Leaving Christianity

[sh284]

What causes seemingly dedicated Christians to give up the faith? I know of some people who go from fundamentalists to atheists fairly quickly. What would cause them to do that? You see people like that on ex-christian.net.

 

[AlexBP]

To know why any particular person chooses to leave Christianity, you'd have to ask them. God has given us free will, so any one of us may choose to change our mind on any issue at any time.

 

[ToHoldNothing]

Maybe it's just me, but might this be better in Christianity and World Religion or Philosophy? Especially in terms of asking people that aren't the OP, since supposedly only the OP can usually post in this forum if they're not a Christian, which is usually the case

 

[LBP]

The fundamentalist-to-atheist transformation has been explained by several noted authors as being due to the fact that some fundamentalists have such a narrow, rigid, brittle, all-or-nothing belief system that it is susceptible to complete collapse if the slightest doubt creeps in. If someone convincingly points out that the Bible is in error in the slighest way, a rigid fundamentalist may swing completely to the other end of the spectrum: "Well, if that wasn't true, then I can't trust any of it!" I don't see many Christians who hold less narrow, rigid and brittle beliefs completely abandoning their faith and becoming atheists. Since the most rigid fundamentalists often do give the appearance of being the most "dedicated" (because they have to constantly "prop up" their brittle beliefs), their swings to atheism are dramatic and often well-publicized; they become just as "dedicated" atheists as they were Christians.

 

[ToHoldNothing]

I can't say I was raised in a fundamentalist church, yet I found myself converted to a great extent to what many might as well call atheism, that is, deism. I would agree that the transformation is usually more subtle. Then again, you wouldn't necessarily call me a full blown atheist even now.

 

[1watchman]

There are a number of reasons to explain those who leave Christianity, and I think the foremost reason is a prevailing attitude promoted broadly today. It asserts that the Christian faith is about having fun and being always pleased, rather than some thought of personal sacrifice, dedication and devotion to Christ, and yielding to the Word of God.

Many professing Christians only know a few verses of Scripture, and also mix verses to get the interpretation they want. The prominent appeal is to "go to the church of your choice" and worship in whatever way appeals to you.

That is not God's way, and some fall away when they find that real faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is first a "new birth", then keeping the Word and yielding to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Few Christians today seem to know much about honoring and obeying the Lord, so they go looking for a fun place.

- 1 Watchman

 

[ephraimanesti]

There are a number of reasons to explain those who leave Christianity, and I think the foremost reason is a prevailing attitude promoted broadly today. It asserts that the Christian faith is about having fun and being always pleased, rather than some thought of personal sacrifice, dedication and devotion to Christ, and yielding to the Word of God.

Many professing Christians only know a few verses of Scripture, and also mix verses to get the interpretation they want. The prominent appeal is to "go to the church of your choice" and worship in whatever way appeals to you.

That is not God's way, and some fall away when they find that real faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is first a "new birth", then keeping the Word and yielding to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Few Christians today seem to know much about honoring and obeying the Lord, so they go looking for a fun place.

- 1 Watchman

WELL SAID!

ephraim

 

[Eschat]

Miracle Healing power the Holy Spirit of Jesus

​

[FONT=verdana,sans-serif]Supernatural Miracle Healing[/FONT]
​

​

[FONT=verdana,sans-serif]and the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ [/FONT]​

​

Supernatural Miracle Healing

Acts 8:14-17

​

14 The apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had received the word of God, so they sent Peter and John to them. 15 When they arrived, theyprayed for the believers that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For the Holy Spirit had not yet come down on any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

[FONT=arial,sans-serif]Welcome friends in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, may his Holy Spirit be increased in you and upon you as you read. If you are a strong believer who has never experienced the tangible power of the Holy Spirit, fear not! It happened in the early church as well. In this event discussed in Acts 8 above it is clear that these from Samaria had faith. It had nothing to do with their unbelief; it had to do with their understanding and God's timing. Notice that in Acts 8:16 above the scripture makes it clear they believed, even to the point of being baptized in water in the name of the Lord Jesus. But even so, these mentioned in Acts 8 had not yet experienced the tangible power of God's Holy Spirit. [/FONT]

[FONT=arial,sans-serif]It states in Acts 8:16 that the Holy Spirit had not come upon any of them, so brothers and sisters and all visiting, if you have not yet experienced this type of touch from Jesus, fear not. Jesus' timing is always perfect. I hope today is that perfect time Jesus has appointed for you. I hope what you read here will bless you and help you receive this Mighty and Wonderful promise from Jesus Christ. [/FONT]

Kent Mattox: It Is Finished (Part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XimOS6nrCUQ

Some of the debates among Christians who no longer believe in Miracles.

Many of today's churches are debating whether or not the Holy Spirit still manifests in a tangible way like the first century Christians experienced. Before I say anything else let me say this, we must open our hearts our bibles and our intellect, most of all we must pray.

Many that will read this already have preconceived, or preconditioned opinions. This is not a problem unless you become unwilling to read the following scriptures because of those positions. I am not trying to change anyone's mind by my opinion, but I am trying to reveal what I have found in scripture to be sound doctrine. This of course without saying is open to anyone's debate, but let us reason from the Word. My intention is only to bless and hopefully promote a better understanding of this Gift, called the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is also very much a person, for the scripture declares, "For Christ is that Spirit this means emotions, will and intellect.

YouTube - Kent Mattox - The Grace of God will set you free

Since I can do nothing without the Lord Jesus, at least not perfectly, I pray that the King of Kings would become your teacher fresh by the power of his Holy Spirit. So in Jesus Christ's mighty name, I humbly ask that the gift and tangible presence of the Holy Spirit would be given to each person who asks God Almighty in Jesus' name for it. Holy Spirit help them ask. Jesus I know you do not want them to struggle and try to give some fancy religious prayer, just something simple from their heart is more than enough for you. Just a simple request, just like they would ask a close friend they trusted. No fear, just love. I praise you Wonderful Jesus and for your grace and shed blood that makes this possible, even for the worst of sinners. Father God help them to know your salvation and your forgiveness by touching them as they read, especially the ones that really doubt if this is even possible today. Let the non-believers reading know they are loved by you and touch them according to your mercy and grace, for I know nothing good is impossible for you at your perfect time. May that perfect time be today for each as you decide. I Thank you and praise you for it all Father God, in Jesus Christ's precious name, Amen.

---End of Excerpt ---

For the entire page click the link below

Miracle Healing power the Holy Spirit of Jesus - Point Prophetic end times Bible Prophecy

 

[Ortho_Cat]

What causes seemingly dedicated Christians to give up the faith? I know of some people who go from fundamentalists to atheists fairly quickly. What would cause them to do that? You see people like that on ex-christian.net.

Often with the fundamental mindset, people typically hold to an view that the bible is inerrant/infallible. Also, they tend towards a literalist interpretation of many passages in the bible, especially the creation narrative in Genesis.

In the latter case, if people believe that the world was created in 6 days and is 6,000 years old, they will butt heads with current scientific knowledge regarding the age of the earth and evolutionary theory. Since the view of the absolute inerrancy of the scriptures often forms the foundation of their faith, if this is challenged, and the person is unable to reconcile these discrepancies, they are at risk of losing their faith alltogether.

During my greatest period of doubt, this was an area that I struggled with. The book by Karen Armstrong, "The Case for God" helped me sort some of these issues in my head quite a great deal.

 

[ToHoldNothing]

Often with the fundamental mindset, people typically hold to an view that the bible is inerrant/infallible. Also, they tend towards a literalist interpretation of many passages in the bible, especially the creation narrative in Genesis.

Just a qualification that inerrant and infallible are not necessarily synonymous in theology, from what I understand. Inerrant is that the bible is accurate in all matters, infallible is that the bible is accurate in spiritual matters, with potential mistakes communicated about history, science, etc.

 

[Wendylam]

My Pastor gave his testimony that when he was. Youth, he joined thr church as everyone was preaching love love love.... He thought he climbed onto LOVE BOAT. When he was on board, then he realised he had to do lots of things.

1) love the lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind
2) evangelize or the persons's lost salvation is on his head
3) serve and serve
4) cant swear
5) no premarital sex

The list goes on and on and he realised he actually got on a slave ship.

So he left as its too hard and not normal.

He took a huge huge road home but what convicted him was the Grace of God. When he fell in love with God first, all the doing doing doing became a natural fruit of the spirit.

When he fell in love with God and walked with God, the desire to sin dropped off, the desire to serve came back. His porno addiciton dropped and his weight dropped and he got his Shalom : peace in mind, body and soul.

I sit under the teaching Joseph Prince and our preaching of the Grace of God has been called many things...but we experiencing God. When we do so, we dont need to work for rules and dos and donts, we flow with the guidance of God.

life on earth is hard enough, why burden fellow Christians... Especially newbies who are so precious.

 

[Wendylam]

Just to clarify, the love boat pastor is not pastor prince but another one of our beloved pastors who is a big force in our evangelism efforts to the elderly....Pastor Prince was a youth leader since he was teenager.

 

[Gina Wild]

What causes seemingly dedicated Christians to give up the faith? I know of some people who go from fundamentalists to atheists fairly quickly. What would cause them to do that? You see people like that on ex-christian.net.

The reasons may have passed away, why somebody leaves a faith. Nevertheless, I think that these are three essential reasons, why somebody leaves a church:

1. Theological reasons (somebody does not agree with the church doctrine any more)

2. Social reasons (somebody is ignored in the church, or has the function of a scapegoat)

3. Religious loss (one cannot believe any more in God, mostly because a stroke of fate has arrived)


With me it was in such a way because nobody accepted me in a Christian church in such a way as I am / was. Everybody wanted to cure me from my lesbian feelings or condemned me for it. Where I am not welcome and accepted, I do not want to be!

 

[darknova]

I know of some people who go from fundamentalists to atheists fairly quickly. What would cause them to do that? You see people like that on ex-christian.net.

I think fundamentalism gives strick beliefs that must be followed and when people figure out those beliefs are incorrect they leave the faith because their their former faith didn't give them enough freedom consider other options. Once one pilar of their faith falls it could be true that all the pilars are incorrect and fundamentalism doesn't tend to allow the construction of new pilars to keep faith alive.

What causes seemingly dedicated Christians to give up the faith?

Its probably a combinations of things and different things, but this happened in my case. Before my faith started to fall at the end of my teenage years I would have been considered one of the most dedicated teenagers to Christ in my Church.

It started when I realised (after reading a Christian book) how easily Christians who I respected coul be very obviously wrong and that I myself we convinced of this falsehood for a while. After this I realised that many of my other beliefs could easily be wrong. Even when people to claim to think the Bible is inerrant they don't seem to follow the Bible, such as claiming that all sins are the same.

On the other hand sin can play a part. A willingness to do what the church says is sinful over what is good can give another incentive to fall from faith. Maybe not so much an incentive, but perhaps it means they wont try to hard to hold on and will let themselves drop.

The chuch I went to was evangelical charismatic and luckly wasn't fundementalist and I was able to be flexable as my former beliefs crumbled and we able to reform the old beliefs in more liberal ways. Still the belief in God and the physical resurrection of Jesus can't be reformed in a more liberal way very well and be still able to call it Christianity.

 

[sh284]

The fundamentalist-to-atheist transformation has been explained by several noted authors as being due to the fact that some fundamentalists have such a narrow, rigid, brittle, all-or-nothing belief system that it is susceptible to complete collapse if the slightest doubt creeps in. If someone convincingly points out that the Bible is in error in the slighest way, a rigid fundamentalist may swing completely to the other end of the spectrum: "Well, if that wasn't true, then I can't trust any of it!" I don't see many Christians who hold less narrow, rigid and brittle beliefs completely abandoning their faith and becoming atheists. Since the most rigid fundamentalists often do give the appearance of being the most "dedicated" (because they have to constantly "prop up" their brittle beliefs), their swings to atheism are dramatic and often well-publicized; they become just as "dedicated" atheists as they were Christians.

There were several explanations that I liked but I think this answered my question the best. The former fundamentalists turned atheists are actually still fundamentalists, just focused in the opposite direction.

 

[razeontherock]

This is the whole point. I'm re-posting it because no one seems to have recognized it yet:

My Pastor gave his testimony that when he was. Youth, he joined thr church as everyone was preaching love love love.... He thought he climbed onto LOVE BOAT. When he was on board, then he realised he had to do lots of things.

1) love the lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind
2) evangelize or the persons's lost salvation is on his head
3) serve and serve
4) cant swear
5) no premarital sex

The list goes on and on and he realised he actually got on a slave ship.

So he left as its too hard and not normal.

He took a huge huge road home but what convicted him was the Grace of God. When he fell in love with God first, all the doing doing doing became a natural fruit of the spirit.

When he fell in love with God and walked with God, the desire to sin dropped off, the desire to serve came back. His porno addiciton dropped and his weight dropped and he got his Shalom : peace in mind, body and soul.

I sit under the teaching Joseph Prince and our preaching of the Grace of God has been called many things...but we experiencing God. When we do so, we dont need to work for rules and dos and donts, we flow with the guidance of God.

life on earth is hard enough, why burden fellow Christians... Especially newbies who are so precious.

 

[seerly]

why do christians leave christianity? interesting one that isnt it? if they become atheists then its obvious that they have used their own minds to seek their own truth rather than be told what the truth is from minds of others. and if god is there and he has a devout follower, why would he let him go, if he could see the doubt in one of his children why not send a sign to affirm the faith that his child is struggling with? dont tell me, its freewill aint it?

 

[elman]

why do christians leave christianity? interesting one that isnt it? if they become atheists then its obvious that they have used their own minds to seek their own truth rather than be told what the truth is from minds of others. and if god is there and he has a devout follower, why would he let him go, if he could see the doubt in one of his children why not send a sign to affirm the faith that his child is struggling with? dont tell me, its freewill aint it?

God gave you the freewill to be wrong. You are using it. It is really egotistical to think all thinking people will agree with you.

 

[RisingSpirit]

What causes seemingly dedicated Christians to give up the faith? I know of some people who go from fundamentalists to atheists fairly quickly. What would cause them to do that? You see people like that on ex-christian.net.

They never left Christianity. They were never saved to begin with. Some folks wanna have fun by poking around.

 

[DiligentlySeekingGod]

They never left Christianity. They were never saved to begin with. Some folks wanna have fun by poking around.

QFT. I know there are other believers who would disagree with me, but not everyone who claims to be a Christian is truly and genuinely saved. First John 2:19 says, “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.” This Scripture makes it abundantly clear that there is no such thing as an ex-Christian. If a person who claimed to be a Christian denies the faith, he or she wasn't a genuine Christian to begin with. The Bible makes it clear that not everyone who names the Name of Christ is genuinely saved.

Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'" (Matthew 7:21-23). He spoke of true and false conversion through His Parables:the Sower (Mark 4:3-8); the wheat and tares (Matthew 13:24-30); the wise virgins and the foolish virgins (Matthew 25:1-13); the dragnet (Matthew 13:47-51); and the sheep and goats (Matthew 25:31-46). True and false converts will be alongside each other in the Church, and will be separated by God on the Day of Judgment. There are people who have “tasted” and “sampled” Jesus Christ, without ever actually receiving Him as Savior.

Many who profess Christ with their lips deny Him by their own words and actions. They have found religion, but they have not found a new life in Christ. They are not being transformed by the renewing of their mind (Romans 12:2) nor have they "crucified the flesh" (Romans 13:14; Galatians 5:24). Jesus said His disciples would be known by the fruit they bear (John 15:8; Galatians 5:22). If someone who professes Christ does not repent of their sins, they will have a false conversion (Mark 4:16-17). The Bible says that they must "depart from iniquity" (2 Timothy 2:19). No one who has truly and fully trusted in Christ as Savior could ever deny Him.