You know more than me!

Originally posted by duecer
I did, as did my wife.

As did I, although I attended a Catholic high school which drew me into religion.

Originally posted by Conrau K
That is an interesting question. I think that an atheist who has never experienced religious fervour will have difficulty, for example, understanding mystical literature. The thoughts and images would feel foreign because he would have no immediate, direct experience of them. So, yes, religious faith can be necessary precursor for religious knowledge. But I ...[text shortened]... doctrine, without any understanding of its semantic content, does not test religious knowledge.

Does that mean that someone born within a Christian family and claimed they really understood the religion. This person being fluent in the text but eventually rejected the religion and become atheist. Would you say this person really didn't have any direct experience and therefore didn't really understand it?

Originally posted by lausey
Does that mean that someone born within a Christian family and claimed they really understood the religion. This person being fluent in the text but eventually rejected the religion and become atheist. Would you say this person really didn't have any direct experience and therefore didn't really understand it?

Possibly. Perhaps he left his Christian faith not out of any misunderstanding but because the demands of his faith were onerous or his religious fervour suddenly disappeared or he was convinced of some powerful argument against his faith.