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.

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.

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.

Do you believe there has to be a ‘crisis’ (not sure if that’s the right word) in order for a Christian to remove the what we would now refer to as “blinders” but what a Christian would view as “obvious truth?”

I was recently struck by the phrase which I read in “The Christian Delusion” that it’s nearly impossible to reason someone out of belief in God because they were very rarely reasoned into it. Think about your own faith experience. You might have had lots of good reasons for remaining a believer, but your actual conversion had nothing to do with reason. Mine sure didn’t. (And again, I never would have admitted it as a believer – so believers, save your breath in denying it, since I already agree with you that you’re going to deny it.)

So I think, yes. A “crisis” of some sort is necessary to undo a conversion which had nothing to do with rational thought.

It seems funny replying to this 3 year old message, but I didn’t see any answers and didn’t know where else to comment.