Any help would be greatly appreciated

Sent in by Mike

Hello everyone,

It seems that I am finding that I too am leaving Christianity. It is hard, but my experience seems to indicate that there is no God. If he does exist, I find that He is uncaring and selfish. I will share my testimony shortly in another post.

I have a question. Does anybody know of any good books written by scholars about how the bible came to be etc? I have heard that many so called prophesies about Jesus were added into the Old Testament to make it appear that Jesus fulfilled them? Is that true?

Basically I want to find out the truth, not some preacher or apologists stretched out truth. I need to find truly unbiased work about all this stuff.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks everyone for your open candor and stories as well as all the support I often see on this site. It is nice to know that I am not the only one going through this kind of “loss of faith” process. I am amazed at how many people are feeling the same way.

Thanks for your help everyone.

To Christians, from a fellow Christian

From Natasha

I would like the chance to say something, although I am quite aware that this is not a forum for Christians. I hope to echo the letter I read called "In Defense of Dave," but from the Christian perspective. If you are a Christian, and you are visiting this site, then please please please, think about what you are posting.

This is a website, clearly for people who WERE Christians, and now are not. Many of them were hurt by their church, or by Christians in their lives, and many see us Christians as uneducated, and illogical. Let’s face it guys, congregations can hurt people, and Christianity is illogical. It is not your job as a Christian to get into debates with these people who often have been hurt by the church. It is our job to apologize, and be humble. It is our job to admit that we have screwed up, and that people have been hurt. It is our job to hold each other accountable to the Christian beliefs we espouse. It is NOT our job to judge people who don’t even hold to the same beliefs we do. It is NOT our job to argue and hate – you are just proving their point when you do this.

People who are ex-Christians are not people who have never heard the gospel – in fact many of them, from what I have read on this site, are better educated than we are about our own faith. They are not looking for your “insight” and you would be hard pressed to present some argument they have never heard. They are looking for healing, and support, and we owe it to them to do whatever we can towards that goal. We are called to be loving, not judgmental.

If you are a Christian, and you haven’t read Dave’s testimony, then do that before you begin to assume anything about anyone else on this site. Try to see everyone here as a person deserving of your love, not a demon possessed soul in need of your judgment.

I have a question...

From Michelle

I was raised in a Christian home, and would still consider myself Christian. However, we never believed the Bible as the 'literal' Word of God (inspired doesn't mean literally true) or that millions of people would go to hell simply for not accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

I do, however, have some fundamentalist Christian friends, and know that they pray for me to see the truth. I try very hard not to discuss the Bible with them, as it just tends to go in circles. I've read in some of the testimonials here that it's sometimes difficult to talk to fundamentalists/evangelicals, in that they're not quite listening because you're a lost soul, and thus what you say doesn't carry as much weight, due to not having the Holy Spirit. I can agree with that one, which is why I don't discuss the Bible or my beliefs with them.

But I do have a question for those of you on this website who had seriously studied the Bible, or might have been ex-ministers. I read somewhere that there are verses in the Bible that fundamentalists don't focus on, or dismiss/try and change the subject as soon as the verses are mentioned, or say that 'those verses don't really mean what they say.' Would anyone have a few examples of those verses? It would just be nice to have something on hand to make my friends think, whenver the Bible does come up.

On a side note, I also get incredibly frustrated when fundamentalists/evangelicals assume I haven't read the Bible simply because I disagree with their viewpoint. I've read the entire New Testament, and have studied the history of Christianity. Which is exactly why I don't agree with the fundamentalist/evangelical viewpoint. Consider that my rant. :)

Thanks in advance for your help.

Still searching

From Michael R.

I have recently discovered this site and find it fascinating. I also have been seeking answers because of the promises that Christianity give just don’t come true. I will share my life story later as to why I am leaving the faith. But for now, I have a question that I would love to hear some comments about.

The one idea that sticks in my mind still is the mark of the beast. With technology today, it seems that the bible prophecy is close to becoming true. I have read where the banking industry (among others) is pushing for a paperless society. So what do you all think?

Still searching.

You have to decide!

From Randy M.

I was raised in the Catholic Church and I went through the motions as a child. In college, I studied science/engineering, and rejected Christianity & religion. Now, as 28 yr. old, my life was nearly destroyed by alcoholism and other addictions. I was led back to a belief in a Higher Power in recovery.

What do I believe now? I not only believe in God, but Christianity makes sense to me. Why do I believe in God? Look around you...where did you come from? Your parents...where did they come from? The cell...where did the cell come from? The universe...where did the universe, with its laws come from? There is only one logical answer: a supreme and intelligent being.

By the way, don't identify Christianity with Christians - identify it with Jesus. So the atrocities committed by Christians in the past and now is not a true reflection of Christianity.

Read "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis for a reason-based explanation as to why Christianity makes sense. After reading that book, I've seen my religion with a new light.

Also, why does Christianity make sense and not other religions? Only Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, whereas other religions were led by humans. So Jesus was either a mad-man, the real Son of God...or a demon (paraphrasing Lewis). You have to decide who he was.

In the process of de-conversion

From Jamie

I think that I am in the process of de-conversion, though I'm not sure. What I'd really like more information on is the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. Growing up Seventh-day Adventist, prophecy was a big 'selling point'. While I don't remember all of what I was taught, it seemed to make sense at the time. Only now am I realizing that I've never checked out the "facts". I didn't question the preachers' version of history, nor did I check to see if the timelines fit the events they said they did.

I read SOMEWHERE on the net (though I can't find it...I was hoping it was somewhere here), where someone was debunking the 10 horns, showing that there were other nations around that were conveniently ignored when fitting the 10 nations to 10 horns prophecy. Does anyone know more about it?

I would think that SOMEWHERE on the net, there would be a systematic debunking of Seventh-day Adventist prophecy. However, most sites that criticize Adventists seem to be put up by people who have become, through some miracle, even crazier and more fanatical than the people in the church of my youth.

Any help here would be greatly appreciated...it might break the final chains of fear as I go through my 'de-conversion'.

Thanks.

You need an encouter [sic] with God!

A letter from ex-ex Christian

Hello All,

I understand that many of you, if not all of you have had bad experiences in Church or with Church people. Its nothing earth shattering, even devout Christians will tell you that often times they have been fed up with both. The thing that you all need to understand is that churches have had problems since the beginning, (READ THE BIBLE) why wouldn't they.. they are filled with regular people with problems, issues and complications just as yourselves.. An being ex-christians as you call yourselves you too know that accepting Jesus doesn't bring on some immediate drastic change in your behaviour and personality. Being a Christian means to engage in the process of losing your "old" self and gaining a new identity in Christ.. which for some can be as difficult as it sounds. However, we Christians keep the faith and commit to the process because we've had an encouter with God that solidifies our faith and encourages us to keep pressing towards the mark of perfection in Chirst (as Christ). God must be EXPERIENCED, not just read about. if you have the read the bible you will see that experiences and encouters produce faith. If you've only sat in church pews and mimicked other people, then what do you expect???

Don't fall into the trap of dismissing Jesus because you don't like what the pastor drives or what happened in the last Church you went to. Jesus is as real as you are... and if you stop watching people and instead try to find out who Jesus is for yourself, by humbly coming to Him and asking Him to reveal himself to you through His word, you will find out exactly what all this Christian stuff is really about and why we strive daily in the Faith.

I trust that instead of rolling your eyes and convincing yourself that what i'm saying doesn't make sense or doesn't apply to you. You would raise your hands to God, humbly admit that you're confused and lost your way and ask Him to Reveal His existence to you.

If you don't do this, then you're just not interested in finding out if God is true or not.. and you prefer instead to babble all day long about something you know nothing about.

IMPERICAL PROOF SCIENCE

Sent in by Kevin T

absolute origin what is it? of life that is,the universe is another story

put a frog in a blender turn it on puree......what what do you get?

frog soup right? ok....lets put it(the frog soup) in the perfect environment for lets say a couple trillion years or so...what do you get? a couple trillion year old frog soup...anyone disagree? let me continue....all the components needed to PUT the frog together again are all there however there is no way possible no matter how long you wait for it to become a frog again...anyone dissagree? the idea of primordial soup being an absolute origin is proposterous to say the least. with what we know about DNA today it is a statistical zero that life arose from nothing. how did the eye develope? in whole working all at once? anyone think thats possible? the eye is a very complex machine and requires many working parts all at the same time: optic nerve, pupil ,retina are you really saying it all just happened at once? complex machines dont just happen they are designed anyone disagree? the truth is evolution doesnt hold up to the standards of science....it is the best guess scenario science has to offer for now. you cant prove the existance of GOD either, it is a faith in something not being seen,in the beholding there in lies the truth. is the glass half empty or is it half full? or is it simply a half glass of water? all three are correct but its how we chose to view the evidence that matters....so who is right? now we see in a mirror darkly, then i shall know even as i am known

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