Hey Blockwell, what's shakin'?
I was born and raised atheist for 26 years. I became a Christian a little over a year ago, and became a Catholic Christian this last Easter. My screen name comes from Miguel de Unamuno, a famous Spanish writer, philosopher and theologian, who wrestled with his faith and with God for his entire life.
Blockwell said:
Thank you all for your replies, I was not quite sure what to expect. I think the replies can be broken down to these major points.
It is not unreasonable to believe in something if you have no proof of its non-existence:
This statement was already discussed and I dont want to belabor the point. I dont believe those who use this statement actually base their faith on this supposition (At least I hope not) but tend to use it on unbelievers when they cant think of anything else. If this were reasonable then we would all find it reasonable to believe in just about any outrageous claim made by anyone. [/font][/size]
I think the idea is that most atheists want to disprove God. I think we can all agree this is not possible. As an atheist for my whole life, I convinced myself that God was not possible. In fact, I still believe that the Creationist's God really isn't possible. I have since found that God, in a more reality-based sense, very much
is possible, but a definitive conclusion is never provable either way. So the above statement by itself doesn't have much rational value, but in the context of the larger search for God, it has merit in opening at least the possibility of God existing. It's just the first baby step in that search, and should be valued no more and no less.
Blockwell said:
Taking a leap of faith or Faith is a choice
To be honest, I am not totally sure if this works. When I professed to be a Christian (for two years) this is the term I used when I explained my conversion. Although I still had major doubts as to the believability of Christian doctrine, I told people who questioned me that it was a Leap of Faith on my part. At least for me anyway this meant that I was willing to put aside my doubts and chose to have faith that Christianity was indeed true. However, the leap I took never resulted in me landing anywhere I could stand with confidence. Eventually I found the only solid surface I could navigate with confidence was labeled I dont know
Saying "Christian doctrine" can mean a lot of things. Once-Saved-Always-Saved, Predestination & Calvinism, Charismatic Movement & Tongues, Church History & Early Church Fathers... all of these and more can be found in the huge world of "All Things Christian", but they are often contradicting, logically unsound, or just plain scary. What is your faith/theological background? OK, and don't tell me "I looked into everything" because in two years you can't fully appreciate even one faith, let alone the differences between all of the faiths. Surely your indoctrination was through something specific?
I'm only asking because I also ran away from non-reason-based, Bible-thumping Christianity, where God could only be known through "blind faith" and the Bible. I thought that all Christians were like that, not realizing I was only exposed to the outspoken "Evangelicals". (not meant to be a slam on my Evangelical brethren). Christianity is much older and rooted in philosophy than even many Christians know. Heck, it even pre-dates Christ!
The greatest philosophers in history, including Aristotle, Socrates and Plato, have all contributed to the deep, reason-based philosophy and theology of Christian thought (by way of Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, C.S. Lews, G.K. Chesterton and other great Christian minds). Arguing that reason and logic should be thrown out of the search for God is a ridiculous claim made by people who are too scared or too ignorant to test their faith with reason. Don't be afraid to dig in and ask those people who asked the same questions a thousand years ago.
Blackwell said:
Seek and you shall find
It is very true that those who do look for something are more likely to find it than those who dont, but the statement is loaded when the speaker already has in mind what the seeker should be looking for, or that there is even a need to find anything at all. The need I initially felt to become a Christian (to seek Christ) was not instilled from within, but from without.
Actually, you are right on. Christianity's basic tenet is that you
cannot start the search from within. Although we are all aware of God within us (consciously or not), we are unable to move to search for him because of our natures. The search has to start from outside of you, which is how Jesus and the Apostles originally spread the news. If Christianity is right, then we all need someone to show us the target, first, and then we can answer whether it is truth or not. The same can be said of Buddhism, Islam, or even (maybe even especially) atheism.
Blockwell said:
Ask God to give you faith
Ah, the proverbial cart before the horse. I tried this one too. If I looked you in face and told you that I prayed with complete sincerity for years for this to happen and yet heard or felt nothing at all, what would be your reply? Believers are left with the only option of denying my sincerity
I don't deny your sincerity, certainly. You prayed, sat in silence, and strained to hear His voice but nothing came. I've been there, too, until I finally gave up on the whole "conversation over tea", and instead talk to and feel God through what I do. That is, how I live my life.
Yes, I still pray a lot, but I
feel God through recognition and confronting of my addictions, through helping others, through loving those that don't deserve anyone's love, through confessing my heart to others, through falling on my knees and submitting my will to another, by pursuing my own heart and the hearts of others, by disowning my posessions, or by exercising courage when others would run away.
The feeling you were looking for from God is a feeling you would get from something
in this world like good music, or the love you share with your Dad or a beautiful girl... and you'll never find it that way. I found Him by changing the way I
live, and only then has he resounded back with a hurricane of emotion and messages. I live
against the nature of my former rationalism and relativism, and instead live according to the Natural Law, written the whole time on my heart, that only Christianity has been able to show me.
Blockwell said:
So here I am, 44 years old and have never heard or felt anything in my life that would bring me to believe anything outside of the physical world I find myself in. The connection the majority of people claim they have with the supernatural still eludes me. Everyone describes this connection differently and everyone seems to be getting different answers from God. My rational mind cannot help but suppose that God is in the eye (and between the ears) of the beholder.
My advice, stop listening the the "fire and brimstone" crazies, and look for
real life in
this world. If you look for that, and if you let Christianity show you where you should look, and read a lot of those holy guys that I mentioned above, then I think you might just find that
heart of God that has eluded you.
Good posts, BTW!
-jerrod
