To former atheists, what made you desire the faith? (moved)

[Deidre32]

I'm a former Christian, as most here know...and now an atheist. But, over the past year, I've felt an unexplainable void...a hole where God once was, or at least what I thought he represented.

My grandmother died on New Year's Eve, and that void has widened. I don't know if we should pigeon hole ourselves into labels...for I still wonder if there could be a higher power guiding us. But, I don't feel there is any proof of such, except my own subjective. feelings.

So, I thought I would ask here...for those who were once atheists, and are now Christians...what stirred inside you to turn to faith...to believe in a God?

I look forward to hearing your stories, if you're so inclined to share.

 

[Nanopants]

A friend of mine brought over a gospel movie and even though I was a christian when I was a child and had already known the story, I had never seen a visual depiction of it in a way that was very moving, but this one deeply affected me. I was also going through some tough things at the time, and I just felt this very deep emotional pull that seemed to justify wanting to be sure if it was true or not. Being an agnostic at the time, I had a similar position about there being no proof, but I figured that if God is real, then God can prove His own existence, so I decided to try prayer, and so I prayed and asked that God show me the truth. That prayer was answered, and so I had all the proof I needed, but that's not the whole story, of course, just a short summary.

I also had no idea that you were a christian.

 

[Joshua260]

So sorry to hear of your grandmother passing away.

For me, for most of my early life, I thought little about whether God existed or not. Too busy drinking. Later, I considered the possibility and allowed that I did not know God did not exist and left it there. Later, I decided to investigate the Christian claim further and became convinced. It's not that I desired faith, but I desired truth. Since then, I have studied many philosophical arguments and Christian evidences supporting the truth of Christianity. Quite honestly, I now think it is more rational to believe in the Christian god than to believe in atheism.

I'll pray for you and your family.
God bless.

 

[Sketcher]

I do believe this is the wrong subforum for that.

 

[TheyCallMeDavid]

I'm a former Christian, as most here know...and now an atheist. But, over the past year, I've felt an unexplainable void...a hole where God once was, or at least what I thought he represented.

My grandmother died on New Year's Eve, and that void has widened. I don't know if we should pigeon hole ourselves into labels...for I still wonder if there could be a higher power guiding us. But, I don't feel there is any proof of such, except my own subjective. feelings.

So, I thought I would ask here...for those who were once atheists, and are now Christians...what stirred inside you to turn to faith...to believe in a God?

I look forward to hearing your stories, if you're so inclined to share.

I used to be a person that embraced
atheism/humanism for many adult years and who bought into the cultures
mantra of sexual
hedonism , going for the gusto in life, and doing virtually anything I
felt like doing to satisfy the urges and impulses in an effort to find
ultimate fulfillment , happiness, and joy. Everything I tried was
short lived , destructive to myself and others, and essentially
superficial . A g/f I had at the time started taking me to her
families church and over the period of a year, I started to realize
that life was more than just going on a personal feeding frenzy of
joyseeking , material acquisition, prestige, fancy vacations, and the
like . During this same time period, I heavily investigated the
scientific evidences for our personal theistic Creator , for the Bible
being the most accurate historical document in existence which gives
eye witness evidence to the life, death, burial, and ressurection of
Jesus Christ who claimed to be God in the flesh. I started reading
books by popular notable Researchers/ Scientists / and Philosophers /
and Law Professors such as Prof. Simon Greenleaf who is THE worlds
foremost Law Professor in Court of Law Evidence techniques that put
the New Testament to a stringent mock court trial as encouraged by his
students...and based on the evidence became a Christian from an
Agnostic. As I surrendered bit by bit my life to God and his control
eventually leading me to become a dedicated Christian , I noticed my
heart, will, emotions , desires taking a drastic turn toward the
things of God , living righteously, caring and serving Others, and
loosing my quest for self centered lifestyles. Like so many others
testify, God reconstructed my life from the inside out. This is only
part of what GOd gives to those who choose him over the worlds idea of
living ...in addition, I have the assurance of knowing where im going
after this brief earthly interlude , I have been reconciled to God
thru what Christ has done and my sins are not counted against me (and
there are many) , and the lure of sin (what our culture promotes for
narcissism) doesnt have any power over me. My life is filled with
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness , goodness and physical death for
me will be a welcomed graduation day because there is no unknown when
death comes knocking -- Christ conquered that too on the cross for me
(and you) .
That is how my life has been changed by the real and living Christ,

A good site : http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/answers.html

 

[Messy]

I was Always searching for eternal life, even as a kid, not heaven, but here on earth to never die. I was terrified of death, I guess because my twin brother died and I didn't know where he went. I first started reading occult stuff and I believed all of that and then I thought: Well I can't say that I don't believe anymore, I'm superstitious as can be, so if those ghosts exist, why wouldn't there be an Upperghost? I checked Him out for a year, asking for miracles, otherwise I wouldn't believe in Him and everything happened and after a year it was just too coincidental to keep saying it was just a coincident and I went to a church and got saved.
I have lived a year without God, fell from my faith and it was just so horrible that feeling, of just being lost and all alone, awful, so I came back the same way as the first time. I thought: Well there's enough evidence of a devil in this world, so God must exist too and I invited Him again in my heart, prayed the sinner's prayer again and He came in again.

 

[98cwitr]

As a former atheist of 25 odd years, I realized about 6 years ago that all the coincidences in my life seemed to be interconnected. While each event in and of itself could be deemed coincidence, the summation of them overwhelmingly pointed to something being in control, and to further the minute probability, most of the outcomes were beyond my control. As an atheist, I had read the Bible through once, and after having this "revelation" (if you'd call it that) I started going to church as I did as a young boy, and there I met my wife, who was in college nearby and working at the same church I began attending. There just seem to be too many things falling into place that I have no bearing over for there not to be God. I wouldn't say I desired faith, I thought very poorly of "faithful" people as an atheist, but God promised a change of heart (Ezekiel 36).

 

[TheyCallMeDavid]

As a former atheist of 25 odd years, I realized about 6 years ago that all the coincidences in my life seemed to be interconnected. While each event in and of itself could be deemed coincidence, the summation of them overwhelmingly pointed to something being in control, and to further the minute probability, most of the outcomes were beyond my control. As an atheist, I had read the Bible through once, and after having this "revelation" (if you'd call it that) I started going to church as I did as a young boy, and there I met my wife, who was in college nearby and working at the same church I began attending. There just seem to be too many things falling into place that I have no bearing over for there not to be God. I wouldn't say I desired faith, I thought very poorly of "faithful" people as an atheist, but God promised a change of heart (Ezekiel 36).

Thanks for sharing. Looking back , do you really think you were an atheist or just someone who had all the evidence before them about God existing but weren't ready to surrender your life to his authority and loving control ? Back when I was a professed 'Atheist' , I wasn't one because of a lack of evidence looking back in hindsight. According to Romans 1: 18-21 , no one is justified calling themselves an Atheist.