17 Mar 16
Originally posted by twhiteheadBecause of the people preaching to me about Jesus and never giving up on me until I accepted God through Jesus Christ.
I never wanted to become an atheist, so presumably nothing 'made me want to'. I did become an atheist through the realization that God didn't exist.
What made you want to become a theist?
17 Mar 16
Originally posted by googlefudgeDitto.
In my case I didn't become an atheist as I have always been one.
While I did go to C of E [Church of England] infant and primary schools where the daily
assembly ended with a prayer, I never believed in a god, and never saw the point of
praying [one of my earliest memories of school is deciding that praying was pointless
and couldn't work.] whic ...[text shortened]... eal. [not to say that there aren't people from the
UK with such stories, they are just rarer.]
I didn't want to be an atheist. I just am.
I suspect theists don't want to be theists.
They believe in a god whether they want to or not.
17 Mar 16
Originally posted by wolfgang59Your ignorance is only exceeded by your arrogance.
Ditto.
I didn't want to be an atheist. I just am.
I suspect theists don't want to be theists.
They believe in a god whether they want to or not.
As you are fully aware, all of us are born atheists.
In order for an atheist to change orientation, some sort of profound transformation must take place.
To remain an atheist, one must close one's mind to the reality bearing down upon them.
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Originally posted by FreakyKBHSays the unmitigated ignoramus and moron who believes that the Earth is flat.
Your ignorance is only exceeded by your arrogance.
As you are fully aware, all of us are born atheists.
In order for an atheist to change orientation, some sort of profound transformation must take place.
To remain an atheist, one must close one's mind to the reality bearing down upon them.
This is a perfectly good thread doing what I wished a good deal more threads did and
ASK people what there experiences are.
If you want to trash talk, go do it in another thread.
17 Mar 16
Originally posted by FreakyKBHMy cousin who's an Atheist said he was born Catholic
Your ignorance is only exceeded by your arrogance.
As you are fully aware, all of us are born atheists.
In order for an atheist to change orientation, some sort of profound transformation must take place.
To remain an atheist, one must close one's mind to the reality bearing down upon them.
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18 Mar 16
Originally posted by sonshipI really don't understand that.
I do consider that I believe in Jesus as something of a miracle.
At times I am amazed and say to myself "It is amazing, even miraculous that I really believe this about Jesus!"
I always want to have a good and objectively defensible reason for holding any beliefs.
If I ever thought "It is amazing, even miraculous that I really believe this about [subject X]"
I would immediately want to check out whether it's actually justifiable to believe in X because
I would clearly not currently have a good reason for doing so.
This is different from thinking "X is amazing or miraculous" which I don't have a problem with.
But I don't understand how you [or anyone] can think "hey it's amazing I believe this thing" and
not then think, "I better check to see whether I am justified in doing so".
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Originally posted by googlefudge
I really don't understand that.
I always want to have a good and objectively defensible reason for holding any beliefs.
If I ever thought "It is amazing, even miraculous that I really believe this about [subject X]"
I would immediately want to check out whether it's actually justifiable to believe in X because
I would clearly not currently have ...[text shortened]... ve this thing" and
not then think, "I better check to see whether I am justified in doing so".
I really don't understand that.
That it is puzzling - I cannot deny.
Smarter minds than both of ours have contemplated it for centuries ... centuries.
It is hard to understand.
I always want to have a good and objectively defensible reason for holding any beliefs.
I have that. I indeed came to realize the need for the Lord and Savior Jesus.
Somehow, I came to realize that was a need.
And it was not a need without a solution.
Perhaps it was something like - "I know water exists because I thirst."
But how I EVER was able to abandon my position of pride, and self justification, was some kind of miracle.
If I ever thought "It is amazing, even miraculous that I really believe this about [subject X]"
I would immediately want to check out whether it's actually justifiable to believe in X because
And I have. And I repeatedly come up with the answer - "I am on the right track to have asked Jesus to take my life and my heart."
I would clearly not currently have a good reason for doing so.
I suppose if there were no need for man to do so, the New Testament might be only a few chapters rather than 27 books.
This is different from thinking "X is amazing or miraculous" which I don't have a problem with.
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18 Mar 16
To come to the point where I was willing to call out or speak out or pray or generally turn my heart to an unseen Jesus Christ and ask Him to take me ... without divine mercy, I don't see HOW I could have ever come to that point.
This is part of the weight upon the heart of an evangelist that keeps him or her wanting to tell the story. IE. "It cannot be that God only has mercy on me! It just cannot BE that only I can find this wonderful truth. "
This sense of unbelievable good fortune is heavy enough. Then there is also the command of the Master - Go into all the world and preach the Gospel.
I am sorry. But in this kind of medium one always re-encounters people who clearly are not interested in this gift of salvation. The medium is just like that.
Paul, was also perplexed. He called himself less than the least of all saints. That is the LEAST deserving of all men.
" To me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace given to announce the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel ..." (Eph. 3:8)
He said he was a persecutor and a blasphemer - an insulting person. He held in his hands the coats of those who were stoning Stephen to death. But he then says that God used him to be a model and a pattern to all who were to believe in Christ for eternal life.
" ... Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am foremost.
But because of this I was shown mercy, that in me, the foremost, Jesus Christ might display all His long-suffering for a pattern to those who are to believe on Him unto eternal life." (1 Tim. 1:15b,16)
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18 Mar 16
But I don't understand how you [or anyone] can think "hey it's amazing I believe this thing" and not then think, "I better check to see whether I am justified in doing so".
Your error is the assumption that many of us do not hold the belief up to the test.
Actually, after becoming a Christian, God Himself will give you graduated experiences which will test and test again the reality of what you have come to believe.
There are no misfortunes that fall upon unbelievers which might not fall as equally on a lover of Jesus. The quality of what I have believed is tested and will be tested again and again until either I die or meet the Lord.
As the Israelites conquered the giants and enemies of the Promise Land, they set up an Ebenezer stone. The word Ebenezer means - "So far the Lord has helped us." . We look back over many trials of life that were God allowed us to pass through in a kind of curriculum of testing, and we see "So far this Savior Jesus HAS been faithful and upholding through it all."
We accumulate confidence that though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, He will be with us and guide us. We look back over the trials of life and admit "Surely, goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
Originally posted by FreakyKBHChildren all around the world (like some Muslim countries) are taught to believe in a god, even before they are able to understand what a god is. No "profound transformation" happens here; children in those societies simply accept what they're taught, and grow up believing in a god.
Your ignorance is only exceeded by your arrogance.
As you are fully aware, all of us are born atheists.
In order for an atheist to change orientation, some sort of profound transformation must take place.
To remain an atheist, one must close one's mind to the reality bearing down upon them.
So while such children aren't "born" theists, it's instilled in them at such an early age (christenings, baptisms, etc.) that they may as well have been.
