I put my faith and trust in God and went to Him with a sincere, honest and repentant heart - I really felt that He provided me with 100% assurance of a conviction of my faith.
But while studying to get my PhD in Comparative Religions, I found Jesus missing and the Bible to be wrong! I found Bible Archaeology to be a hoax:
http://www.tentmaker.org/WAR/
And the Historicity of Jesus:
http://www.truthbeknown.com/origins.htm
And the origins of scripture:
http://www.skepticfiles.org/american/godtheor.htm
I'm afraid that I was a genuine, born-again Holy Spirit-filled Christian, and came to the realization that what I sincerely believed with all my heart was just plain wrong.
I therefore had to change my belief. To not do so, would be living a delusion, don't you agree?
2007-09-14 04:30:31 · 50 answers · asked by The Burninator 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Ha! General Custer!
I'm sure I've read and collaborated with more Christian scientists that you knew even existed.
Three of them have already de-converted from Christianity based on the lack of evidence and we are all happier than we've ever been. You cannot imagine the freedom of being responsible for your entire life alone! I can say, as an atheist, I am happier than I've ever been.
2007-09-14 04:50:55 · update #1
Matt B,
I have read all of your sources. I used to be a contributing editor for TEKTONICS. They are wrong, and J.P. Holding is no scholar.
Josephus was forged, your comments belie a deficiency of sound scholarship - as if all your eggs are in ONE basket.
2007-09-14 05:13:53 · update #2
Anthony B,
What? The Dead Sea Scrolls present more of a problem for the Textus Receptus, than it presents help!
Where do you get your information? I remember, tho. The same place I used to get mine. Christian sources... They are, unfortunately, misleading, my friend. I haven't found one that passes scrutiny, and I have seen them all.
All the info that's coming to surface, thanks in part to the internet, will eventually find it's way into cultural mainstream and the tides will change and people will be able to live their lives honestly, for the first time in history.
2007-09-14 05:22:46 · update #3
Yes, I agree. Well said, outstanding, great sources.
I'd star this 100X if yahoo answers would let me.
2007-09-14 04:35:13 · answer #1 · answered by nflhandicapper 5 · 6⤊ 10⤋
This is classic.
Because you come across something you cannot argue with, or refute; out of a sense of being honest with yourself, you change your belief system as a result.
What you failed to do was learn how to evaluate those claims and evidence using the proper tools of critical thinking.
It eventually comes down to discovering approximations of truth. For you to say something like, "Jesus didn't exist" and provide claims made by skeptics does not constitute solid proof.
I was in the same boat as you once upon a time, and because I didn't even know the rules of scholarship and critical thinking, 25 years of my life were wasted.
For a refutation of the writings of Acharya S. see the website,
http://www.tektonics.org/
.
2007-09-14 04:42:29 · answer #2 · answered by Hogie 7 · 6⤊ 0⤋
Check out Mark Driscoll's Vintage Jesus series. He is the pastor of Mar's Hill Church in Seattle. He did a 12 week series on Jesus in a sincere, down to earth manner.
2007-09-14 04:43:27 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
Yes, I agree with your path. I was not a divinity student, but I have been exposed to Christianity to a great extent. Christianity is a religion of hearsay. All of the revealed religions are in this category. Religion should be something that can been seen, felt, and understood by all. It's tenets should not come from some ancient texts. I believe that Deism is right for me. If you have not yet researched Deism, it might be well worth the effort.
2007-09-21 09:40:06 · answer #4 · answered by Iconoclast 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that you had some questions in regard to your beliefs. If you were a born-again Christian then I believe that you still are and will come to know more about Jesus and find out the Bible is true. It may take some time, that is alright. If you feel that you need to change your belief, God is not put off by that. He is still working for your good and giving you a life that is fulfilling. If you get tired of not believing all you have to do is call out to Him.
2007-09-14 04:37:04 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 4⤋
Its all true! Now what are you going to do? You say you put your faith in God, but why would you abandon Him based on man's lies? Man has distorted the truth so he didn't have to follow the rules. Christianity, Islam, Judaism...ALL are guilty!
It is up to you to read and find the truth for yourself. Start with Jeremiah chapter 31!
Man cannot bring you to the glory of GOD! That much of what Jesus said wasn't a lie!
2007-09-21 16:16:46 · answer #6 · answered by Miz Clark 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You're a sap to believe that...
Ever look at what Christian scientists have to say regarding it, or did you just look at what those trying to discredit Christianity had to say?
My advice: Just do some REAL research like I did, trust me, you'll see you are mistaken.
P.S. If you lost your faith in God then you weren't born again... You might have believed He existed for a while but that is not being born again. If you were born again then you would have thought to yourself, "Hmmm... I'm sure there's some sort of answer for this."
As true born again Christians do.
2007-09-14 04:39:28 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 9⤊ 3⤋
How do we know that you haven't always been an atheist, and you are just saying you were a Christian?
2007-09-21 09:23:46 · answer #8 · answered by byHisgrace 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dear Mr. Burninator:
You turned to God and got swept away.
You turned to 'education' and got swept away.....in the other direction.
I beg you to stop, research thoroughly BOTH SIDES ....from authoritative sources, then live with all that information for about 1 year.
Then see what direction you want.
2007-09-14 04:48:24 · answer #9 · answered by Uncle Thesis 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
So when you were saved you felt nothing, you apparently never experienced the Holy Spirit coming into your life, you never felt that overwhelming peace that comes with Jesus Christ, or the Joy of knowing the Creator, I guess Your heart was never on fire, you never felt those goose bumps run all over you while you were listening to a good preacher or hearing a good praise and worship son, like Amazing Grace, or Amazing Love, if you have never experienced any of these things then you were never born again, If you have what you need is some good Prayer time, ask God to forgive you of all of your sins because something is coming between you and your God, you are not the first to experience this, as a Christian I have had many a times where I wonder where he is at and what he is doing, but I know he is the potter and we are the clay remember. Now remember, most scientists and scholars today donot believe in Jesus, they already have everything they need they think. Remember the Pharisees, they thought they new everything, they new nothing. God never changes, he's the same everyday, we are the one's thats change. Jesus is still right where you left him, either at the church or in your heart, only you know. Human beings change, thank goodness for Psalms 23, John 3:16, and so many more. If you have an questions send me an email!!!
2007-09-14 04:51:09 · answer #10 · answered by victor 7707 7 · 5⤊ 1⤋
Seen it all before my boy, studied it all before my boy. For fifty years I've seen 'scholarship' make all sorts of claims they thought should destroy Christianity once and for all, but each claim just kept being disproved over the course of time, and the Bible proved again and again and again, while the psuedo-intellectual skeptics were made to look like fools, again and again, and again! So silly things like this just don't have much affect on me any more.
You keep on learning there kid, someday maybe you'll get past this pretentious drivel, and start to actually THINK! It's really quite liberating.....
2007-09-19 17:34:05 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋