Comments on: Rejecting the Obvious Truth of the Gospel http://de-conversion.com/2007/08/21/rejecting-the-obvious-truth-of-the-gospel/ Resources for skeptical, de-converting, or former Christians...... Tue, 21 May 2013 04:39:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: mazvikq http://de-conversion.com/2007/08/21/rejecting-the-obvious-truth-of-the-gospel/#comment-54011 Fri, 25 May 2012 12:39:52 +0000 http://de-conversion.com/2007/08/21/rejecting-the-obvious-truth-of-the-gospel/#comment-54011 Finance freedom :

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]]> By: HeIsSailing http://de-conversion.com/2007/08/21/rejecting-the-obvious-truth-of-the-gospel/#comment-45367 Tue, 08 Jun 2010 03:08:49 +0000 http://de-conversion.com/2007/08/21/rejecting-the-obvious-truth-of-the-gospel/#comment-45367 Thomas says:
“What I haven’t been able to find is why you became a Christian in the first place…”

Thomas, I became a Christian because I was raised in a commune of generally loving, peaceful and very good hearted hippie Jesus Freaks who were convinced the world was going to end at any time.

I never left the faith, but I wandered from it when I joined the military (as many young men do). I served one term, and began drinking, partying, squandering my money. Yup, the stereotypical backslider..!! But if you were to ask me then if I believed, I would have said, “Believe? Darn right I believe!”

I returned (in a BIG way) in roughly 1988 after re-dedicating my life to Jesus. I became a devout Christian again because I was young (I was 25 at the time), broke, and sick of partying and laying waste to my life – I knew I was the Prodigal Son, and I wanted to return to my Savior who I knew was waiting for me with open and loving arms.

I drifted away again around 1996 when I enrolled in university (majoring in physics). I drifted because a few mission trips through Calvary Chapel and Samaritan’s Purse turned my stomach, and I also began to see the hypocrisy of my fellow church-goers. I needed a break, and I was sick of dead-end jobs, so I buried myself in college work. I was a fairly old college freshman of 32. But if you were to ask me then if I believed, I would have said, “Believe? Darn right I believe!”

I returned to my devout Christian beliefs around 2004 when I got married. I had just turned 41, and wed for the first time wth a young and devout wife. I desperately wanted to be a good husband. My university disciplines in science taught me much about the world, but I knew that to be a good and moral husband was the domain of religion, at least this is what I was told all my life, so I returned to the Faith for that reason. We got involved with missions with our church, held home Bible studies, and I tried to re-learn my Christian lessons – simply because I wanted to be a good husband.

I hope that helps.

]]> By: Quester http://de-conversion.com/2007/08/21/rejecting-the-obvious-truth-of-the-gospel/#comment-45333 Mon, 07 Jun 2010 03:07:02 +0000 http://de-conversion.com/2007/08/21/rejecting-the-obvious-truth-of-the-gospel/#comment-45333 Thomas,

For me, there were a few things happening around the same time, but the main one was going to seminary and realizing that I wasn’t sure what the salvation message was. Are all saved, or only some? If only some, then how are those some chosen? Answers I had gotten to this question before had all contradicted each other, but if I was going to be a pastor, I wanted to be clear on this central point. So, I prayed, studied, and conversed.

Hmm.. while “crisis” just doesn’t feel like an appropriate word, maybe we’re not really disagreeing here. I did have *something* that caused me to look at my faith again, with fresh eyes.

]]> By: Thomas http://de-conversion.com/2007/08/21/rejecting-the-obvious-truth-of-the-gospel/#comment-45324 Sun, 06 Jun 2010 17:39:43 +0000 http://de-conversion.com/2007/08/21/rejecting-the-obvious-truth-of-the-gospel/#comment-45324 What I haven’t been able to find is why you became a Christian in the first place. My speculation is that the rule of thumb is generally true. If you are like most people I know, you became a Christian through social contacts with believers and not because of “critical thinking” about its message compared to other religions. I’m sure it’s presumptuous of me to say that you weren’t “reasoned out” of belief either – as much as you began to identify with non-Christian activists who are more “Christian” than you even aspire to be.

Perhaps “crisis” is too strong a word, but I do know for me that I needed something stronger than a contradiction staring me in the face.

]]> By: HeIsSailing http://de-conversion.com/2007/08/21/rejecting-the-obvious-truth-of-the-gospel/#comment-45321 Sun, 06 Jun 2010 14:57:17 +0000 http://de-conversion.com/2007/08/21/rejecting-the-obvious-truth-of-the-gospel/#comment-45321 Thomas,
Thanks for your interest, but I never wrote an “official” de-conversion story. You will have to piece together what you can from the various articles that I have written here.

]]> By: Thomas http://de-conversion.com/2007/08/21/rejecting-the-obvious-truth-of-the-gospel/#comment-45315 Sun, 06 Jun 2010 10:26:17 +0000 http://de-conversion.com/2007/08/21/rejecting-the-obvious-truth-of-the-gospel/#comment-45315 Quester and HIS, I’m going to have to see if I can find your deconversion stories. I’m very curious about this idea that people are not reasoned into faith and cannot be reasoned out of it. It sounds like you’re both claiming to be exceptions which prove the rule is bunk.

]]> By: Quester http://de-conversion.com/2007/08/21/rejecting-the-obvious-truth-of-the-gospel/#comment-45311 Sun, 06 Jun 2010 06:21:32 +0000 http://de-conversion.com/2007/08/21/rejecting-the-obvious-truth-of-the-gospel/#comment-45311 For me, the “crisis” was becoming responsible to teach my faith to others. When I started studying my faith from the point of view of a student it was new to and who might have questions, I found many more questions than answers. The more I researched and thought about what I found, the more everything fell apart.

]]> By: Thomas http://de-conversion.com/2007/08/21/rejecting-the-obvious-truth-of-the-gospel/#comment-45281 Sat, 05 Jun 2010 16:46:07 +0000 http://de-conversion.com/2007/08/21/rejecting-the-obvious-truth-of-the-gospel/#comment-45281 whoops, I wrote “kidding kidding” in angular brackets in that last post but the words didn’t get posted.

]]> By: Thomas http://de-conversion.com/2007/08/21/rejecting-the-obvious-truth-of-the-gospel/#comment-45280 Sat, 05 Jun 2010 16:45:32 +0000 http://de-conversion.com/2007/08/21/rejecting-the-obvious-truth-of-the-gospel/#comment-45280 No crisis? Really? Then you were never Truly Saved.

]]> By: HeIsSailing http://de-conversion.com/2007/08/21/rejecting-the-obvious-truth-of-the-gospel/#comment-45278 Sat, 05 Jun 2010 16:40:24 +0000 http://de-conversion.com/2007/08/21/rejecting-the-obvious-truth-of-the-gospel/#comment-45278 Thomas, I am the author of this 3 year old article, and I don’t mind you dredging it up from the grave. I did not de-convert due to a crisis – it was just years of developing my critical thinking skill, then finally applying them to my beliefs. When I was in the process of de-converting, I was told by my fellow church-goers that I was undergoing a ‘mid-life’ crisis, but I am not sure that is the same thing.

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