What convinced you

[pastors son]

I would like to know at what point you decided that you were on the right path? This question is not solely directed at Christians, but at people of any faith. I used what evidence that I found and the evidence that was given me and compared it to ideas around that evidence, as well my own logical thinking to come up with what I believe. How do you know that you're right? How do you know, assuming that any of the faiths are true, that you've chosen the right one? Feel free to quote scripture, but please explain why you have no doubt that the scripture is accurate and true.

I am an atheist, but I must be clear that I'm not here to debate with anyone. Often times I can't help it, and I will inevitably express my own opinions and ideas, but I didn't come here to try and convince anyone that they're wrong, but merely to see if I can get a better look at how your conclusion was drawn. You are welcome to question any ideas of my own. I'm sure I'm mistaken on many topics and will happily be corrected, as long as it's done with an unbiased reference.

 

[ALoveDivine]

Well I was an atheist for a long time, and I wasn't seeking faith by any means. I was perfectly content living my life how I wanted to live it, I didn't seek God and didn't want him. One day, in a moment of severe pain and distress, I called on Jesus for some reason.

After that things began to happen in my life. I felt very strongly as though God was real and was actually doing something to me. I just felt very strongly that I had been living a lie and that I had had it all wrong. I knew there was power in the name of Jesus and I didn't know why. As the days went on I felt more and more rotten and lost, I just knew I was rebelling against God all the days of my life. I read the gospel online and it actually made sense. When I was an atheist it seemed like a fairy tale but now it had power.

One day this conviction that had been wrecking me became too much to bear and I pulled into a church parking lot, went inside, talked to a pastor, and, after some hesitation, decided I needed to be saved. With his guidance I repented of my sins and believed in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I have never been the same sense then.

So for me my faith was never a matter of me seeking a worldview. It was never about me checking evidence or comparing philosophies. I truly feel that God, in his sovereignty, got a hold of me in the midst of my unbelief and drew me to himself. I am certain that God exists, and that his grace is irresistible, because there was nothing in me that wanted him.

 

[pastors son]

Well I was an atheist for a long time, and I wasn't seeking faith by any means. I was perfectly content living my life how I wanted to live it, I didn't seek God and didn't want him. One day, in a moment of severe pain and distress, I called on Jesus for some reason.

After that things began to happen in my life. I felt very strongly as though God was real and was actually doing something to me. I just felt very strongly that I had been living a lie and that I had had it all wrong. I knew there was power in the name of Jesus and I didn't know why. As the days went on I felt more and more rotten and lost, I just knew I was rebelling against God all the days of my life. I read the gospel online and it actually made sense. When I was an atheist it seemed like a fairy tale but now it had power.

One day this conviction that had been wrecking me became too much to bear and I pulled into a church parking lot, went inside, talked to a pastor, and, after some hesitation, decided I needed to be saved. With his guidance I repented of my sins and believed in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I have never been the same sense then.

So for me my faith was never a matter of me seeking a worldview. It was never about me checking evidence or comparing philosophies. I truly feel that God, in his sovereignty, got a hold of me in the midst of my unbelief and drew me to himself. I am certain that God exists, and that his grace is irresistible, because there was nothing in me that wanted him.

I have not always been an atheist, I was once a very devout Christian. My father was the pastor of a church in the town in which I was raised. I remember believing with absolute certainty that God was real, and that He loved me and had a plan for me, I felt it with every fibre of my being, that He was real. I studied with my father, and in an attempt to grow my faith, I found that the more I learned, and the more I read, the less sense it made. I sought material outside that found in the bible. I looked to writers, philosophers, and scientists who were not religious. I compared it to what I'd already been taught and what I already thought to be true. I even prayed about it.

I now find myself in a different position, but in a position that I not only feel is certain, but also that logically makes sense to me.

"Feeling" that I was right when I was Christian just wasn't enough for me, I needed more justification for my belief. I knew that there were many beliefs in the world, and that if you asked any member of any faith, they would all be %100 certain that they had made the right choice.

I feel that I am certain because there was nothing in me that wanted to doubt Him.

Obviously you had very different experiences than myself in your lifetime, and it's understandable that two different people would come to two different conclusions.

As an atheist, I couldn't justify turning to religion in times of distress, to me that would make no sense. What made you call on Jesus when you were going threw your hardship?

 

[TheyCallMeDave]

I would like to know at what point you decided that you were on the right path? This question is not solely directed at Christians, but at people of any faith. I used what evidence that I found and the evidence that was given me and compared it to ideas around that evidence, as well my own logical thinking to come up with what I believe. How do you know that you're right? How do you know, assuming that any of the faiths are true, that you've chosen the right one? Feel free to quote scripture, but please explain why you have no doubt that the scripture is accurate and true.

I am an atheist, but I must be clear that I'm not here to debate with anyone. Often times I can't help it, and I will inevitably express my own opinions and ideas, but I didn't come here to try and convince anyone that they're wrong, but merely to see if I can get a better look at how your conclusion was drawn. You are welcome to question any ideas of my own. I'm sure I'm mistaken on many topics and will happily be corrected, as long as it's done with an unbiased reference.

In short, I know that the Christian Faith is the truth based on scientific evidences for the biblical personal theistic Creator, the popular 3 Arguments for a Personal Theistic Creator - Cosmological/Teleological/Moral arguement- have never been properly or cogently refuted. Science and historical evidences confirms Jesus CHrist, his life, his death, and his ressurection including eye witness testimony as tested by the same secular historicity testing criteria, because Jesus Christ claimed and proved who he was , because there is more historical evidence for the New Testament than any other ancient literary work including Plato or Aristotle which are taught at every college, because the Bible can be shown to be inspired supernaturally , and because my life has profoundly changed which no book, no other person, no other experience has ever done , or could.

If you want a book which both proves the Christian Faith to be true along with disproving the atheism worldview/origin...then the must-have book called " I Dont Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist' from www.amazon.com is the one to get. It is the most influential book ive owned and very fairly written with great accuracy. Dr. Frank Turek goes around the Nation doing free live seminairs by the same Title ...he is the author of the book too. Extremely compelling to the person with an open unbiased Mind. Google : www.cross-examined.org for his speaking schedule. Also on this website, youll find his Debates with hard core world reknown Atheists .

Here are some of my thoughts regarding my past commitment to atheism :

What i found appealing about atheism , at the time :

1. Nearly all my friends were atheists so i had much commaraderie .
2. If there were no binding absolute moral laws to live by, then it
offered great freedom of lifestyle choices (which i capitalized on) .
3. No one was in ultimate authority over me.
4. I wasnt owned by anyone higher than self which led to great
autonomy.
5. I was at the center of the Universe, figuratively speaking .
6. All my Teachers in school (whom i greatly respected and
enjoyed) taught atheistic ideologies / worldview .
7. As Evolutionist Julian Huxley said :' Having no personal Creator
(viz.God) , coincided with my sexual mores' .

What I found convincing about atheism , at the time :

1. I looked upon my Teachers and School Text Books as virtually
infallable and thus a very reliable truth source , so i accepted all
they taught without question .
2. Atheisms idelogies and constructs... from a worldview and from
sociology.... best fit in with my daily lifestyle choices and
philosophies for having fun.

What made me change my views about atheism :

1. Some atheistic ideologies were impossible to live out , truthfully
and without being hypocritical (ie: moral relativism) .
2. I became aware that the atheistic ideologies as represented by our
American Culture , were destructive and dangerous to people....and
this concerned me as i was getting deeper into them.
3. I found it took an incredible amount of faith to believe in
atheistic origins of the universe and first life on earth.
4. I found that an atheistic material universe (materialism) is not
capable of things like reason, logic, truth, love, freewill .
5. I found there are no logical atheistic explanations for the 150+
razor precise Life Enabling Constants and Physics Constants
(anthropics) which have been scientifically discovered and are
measurable to (in some cases) a 120th decimal point critical tolerance
otherwise our Cosmos is not here and niether are we. I could accept a
few by coincidental chance, but not over 150 which are all dependent
on each other.
6. I discovered in myself that I wanted to follow the truth
regardless of where it led, instead of patronizing myself into
following something I had no more confidence in.
7. I heavily investigated Theism from a scientific standpoint
including the remarkable design and engineering of things ...and
concluded that it is absurd to think it all just happened by chance
without a shred of purpose or reason.
8. I heavily investigated Christianity as well as all other major
world religions, and discovered the New Testament of the Bible to
offer more accurate historical evidences for Christ , his
ressurection, and what he claimed about himself....that it was very
compelling. I read about THE worlds most famous expert on Court of
Law evidential techniques who put the New Testament to a very
stringent test, who traded in his agnosticism to become a Christ
Follower based purely on the scientific and historical
evidences ...and I found this very compelling.
9. I discovered that modern scientific discoveries are proving the
Bible correct and are leading to a personal theistic Creator which the
Bible describes in great detail.

 

[salida]

All religions can't be true because they are fundamentally different.


This is the tip of the iceberg.The bible has certain characteristics to conclude it could only be written by God. No other religious book does this.
Visit: www.TheBibleProofBook.com, (you will need acrobat reader for this), read The Evidence That Demands A Verdict by Josh McDowell a former agnostic- and Examine the Evidence by Muncaster a former athiest/The Case for Christ and The Real Jesus by Lee Strobel a former athiest.

100 fulfilled Bible prophecies
Reasons To Believe : Fulfilled Prophecy: Evidence for the Reliability of the Bible (science website)
Eyewitnesses to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Apologetics Study - Evidence For The Christian Faith
CRI | Christian Research Institute, The Bible Answer Man

Historical Accuracy(bible is the most accurate history book)
The bible is loaded with historical statements concerning events hundreds of years ago and has not
been proven incorrect in any.
(Bible compared to other ancient documents):
New Testament starts - at 25 years between original and first surviving copies
Homer - starts at 500 years
Demosthenes - at 1400 years
Plato - at 1200 years

Number of Manuscript Copies-New Testament - 5,686/Homer - 643/Demosthenes - 200/
Plato - 7/Caesar -10

(religious people started the discoveries in science)
100 Scientists Who Shaped World History
Scientists alive today who accept the biblical account of creation
(these people have phD's)
Mathematics | Creation Facts
PhD’s who are against darwinism
Dissent from Darwin
Darwinism and indoctrination
http://www.rae.org/indoctrination.html
The Failure of Atheism to Account for Morality
http://carm.org/failure-of-atheism-to-ac…

 

[salida]

Its by faith but mentioned intellectual reasons.

 

[Tigger45]

Both of my parents came from Catholic persuations. Although my father was basically a church scoffer. Other than my father, my family and extended family usually only attended church on Christmas and Easter. Oh don't forget about midnight Mass Admittedly I only went through the motions during Mass because I really didn't understand what was going on. After we moved to Utah a friend of mine invited me to a Wednesday night service at an Assembly of God church. They gathered all of the children into a classroom and taught us about Jesus, afterwhich they asked each one of us if Jesus was in our heart. Even as shy, quiet little boy I piped right up and said "I KNOW HE IS!" I think my answer took the teacher by suprise by my passion. No one after that ever cultivated that experience and today I dearly wish they had. It took me until I was 33 until I had a full knowledge of who Jesus was and is. Since the age of 10 I tried Mormonism, I read about eastern philosophy, I even considered myself athiest at one point. Whenever things went bad I always turned to prayer. One time when I was praying I had a thought that seemed to come from outside of my own being. The thought was "why do you come to Me only when things are bad? Why not be with me when things are good?" At that point I decided to find out if there is a God and who is it. One thing I knew, a true "God" wouldn't be afraid or offended by any question a mere human could ask. I heard all of the best arguments and debates for and against there being a God and between different religions. Christianity stands up to them all. At that point I had acquired a lot of head knowledge and knew I was still missing something. I needed heart knowledge. An athiest would call that faith but now I know the difference. That seed that Jesus planted in my heart at 10 years old just needed a little fertile ground and watering :{)

 

[motherprayer]

I was a believer, but a serious doubter, until about 2 years ago. My husband and I were having serious problems, problems that, in the Christian world, would be considered demonic. I had some experiences over the course of a few months that could have been caused by nothing that was of this world. I asked a church leader about it, and I was told that every time I felt I was in a demonic situation to pray "Demon I rebuke you in the name of Jesus." So I did. One day my husband came home from a stressful day at work and was cursing and screaming. Silently, I prayed what I had been told, and his very next sentence turned me from doubter to full believer:

"Sorry Lord."

 

[pastors son]

Thank you TheyCallMeDave. That is more what I was looking in regard to how you came to your conclusion. I'm somewhat dubious of the nature of your "scientific research" into theism, as some of your points highlight a core misunderstanding in the scientific theories of origin, however, as I've previously stated I'm not here to debate, just to try to understand. Thank you for sharing!

 

[pastors son]

All religions can't be true because they are fundamentally different.


This is the tip of the iceberg.The bible has certain characteristics to conclude it could only be written by God. No other religious book does this.
Visit: www.TheBibleProofBook.com, (you will need acrobat reader for this), read The Evidence That Demands A Verdict by Josh McDowell a former agnostic- and Examine the Evidence by Muncaster a former athiest/The Case for Christ and The Real Jesus by Lee Strobel a former athiest.

100 fulfilled Bible prophecies
Reasons To Believe : Fulfilled Prophecy: Evidence for the Reliability of the Bible (science website)
Eyewitnesses to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Apologetics Study - Evidence For The Christian Faith
CRI | Christian Research Institute, The Bible Answer Man

Historical Accuracy(bible is the most accurate history book)
The bible is loaded with historical statements concerning events hundreds of years ago and has not
been proven incorrect in any.
(Bible compared to other ancient documents):
New Testament starts - at 25 years between original and first surviving copies
Homer - starts at 500 years
Demosthenes - at 1400 years
Plato - at 1200 years

Number of Manuscript Copies-New Testament - 5,686/Homer - 643/Demosthenes - 200/
Plato - 7/Caesar -10

(religious people started the discoveries in science)
100 Scientists Who Shaped World History
Scientists alive today who accept the biblical account of creation
(these people have phD's)
Mathematics | Creation Facts
PhD’s who are against darwinism
Dissent from Darwin
Darwinism and indoctrination
http://www.rae.org/indoctrination.html
The Failure of Atheism to Account for Morality
http://carm.org/failure-of-atheism-to-ac…

I'm quite pleased with the information that you highlighted, it shows that you at least did your homework. From my point of view however, the works into the validity of the bible are done from a very bias position and are widely recognised as not being scientifically sound. I realise that doesn't mean that they are definitively untrue, but they certainly don't present a sound enough argument for me to consider them accurate.

 

[pastors son]

Both of my parents came from Catholic persuations. Although my father was basically a church scoffer. Other than my father, my family and extended family usually only attended church on Christmas and Easter. Oh don't forget about midnight Mass Admittedly I only went through the motions during Mass because I really didn't understand what was going on. After we moved to Utah a friend of mine invited me to a Wednesday night service at an Assembly of God church. They gathered all of the children into a classroom and taught us about Jesus, afterwhich they asked each one of us if Jesus was in our heart. Even as shy, quiet little boy I piped right up and said "I KNOW HE IS!" I think my answer took the teacher by suprise by my passion. No one after that ever cultivated that experience and today I dearly wish they had. It took me until I was 33 until I had a full knowledge of who Jesus was and is. Since the age of 10 I tried Mormonism, I read about eastern philosophy, I even considered myself athiest at one point. Whenever things went bad I always turned to prayer. One time when I was praying I had a thought that seemed to come from outside of my own being. The thought was "why do you come to Me only when things are bad? Why not be with me when things are good?" At that point I decided to find out if there is a God and who is it. One thing I knew, a true "God" wouldn't be afraid or offended by any question a mere human could ask. I heard all of the best arguments and debates for and against there being a God and between different religions. Christianity stands up to them all. At that point I had acquired a lot of head knowledge and knew I was still missing something. I needed heart knowledge. An athiest would call that faith but now I know the difference. That seed that Jesus planted in my heart at 10 years old just needed a little fertile ground and watering :{)

It's good that you sought arguments from both sides, I did the same. When I first started looking into the arguments for and against the possibility of God, I also concluded that Christian had the upper hand. However at the time I desperately wanted to believe that he was real and loved me. It skewed my perception. When I watched them again, taking in the possibility that I might be wrong, I saw brittle arguments held up on no evidence. Since then I've always tried to remember that I might be wrong. I am an atheist, and I believe with every fibre of my being that what I believe is right, but I have to take into account that I might be wrong, otherwise I'll just twist any new information given to fit my current ideologies. I would love for there to be a God, or rather, to believe that there was a God, but I can't justify believing something simply on the basis that I want to, and it's convenient.

 

[pastors son]

I was a believer, but a serious doubter, until about 2 years ago. My husband and I were having serious problems, problems that, in the Christian world, would be considered demonic. I had some experiences over the course of a few months that could have been caused by nothing that was of this world. I asked a church leader about it, and I was told that every time I felt I was in a demonic situation to pray "Demon I rebuke you in the name of Jesus." So I did. One day my husband came home from a stressful day at work and was cursing and screaming. Silently, I prayed what I had been told, and his very next sentence turned me from doubter to full believer:

"Sorry Lord."

Thanks for sharing. I imagine if that happened to myself, it would be rather convincing.

 

[andreha]

Thanks for sharing. I imagine if that happened to myself, it would be rather convincing.

That's the thing. I've had so many experiences of the supernatural kind. It's impossible for me to not believe. I mean, for one thing, I've had verbal warnings from God, which turned out to save my life a number of times. I would have died several times were it not for those warnings. Things is, it must be hard to believe if you weren't there...

 

[pastors son]

That's the thing. I've had so many experiences of the supernatural kind. It's impossible for me to not believe. I mean, for one thing, I've had verbal warnings from God, which turned out to save my life a number of times. I would have died several times were it not for those warnings. Things is, it must be hard to believe if you weren't there...

It is hard to believe without being present. I've heard miracles spoken from people many different faiths. As it's previously been highlighted, by definition they can't all be true, so unfortunately any undocumented, unconfirmed account simply wouldn't be enough to convince me. Regardless, I'm glad you shared!

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

Originally Posted by motherprayer I was a believer, but a serious doubter, until about 2 years ago. My husband and I were having serious problems, problems that, in the Christian world, would be considered demonic. I had some experiences over the course of a few months that could have been caused by nothing that was of this world. I asked a church leader about it, and I was told that every time I felt I was in a demonic situation to pray "Demon I rebuke you in the name of Jesus." So I did. One day my husband came home from a stressful day at work and was cursing and screaming. Silently, I prayed what I had been told, and his very next sentence turned me from doubter to full believer:

"Sorry Lord."

Thanks for sharing. I imagine if that happened to myself, it would be rather convincing.

Were you ever a Christian?

And what is your view of the afterlife? Thanks

Lazarus and the Rich Man - Here a little, there a little - Commentary

Luk 16:31 He said to him "if they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced, even if someone rises from the dead."

Revelation 1:18 and He Who is living!
And I did become dead, and behold! I am living to the ages of the ages. Amen!
And I am having the keys of the Hades and of the Death.

.

 

[JonahGirl]

All my life, I felt there was "something else out there" because there were too many things that happened that went beyond what science and coincidence could explain. I tried to explain this through all kinds of means, without accepting the Christian God. I hit rock bottom in my life. My mother and I were both in therapy and her therapist gave her a book, The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. We read it, skeptically, but it got us to read the Bible together.

You know the saying faith is believing if you step off a cliff, you expect to either be given wings or for something to be placed under your feet? Well I did that. I guess I had nothing to lose. Whatever reason, I completely surrendered. I took, for lack of a less cliche term, a leap of faith. I was instantly and undeniably rewarded. Every time I do that, I am rewarded. By peace, and by positive things happening. I can't explain to you what causes that. The Bible gives an explanation of it that I am accepting because it makes sense to me.

 

[Lukaris]

Although I had heard these words all my life one day they just fully convicted me:



Mark 12:28-34

King James Version (KJV)

28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
34 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.


While I remain a wretched sinner, these words arrested my doubts as to how to really live in everyday thought & action to know Jesus Christ as our savior. The whole law & fillment of the law by the grace of the Lord is the sum of what he tells us. This is the New Testament. There is always much to hope for potentially anyone & the need to realize the fear of the Lord to know one's own sin while always trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ.