Question for former christians

bhsmte

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It wasn't voluntary. I just slowly realized that I was no longer able to convince myself that my Christian beliefs were accurate.

That is me as well.

Sometimes when we obtain knowledge throughout our lives, we come to realize we were wrong about something and even things as emotional (and psychological) as to whether a God exists and or if Christianity is accurate.
 
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ImAllLikeOkWaitWat

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Can you explain what God's love is supposed to feel like?

I don't think the words I could use like breathtaking, powerful, transcendent...really do it justice. It's one of those things you need to see for yourself. If you have felt such power, such warmth, such joy, it would take actual proof God doesn't exist imo to not believe.
 
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bhsmte

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I don't think the words I could use like breathtaking, powerful, transcendent...really do it justice. It's one of those things you need to see for yourself. If you have felt such power, such warmth, such joy, it would take actual proof God doesn't exist imo to not believe.

Those are all descriptions of feelings that the human mind can manufacture or perceive, all on their own, to meet personal psychological needs.
 
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ImAllLikeOkWaitWat

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Those are all descriptions of feelings that the human mind can manufacture or perceive, all on their own, to meet personal psychological needs.

And this means that it can't be truly God? How does atheism meet your personal psychological needs?
 
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Cearbhall

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How does atheism meet your personal psychological needs?
There's not really an answer to that question, in my opinion, since atheism isn't a thing in and of itself. I could say something like "It's helpful to know that I'm not going to burn in Hell," but that's not about atheism. That's about not being a specific type of Christian.
 
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cloudyday2

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I don't think the words I could use like breathtaking, powerful, transcendent...really do it justice. It's one of those things you need to see for yourself. If you have felt such power, such warmth, such joy, it would take actual proof God doesn't exist imo to not believe.
There is a difference between believing in Christianity and believing in a vaguely defined God. @bhsmte mentioned the psychological explanation, but there is also the possibility that you experienced a non-Christian deity and misunderstood it to be the Christian God because that is what you wanted or expected to experience.
 
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ImAllLikeOkWaitWat

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and misunderstood it to be the Christian God because that is what you wanted or expected to experience.

Why assume I or any christian want the christian God? when we just want the truth.
 
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Cearbhall

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Why assume I or any christian want the christian God? when we just want the truth.
There's too strong of a correlation between an adult's religious affiliation and the religious affiliation of his or her parents and community. I don't doubt that you consciously want the truth, but none of us is without bias.
 
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bhsmte

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And this means that it can't be truly God? How does atheism meet your personal psychological needs?

I have a strong psychological need to be able to reconcile the positions i hold, especially about important things. I was a christian for most of my live and as i continued to learn, i simply couldnt reconcile the christian story with well evidenced reality any longer. The way i am wired, i couldnt pretend to believe either.
 
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cloudyday2

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Why assume I or any christian want the christian God? when we just want the truth.
My hypothesis is that a God exists but He isn't the God of any particular religion. If you are a Christian then He might appear as Jesus. If you are a Wiccan then He might appear as the Green Man. This God doesn't care if you are a Christian or a Wiccan, but when necessary He will meet each person in a way that gets the message across most effectively.

Hopefully that example explains what I mean.
 
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Have you ever felt God's love?
Excellent question for former Christians! :oldthumbsup:

Also, why would they want to give up all this:

Psalm 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Psalm 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

Hebrews 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Hebrews 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,


... for what anything else has to offer?
 
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Funnily enough, it was a mystic experience of Love that made me gradually turn away from Christianity and its "holy" book.
LOVE and BANE don't mix, do they?
 
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MehGuy

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My hypothesis is that a God exists but He isn't the God of any particular religion. If you are a Christian then He might appear as Jesus. If you are a Wiccan then He might appear as the Green Man. This God doesn't care if you are a Christian or a Wiccan, but when necessary He will meet each person in a way that gets the message across most effectively.

Hopefully that example explains what I mean.

Does this only apply to people who get a lovey dovey feeling when they feel like God communicates to them? What about people who are attracted to concepts like a God of war? Although might be a little funny considering those same people can probably relate well to vast passages in the old testament.
 
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cloudyday2

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Does this only apply to people who get a lovey dovey feeling when they feel like God communicates to them? What about people who are attracted to concepts like a God of war? Although might be a little funny considering those same people can probably relate well to vast passages in the old testament.
I just finished watching some lectures on the Assyrians. Apparently they were very religious people who saw themselves as diligent servants of Ashur creating order from chaos. That is why they were so cruel to rebels like the Israelites. The Israelites were rebelling against God (Ashur) in the eyes of the Assyrians.

I imagine God might be less concerned with peace versus war and more concerned that people pursue their divine purpose? IDK War is just another form of competition and natural selection (among nations instead of organisms)?
 
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AV1611VET

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I imagine God might be less concerned with peace versus war and more concerned that people pursue their divine purpose?
Is that why God sent Jonah to the capital of the Assyrian empire?

Did your lectures mention they repented?
cloudyday2 said:
IDK War is just another form of competition and natural selection (among nations instead of organisms)?
Malthusian catastrophe - Wikipedia
 
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MehGuy

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Are you destitute for one?

For the most part yeah. Ever since I was a kid I was unable to feel lovey dovey feelings from God. Despite that, I always admired Jesus's compassion for the sick and the poor (and reflects my current social political leanings).

Don't think I was ever attracted to a God of war concept. As a Christian I never cared much for the old testament and didn't find it inspiring at all. Although I did like the concept of a cold distant God who let his creation suffer for the sake of being more spirituality enlightened. Not under a mean manner, or as an excuse to be rotten towards others though.

Shoko Asahara - Wikipedia

Not war exactly, but Shaki is the God of Destruction.

Thinking more along the lines of men like Adolf Hitler. While his spirituality or lack of one is highly contested, I'd personally say he derived spiritual feelings from a ruthless force. He seemed to find concepts such as survival of the fittest and the accompanying brutality of that to be Holy and his way of communing with nature. Don't get me wrong, he was a horrible man and one shouldn't have such a spiritualty. Just seems funny that many would discount his feelings, yet the idea that God universally loves everyone despite this dark and cold world that he apparently created is widely accepted.
 
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MehGuy

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I just finished watching some lectures on the Assyrians. Apparently they were very religious people who saw themselves as diligent servants of Ashur creating order from chaos. That is why they were so cruel to rebels like the Israelites. The Israelites were rebelling against God (Ashur) in the eyes of the Assyrians.

I imagine God might be less concerned with peace versus war and more concerned that people pursue their divine purpose? IDK War is just another form of competition and natural selection (among nations instead of organisms)?

Was more asking what you think of people who seem to have contradicting experiences of God.

Which ones are justified to be labeled correct and which ones wrong?
 
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As a Christian I never cared much for the old testament and didn't find it inspiring at all.
You missed a lot then.

It contains the most beautiful poetry on earth; and even the layout of its books are inspired.

For example, it consists of 39 books, broken down as follows:

17 history ... 5 poetry ... 17 prophecy

Those can be further broken down as follows:

5 books of Moses / 12 books of Canaanite history ... 5 poetry ... 5 major prophets / 12 minor prophets

And those can be broken down further and further.

The Old Testament is truly an amazing piece of divine literature!
 
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