What do you mean you used to be a Christian?

Question

I have seen many people on R/S make the statement that they used to be a Christian. Could you please explain how you became a Christian and then how you became a non-Christian. What is your definition of a Christian. How do you know that you were ever a true Christian?

Answer 1

This nonsense about "true" Christians is getting old. If someone accepts Jesus as their savior, that makes them Christian.

I was never a Christian, but I generally take it to mean they believed in the god of the Bible, accepted Jesus and their savior, and later realized they no longer believed in god nor in the supernatural nature of a man named Jesus.

Answer 2

I was raised a Christian by going to church with my family and being saved. However, I did not feel like I fit in. I would spend my time helping out in the nursery. And when I was at the service, I would feel more moved by the emotion of the people rather than my closeness to God. I hated myself for that. I would go for walks sometimes and feel the wind kiss my cheek, or climb a tree and feel like the tree was holding me and keeping me safe. This feeling developed and became stronger until a friend told me about the wiccan philosophy. Of course I am more of a naturalist/spiritual person and believe what I choose to believe, but that is how I 'used to be Christian' and am now something else! :)

Answer 3

I went for years to a fundamentalist christian academy. While I was there, i was "saved". How do I know I was a christian? How do you know that you're one now? So to did I then...

Today, I'm closer to a Discordian, but what that means is open to interpretation, which is really as it should be. Oddly enough, the basic core of my beliefs formed while I was in 10th grade onwards, as I began to question, and rationally (or irrationally works too) look at my beliefs. This was over 25 years ago, so my mind has shifted and changed a good bit since then...

So, I'm Discordian, but even I have doubts about the existence of Eris, the Universe, and myself. I think the Internet might exist, but I'm not too sure about all of you out there..I haven't decided if any of you are real, or if this whole thing is being created by an AI with one wicked sense of humor, then again, that might just be me.

Answer 4

I was born into Christianity. My father is a pastor. After moving out at 18 I began to study religion and science on my own. My conclusion is this: I am not sure if there is a God, but if there is, what kind of a God would send someone to Hell for not worshipping Him? Would that not be egotistical? I was a true "Christian". The word "Christian" means "Christ-like" and I tried as best as I could to be that way.

Answer 5

I was formerly a christian because I was raised in the christian faith. I say that I was a christian because I was raised to believe the bible as truth, attended church on a regular basis, prayed for forgiveness for my sins and expressed belief in Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection, accepted him as my savior, and was baptized. At the time, I sincerely believed it all.

As I got older, I started doubting the validity of the bible, and it wasn't long before I learned I was justified in those doubts. Along with questioning the bible, I came to question the existence of god and the divinity of Jesus Christ. I became a non-christian when I accepted that christianity was false.

I know that I was as true of a christian as I could have been, because I struggled immensely with losing my faith. I wanted it to all be true ... and it broke my heart when I started realizing that it wasn't. I didn't want to be rebellious. I didn't veer away from faith because I wanted to live "sinfully". I just accepted that I couldn't believe it, and I stopped lying to myself and everyone else.

Answer 6

I became a Xian pretty much the same way any other Xian became one: My parents were/are Xians, and they raised me as one.

I became a non-Xian by looking at the world around me and concluding that everything only made sense if there were no god(s).

My (short) definition of a Xian is someone who believes that a man named Jesus is his/her savior.

Was I ever a true Xian? This is the "No True Scotsman" fallacy, and is thus unanswerable.

Answer 7

a friend of mine got me to go to church with her, during that time i excepted jesus as my saviour. at one point i wanted to become a pastor. i started looking into the history behind the bible , people, places and events. and found an increasing number of severe problems in the bible.
when i started questioning the bible those in church acted as if i killed kittens and puppies, instead of even trying to answer my questions, they told me i should never question gods word.

all in all it was a very long and painful process for a while i felt that if i didnt have god then what did i have. it was a bit later that i realised that im the same person without religion (except that im alot more tolerant of other peoples beliefs)
now i feel like im much happier without religion.

Answer 8

1) How most people become Christian: indoctrination.
2) How most people go from Christianity to atheism: They read the Bible.
3) "True" Christian doesn't exist. It's a meaningless term.

Answer 9

I had the trademark.


True Christian ™

Answer 10

Just as a person can choose to be a Christian they can also choose not to be. God is a gentleman, He forces Himself on no one.