Have you ever had a Crisis of Faith?

a reply to: AfterInfinity

No. not really.
It's about the staunch positions that people take on one side or the other.

Maybe better if you view again with sound.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs I found it to be an excellent video.

Disappointed at his nonexistence, and disgusted at our inaction in his absence. Anger, in my experience, is a largely unhelpful emotion, particularly if unchecked.

Anger is a secondary emotion. There is always a preceding emotion that leads to anger. If we properly handle the primary emotion that would lead to anger, anger can be minimized or avoided all together.

I'm not going to directly answer either Infinity or Godlover in this post. I've already spent a considerable amount of time on them which was a waste. They are both so convinced of their righteous cause that it is worthless discussing it with them. They are two sides of the same coin, though at least Godlover's posts have been relevant to the initial query of whether or not you have had a "crisis of faith." He did, and came out on the opposite side of where he started. As far as I can tell, Infinity simply wants to rant about his religion of Atheism which, was not really part of the "assignment" at all. He and some others seem hell bent on yelling out the same basic theme: "Atheism/Theism is the only true religion!" That's not really the point here. We've heard it all before. It’s also simplistic in the extreme. Is that all you've got? Really?

I'm attracted to the topic for a couple of reasons, one being that OP and I had a similar experience as children. I was between 7 and 10 when I concluded the whole idea was nonsense. I can pin it to that age bracket because of the school I attended and where we lived at the time, but can't specify any further, though I kind of assume it must have been toward the high end. OP reports a similar experience. I don't really consider this a "crisis of faith" because my family was of the "God? Meh? What's for dinner?" variety that did not push for one belief over another. Only much later as an adult did I discover my mother subtly resisted "suggestions" I attend Sunday school and church because she did not want me brainwashed into a religious cult. When forced she would lightly answer with the party line. "Who made the world?" I asked and she told me, "People say God made the world." Full stop. My question: "How did he get it out of his workshop?" Her answer: "I dunno." That was the extent of my religious education.

The real question here is how you threw off your childhood conditioning. And the answers we're getting here are revealing. Godlover's description of his upbringing shows a relentless diatribe of atheism in the household. The focus was GOD and how one should not believe He existed. Godlover's "crisis of faith" resulted in him switching sides to the point that he's now mesmerized into blindly quoting the Bible as a response to any inquiry. So what has changed in his life? GOD is still there as strong as ever. As a rebellion against his parents, he succeeded. They must be rolling their eyes in despair that he abandoned the faith. If they fervently desired him to be an Atheist, they failed.

I’ll use a Vietnamese friend of mine’s favorite phrase to describe this. It’s “same-same.” Though Godlover will vehemently protest that it’s not, all he has done is turn over the coin. He still has that fervent “staunch” (his word) belief. “GOD” has been there his whole life, and He still is. Just listen to him; he’ll tell you all about it complete with quotes from Corinthians. His “answers” are there for him to parrot. He mistakes finding them for understanding.

How Infinity got to where he is today is unknown because he hasn’t really told us, but it’s the opposite of Godlover. He may have traveled the same freeway as Godlover in the opposite direction, or not. We don’t know. But it’s obvious he is one angry puppy still incensed that Santa Claus does not exist. (God lover will understand what I just said; Infinity? Probably not.) For him the god of Science is the answer, and anyone who believes otherwise is just stupid.

Of course anyone can see the raw anger and emotion in Infinity’s tirades. He’s a rabid atheist, maybe one of Godlover’s siblings. But what case does he have “against God”? When you look at it his case is really against the superficial stories that really don’t do a very good job of making the case for God anyway. Some of them really ARE “stupid” within a modern context. He looks at the claim (which is NOT in the Bible, BTW) that the earth was made in 4004 BC on October 23rd and proclaims it as nonsense. He’s right, of course, painfully right because it’s painfully obvious anyway. Then he looks at the story of Noah, proclaims that as impossible, and throws it out with the bathwater.

Is he “right” this time? Superficially, of course. Noah did not get two of everything and build an ark. That’s absurd. In fact, it’s unlikely Noah, the guy, ever existed. Did “The Flood” cover the Earth? Of course not; there’s not enough water, magical explanations to the contrary. But WAS THERE A FLOOD? Yes. It probably happened 12,000 to 14,000 years ago. It created a very bad day for a lot of humanity and killed quite a lot of people. It’s remembered via mythology because there was no written language at the time, at least none that survived. Can I prove this? Well, I can do a pretty good job, actually, but it would be way off-topic to launch into an explanation here.

The point for our purposes is that superficial and clearly fanciful tales may have roots in reality. The tales AS TOLD are superficial and not literal, but mythological and filled with metaphor. But your garden variety atheist like Infinity trots them out as if they were real, shows they are false, and thinks he is being profound. He thinks he’s won the argument when all he has really done is prove that he can be as superficial as the tales he eviscerates. They miss the metaphor. It’s kid stuff, really, not at all erudite, and misses the point altogether.

And that’s the issue here. Is “religion” true? No, not literally. The brainwashed will insist it is, sometimes literally. And the atheists will insist it is literally untrue, and that’s where they stop, which is a huge mistake. It’s like they buy off on atoms being made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, but they are completely oblivious to quantum theory. So the atheists go celebrate their victory that atoms are true, thus missing reality altogether. That’s Infinity in a nutshell. He’s “figured out” that atoms are true and Adam is not, and he’s angry about it.

But is religion trying, imperfectly, to describe a larger world and reality that science and the superficial are missing? Yes, emphatically. Language fails, as it usually does when you look up dictionary definitions. And if you insist on using Webster’s Third next to your Bible, you’ll miss it, too. It’s often because of your childhood conditioning, as many people have proven here in this thread. ATHEIST or THEIST: It's the same damn thing. You both BELIEVE!

If you want a clue about the reality of it all, it’s in the OP’s opening post. She’s already figured it out, and y’all in your zeal have sped right on by.

originally posted by: godlover25
a reply to: BuzzyWigs

I will not cast my pearls to swine.

Since when is religious arrogance the pathway to Christ?

"judge not lest ye......

a reply to: schuyler

You're wrong.

my childhood was not a relentless diatribe of atheism,

I NEVER spoke of God or religion at home. As I said, I did not know the Gospel stories or the Genesis creation myth until I was in my 20s.

You keep assuming, and assuming incorrectly at that.

The reason why I believe in God now is simply because God exists. God is there. He's there for you to find too. I'm sorry it's hard for you to believe, but it's just the way it is.

a reply to: olaru12

I wasn't name calling, it's an illustration.

Swine devour anything in their path, and religious experience is something precious, Divine. To throw it to people who are going to mock it is akin to throwing a pearl to swine.

Let me guess, your the type of person who thinks Christians believe in Adam and Eve eating an apple in a garden because a talking snake enticed them to do so 6,000 years ago, thus dooming humanity?

originally posted by: godlover25
a reply to: olaru12

I wasn't name calling, it's an illustration.

Swine devour anything in their path, and religious experience is something precious, Divine. To throw it to people who are going to mock it is akin to throwing a pearl to swine.

Let me guess, your the type of person who thinks Christians believe in Adam and Eve eating an apple in a garden because a talking snake enticed them to do so 6,000 years ago, thus dooming humanity?

That's what the Bible says, yes. And I don't remember reading a disclaimer saying "Warning: the following events are metaphorical representations of unspecified, but entirely factual, events taking place in an unspecified, but entirely factual, time period. Interpret at your own risk."

I just cannot get my head round all this religion stuff if nobody ever told you about god up in the sky would you ever figure it out yourself living on a desert island

if you see a burning bush throw some wood on the fire and enjoy the barbie never let a good crisis go to waste

a reply to: godlover25

You keep assuming, and assuming incorrectly at that.

You mean like you keep assuming that people are "mocking" you, and also "mocking" your version of "God"?

The reason why I believe in God now is simply because God exists. God is there. He's there for you to find too. I'm sorry it's hard for you to believe, but it's just the way it is.

Okay, well! That's very good news! Can you please share with us how you know this??

a reply to: schuyler

I'm not going to directly answer either Infinity or Godlover in this post.

For a post not directly answering me, I sure did feature prominently. Whew, I felt that roast all the way from where you typed it. Open some windows, it's getting hot in here.

originally posted by: godlover25




Let me guess, your the type of person who thinks Christians believe in Adam and Eve eating an apple in a garden because a talking snake enticed them to do so 6,000 years ago, thus dooming humanity?

Your religous arrogance isn't doing Christianity any favors!

Again...."judge not lest...

Hello, i was going to make my own blog but don't know how, so i was surfing this site and scrolled down and the word Faith caught my eyes, im just going to throw it out there! i hear voices! peoples voices in my head! im a 27 year old man born in Chicago, im a Muslim and believe that there is no god but god! the 1 true god creator of all, and is not compared to his creation, its been going on for 2 years, i hear all the time even now in the backround mocking me laughing at what im writing now, irs beyond annoying, its like when i want to or start to think i feel light headed, and as im thinking i hear voices, stupid # and i know there people of here and now beacuse of the words i here, like Oh OR WHAT YOU AND YOUR MUSLIMS FRIENDS>>> like sounded ike a white male 30, i mean i heard it all growing up, so i could compare the voices, what i believe is that there doing it to alot of ppl, i dnt know how or why i can hear them, i did resacrechs and most ppl say its physictso sm #, but im a man of God, i know who i am and agian these voices are the most i mean Most aragent voices i have ever heared, it was way wore in the beggining i thought it was a curse from god for sins i have commited and was terrifyied but as days went by i thought to myself God is true this is not this is confusing me, i feel they mess with me mentailly even emtionaly i feel things that im not even feeling? and then my memories, im jumping all over the place, i just decide to write this here now on this site because i know people here are seeking truth, this changed me complitely, ima afriad, for everyone, ima nobody noone important just a regler man trying, to live a normal, life, im sorry about the spelling i just wat to send this, i swear as God as my witness this is true! and i just want people to know!!! God is Real he is thats the only way im still sane! May God have mercy on us all and giuid us all to him ameen,

a reply to: moemoe

God is Real he is thats the only way im still sane!

That's good that you retain your faith in God.
I would suggest avoiding blaming anyone for what you are experiencing and should probably think of it as just one of those things that happens.
Bad things happen all the time to perfectly good people.
Like people die all the time from one kind of disease or another, so don't feel like you have been singled out for torment.
Just do the best that you can, and try not to worry too much, and it might just go away.
God loves you even if it may seem difficult to imagine at times.

thanks for you nice words! i dont fear death after this, i question my freedom aswell as everyones eles, i just want people to know its real, i dnt care that its happening i just want to put the word out, dnt know any-other
way how, again thanks for your nice words!

a reply to: moemoe

You need to recognize God for who He Is, the Man, Christ Jesus.

Islam can never bring you theosis, union with God, you can only draw near to Him through the Son, Jesus Christ,

Call on the Name of Jesus Christ,

find an Orthodox Catholic Church near you and call the Priest and inquire into the Faith,

God bless and I pray that God will bring you from the flock of Ishmael into the flock of Isaac, the true Heirs of the Promise.

originally posted by: godlover25
or the Genesis creation myth

At least you call it a creation MYTH ... that's a start. Now once you realize that large portions of the Old Testament are myth and folklore, then you'll come to understand Who God is ... and He's not the vengeful S.O.B. portrayed in the Old Testament.

originally posted by: godlover25
I will not cast my pearls to swine.

Typical.

a reply to: FlyersFan

When we were young in our knowledge of God, God gave stories we could understand and relate to in order to teach us timeless truths (Myths of Genesis 1-11 - Old Testament): That He is the One God and His Messiah is the Savior of humanity and the Tree of Life,

Now we are older and He can reveal to us the Truth in a literal way (New Testament)

The history recorded in Genesis 1-11 is not modern history as we understand it, nor is it biology or science. It is Spiritual Hyperbole, a parable if you will. Jesus loves to teach in parable.

Seeing as how the entire Old Testament is a shadow and a type of the good things to come, and the New Testament is the clarification and revelation of said shadows and types, even Christ in His Life embodied this fact, He spoke to His disciples in parable His entire time He was with them, teaching them as they were spiritual babes, as they grew and matured, He could then speak to them plainly:

John 16: 28 I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.”

29 His disciples said to Him, “See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech! 30 Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God.”

31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Verse 29 is key.

God bless

a reply to: godlover25

Islam can never bring you theosis, union with God, you can only draw near to Him through the Son, Jesus Christ,

Funny thing is, Islam would say the same about you.