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questions for ex athiests...

PostPosted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 9:51 pm
by Tenshi no Ai
Along with many others topics I've made earlier, I'm curious on this and once again, my thinking-brain has been in top-notch speed. This is specifically for those who were once ex atheists (not just non-believers, but true-blue atheists) and became Christian, or knows the story of someone who was.

Just some curious questions for you...

Why was it that you believed in what you did? What disinterested you/set you away from Christianity? And finally, what was it that actually brought you closer to it, and ultimately, had you think differently and become a Christian?

EDIT: Added a new question into the batch, and reposting it on this post for those who haven't seen the topic yet:

Along with possible atheists, anyone else have an entirely different to belief and then came to be Christian? It can be anything from Buddhism to Judaism to Ba'hai to well, whatever^^ Same questions as above.

PostPosted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 10:07 pm
by ChristianKitsune
If you are looking for a really big answer to this question, I really think you should read an excellent book called

The Case for Christ it's by an ex-athiest named Lee Strobel. He was very against Christ, but went on a journey to ask questions about Christ. He interviewed many scholars about Christ's divinity and whether he was even real. I am not quite done reading it yet, but it's very interesting.

PostPosted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:05 pm
by Fish and Chips
ChristianKitsune wrote:If you are looking for a really big answer to this question, I really think you should read an excellent book called

The Case for Christ it's by an ex-athiest named Lee Strobel. He was very against Christ, but went on a journey to ask questions about Christ. He interviewed many scholars about Christ's divinity and whether he was even real. I am not quite done reading it yet, but it's very interesting.

On that note, C.S. Lewis was an Atheist prior to his Catholic conversion, and I'm fairly sure he discusses this somewhere in his writings.

PostPosted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 10:37 am
by GhostontheNet
I think he's looking for replies from people closer to home. Although to be sure people like G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, and to a lesser extent Lee Stroebel make rather dramatic examples of this sort of thing.

PostPosted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 11:20 am
by mitsuki lover
If I interepret the actual wording of the thread what she is looking for is members who used to be atheists but now are believers to explain a)why they were
atheists formerly and b)what was it that led to their converting to first theism and later on Christianity.

PostPosted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 11:38 am
by Tenshi no Ai
mitsuki lover wrote:If I interepret the actual wording of the thread what she is looking for is members who used to be atheists but now are believers to explain a)why they were
atheists formerly and b)what was it that led to their converting to first theism and later on Christianity.


Yeah... pretty much^^ I would pick up some books but if only I had enough time and day to read them :/ But I DO know that there are people on here that have said they once were ex atheists, and I know people have lots of friends...

PostPosted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 5:51 pm
by uc pseudonym
In keeping with that, I'd ask that people not post in this thread unless they have a story (theirs or another's) to share. Once we have a few discussion is fine, but if we could keep the thread clean until then that would be good.

Unfortunately, the best I can do is to point out that CS Lewis discusses his conversion in the book Surprised by Joy and the relevant material would be found a short ways in.

PostPosted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:16 pm
by Slater
I didn't believe in my God for the same reason that a Muslim doesn't believe in Him. It just didn't seem logical at the time to believe in Jesus as Savior, or that the world was created by an Intelligent Designer.

Eventually, He called me to salvation... And that call came to be more and more logical to me over time as I turned His way.

PostPosted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:51 pm
by SolidÃ…rmor
This is kinda vague? I don't mean to pry but could you explain a little on what you mean "it came to be more logical."?

"I didn't believe in my God for the same reason that a Muslim doesn't believe in Him. It just didn't seem logical at the time to believe in Jesus as Savior, or that the world was created by an Intelligent Designer.

Eventually, He called me to salvation... And that call came to be more and more logical to me over time as I turned His way."

PostPosted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 10:19 pm
by Slater
Well, I should say that the ideas and backings of humanism became less logical to me... Really, God is something that defies logic... Why an almighty God would sacrifice Himself to save his mere creation of human is something we may never fully understand... God is Love.

I'd go into more depth about it, but I'd get banned.

lol srsly

PostPosted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 12:29 am
by sticksabuser
I wouldn't say I was a pure atheist ever... I was pretty agnostic though... does that apply for this thread?

PostPosted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 1:02 am
by GhostontheNet
sticksabuser wrote:I wouldn't say I was a pure atheist ever... I was pretty agnostic though... does that apply for this thread?
Yes, most likely. Doubly so if your agnosticism was of the sort that says that one cannot know whether there is a god (with no caps due to not being a proper name in the present usage) or not.

PostPosted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:07 pm
by Tenshi no Ai
To also throw another question into the bag, here's something else:

Along with possible atheists, anyone else have an entirely different to belief and then came to be Christian? It can be anything from Buddhism to Judaism to Ba'hai to well, whatever^^ Same questions as before

PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 2:12 pm
by Arbre
Tenshi no Ai wrote:Along with many others topics I've made earlier, I'm curious on this and once again, my thinking-brain has been in top-notch speed. This is specifically for those who were once ex atheists (not just non-believers, but true-blue atheists) and became Christian, or knows the story of someone who was.

Just some curious questions for you...

Why was it that you believed in what you did? What disinterested you/set you away from Christianity? And finally, what was it that actually brought you closer to it, and ultimately, had you think differently and become a Christian?

EDIT: Added a new question into the batch, and reposting it on this post for those who haven't seen the topic yet:

Along with possible atheists, anyone else have an entirely different to belief and then came to be Christian? It can be anything from Buddhism to Judaism to Ba'hai to well, whatever^^ Same questions as above.


I may not be what you're looking for in this thread. I don't currently consider myself a Christian; I don't have a level of faith anywhere near that.

I was raised Mormon, converted to Christianity, lost faith in God, considered myself an atheist, and I'm agnostic currently.

There are parts of me that really want to believe. I can tell you what's hindering that if you want to know. Similarly, I can tell you the challenges involved with the conversion from Mormonism to Christianity. In many ways, it's similar to how an atheist or anyone not growing up in a Christian home would be challenged to accept the beliefs.

Otherwise, I'll duck back out of the thread.

PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 2:36 pm
by Tenshi no Ai
Arbre wrote: In many ways, it's similar to how an atheist or anyone not growing up in a Christian home would be challenged to accept the beliefs.


Hm yes that's true. If you have hardly or not ever at all experienced such things, it's completely different the have an entire mindset from what you once knew. Sort of like before I was Christian, all I knew was the bits I learned from catechism classes. I mean really, I didn't even REALIZE there was an alternative to the idea on evolution (aka creationism). It's just... all I knew when I grew up.