Why I left Atheism?

Question

The autobiography of an ex-atheist

http://www.doesgodexist.org/AboutClayton/PastLife.html

Answer 1

Wow, I just read it. It's really sad.

Answer 2

The thing that strikes me as completely false in this paper is the phrase used by the professors: "Young man, that is not a question that falls within the realm of science." This does not ring true as any scientists (biologists or cosmologists) that talk about origins of either live or the universe, do not say or indicate that.

There is also the idea that something came from nothing, which is a "Christian based" idea and not necessarily a given fact or even a supportable assumption.

Edit:
His statement: "I found that I could not find a contradiction--to find some kind of scientific inaccuracy in the Bible" is verifiable false as we know that rabbits do not chew their cuds, that there is no evidence for a global flood along with several genetic and physical impossibilities, no evidence for creation along with contradictions in the order, etc. Not to mention that archaeological proof for the Bible is limited to locations and civilizations.

Edit 2:
My last comment on this is that this person had a very strange approach to morals as an atheist, and that many things he relates have a strong Christian "flavor" even when he was talking about his atheist days.

All in all, my experience is opposite, I started as a christian and strong creationist, and the more I researched for proof/evidence for the Bible, the less I saw; including the complete falseness of creationist claims.

Edit 3:
Last edit, I would not base a change on this article as if it is not contrived, it certainly points to very clear misunderstanding of various branches of science, and both christian and atheist claims. I have no clue where this person is actually coming from as there are many contradictory currents of thought in it.

Answer 3

Having read majority of that extremly lengthy story, id have to question the scincerity of the author. They way he describes himself when he was an atheists makes him seem biased. As if he is proving that Christians are the complete opposite: 'I lived in a way that was very self-centered and that satisfied my own pleasures and desires regardless of whether or not other people were hurt in the process of what I was doing. In the process of doing this, I did a lot of things that affected me through my whole life. It is because of this that I present these materials hoping that perhaps some of you will not make the mistakes and suffer the consequences that I have suffered.' Well, not all atheists live that way now do they?

Next would be the line: 'I began to realize that science had its limitations--that science, in fact, strongly pointed to other explanations than natural ones to certain questions.' see from what i know, if you believe in the bible you do not believe in evoloution. to say that god made adam and eve and not the dinosaurs condraicts completely the arguement that god set the plan in motion (which it seems is what he implies). What do you say? To believe in science is to disregard the bible, to believe the bible is to disregard your science textbook. A compromize would be reveloutionary, but to discredit the 'Word of God' is most unchristianlike.

The writer goes on to say he tried to write a book discrediting the bible and found that there was a lack of material. i find that so hard to beleive it hurts.

The article continues, but annoys me as it seemed unbalanced or biased. I cannot say its an overall unfair article as i did not finish it, but thats the impression ive got so far. i have saved a link though, and will go through all of it when i have the time. The above is what i thought of it so far.

Answer 4

This personal testimony is completely flawed.

It was a long read, and was developed to enforce stereotypes that Christians use to belittle atheists in mass.

It is a shame that this person purportedly went to college, and studied biology and DNA and still doesn't have a basic understanding of abiogenesis or evolution. Either he is lying about attending biology classes, or he didn't pay attention.

He also waxes eloquent about his immoral behavior in the past. This shows that he is exaggerating, ignoring his current behavior, or so wrapped up in feeling forgiven, that he cannot recognize that not swearing doesn't make you a better person, just better company at mom's dinner table.

These 'conversion' letters are always the same, very formulaic, and always lead me to believe that the person writing them, never really considered their stance rationally to begin with.

Sad, but Christians eat this stuff, and nothing fills the offering plate like a good conversion story.

Answer 5

Either he had really, really poor professors or he is lying.

The field of astrophysics deals with the creation of matter. Such as Alan Guth's (MIT) work on how subatomic particles were created from energy of the inflationary period of the big bang.

And there has been a great deal of research on abiogenesis. We know that phenotypic RNA was the evolutionary precursor to DNA. And we have a lot of research/evidence on the conditions necessary for natural chemical reactions to produce nucleic acids. Check out the research coming from Szostack's lab at Harvard, or the Scripps and Max Planck institutes labs.

So since this work IS a matter of fruitful scientific inquiry, then you impressed by a fraud.

Answer 6

"I read the Bible through from cover to cover four times during my sophomore year in college for the explicit purpose of finding scientific contradictions in it. By that, I mean statements in the Bible that were false that I could throw back at her to show her how ridiculous it was to believe in God. I had even decided to write a book called All the Stupidity of the Bible. Something amazing happened as I did this. As I considered and thought about these things, I found that I could not find a contradiction--to find some kind of scientific inaccuracy in the Bible."

i guess he missed the book of genesis... the authors must have confused him by putting it at the beginning of the bible.

Answer 7

Interesting, but not very persuasive.

Basically, he realized that our current scientific knowledge can't answer ALL questions, so he embraces Christianity because it fills in every blank in our knowledge with "God."

Plus he fell in love with a Christian women and discovered (shocker) that being in a loving relationship made him happy.

And he discovered that leading a "Christian" life made him happy and gave his life meaning. All to his good, but none of it goes to the question of whether God actually exists. God could be an illusion and people still could be made happy by believeing in him. Look at the joy that kids feel when they believe in Santa Clause. Maybe God is Santa for adults.

Answer 8

I skimmed though it.

I am VERY skeptical about this account. Either this person had a whole series of very foolish professors, or he is lying.

To me the odds that he is lying are better than he would have had a sting of professors that would dismiss reasonable questions, have a poorer understanding of their fields than I, a layman, do and outright lie to him.

Meanwhile the Internet is littered with those who are willing to Lie For Jesus.

Answer 9

I read it and found it to be garbage. It is either made up, or he lives in an alternate universe.

It is propaganda that labels atheists as evil and lacking morals. It labels Christians as being the only ones who know the truth, and completely reinforces the stereotypes fundamentalists try to impose on science, education, free thinking and people who don't believe the same as them.

Answer 10

You have a powerful testimony. Thank you for sharing it on this forum.

It has been discouraging to read the skeptical and even blasphemous questions and responses on here, and even as you point out, the un-Christian-like comments from those professing to be believers. (You have even convicted me to examine myself on that.) You are right that both the skeptics and the apologetics often take Scripture out of context without really studying it all, or just take some person's word instead of prayerfully studying for themselves.

It is difficult for me growing up in a Christian home to imagine how someone doesn't believe in God--I have no frame of reference for it. But you explained it pretty well, and that helps me to have compassion and understanding for those who didn't have the blessing of being brought up "in the nurture and admonition" of the Lord.

I am glad that you found Him, and glad you are living and sharing your faith with others. May God bless you (and your sweet Phyllis whom God used to help get you to this point!)

My daughter who is now 14 is starting to think about colleges and careers. She really wants to go into some sort of environment science or natural resource conservation. I am praying hard that somehow she will find a campus and/or some professors that won't try to shake her faith and brainwash her. It gives me hope if they couldn't confirm their theories to an open-minded atheist such as yourself, maybe they won't be able to undermine an opinionated believer!

Answer 11

For a person who claims to be good at science, he seems to misunderstand some pretty basic stuff.

"The basic question of the creation of matter/energy from absolutely nothing is not an area that can be scientifically explored."

The reason this cannot be scientifically explored is because no scientific theory posits the creation of matter/energy from absolutely nothing. This person seems to want to invalidate a theory that doesn't exist.

I do, however, agree that it was rude of the professor to tell his student to ask "intelligent questions." It would have been better for that professor to explain to his student why the Big Bang does not claim that matter and energy were created out of nothing.

The fact that he couldn't find a single contradiction in the Bible suggests that he wasn't looking hard enough. The Skeptics' Annotated Bible (available online) has a list of over 300. Perhaps he should have taken to reconciling the ones other people had already discovered.