Let me clarify: Christianity is about a personal relationship with a personal God.
Now, that is really interesting. What exactly do you mean by that?
Do you have contact with God?
Does God speak to you?
Do you hear His words?
Does He give you information?
I ask these questions because if you
actually have contact with the
actual God of Christianity, that is incredibly important and significant.
I, however, do not believe that you really do. I mean no offence, I am not calling you a liar. I just think that the answer to my questions is
really:
Do you have contact with God? No, but you think you do.
Does God speak to you? No, you probably get "messages" from him in the form of coincidences and feelings.
Do you hear His words? I should imagine not, but maybe I'm wrong; maybe you do hear a voice speaking to you. In which case, I'd be very interested in knowing what it says.
Does He give you information? I'd be interested to hear if God ever tells you anything you couldn't actually have known yourself.
Now, since we were talking about Dan Barker, I thought of this extract from his book,
Godless:
Our ministry was a mix of music and message. We sang duets and solos, and I preached the gospel, varying the message to relate to each audience as I felt prompted by the Holy Spirit. It was all bible-based, stressing the importance of obedience to God and the joy of possessing a personal relationship with Jesus, and of course, the need to be a faithful servant who is ready and waiting for Christ’s return. We were sincere. I indeed felt that I was talking with God and that Jesus was my Lord and friend. During service, people would often come down to the altar to confess their sins and accept Jesus as their savior. It seemed so right to be doing something so powerful. My work and music was constantly affirmed by the testimony of others and by the testimony of the Spirit, or what I thought and sincerely believed was the Spirit giving witness to my heart and mind. I had no doubts that it was all real.
Barker, Dan. Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists (pp. 24-25). Ulysses Press. Kindle Edition.
Got that? Dan Barker
really believed that he had a relationship with God. It was real to him. And he later decided he was mistaken.
Can you say the same thing might never happen to you? If your answer is along the lines of "But I
really know that God is real - do did Dan Barker, and many others.