Sent in by David Image by Funky64 via Flickr I'm going through a sincerely difficult time right now. I have had an 'active faith' all my life. About two years ago I bought a major part of a collection of books from a theological seminary that was closing. The books were not only on Christianity, but also philosophy and Nature and many other topics that were similar. To make a long story short, after being exposed to philosophers like Democritus , Pathagerus, Empedocles ... all the way up to John Tyndall ... I have lost my faith. Today, and this is true, I went to a funeral for a gentle friend who was murdered by his lover of 21 years (who then committed suicide himself). I am sitting in this Episcopal church... and my heart is ripped apart over the sadness and loss I am feeling. And the minister begins to speak about how I should not think of my gentle and kind friend as being dead and that he is in heaven with Jesus, and that he died for us so we can all be together...

Image by rafaelm via Flickr From Gloria I have a question that I am hoping one or more of you can help me with. I suffer from OCD - obsessive compulsive disorder - and both of my daughters do as well. Mine are of the checking, counting, ordering type. My youngest daughter, 21, has always had sensory type obsessions with clothing and social anxiety issues. My other daughter who is 23 has gone through a large variety of OCD's, one often replacing another over the years. She has had anorexia , then compulsive eating, then panic disorder , depression, fear of germs, but the very worst thing she has faced, the obsession that is really most overwhelming is scrupulosity . She has dealt with this since she was 17. She is sure, on a regular, daily basis that she has sold or will sell her soul to the devil and she is terrified that god will reject her and turn his back on her. She deals with this fear constantly, day in and day out. It is overwhelming her. When she was 17, I sti...

Image via Wikipedia From Struggling Agnostic I became a Christian when I was in high school , and contrary to all other testimonies I've heard, my life had been perfect to that point, and I didn't accept Christ only when my life came crushing down. It's been about 5 years now, and being disappointed with the faith, and going through some serious depression and religious type of OCD , I've come to the decision that I don't want to believe in Christianity anymore and let go of old beliefs. I was successful at doing that for a week, however a few days later I experienced somewhat of a relapse similar to what alcoholics or people with depression experience. The information I read on this site against Christianity and in the books I purchased no longer speaks to me and encourages me the way they did before. I feel once again that Christ must be real and I should re-dedicate my life to him. All negative commentary on the Bible is easy to rationalize as a false conclusion...

Image by ahp00k via Flickr From Siarhei V So, I've been officially de-converted for about a week. It has been an interesting week of thinking, experimenting with stuff, telling my friends and family about it, and researching. However, after reading a ton of material on this website, it seems like there is one issue that keeps people believing, and there is no real counter-explanation offered by anyone. Even though I see many problems with Christianity, one thing keeps me doubting is the authority of Jesus over so called "spirits, demons , etc." that had been witnessed in counseling sessions and reported by many counselors in books, articles, and personal stories I've heard. We need some light shed on the topic, as it will help many of us to have a peace of mind and rest assured that we have made a right decision. What does everyone think, and what have your experience has been with supernatural , unexplainable, demon possession , and using the name of Jesus to deal w...