if you were ever a christian, but later became a non believer/atheist....?

Question

what made you change your opinion, belief, view on things?

I am just interested.
I am not digging for any huge arguments.

i appreciate everyones comments. :)

i myself grew up an atheist family..family turned atheist because the church asked my grandfather for more and more money, and later.. he just realized..that there are many things not answered, and that there is now real proof.

my sister believes in god however, and my parents are absolutely ok with it.
we are all very open to religion, and enjoy talking about it.
I myself am agnostic.

Answer 1

Born and raised a believing Catholic...became an agnostic around 22 years old...atheist about a year later.

1. I actually read the bible
2. I read the history of the bible, the changes that have been made to it, and the lack of knowledge regarding who wrote it (my favorite site on this is www.earlychristianwritings.com It has analysis of every book in the bible (and every book that didn't make it in) from fundamental, catholic and secular viewpoints....a great place to learn about the details of the bible).
3. I learned that morals come from society, education and experience, and that secular values can be superior to religious values.

Hope it helps...good luck in your journey.

Answer 2

The Bible is pretty clear that this is not really possible. (John 5:24 - John 6:37 and many more.) I would believe that this person probably was never really saved. I was saved at a very young age but backslid for many years. During that time it would appear that I was not saved on the outside but inside I was miserable. Many turn their backs on God when bad things happen in life. Look at Peter who denied Jesus 3 times when tested. He was basically saying. " I am not a follower of Christ." Look to the Bible for your own answers and not from other humans. The Bible is Gods word. It answers most of our questions if we choose to look for the answer there.

It amazes me how many responses did not say "I was a Christian but changed my mind." Going to Church, being baptized, and reading the Bible does not make you a Christian. You must be a follower of Christ. You will research writings by humans to prove to yourself that the Bible wrote by humans (inspired by God) is not correct. I always ask one question of non-believers. "What if you are wrong?" if I am wrong, all that happened is I tried to live a good life. Tried to be a better person. Tried to live ethically. (I also have had many magical experiences in my walk)If a non believer is wrong. They spend eternity separated from God. Not trying to be confrontational at all here. I care for every single person that responded. I want to continue this discussion with you in Heaven

Answer 3

I have always been agnostic. I think this is in large part due to my mother raising me with exposure to many different beliefs without enforcing any one of them. Lately though I have realized that I am much more of an atheist then I ever thought.

I went to church for years. All different types as well. No matter how much I wanted to I could not believe in god. As I got older I learned what exactly that meant.

Answer 4

Seriously? Reading the Bible. I wanted to see if it were possible for god to be as cruel as depicted. By the 3rd reading I was in a "devout" study group and was a real "fundie". After getting away from the crowd and reading and studying on my own the truth became apparent because it was right in front of my eyes the whole time. No god was not as cruel as I thought, it just wasn't real.

Answer 5

Even as a child, it seemed "made up". A way to force people to give money and behave.

Created a universe in six days? All the world's creatures saved on a boat? Born of a virgin? Turned to salt? Raised from the dead? Walked on water?

So as I got older, I found my suspicions were answered by science. And now it really seems made up. I still hope this isn't all there is. But I'm not gonna know in this lifetime. And that's ok.

Answer 6

At about the age of 11 or so, I began asking questions that the ministers couldn't answer. I realized that there was no evidence to support the central tenants of the whole "Christian" mythology, and I began, as I grew older, to study other religions and philosophies.

Answer 7

I have always had difficulty reconciling religious "teachings" and dogma with reason.

Learning about the First Council of Nicaea was the first trigger. Discovering additional historical facts and data independant of religious dogma provided further reason to reconsider.

Answer 8

i realised i had a problem with certain aspects of the church' teaching on the immaculate conception. (i was quite a devout catholic for several years).

i went to my parish priest to talk it through, but he kept asking me questions about my sex life. i realised he was getting off on me.

over the next few weeks i began to wonder how much of catholic teaching (the real stuff, not the theory) was proper theology, and how much of it was just priests getting off on other people's sins because they were too lazy to do their own.

i decided that the only person i knew who took catholic theology seriously was me.

i thought: 'you're a chump.'

but as fireball says: real christians don't give up. they stay chumps.

Answer 9

The short version is that I started seeing the holes in the bible and christian theology, the fact that there is no evidence for the existence of god, and a lack of personal experience with the god that I was supposed to be worshipping.

Answer 10

it was just a slow motion crash for me. not one major incident. i was baptized, confirmed, i even went to a Christian college (for five years...and graduated).

but, college taught me to think on my own more than anything. now, i can see how foolish some things are.

i took buddhism at my christian college. i studied many world religions. the more religions you know well (including old polytheistic ones that no longer exist) the more you realize how similar they are in that they are all based on nothing.