Taking a second look at things

[Silmarien]

I've been meaning to introduce myself for more than a week now, but haven't been able to work up the courage to do so for reasons that will become quite obvious. I've been encouraged to take a chance and see what happens, though, so... here I am.

I've got a bit of a complicated history with Christianity. I rejected it utterly about half a lifetime ago, and have watched it creep back into my life inch by inch in the years since. I was an atheist existentialist for a while in college, and it was Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov that overthrew me--I'd been discussing the Christian themes with someone one afternoon after class and just realized that I didn't believe in nothing. I've been a bit like a moth to the flame in the years since--I used to hang out with the Christian group at law school from time to time and even got dragged to their church once, but it's an awkward association when you're not in the same place spiritually yourself, and I most certainly was not.

Unfortunately, I haven't done much to change that in the time since. I'm not sure if I really even could have, since there were plenty of things I didn't understand before, like just how profound true humility actually was--that's a lesson I only just learned. I'm liberal, which means the weeks after the US election were... something of an intense emotional rollercoaster. I've been more introspective in the past month than I'd been for years, and it's honestly just the sort of shock I needed. There are plenty of things that I haven't been doing as well as I'd like, and if I'm going to change that, it has to be now.

I just started reading Chesterton's Orthodoxy, and there's a line at the beginning that really resonated with me: "I did try to find a heresy of my own; and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy." I can't say for sure yet that I've come full circle, but I'm seeing a lot in Christianity these days that I never did before, so I think it's time to take a second look at everything with fresh eyes and figure out exactly where I stand now. I'm probably going to have plenty of questions, though, some practical and some theoretically theological.

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

Hi, again!

 

[Papa Zoom]

I've been meaning to introduce myself for more than a week now, but haven't been able to work up the courage to do so for reasons that will become quite obvious. I've been encouraged to take a chance and see what happens, though, so... here I am.

I've got a bit of a complicated history with Christianity. I rejected it utterly about half a lifetime ago, and have watched it creep back into my life inch by inch in the years since. I was an atheist existentialist for a while in college, and it was Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov that overthrew me--I'd been discussing the Christian themes with someone one afternoon after class and just realized that I didn't believe in nothing. I've been a bit like a moth to the flame in the years since--I used to hang out with the Christian group at law school from time to time and even got dragged to their church once, but it's an awkward association when you're not in the same place spiritually yourself, and I most certainly was not.

Unfortunately, I haven't done much to change that in the time since. I'm not sure if I really even could have, since there were plenty of things I didn't understand before, like just how profound true humility actually was--that's a lesson I only just learned. I'm liberal, which means the weeks after the US election were... something of an intense emotional rollercoaster. I've been more introspective in the past month than I'd been for years, and it's honestly just the sort of shock I needed. There are plenty of things that I haven't been doing as well as I'd like, and if I'm going to change that, it has to be now.

I just started reading Chesterton's Orthodoxy, and there's a line at the beginning that really resonated with me: "I did try to find a heresy of my own; and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy." I can't say for sure yet that I've come full circle, but I'm seeing a lot in Christianity these days that I never did before, so I think it's time to take a second look at everything with fresh eyes and figure out exactly where I stand now. I'm probably going to have plenty of questions, though, some practical and some theoretically theological.

Welcome. I've always meant to read both those books. I have Orthodoxy. Have you ever read anything by Ravi Zacharias? I think you'd enjoy his writings. He speaks of Dostoevsky's book in some of his talks. It would be fun to have a book study/reading/discussion with a group. I've started a few with friends but they always fizzle out. Welcome to the forum!

 

[Eugene]

.
Hi dear @Silmarien and it's a pleasure welcoming you among us. I appreciate your honesty and hopefully we can explain a bit more to you of our lives and reasons for being in Christ Jesus. It does appear God is not through with you yet, and I hope I can add something to that calling; you are certainly worth our effort in being someone that God loves.

I wrote the following pamphlet that may help you understand a bit more of what Christianity is. If you have questions, please ask and thanks for being here among us.
Salvation with Security – 1, 2, 3
http://www.christianforums.net/Fell...ds/salvation-with-security-parts-1-2-3.52236/

 

[GodsGrace]

Hi Silmarien,

Your story is typical.
God is always calling us, and until we hear Him we cannot understand Him.
I met Jesus when I was about 28 years old. Knowing Him is the best!
I've found that Christianity answers the questions we have better than any other ology or ism.

The book I've read that most explains Christianity in a way that I like a lot is Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.
It's great.

I welcome you and look forward to your postings.
Look for a Forum that you like, there are many, and just ask away!

Wondering

 

[Silmarien]

Hi, again!

Hello, and thank you for the additional push to come out of hiding. ;)

Welcome. I've always meant to read both those books. I have Orthodoxy. Have you ever read anything by Ravi Zacharias? I think you'd enjoy his writings. He speaks of Dostoevsky's book in some of his talks. It would be fun to have a book study/reading/discussion with a group. I've started a few with friends but they always fizzle out. Welcome to the forum!

Thank you, and I have not! I'll need to add him to my list. Right now I'm trying to catch up on what I already know I like and haven't read enough of, which means everything Kierkegaard wrote--he was the first Christian philosopher who really appealed to me, and if someone can push me further in that direction, it'll be him.

I've had Orthodoxy sitting around for ages--I'm only through the first two chapters, but Chesterton's such an engaging writer, I'd have read it years ago if I'd known how delightful it was. I had to take a seminar on Brothers Karamazov to get through it, Russian literature being what it is, but it's an incredibly powerful book. And has got the only answer to the Problem of Evil that has ever convinced me.

.
Hi dear @Silmarien and it's a pleasure welcoming you among us. I appreciate your honesty and hopefully we can explain a bit more to you of our lives and reasons for being in Christ Jesus. It does appear God is not through with you yet, and I hope I can add something to that calling; you are certainly worth our effort in being someone that God loves.

I wrote the following pamphlet that may help you understand a bit more of what Christianity is. If you have questions, please ask and thanks for being here among us.
Salvation with Security – 1, 2, 3
http://www.christianforums.net/Fell...ds/salvation-with-security-parts-1-2-3.52236/

Thank you, Eugene!

I do have a question regarding the ToS--I know that this site supports Biblical infallibility, and I have no intention of promoting anything else, but it's not my view, so I'm not sure what sorts of theological questions I can actually ask without violating the ToS. I don't mean to be controversial, but I do delve into unconventional theology, and sometimes the line between unorthodox and actual apostasy is clear, and sometimes it's not.

Hi Silmarien,

Your story is typical.
God is always calling us, and until we hear Him we cannot understand Him.
I met Jesus when I was about 28 years old. Knowing Him is the best!
I've found that Christianity answers the questions we have better than any other ology or ism.

The book I've read that most explains Christianity in a way that I like a lot is Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.
It's great.

I welcome you and look forward to your postings.
Look for a Forum that you like, there are many, and just ask away!

Wondering

Thank you! I've read plenty by C.S. Lewis (and not just Narnia!), but not that one just yet.

 

[Eugene]

I do have a question regarding the ToS--I know that this site supports Biblical infallibility, and I have no intention of promoting anything else, but it's not my view, so I'm not sure what sorts of theological questions I can actually ask without violating the ToS. I don't mean to be controversial, but I do delve into unconventional theology, and sometimes the line between unorthodox and actual apostasy is clear, and sometimes it's not.

Hi again. I hope we can satisfy your quest here with answers. There are many figures, shadows, and types used in scripture of heavenly things to come; I certainly do not know them all. I too believe God’s word to be infallible although question some interpretations of it. As with anything we here are all at different stages of growth in spiritual understanding, and having doctrines differing from one another. E.g., I believe in the doctrine “Once saved, always saved (OSAS),” another may think they can lose theirs.

We can delete or edit something you may post that we believe offensive to our ToS. I appreciate your reading of it, and personally don’t think we’ll have that problem. My hope is that you’ll be blessed here.

 

[Wrg1405]

Evening precious daughter of our Father.

You may think that is a weird thing to say, but I do beleive you are a precious daughter of the father.
He has created every human being from the beginning of time and wants to adopt us all into is family.

I'm so glad you have overcome your fears and have taken the plunge to join us.

Don't fret about asking questions and researching what we may say whilst you are seeking.

In fact in Acts people did exactly that.

Acts 17:10-12
Paul and Silas in Berea
That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they arrived there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. As a result, many Jews believed, as did many of the prominent Greek women and men.

The only scripture they would have has is the Old Testament.

Today we have the Old Testament and New Testament and a plethora of other material that expands it all.

Try not to reflect on your history but focus on your future. God will never ever turn someone away based on their history, he will deal with that and give you a future. He loves doing that.

Also know that you can come before him and be a Berean. Ask him questions, pour your heart out. Be honest with him about all your fears, worries, hurts pain and unbelief. He will not reject you or make you feel stupid.

A heart that seeks him is a heart that he can deal with and deal with.

Jesus himself came to reveal the Father. He said "If you have seen me you have seen the Father"

So ask away, don't be afraid. With us or with God.

Just so you know that Jesus himself said that God loves you as much as he loves Jesus.

Welcome

 

[civilwarbuff]

I've been meaning to introduce myself for more than a week now, but haven't been able to work up the courage to do so for reasons that will become quite obvious. I've been encouraged to take a chance and see what happens, though, so... here I am.

I've got a bit of a complicated history with Christianity. I rejected it utterly about half a lifetime ago, and have watched it creep back into my life inch by inch in the years since. I was an atheist existentialist for a while in college, and it was Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov that overthrew me--I'd been discussing the Christian themes with someone one afternoon after class and just realized that I didn't believe in nothing. I've been a bit like a moth to the flame in the years since--I used to hang out with the Christian group at law school from time to time and even got dragged to their church once, but it's an awkward association when you're not in the same place spiritually yourself, and I most certainly was not.

Unfortunately, I haven't done much to change that in the time since. I'm not sure if I really even could have, since there were plenty of things I didn't understand before, like just how profound true humility actually was--that's a lesson I only just learned. I'm liberal, which means the weeks after the US election were... something of an intense emotional rollercoaster. I've been more introspective in the past month than I'd been for years, and it's honestly just the sort of shock I needed. There are plenty of things that I haven't been doing as well as I'd like, and if I'm going to change that, it has to be now.

I just started reading Chesterton's Orthodoxy, and there's a line at the beginning that really resonated with me: "I did try to find a heresy of my own; and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy." I can't say for sure yet that I've come full circle, but I'm seeing a lot in Christianity these days that I never did before, so I think it's time to take a second look at everything with fresh eyes and figure out exactly where I stand now. I'm probably going to have plenty of questions, though, some practical and some theoretically theological.

Welcome and "Come over to this side of the Lord."

26th North Carolina MarkerIn a different view to the right, you can again see the location reached by the men of the 26th North Carolina during the Pickett / Pettigrew Charge. Words prove inadequate to describe the courage needed to walk from the distant tree line into the face of thousands of Union guns just behind the stone row in the foreground. Some Union soldiers felt similarly and held their fire as a few Confederates neared the wall. One man in gray came forward still carrying the 26th's flag. Holding their fire out of respect for their bravery, one man in blue instead extended a hand saying, "Come over to this side of the Lord." Those left standing were then taken prisoner. [2,L]
http://www.brotherswar.com/Gettysburg-3f.htm

 

[smaller]

I've been meaning to introduce myself for more than a week now, but haven't been able to work up the courage to do so for reasons that will become quite obvious. I've been encouraged to take a chance and see what happens, though, so... here I am.

I've got a bit of a complicated history with Christianity. I rejected it utterly about half a lifetime ago, and have watched it creep back into my life inch by inch in the years since. I was an atheist existentialist for a while in college, and it was Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov that overthrew me--I'd been discussing the Christian themes with someone one afternoon after class and just realized that I didn't believe in nothing. I've been a bit like a moth to the flame in the years since--I used to hang out with the Christian group at law school from time to time and even got dragged to their church once, but it's an awkward association when you're not in the same place spiritually yourself, and I most certainly was not.

Unfortunately, I haven't done much to change that in the time since. I'm not sure if I really even could have, since there were plenty of things I didn't understand before, like just how profound true humility actually was--that's a lesson I only just learned. I'm liberal, which means the weeks after the US election were... something of an intense emotional rollercoaster. I've been more introspective in the past month than I'd been for years, and it's honestly just the sort of shock I needed. There are plenty of things that I haven't been doing as well as I'd like, and if I'm going to change that, it has to be now.

I just started reading Chesterton's Orthodoxy, and there's a line at the beginning that really resonated with me: "I did try to find a heresy of my own; and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy." I can't say for sure yet that I've come full circle, but I'm seeing a lot in Christianity these days that I never did before, so I think it's time to take a second look at everything with fresh eyes and figure out exactly where I stand now. I'm probably going to have plenty of questions, though, some practical and some theoretically theological.

Obviously a seeker through the path of intellect. You'll find the scriptures, The Living Word, to be quite engaging, intellectually. Overwhelmingly so, at some point. The point of submission.

 

[Silmarien]

Intellectually stimulating, definitely! Especially now that I'm no longer a ten year old getting worked up over evolution, haha. Genesis, no longer an issue. Granted, my current issues are considerably bigger.

Submission is definitely going to be a work in progress, because I closed myself off in a serious way when I left. So there's resistance to just about everything, and a lot of it needs to be torn down now, since it's just skepticism for its own sake. But not all of it--my legitimate resistance seems to actually be to Paul and his contributions, both theological and institutional, so I think I'm going to finish up Mark and skip ahead for the moment to get a better picture of what rejecting his apostleship really means.

Thank you for your advice in my other thread, by the way! Very insightful and very much appreciated! =)

 

[WIP]

I do have a question regarding the ToS--I know that this site supports Biblical infallibility, and I have no intention of promoting anything else, but it's not my view, so I'm not sure what sorts of theological questions I can actually ask without violating the ToS. I don't mean to be controversial, but I do delve into unconventional theology, and sometimes the line between unorthodox and actual apostasy is clear, and sometimes it's not.

Hi @Silmarian. Ninety-nine percent of the time asking questions is not going violate the ToS. We invite and encourage atheists and people with other beliefs to post and ask questions. What will become violation of the ToS is if we detect that someone is pushing beliefs contrary to the the ToS and trying to undermine our faith. If all you're doing is asking questions to gain more clarity and understanding then ask away. Besides, like Eugene said, we will let you know if we think you violated the rules. Thank you for taking the time to read through the ToS and welcome!

 

[IncredibleTransformation]

Welcome. I would like to encourage you. I was in and out of my Christian faith for years. The Lord finally totally got ahold of me at 40 years old. All I can say is if you are being touched by the Lord, go with it because if He wants you He is going to get you no matter what you do.

 

[th1b.taylor]

I've been meaning to introduce myself for more than a week now, but haven't been able to work up the courage to do so for reasons that will become quite obvious. I've been encouraged to take a chance and see what happens, though, so... here I am.

I've got a bit of a complicated history with Christianity. I rejected it utterly about half a lifetime ago, and have watched it creep back into my life inch by inch in the years since. I was an atheist existentialist for a while in college, and it was Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov that overthrew me--I'd been discussing the Christian themes with someone one afternoon after class and just realized that I didn't believe in nothing. I've been a bit like a moth to the flame in the years since--I used to hang out with the Christian group at law school from time to time and even got dragged to their church once, but it's an awkward association when you're not in the same place spiritually yourself, and I most certainly was not.

Unfortunately, I haven't done much to change that in the time since. I'm not sure if I really even could have, since there were plenty of things I didn't understand before, like just how profound true humility actually was--that's a lesson I only just learned. I'm liberal, which means the weeks after the US election were... something of an intense emotional rollercoaster. I've been more introspective in the past month than I'd been for years, and it's honestly just the sort of shock I needed. There are plenty of things that I haven't been doing as well as I'd like, and if I'm going to change that, it has to be now.

I just started reading Chesterton's Orthodoxy, and there's a line at the beginning that really resonated with me: "I did try to find a heresy of my own; and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy." I can't say for sure yet that I've come full circle, but I'm seeing a lot in Christianity these days that I never did before, so I think it's time to take a second look at everything with fresh eyes and figure out exactly where I stand now. I'm probably going to have plenty of questions, though, some practical and some theoretically theological.

God is blessing you! You ask and one or more of us Peculiar People will strive to answer. Ia will be praying for you as will others here. And welcome to the forums.

 

[Silmarien]

Hi @Silmarian. Ninety-nine percent of the time asking questions is not going violate the ToS. We invite and encourage atheists and people with other beliefs to post and ask questions. What will become violation of the ToS is if we detect that someone is pushing beliefs contrary to the the ToS and trying to undermine our faith. If all you're doing is asking questions to gain more clarity and understanding then ask away. Besides, like Eugene said, we will let you know if we think you violated the rules. Thank you for taking the time to read through the ToS and welcome!

Thank you! My main problem right now is that I seem to be at war with myself! Or maybe with the religion, I'm not really sure. I've realized that I could push myself a lot further than I'd ever imagined possible, but there are tons of things I can only accept by finding unorthodox ways to come at the problem, and I can't help but think that that's not going to be good enough.

It's been a long time since I last had to wrestle with Christianity. Some days it's really rewarding, but this has not been one of them. I don't have any specific questions, though. A couple really big ones, sure, if anyone wants to tackle tortured intellectualism. My head is a scary place right now, haha.

Welcome. I would like to encourage you. I was in and out of my Christian faith for years. The Lord finally totally got ahold of me at 40 years old. All I can say is if you are being touched by the Lord, go with it because if He wants you He is going to get you no matter what you do.

Haha, I've been really slippery so far, so I hope you're right!

God is blessing you! You ask and one or more of us Peculiar People will strive to answer. Ia will be praying for you as will others here. And welcome to the forums.

Thank you! I really appreciate it. =)

 

[Chopper]

It is this simple. You are a sinner in God's eyes. Jesus Christ Who is God in the flesh died on a cross to remove your sins forever. If you come to believe this, then ask Him to save you from your sins by asking Him to become your Lord, Savior, and Master. That's a start.

 

[Silmarien]

It is this simple. You are a sinner in God's eyes. Jesus Christ Who is God in the flesh died on a cross to remove your sins forever. If you come to believe this, then ask Him to save you from your sins by asking Him to become your Lord, Savior, and Master. That's a start.

Heh, that seems more like a finish line than a starting point! At least if you're as far behind as I am.

I have made some serious progress, though. I've been driving myself to despair trying to figure out what I did and didn't believe (fight me, Saint Augustine), and something finally just snapped. I've technically been in wilful rebellion for years--I kind of had a dream once where an angel told me not to turn away, and I promptly staked my claim with Christopher Hitchens, so... yeah. I assume that makes finally submitting even more powerful, because wow. I've finally figured out what worship really feels like.

I doubt it would feel like a laying down of arms if it weren't Christianity, and at some level I am inclined to believe, but my skepticism isn't going down without a fight. I'm not ready for another battle just yet, and I think I've been told to calm down and stop stressing out about the details anyway. So time to rest and let my head catch up a bit.

 

[GodsGrace]

Heh, that seems more like a finish line than a starting point! At least if you're as far behind as I am.

I have made some serious progress, though. I've been driving myself to despair trying to figure out what I did and didn't believe (fight me, Saint Augustine), and something finally just snapped. I've technically been in wilful rebellion for years--I kind of had a dream once where an angel told me not to turn away, and I promptly staked my claim with Christopher Hitchens, so... yeah. I assume that makes finally submitting even more powerful, because wow. I've finally figured out what worship really feels like.

I doubt it would feel like a laying down of arms if it weren't Christianity, and at some level I am inclined to believe, but my skepticism isn't going down without a fight. I'm not ready for another battle just yet, and I think I've been told to calm down and stop stressing out about the details anyway. So time to rest and let my head catch up a bit.

You like St. Augustine??
Lord help us.
Give me Acquinas anytime.
Was Augustine ever sure of anything?? I wonder.

Anyway, if Chris Hitchens could explain two things to me, I might listen to him seriously:
1. Where did everything come fromj?
How does something come from nothing?
2. Why is everything in the universe effected with good and evil?
Where does that come from?

Christianity is the only belief system that answers these two questions for me.
Everything else comes after.

You never use the bible when speaking to atheists, but I don't think you're one,
so... I do like Romans 1:19-20. God is evident in creation.

Hitchens and company go on and on and babble forever about all these intellectual concepts that make my eyes glaze over.
Here's why it's simple, as Chopper said:

Everything had to come about in some way.
Is it easier to believe that God made everything or that everything came about from nothing. (which is impossible).
There is good and there is bad. A major theme in literature, movies, etc.
Where does that come from? Maybe God and satan? Two strong forces.
So, it would seem that I'd have to decide with which force I side. That is, if they exist. First question to conquer.

Then the decision becomes simple.

You can come to God through some kind of personal encounter, or you could come to God through sheer intellect and will.
Jesus said to love God with all our heart, soul, and MIND.
Mathew 22:37
God gifted us with a mind, and He intends for us to use it to seek Him, find Him, and understand Him.

A priest friend of mine once told me that if you are seeking God, you have already found him.

Wondering

 

[th1b.taylor]

You like St. Augustine??
Lord help us.
Give me Acquinas anytime.
Was Augustine ever sure of anything?? I wonder.

Anyway, if Chris Hitchens could explain two things to me, I might listen to him seriously:
1. Where did everything come fromj?
How does something come from nothing?
2. Why is everything in the universe effected with good and evil?
Where does that come from?

Christianity is the only belief system that answers these two questions for me.
Everything else comes after.

You never use the bible when speaking to atheists, but I don't think you're one,
so... I do like Romans 1:19-20. God is evident in creation.

Hitchens and company go on and on and babble forever about all these intellectual concepts that make my eyes glaze over.
Here's why it's simple, as Chopper said:

Everything had to come about in some way.
Is it easier to believe that God made everything or that everything came about from nothing. (which is impossible).
There is good and there is bad. A major theme in literature, movies, etc.
Where does that come from? Maybe God and satan? Two strong forces.
So, it would seem that I'd have to decide with which force I side. That is, if they exist. First question to conquer.

Then the decision becomes simple.

You can come to God through some kind of personal encounter, or you could come to God through sheer intellect and will.
Jesus said to love God with all our heart, soul, and MIND.
Mathew 22:37
God gifted us with a mind, and He intends for us to use it to seek Him, find Him, and understand Him.

A priest friend of mine once told me that if you are seeking God, you have already found him.

Wondering

Amen! The very moment I called out, God was there. And you're right, as soon as I realized that the science was perfectly illogical, there was only one remaining answer. It took me better than twenty-three years to journey from Deist to Christ. Our brother here is on that journey is how it all strikes me.

 

[GodsGrace]

Amen! The very moment I called out, God was there. And you're right, as soon as I realized that the science was perfectly illogical, there was only one remaining answer. It took me better than twenty-three years to journey from Deist to Christ. Our brother here is on that journey is how it all strikes me.

Hi Bill,
Yes. It is a journey indeed!
For some it's a short journey and for some it takes longer.

But then there's that other journey we're ALL on... The journey of the believer, who knows that one day we'll all be going home and will meet. Some day you and I will meet! And what an exciting journey it is.

I do hope this poster will join us in that journey. Even though there is so much in the world holding people back. We Christians are even told that this is all just a need we have in order to be happy.

Yes sir, I say. It IS indeed a need. A need to know the one who created me. A need to fill that heart-shaped hole within my spirit that only God can fill.

Augustine said that, BTW. He got some things right...

Wondering