For those who used to be aetheists or agnostics - how did you find your faith?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do, but I don't expect anyone else to agree with me.

It just seems fascinating that a person could go from not having any religious beliefs to having such complex religious beliefs. But if I had ben born into hinduism, may it would seem that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do, but I don't expect anyone else to agree with me.

It just seems fascinating that a person could go from not having any religious beliefs to having such complex religious beliefs. But if I had ben born into hinduism, may it would seem that way.

I understand. I don't pretebd that religion can be rationalized and I tell myself it doesn't have to make sense to anyone else as long as it makes sense to me. I had a lot of direct spiritual experiences with the Divine, and that convinced me. It wasn't scripture, it was direct experience of Vishnu. The philosophical readings helped me but I think without direct experience I would be a lot more agnostic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am agnostic, although I'd really like to believe. I'd love to be a member of the local Episcopal church. I grew up in that church and it most closely aligns with my moral beliefs. But I just don't believe...

I did miss the spiritual side of things a lot. I have read a lot instead, a lot of philosophy, religious texts, others. I think I can most closely be described as pantheist now. The natural universe and everything in it, is divine. Not that there is an omniscient God, but rather the universe and nature are scared, and should be revered. Awe-inspiring.

This may not be what you are looking for. But I just wanted to mention it in case it touched a chord.

Do you not like being at your old Episcopal church or do you feel as if you shouldn't be there? In my experience, lots of Episcopal churches don't care what you believe and even openly wlecome agnostics, os if you're OK with it, so are they.

I don't believe in God. And hard an extremely hard time with the idea of Jesus' entire story. So I'd feel like a huge hypocrite being in church.

[Anonymous]

To the OP:

I was brought up in a Catholic school from 1st - 12th grade. By age 16 I was absolutely convinced that there was no God and that people who believed in God were stupid. For the next ten years of my life I argued against religious people and though myself quite clever. In my mid 20s I began to have some very strong philosophical doubts about atheism. I was confused: if matter was all there is in the universe how could the Big Bang cause itself?, how could we possibly have free will if we are essentially just a machine - is free will just an illusion?, why am I thinking?, if there is no God there is no ultimate purpose to my life, yet I feel there must be a purpose? Around age 25 I changed from my militant atheism and drifted to agnosticism and let religious people be, I stopped harassing people and just tried to be at peace. In my late twenties, I decided to occasionally pray to some kind of God in my mind to see if he / it was listening, but also started really digging into philosophy. I started having nagging feelings that there had to be more to life than just matter and decided that I was at least some sort of Deist. Around age 30, I slowly came to the conclusion that clearly God exists and I though the mostly likely explanation of God is as he is revealed himself through Christianity. It is really interesting that the dozens of questions and arguments I had for and against Theism and Christianity were already handled thousands of years ago, and I ended up coming to the same conclusions by reasoning without even knowing the arguments existed. GK Chesterton explained the same near conversion of faith as mine in his book Orthodoxy - where he basically said he was all excited to reason out these things and set sail to his new undiscovered island, only to find an entire civilization existed.

Anywho, I think we are in an age of society where people are more disconnected, more self absorbed, and although many people think otherwise, know of many things, but also don't really know much about anything. Most people's reasoning skills are atrocious (as was mine when I was younger, and I violently thought I was so right about atheism.) I could have easily disarmed myself if I could have met me now as a 40 year old. (And if you are atheist or agnostic, you may be very will reasoned etc but I would probably respectfully disagree with your conclusions.)

My advice, if you are looking for any and are seeking, is to quiet your mind, get away from your iPhone, TV, blogs, news, and all the other junk that fills up our world. Humbly pray to know and understand God. Read some light philosophy if you haven't. I highly recommend these two books which I discovered late in life, which would have been game changers. Reasonable Faith and On Guard by William Lane Craig. He also has a great website Reasonable Faith which you can look up.

Peace

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the OP:

I was brought up in a Catholic school from 1st - 12th grade. By age 16 I was absolutely convinced that there was no God and that people who believed in God were stupid. For the next ten years of my life I argued against religious people and though myself quite clever. In my mid 20s I began to have some very strong philosophical doubts about atheism. I was confused: if matter was all there is in the universe how could the Big Bang cause itself?, how could we possibly have free will if we are essentially just a machine - is free will just an illusion?, why am I thinking?, if there is no God there is no ultimate purpose to my life, yet I feel there must be a purpose? Around age 25 I changed from my militant atheism and drifted to agnosticism and let religious people be, I stopped harassing people and just tried to be at peace. In my late twenties, I decided to occasionally pray to some kind of God in my mind to see if he / it was listening, but also started really digging into philosophy. I started having nagging feelings that there had to be more to life than just matter and decided that I was at least some sort of Deist. Around age 30, I slowly came to the conclusion that clearly God exists and I though the mostly likely explanation of God is as he is revealed himself through Christianity. It is really interesting that the dozens of questions and arguments I had for and against Theism and Christianity were already handled thousands of years ago, and I ended up coming to the same conclusions by reasoning without even knowing the arguments existed. GK Chesterton explained the same near conversion of faith as mine in his book Orthodoxy - where he basically said he was all excited to reason out these things and set sail to his new undiscovered island, only to find an entire civilization existed.

Anywho, I think we are in an age of society where people are more disconnected, more self absorbed, and although many people think otherwise, know of many things, but also don't really know much about anything. Most people's reasoning skills are atrocious (as was mine when I was younger, and I violently thought I was so right about atheism.) I could have easily disarmed myself if I could have met me now as a 40 year old. (And if you are atheist or agnostic, you may be very will reasoned etc but I would probably respectfully disagree with your conclusions.)

My advice, if you are looking for any and are seeking, is to quiet your mind, get away from your iPhone, TV, blogs, news, and all the other junk that fills up our world. Humbly pray to know and understand God. Read some light philosophy if you haven't. I highly recommend these two books which I discovered late in life, which would have been game changers. Reasonable Faith and On Guard by William Lane Craig. He also has a great website Reasonable Faith which you can look up.

Peace

Sorry, 20+ years ago, when you supposedly became a "Militant Atheist"- that term didn't exist. I doubt that you were one. You sound much more like a good Christian who justifies lying to bring someone into the fold - the Christian fold, that is -- the only religion that counts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the OP:

I was brought up in a Catholic school from 1st - 12th grade. By age 16 I was absolutely convinced that there was no God and that people who believed in God were stupid. For the next ten years of my life I argued against religious people and though myself quite clever. In my mid 20s I began to have some very strong philosophical doubts about atheism. I was confused: if matter was all there is in the universe how could the Big Bang cause itself?, how could we possibly have free will if we are essentially just a machine - is free will just an illusion?, why am I thinking?, if there is no God there is no ultimate purpose to my life, yet I feel there must be a purpose? Around age 25 I changed from my militant atheism and drifted to agnosticism and let religious people be, I stopped harassing people and just tried to be at peace. In my late twenties, I decided to occasionally pray to some kind of God in my mind to see if he / it was listening, but also started really digging into philosophy. I started having nagging feelings that there had to be more to life than just matter and decided that I was at least some sort of Deist. Around age 30, I slowly came to the conclusion that clearly God exists and I though the mostly likely explanation of God is as he is revealed himself through Christianity. It is really interesting that the dozens of questions and arguments I had for and against Theism and Christianity were already handled thousands of years ago, and I ended up coming to the same conclusions by reasoning without even knowing the arguments existed. GK Chesterton explained the same near conversion of faith as mine in his book Orthodoxy - where he basically said he was all excited to reason out these things and set sail to his new undiscovered island, only to find an entire civilization existed.

Anywho, I think we are in an age of society where people are more disconnected, more self absorbed, and although many people think otherwise, know of many things, but also don't really know much about anything. Most people's reasoning skills are atrocious (as was mine when I was younger, and I violently thought I was so right about atheism.) I could have easily disarmed myself if I could have met me now as a 40 year old. (And if you are atheist or agnostic, you may be very will reasoned etc but I would probably respectfully disagree with your conclusions.)

My advice, if you are looking for any and are seeking, is to quiet your mind, get away from your iPhone, TV, blogs, news, and all the other junk that fills up our world. Humbly pray to know and understand God. Read some light philosophy if you haven't. I highly recommend these two books which I discovered late in life, which would have been game changers. Reasonable Faith and On Guard by William Lane Craig. He also has a great website Reasonable Faith which you can look up.

Peace

Sorry, 20+ years ago, when you supposedly became a "Militant Atheist"- that term didn't exist. I doubt that you were one. You sound much more like a good Christian who justifies lying to bring someone into the fold - the Christian fold, that is -- the only religion that counts.

The term militant atheist is the definition I give to myself as to whom I was 20 years ago. I was an arrogant ass know-it-all who had to pick a fight with everyone. I've answered the OPs question from my life's experience. I'm not here to debate religion or to prove my story, the OP can choose to take it at face value for what it is or ignore it. You are not adding to the discussion. Have a nice day.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks to everyone who has taken time to post so far. I appreciate you sharing your experiences.

[Anonymous]

Atheist here. If you feel like you would like to rediscover your faith, go attend some church service. Engage in the community. All of the church-going friends I have are incredibly warm and inviting. Our family went to a couple of church events on their invitation and the people made me feel welcome.

So I'd just do that and see where it leads you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Atheist here. If you feel like you would like to rediscover your faith, go attend some church service. Engage in the community. All of the church-going friends I have are incredibly warm and inviting. Our family went to a couple of church events on their invitation and the people made me feel welcome.
.

I needed to read this today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are Hindu too. Ive been atheist/agnostic my whole life but have akways liked the trappings of being religious, like the custums, rituals, comunity, certsinty -- of any religion (ok, I have major issues with Islam, and any other faith that oppresses women and girls, and that invludes sects of all the major religions, really). For the last several years, Id say Im more of a seeker, looking for signs of God so I can finally be on the inside of faith. My mother is dying a cruel death from cancer. Now I find I am open to speaking/praying to any God who will listen. I still am not sure. In our family, we tend to imagne one God, many avatars. As my dying mother said to our Christian Indian chaplain, Jesus is a God. I like the teachings of Jesus, for the most part, besides those that are out of date (ie homosexuality). His basic message of lovesnd forgiveness and original sin (meaning no one is perfect), resonates with me, and maybe because I was born here I just as often speak to Jesus/Christian God as often as Ganesha or other Hindu gods. So far though, it is a one way conversation. No mystical dreams. I asked my mom, who is a scientist, whether God is real, and she said with no hesitation, certainly, yes. I hope that she is right and her faith is real. She is close the end. My religious friends may see it as a miracle she is still alive and in a great spirits. I count us as simply lucky. If there were miracles, surely God would reserve those for children, true innocents, and yet horrors like what happened in Brussels and Pakistan still happen, challenging me again about why I want to have faith in God who would allow these things to happen.

You very eloquently described how my thoughts. I am also an Indian-American and I have struggled with religion. One question, do you go to a place of worship ever?
I am very sorry for your mother.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am agnostic, although I'd really like to believe. I'd love to be a member of the local Episcopal church. I grew up in that church and it most closely aligns with my moral beliefs. But I just don't believe...

I did miss the spiritual side of things a lot. I have read a lot instead, a lot of philosophy, religious texts, others. I think I can most closely be described as pantheist now. The natural universe and everything in it, is divine. Not that there is an omniscient God, but rather the universe and nature are scared, and should be revered. Awe-inspiring.

This may not be what you are looking for. But I just wanted to mention it in case it touched a chord.

Do you not like being at your old Episcopal church or do you feel as if you shouldn't be there? In my experience, lots of Episcopal churches don't care what you believe and even openly wlecome agnostics, os if you're OK with it, so are they.

This sounds more like unitarians,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the OP:

I was brought up in a Catholic school from 1st - 12th grade. By age 16 I was absolutely convinced that there was no God and that people who believed in God were stupid. For the next ten years of my life I argued against religious people and though myself quite clever. In my mid 20s I began to have some very strong philosophical doubts about atheism. I was confused: if matter was all there is in the universe how could the Big Bang cause itself?, how could we possibly have free will if we are essentially just a machine - is free will just an illusion?, why am I thinking?, if there is no God there is no ultimate purpose to my life, yet I feel there must be a purpose? Around age 25 I changed from my militant atheism and drifted to agnosticism and let religious people be, I stopped harassing people and just tried to be at peace. In my late twenties, I decided to occasionally pray to some kind of God in my mind to see if he / it was listening, but also started really digging into philosophy. I started having nagging feelings that there had to be more to life than just matter and decided that I was at least some sort of Deist. Around age 30, I slowly came to the conclusion that clearly God exists and I though the mostly likely explanation of God is as he is revealed himself through Christianity. It is really interesting that the dozens of questions and arguments I had for and against Theism and Christianity were already handled thousands of years ago, and I ended up coming to the same conclusions by reasoning without even knowing the arguments existed. GK Chesterton explained the same near conversion of faith as mine in his book Orthodoxy - where he basically said he was all excited to reason out these things and set sail to his new undiscovered island, only to find an entire civilization existed.

Anywho, I think we are in an age of society where people are more disconnected, more self absorbed, and although many people think otherwise, know of many things, but also don't really know much about anything. Most people's reasoning skills are atrocious (as was mine when I was younger, and I violently thought I was so right about atheism.) I could have easily disarmed myself if I could have met me now as a 40 year old. (And if you are atheist or agnostic, you may be very will reasoned etc but I would probably respectfully disagree with your conclusions.)

My advice, if you are looking for any and are seeking, is to quiet your mind, get away from your iPhone, TV, blogs, news, and all the other junk that fills up our world. Humbly pray to know and understand God. Read some light philosophy if you haven't. I highly recommend these two books which I discovered late in life, which would have been game changers. Reasonable Faith and On Guard by William Lane Craig. He also has a great website Reasonable Faith which you can look up.

Peace

Sorry, 20+ years ago, when you supposedly became a "Militant Atheist"- that term didn't exist. I doubt that you were one. You sound much more like a good Christian who justifies lying to bring someone into the fold - the Christian fold, that is -- the only religion that counts.

Not PP, but yes the term "Militant Atheist" has been around longer than 20 years, I heard it in the 80's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the OP:

I was brought up in a Catholic school from 1st - 12th grade. By age 16 I was absolutely convinced that there was no God and that people who believed in God were stupid. For the next ten years of my life I argued against religious people and though myself quite clever. In my mid 20s I began to have some very strong philosophical doubts about atheism. I was confused: if matter was all there is in the universe how could the Big Bang cause itself?, how could we possibly have free will if we are essentially just a machine - is free will just an illusion?, why am I thinking?, if there is no God there is no ultimate purpose to my life, yet I feel there must be a purpose? Around age 25 I changed from my militant atheism and drifted to agnosticism and let religious people be, I stopped harassing people and just tried to be at peace. In my late twenties, I decided to occasionally pray to some kind of God in my mind to see if he / it was listening, but also started really digging into philosophy. I started having nagging feelings that there had to be more to life than just matter and decided that I was at least some sort of Deist. Around age 30, I slowly came to the conclusion that clearly God exists and I though the mostly likely explanation of God is as he is revealed himself through Christianity. It is really interesting that the dozens of questions and arguments I had for and against Theism and Christianity were already handled thousands of years ago, and I ended up coming to the same conclusions by reasoning without even knowing the arguments existed. GK Chesterton explained the same near conversion of faith as mine in his book Orthodoxy - where he basically said he was all excited to reason out these things and set sail to his new undiscovered island, only to find an entire civilization existed.

Anywho, I think we are in an age of society where people are more disconnected, more self absorbed, and although many people think otherwise, know of many things, but also don't really know much about anything. Most people's reasoning skills are atrocious (as was mine when I was younger, and I violently thought I was so right about atheism.) I could have easily disarmed myself if I could have met me now as a 40 year old. (And if you are atheist or agnostic, you may be very will reasoned etc but I would probably respectfully disagree with your conclusions.)

My advice, if you are looking for any and are seeking, is to quiet your mind, get away from your iPhone, TV, blogs, news, and all the other junk that fills up our world. Humbly pray to know and understand God. Read some light philosophy if you haven't. I highly recommend these two books which I discovered late in life, which would have been game changers. Reasonable Faith and On Guard by William Lane Craig. He also has a great website Reasonable Faith which you can look up.

Peace

Where did you discover this? Is it from something you read.

[Anonymous]

I too went through a period of agnosticism, although unlike PP I didn't harass believers . In my early 30s, I, like PP, began to see myself in a larger scheme, maybe with a little more humility, and I started to think it was possible that there could be something--a force, a power, an ethos, greater than myself, and that such a system could be logical. I started to read widely--philosophy in general, Buddhism, the Quran, and the New Testamen. Then historical and theological works on the New Testament (everything from the Jesus Seminar to Strobel). That's how I approach most things--tons of books and reading others' views (I've published many of my own research papers).

For me, Christianity makes the most sense. I particularly appreciate the command to love your enemies, and the clear instructions to avoid the "us vs. them" mentality in some other religions (and despite how some Christians have behaved historically). A wise, loving God would want this behavior, and not the religious us-vs-them strife, in our 21st century where all nations and peoples are so interlinked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Atheist here. If you feel like you would like to rediscover your faith, go attend some church service. Engage in the community. All of the church-going friends I have are incredibly warm and inviting. Our family went to a couple of church events on their invitation and the people made me feel welcome.
.

I needed to read this today.

Of course they're warm and inviting - until you get into in depth discussions with them. "Warm and inviting" will bring you into the fold.