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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm good. No going there if honesty matters. I think when a crisis hits your IQ drops a little and religion seems more plausible but not rational.

You keep telling yourself that.

Signed, National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist who is a believer, who has had a pretty crisis-free life so far, and who would be happy to compare IQ scores any day with someone who presents her "thoughts" as facts

So what? I'm sure there are National Merit Finalists who either don't believe in a god or believe in one that different and directly opposed to yours.

People who are otherwise intelligent can still hold objectively incorrect beliefs for a variety of reason. People who are otherwise not that smart can still hold objectively correct beliefs for a variety of reasons. Intelligence is a good bellwether of the validity of beliefs but it's not perfect.

[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

So, in other words, you came back to same ideas that were presented to you as "true" from an early age. I also don't see how you can go from "how could the Big Bang cause itself?" to Jesus is definitely the son of the one true god, YHWH. That's a big leap in logic.

Also, isn't William Lane Craig a young earth creationist? Pretty sure he's not exactly who want to endorse if you're trying to bring people back to your faith.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I do -- I go to Hindu temples every now and then. I will also wander into a Christian church to quietly contemplate or pray, and I have gone by invitation by a friend to service on several occasions. To make things more confusing, my husband is Jewish, but his family does not practice a lot. I'd like to experience more. I've been to Jewish services and seders a few times. I wish there were more of a Hindu spiritual community here -- or maybe a Unitarian church. I know, I'm all over the place. But what I really like is the meditation and fellowship. Hinduism seems to lack the latter.

[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

So, in other words, you came back to same ideas that were presented to you as "true" from an early age. I also don't see how you can go from "how could the Big Bang cause itself?" to Jesus is definitely the son of the one true god, YHWH. That's a big leap in logic.

Also, isn't William Lane Craig a young earth creationist? Pretty sure he's not exactly who want to endorse if you're trying to bring people back to your faith.

Another big question is why, after causing the big bang, did god wait billions of years to create humans and then many more years to send his son to redeem them?

Other questions: Why did humans need redemption? Why did God only reveal this to a small group of humans in the middle east? Why has it taken so long for this important information to spread and why don't more people accept it? Why do even people who do accept it (Christians) differ so much with each other that they have wars with each other or break off into different denominations?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Another big question is why, after causing the big bang, did god wait billions of years to create humans and then many more years to send his son to redeem them?

Other questions: Why did humans need redemption? Why did God only reveal this to a small group of humans in the middle east? Why has it taken so long for this important information to spread and why don't more people accept it? Why do even people who do accept it (Christians) differ so much with each other that they have wars with each other or break off into different denominations?

You are trying to use reason against an unreasonable premise. Religion persists because you are not supposed to be reasonable with it. Using reason to argue against religion is like using science to argue against astrology. The other side won't be convinced and you will only be frustrated in the process.

When someone makes a dubious claim without foundation in the facts, just dismiss it and move on. There is no point in arguing against it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Another big question is why, after causing the big bang, did god wait billions of years to create humans and then many more years to send his son to redeem them?

Other questions: Why did humans need redemption? Why did God only reveal this to a small group of humans in the middle east? Why has it taken so long for this important information to spread and why don't more people accept it? Why do even people who do accept it (Christians) differ so much with each other that they have wars with each other or break off into different denominations?

You are trying to use reason against an unreasonable premise. Religion persists because you are not supposed to be reasonable with it. Using reason to argue against religion is like using science to argue against astrology. The other side won't be convinced and you will only be frustrated in the process.

When someone makes a dubious claim without foundation in the facts, just dismiss it and move on. There is no point in arguing against it.

That's true but hopefully someone else will come along, read this conversation, and start connecting the dots for themselves. I think the benefit here is to get other people (not the OP) thinking critically about how they approach "faith" and start asking questions

[Anonymous]

I grew up agnostic and came from agnostic parents. The only bit of religion came from my Anglican grandmother who took me to church twice when I was 8. Fast forward to my thirties, when I underwent major surgery. In the intensive care unit, I had a flatlined and saw the white light. And floated up to it. It was calling me and was so peaceful. My pain instantly left. Someone (God?) told me I had more work to do and to come back later. I'm back at the hospital, with intense pain, it's loud and doctors and nurses are frantically working on me.

I'm a believer now. In what or whom, I'm not sure exactly. But now I believe in God and heaven. I quit my corporate attorney job and am now working with troubled young people as a counselor. I felt a calling to give back. My life is so much better now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up agnostic and came from agnostic parents. The only bit of religion came from my Anglican grandmother who took me to church twice when I was 8. Fast forward to my thirties, when I underwent major surgery. In the intensive care unit, I had a flatlined and saw the white light. And floated up to it. It was calling me and was so peaceful. My pain instantly left. Someone (God?) told me I had more work to do and to come back later. I'm back at the hospital, with intense pain, it's loud and doctors and nurses are frantically working on me.

I'm a believer now. In what or whom, I'm not sure exactly. But now I believe in God and heaven. I quit my corporate attorney job and am now working with troubled young people as a counselor. I felt a calling to give back. My life is so much better now.

I'm glad that experience had a positive effect on your life. Perhaps you've heard that the "white light" experience is not uncommon and of course is not proof of God and heaven any more than a dream about seeing flames and hearing a ghoulish voice would be proof of the devil and hell.

More likely, its your brain responding in ways that we don't yet understand.