I read quite often that Christians are Christians because we were raised that way and never doubt. Well, I know better than that. I was an agnostic as a youth. My father was an atheist and my mother a weak Christian. I was made to go to Sunday school, but my parents did not attend either Sunday school, or Church. The reason given was I should make up my own mind about God and in order to do so I had to know something about the subject. Made sense then and it makes sense now.
When I became old enough to decide I turned to atheism. I thought the same way atheist think now. That if there was a God there would be no war, or anything else that was wrong for that matter. But I was only making up a god in my own mind instead of searching the true God’s word to find out why bad things happen.
I remember standing on my parent’s porch during a thunderstorm, daring God to strike me with lightning and feeling really brave doing it. How stupid can you get? It is what an atheist does.
If there truly is no God then there was no chance of being electrocuted by Him, so I had to ask myself, “Why was I feeling brave?” and the truth is, deep down inside I doubted myself. I, like all atheists, really was not sure.
I was being really stupid, or you could say I was being an atheist. An atheist would not admit it, but the truth is, it was arrogant, and ignorant, and I was acting just as any good atheist would act.
I remember hearing about the Mormon religion and thinking that it sounded right because they claim there is no Hell. Like all atheists do, that was just another attempt to create a god in my own mind: one that fit my qualifications for a God. You have to wonder how I ever thought I was the one to set qualifications for God!
The truth is, like all atheists, I had not thought it out. Being a good atheist I just accused everyone else of not thinking it out.
I was an atheist until I reached middle age, whereupon I came to my senses and instead of determining in my own mind what a God was supposed to do, or be, I decided to study what God had said about Himself.
I have been, and still am, amazed as I learn more and more about Him. There is absolutely no way that I could have dreamed up a God so wonderful, so awesome, so fair, so just, and so merciful. (I heard that “so what”) (You are reading, but you are not understanding) I suppose that is true because I am imperfect and God is perfect.
Anyway, atheist when you say that we are what we are, because we were brought up that way and we are to slow to learn different, you are absolutely wrong. It is really you that are to slow to learn. I know from personal experience that you are wrong.
Bible study by a student 
Atheists don’t dare god(s) to strike them with lightning, because they don’t think such entities exist. Since you are now a Christian, do you dare Thor to strike you with lightning now?
And you might notice at some point that gods never explain themselves, only humans purporting to speak for them. It’s humans all the way down.
Oftentimes, an athiest is right when he says “we are what we are, because we were brought up that way and we are slow to learn different.” If you think otherwise just think about all of the different denominations of Christianity. Almost every Christian differs on a minor detail of the faith simply because they were raised a certain way and haven’t re-examined their “foundation”. If it is true with the minor details of the faith then it must be true for some Christians with the faith as a whole. Just as some people were born into a Muslim culture and weren’t left with much of a choice to believe otherwise, there are Christians whose entire faith is based off of family tradition or even a simple fear of going to hell that originated from childhood.
Fortunately, God reveals himself to those who listen. That’s why there are some “Christians” who bring shame to the name of Christ with their actions, attitudes, and comments yet there are others that seem to be part of a living body of Christ, loving sinners, helping the poor, etc. The biggest difference is that they realize their doctrine isn’t what saves them. Their pride is in Christ not in their dogma. They are continually seeking God, hearing from Him, and changing daily to be more like Him as opposed to the nominal cultural “Christians” that pride themselves in their doctrine and go decades without hearing from God and changing.
In conclusion, yes, some Christians are what they are because they were brought up that way. But athiests should understand that all who claim to be Christians shouldn’t be lumped into the same category – like our friend, astudent. There is clearly something different and refreshing about this man’s approach to God that gives him exponentially more credibility than a “Christian” whose beliefs haven’t changed since they were born.
That is a bit on the offensive side.
It sounds as thought you were never an atheist; merely an agnostic who thought it was the intellectual thing to do to call yourself an atheist. That is all well and good. I am an atheist in every practical sense as there is no evidence of any supernatural actor in our universe. That being said; technically I am something like 0.0000001 agnostic because, as you said, there are no absolutes. Should compelling evidence for the supernatural be presented, I would gladly absorb it and modify my position accordingly. Despite what you might think, this is the stance of even the most vocal atheists (including Richard Dawkins). We have just made up our minds based on the evidence that exists.
C.S. Lewis was an atheist before he found true love., and look how he turned out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis#Conversion_to_Christianity
Brian,
“Atheists don’t dare god(s) to strike them with lightning, because they don’t think such entities exist.”
That was my point I dared God, not god(s) to strike me, because I didn’t believe in God, and of course i didn’t believe in gods.
God does explain Himself through the Bible. Not through men. Idols are gods and therefore can not explain anything.
Where is that phrase “It’s humans all the way down”? I think I know the story and wanted to use the parable, but I wanted to refresh my memory and couldn’t find it. If you will tell me I won’t ask Thor to zap you.
Joseph Jones,
Great comment. I think that we agree that Christians should reexamine their “Foundation” over and over. If that is not done one’s faith will be weak and when trouble comes it is sometimes too late to examine foundations.
My pride is in Christ, but it is because of my dogma (An authoritative principle, belief, or statement of ideas or opinion, especially one considered to be absolutely true), but I am always thinking about my dogma and sometimes I have to change it to make it as close to absolutely true as it is possible.
Thank you for your last statement.
Mike,
I suppose you could say it was a bit on the offensive side, but I was an atheist at the time, and that is what I did, and that is my assessment of my actions. It is the truth as I know it. I apologize if it offended you. I never did anything just because it was the intellectual thing to do.
You said, “Should compelling evidence for the supernatural be presented, I would gladly absorb it and modify my position accordingly.”
The Bible answered that statement a long time before you made it. (Luke 16:31 NIV) “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'”
You say there is no compelling evidence for the supernatural and you are right, but you do not give the same weight to the fact that there is no compelling evidence to the contrary. If there is a God that wanted you to make up your own mind if He existed, or not, He couldn’t reveal Himself, or give any compelling evidence.
Here is some evidence for you to consider. Science says that matter can neither be created nor destroyed, but it exists. How is that?
actually it’s turtles all the way down…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtles_all_the_way_down
Linux4dummies,
Thanks for the link. I use to read a lot of SF, because it teaches one to think in ways other kinds of books never could. But after I read and thought about the Bible, I realized that I was a character in a story that had no equal and now every time I think about reading a book written by a man I go for a book written by God.
Gary,
Thank you for the link. I learned more from it and it is very interesting. I must have heard the story as the woman did. Perhaps the story was told in many ways. At least I know it wasn’t my imagination.
Have no fear, Thor is not near. (Well, not to you anyway)
Just as a point of correction regarding Mormons: Mormons do believe in Hell. However, we believe it’s a state of being. Damnation is the end (damning, stopping) of progression. So when you are “in Hell”, there is an end of your progression. If that seems like a light punishment to you, imagine that your progression stopped the day you were born. That would really suck. But at least you get to die someday and move on (progress) to the next life. To suffer that for eternity? Not so great.
Hell, as I understand traditional Christianity, teaches that it is the place that Satan resides. We call that place “Outer Darkness”. And yes, we believe that some people will end up there.
Stu,
Thanks for the correction. It was a long time ago when I spoke with a Mormon and that was the impression that I received from him. Anyway we do not share the same understanding of Hell. Your Hell is different from the Hell of the Bible. The Hell of the Bible is a lake of fire and “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:15). It is correct that Satan will reside there. (Rev 20:10 NIV) And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
There is no end of the Hell of the Bible and most of humanity will be thrown in.