describe. There are a few, but then there are plenty of empty and thoughtless questions as well. Most of the time you'll get at least a couple of well-reasoned answers.

There are a couple possibilities for your situation. First, we tend to look at our lives like a snap-shot. God looks at them like a movie. You say you were a Christian and now you're not. Who's to say you won't come back to God in the future? God doesn't walk away from those who are his.

On the other hand you may have never really been a Christian. You may have made a "decision" based on emotions or a lack of understanding of the truth. When you didn't get good follow-up from a good Bible-teaching church that could help you grow into a better understanding of God, you fell away. (See the parable of the sower -- some of the seed falls on shallow soil and grows for a while but as soon as there's any stress, it dies.)

So there are a couple of good biblical explanations for your situation. I believe God isn't finished with you yet. Keep seeking the truth.

Answer 2

I tried being a Christian at one point. I really wanted to believe. Faith seems like a very comforting thing, regardless of whether it makes sense or not! What's wrong with a little conflicting logic as long as you're happy and you're helping to make the rest of the world a happy place, right?
If it had been that simple, I think it would have worked out.
But unfortunately, it didn't. I met too many people who insisted on obsessing on the...less proper verses in the bible. It was sad and depressing. There's a lot of beauty in the bible, and a lot of good, sensible advice to live by. But there's a lot of stuff, that when it was written, made sense. Stoning someone for adultery or being a rebellious teen, made perfect sense according to the times. It was accepted Roman law. Hating homosexuals made sense, since it was one of ways the newly formed Christians' used to strike back at the Roman society they were trying to replace and destroy, where homosexuality was accepted.
But these things don't apply to our times!!! And I could have been okay with that. Say, okay, I'm a Christian, but I recognize the parts of the bible that are outdated.
But apparently, that 's not allowed.
So, I lost interst. Lost what little faith I may have had. *shrug*

Besides, I got tired of watching the very people who claimed to be "good Christians" breaking the very rules they were denouncing others for. Even the good Christians (there's no way you can live in today's society and not be breaking SOME law in the bible, unless you're a hermit. And that's breaking biblical law too!)
And I did understand, btw. All...too...clearly.

Answer 3

Can you explain in more detail what actually made you change your mind about the Bible and God? What did you read in the Bible that came across as flimsy or riddled with holes? I just want to know more details so maybe I can help you with your questions.

By the way, I've questioned religion and Christianity as a whole myself many times, but I never questioned God or the Bible. But don't make the mistake of categorizing God and the Bible with religion or the many different types of Christianity, because then it will seem very confusing and hard to believe.

Answer 4

I left when I was 17 and had seriously considered becoming a minister.
I took every non-Christian spiritual path I could find. Considered Atheism, but I've just had far to many spiritual experiences that put holes in that theory.
Although I did hold the Buddhist view of God being only the Oneness, not having consciousness, for most of my life.
All those paths keeping only the truth that I found. 33 years took each step with full knowledge of why I made that step. The last few (say 5) years I finally excepted that Jesus even existed.
The steps just took me closer and closer to the point that I finally just said to my self, the only way to prove or disprove what this preacher standing in front of me is saying is to let him give me the words to the sinners prayer, say them from my heart, and really mean them.
The most incredible experience in my life, I felt Jesus embrace me and God's love flowed into me.
I know exactly what he meant when he said "You must be born again" "You must be born of the Spirit"

I see the holes, they were put there by man. I also see the Truth, it was put there by God.
God doesn't want blind faith, your love will do him just fine.

I hope this helps.
Ron

Edit:
There are those that are incapable of realizing God,
they're called a reprobate

Answer 5

Please read my answer. When you accepted Jesus into your heart was it that you accepted knowledge of Him? Did you accept His teachings and were you convinced about Him because you were afraid that you would go to Hell if you didn't?

The reason that I ask this is because this is the way that I accepted Him at first.

Then, one day when my life seemed boring and unfulfilling, I talked to God and told Him that if He was real, if He was there, I wanted Him to help me to love Him.

Within two weeks I went to see the Exorist movie uncut version. Back in the 1970's no movie like this one had ever been made before. That is no spiritual type of move had ever been made. There were movies with monsters and the likes but, I had never been taught about the fact that Satan and demons are here on the earth today.

I wasn't the only one who this movie upset, many other people experienced real fright from it. Just ask some one who saw the first uncut screen showing of it. People were going to bed at night with all of their lights on after seeing it.

I was so upset because that movie, though I realize it was not really true, it made me realize that there is a spiritual world besides the physical one.

I also realized that Jesus is more than just a man in a book. He is God. I began to seek a personal relationship with Him.

I realized that Jesus is the God who came to the earth and died in my place for my sin. Jesus is the reason that I will live eternally. Jesus gave me His Holy Spirit to live inside of me so that I can know that He is with me. Jesus became my Lord and My Savior, not just a story.

God led me to other Christians who were Spirit Filled. I learned to read the Bible with the Holy Spirit teaching me what God wanted me to know.

Now God is my Heavenly Father and I love Him. Jesus is my friend, my Lord and my Savior and I love Him. The Holy Spirit is my Guide and my Comforter and I love Him.

I no longer fear anything. I am God's child and I would never leave Him and I know that He will never leave me. God has not left you either. Please believe me when I tell you that God's written Word is truth, God's Word in the Flesh, Jesus is truth and Christianity, although made up of forgiven sinners is about Jesus and following Him because He loves you. God bless.

Answer 6

Well, most would tell you that you were never a 'true' Christian because you left the faith. Which is what they tell me every time they come to preach at me.

There are Christians out there that don't behave this way. But the most vocal due.

Many will say that only 'true' believers can understand the bible because they have the Holy Spirit.

I always wonder how one can come to Jesus if they first have to read the bible but they can't read the bible without Jesus. Quit a catch-22.

I doubt either you or I will ever find a different answer from these types of Christians. They fall back on the fail safe that these things we say to them don't effect them because we aren't believers. They are even instructed by Paul not to listen to unbelievers!

Answer 7

That was a choice that you made. I too left the religion at one point in my life, and then God called me back. Just for the records though on both of my old accounts (God rest their answers) I never said either one of those.

Also, just because you are a christian doesnt mean that you want fall. The Bible mentions this, in Hebrews. I don't remember the exact verse but when I find it i will post it.

Humans fall and give up over time, we have not the whole situation so we can not tell you exactly what the problem was.

Answer 8

You can say you were a hardcorde Christian, like I can say I was a hardcore emo...

I thought the world was against me, that cutting myself would make it all better, that listening to music with people sreaming the whole song....but guess what, I didnt feel depressed, i didn't cut myself, and i didn't listen to that kind of music.

You can fake anything, and even make yourself believe you're doing it faithfully...but you're not.

I am not a hardcore Chrsitian, I read the bible, the book of mormon(not mormon by the way), and many other religious books but I do not know whether or not it is real.

I believe it to be true and real, but do I know for a fact?

Do not blame God or Jesus for the holes and gaps in the bible because they are not the ones who did it. The bible says not to take away or add to it, but the early church thought they could do anything they wanted to it. So they added and took away....now we don't know what to believe and what not to.

Answer 9

I would like to see where I have made any post's that have said "you just don't understand because you aren't a believer" and/or "if you would just open your heart to Jesus, you would understand". Especially since you say that as a Christian I always say one of those things when an atheist post's something that goes against my beliefs.

As for your question about you leaving your faith...it happens all the time, we are human and the only one of us that was perfect got nailed to a tree for the rest of us.

Answer 10

"was once a Christian"
That statement says it all. God is not a fad. Christianity isn't something that you put on and take off when it is fashionable.
As for the atheists, how else can we answer but with the Truth of the Word? They truly don't understand. They live in denial while facing a universe of evidence pointing toward intelligent design. Even the word "uni-verse" points to God (uni = single, verse = spoken sentence). We live in a single spoken sentence. God said "let there be".