Has anyone questioned thier faith before?

Yes (many discussion threads by atheists on the internet; also books by atheists).

What I have found though is that there is no positive evidence for Atheism. And the negative arguments (against the existence of God) have not been particularly compelling.

Yes.

I view the world in terms of hypotheses, e.g., (A) that there is no God, and (B) that there is a God.

As I have investigated the evidence I have come to the view that "B" (above) is the more rational hypothesis.

I used to be an atheist. Over time, I became disillusioned with Atheism, and ultimately became a Christian Theist. (see http://www.godsci.org/gs/chri/testimony/seek.html for a summary of the path that led me from Atheism to Christ).

A reminder to check (and double-check) what I believe and why.

I have been a truth-seeker for most of my life.

This has caused me to give serious consideration to the existence (or non-existence) of God.

It was this process that led me out of my earlier faith (Atheism) to the growing conviction that the Christian God really does exist.

Cordially,
John

God answered my question with His Presence... It is no longer a question.

__________________
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.

yes i have. I felt my faith crumble, and i felt very sad.

Same here, except my faith got weakened instead of strenghened.

I'm the best double-poster in the world!

I was raised Catholic in a Catholic family for 19 years. I went to church every Sunday and was confirmed. Sometime after highschool I questioned my faith for well over a year before deciding that I was atheist. During this period I wasn't sad or unusually happy, I was just very contemplative. I didn't plan how it was going to turn out. It was a year of honest searching. During this period, I didn't tell anyone that I was questioning my faith, mainly because I was afraid of the types of reactions I would get from those close to me. I did notice that as I began to give up the idea of a supernatural god, a flurry of new, wonderful questions started filling my head. I became much more active in all my hobbies (which included reading, soccer, playing the guitar), much more tolerant and open to new ideas, and really just started to enjoy life.

I opened up to my parents and told them about the change that took shape in the early years of college. I should note that nobody forced anything upon me, neither theist nor non-believer. I do recall that Richard Dawkins was the person that got me thinking about god and religion, but very indirectly. I happened to stumble upon one of his Christmas lectures meant for kids. It introduced me to how wonderful the universe is. I don't recall god or religion being anywhere in those lectures at all. From there I just started to question everything, figuring that I would get one answer. Either I would reaffirm something I already knew, or I would reshape the way I would look at the world. I highly recommend this approach. Take things one step at a time and always be curious, follow every path and opportunity to learn something new. Some of you may already be doing this and can attest to the wonderful feeling of being more in tune with the world. An eclectic education is always exciting!

In the end, this is what my religion is. As I lost my superstitions, one by one, I gained an insatiable thirst for a view of the world as only I can see it. I subscribe to the ideas of many fellow atheists. Here I want to note being an atheist says nothing other than that I don't believe a supernatural being exists that demands our care in return. I would suggest that a lot of us, including myself, find great happiness in life. I for one, believe this is the only life we have to live, so live the heck out of it! That doesnt mean go hire as many prostitutes as you can. It simply means live the best way you know how. Pursue your dreams, your hobbies, and friendships. Make use of that little bundle of neurons between your ears, and make the most out of every day all the while remembering that it is imperative for our survival AND HAPPINESS that we understand there are billions of other people that deserve the same.

All of this is what I have gleaned from a life without a supernatural being. I'm guessing you and I are alike in our hopes and dreams and the way we carry ourselves. Hopefully I was able to show that being atheist, merely a description, not a title or religion, suggests nothing more than a lack of belief in a omnicient, omnipotent, supernatural being. Three years later, I regret nothing. My being here in this forum is my pitiful attempt to try to give back to the dot-com society and help people understand that there are not just two, but many sides to the story. I'm willing to answer any questions you might have about my background or outlook on this magnificent journey we call life!

Have a wonderful trip.

This post turned out much longer than I intended, but all the while I felt the urge to keep writing. I assure you that I could go on all day about this topic. I find it so very interesting.

I have been to an athiest forum to try to win people to Jesus and I saw a lot of anti-God type comments or reasonings. Some were just not convincing at all, and are just a misunderstanding on their part, i.e. thinking God is some how a Genocidal killer set on the destruction of all man kind. Other points are valid, and raise some questions regarding the acuracy of parts of the bible for example. Such as the order of events in Genisis are not correct with our modern understanding of science. However I have had a lot of experiences with God where he has revealed himself personally to me so I know that even if there are a few errors in the bible it does not mean that there is anything wrong with God or Christianity in general. I will share my experiences below so you can understand what I mean:



One morning I got up and walked into the hall and I heard a voice say "How would you like to be stabbed in the Valley". The Valley was the rough end of town, and the voice scared me a little, I wondered if I had done something to offend God. I had planned to go down to the Valley to ask people out to church as was my habit at the time. In the end I went anyway regardless of the fear. I walked up to the first person I met and asked him if he would like to go out to church. He said to me "I am an atheist, I don't believe in God". I just said "fine", but hoped to change his mind. He then proceeded to unbutton his shirt and showed me scar marks up and down his chest and stomach. He said to me, "I was attacked by a knife wielding man in the Valley some time ago and spent months recovering in hospital, How could God allow that to happen to me". Then I knew why God had said in the morning "How would I like to be stabbed?". God understood this man, but had a good plan for him. Some weeks latter this man came out to church and became a Christian.

Some time after the second Gulf War an Australian man Douglas Wood was captured by terrorists in Iraq, who made demands for a ransom or he would be executed. I set about fasting and praying for his release, I said to God "You know where he is....tell me". Three words entered my mind ABC, Bizaar and "A-meal". I thought "I am going crazy what has all that got to do with him. Bizaar I though "this is Bizarre". I thought maybe "A-meal" is a town so I searched a map of Iraq for a town of that name, but found nothing that really matched. Some time latter Douglas Wood was freed by US troops who came across his captors. It was not until latter that I actually discovered what the three words meant. I was on a forum libertyunites.us and came across a post by a user called ABC in the post she appealed to the captors to release Douglas Wood because he had gone to a/or the Bazaar and bought food for homeless people and had provided them with "A-meal". I believe God saw this action too and blessed Douglas Wood with an escape from his captors.

One time I thought about suing some one but felt bad about it because I did not want to give a bad impression about what a Christian is like. SO I prayed and asked God to show me clearly what to do. Latter that day I opened my bible at random, selecting a random verse and it opened to 1Co 6:7 "Nay, already it is altogether a defect in you, that ye have lawsuits one with another. Why not rather take wrong? why not rather be defrauded?" So I knew what God was thinking, no lawsuit.

At one point in my life I was praying for scientific cures for illnesses like cancer. Because I was on a science kick I thought would it not be fun to create a real life dinosaur. I wanted Jesus just for fun to show me how to create a Real Live Dinosaur, he can show us anything you know if he wants, but when I asked him how to start recreating a Dinosaur. Jesus spoke into my head the sentence "I bood", it entered my mind when I was awake, a term I had never heard before. I decided to look it up on the Internet and I found out the following: You see, the children of Semai are taught from an early age, the concept of "bood." If a parent asks a child to do something and the child replies "I bood," in other words, "I don't feel like doing that," the matter is closed. Bood means gently No.

One day I was witnessing to a Muslim and he asked me why we ate pork. I used the verse out of the bible which says "It is not what enters the mouth that defiles a man but what comes out of the mouth". After some general discussion I finished for the night. I asked God to give me a verse from the bible to encourage me. I opened the bible at random and selected a random verse. It opened to the exact same verse that I had used with the Muslim. The one about food not defiling. So I knew that God was approving of what I had been talking about.
"What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him "unclean.'"- Mat 15:11

I think in order for one to have a strong faith it has to be tested or question. I did in fact question my faith and the conclusion was that the "world view" on God was all based in Facts.. Facts are simply statements that can either be proved or disproved, they have little to do with Truth. with this in mind, I began to look at that the "World view" or system of belief as just another form of "religion." It just this one builds temples in academia to the greatness of our own cleverness, rather than to God. It's doctrines are based in ever changing "facts" Rather than scriptural truths, It's theology centers around the need to put distance between God and it's believers rather than to bring them in..

My final conclusion was that "world's view" like the church is based in faith.. The same type of faith needed to believe in God. Because again look at the ever changing facts of church of science and history. what is true today will be foolishness tomorrow, we are always one discovery away from rewriting texts books because fundamental truths are a rare commodity in this religion.. Everything is based in ever changing facts, and the faith required to believe in something that is known to change, as if it were foundational, or true takes a great deal of faith.. Even if it is mired from plain site by popular peer belief.

So bottom line whether you believe in God or our collective intellect and current understandings, you are exercising faith.. The only difference is where your heart lies, and what it is or who you wish to be more accepted by..

__________________
Church was never ment to be safe. Or comfortable. Or predictable. God isn't any of those things. Church is supposed to arrest our pride. Church is meant to crush our selfishness. Church was created to carry our heartache and comfort our affliction. Church is where we find community, express compassion and engage in mission. But Church without God does none of that...
...When Church stops being about us, it can be about God again!

-James Macdonald

i knopw someone who asked jesus how much he loved him, jesus reply was well i made you poor born into a horrible family and circumstances took away your closest friend , made you incredibly ugly so your life would be full of pain and made you incapable of working for a living so not very much

so did i i realised that if god were real he is a heartless being who has no regard for humanity for all the misery he has given to some people on this earth, but yes i was sad as well and still am

its just too hard to believe in god when life is so miserable for some people