Finding God after an atheist or agnostic upbringing?

[Student]

Hi! I am a student studying anthropology and I'm currently doing a research project about Christianity. My main topic area is looking at the experiences people have that lead them to finding God especially those who have been brought up in an atheist or agnostic environment. Whether there is a particular moment or life event, or a more slow and subtle change that drew them into the Christian community? And how since then one's life may have changed?

I would greatly appreciate anyone willing to share their experience if they relate to this.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Hi! I am a student studying anthropology and I'm currently doing a research project about Christianity. My main topic area is looking at the experiences people have that lead them to finding God especially those who have been brought up in an atheist or agnostic environment. Whether there is a particular moment or life event, or a more slow and subtle change that drew them into the Christian community? And how since then one's life may have changed?

I would greatly appreciate anyone willing to share their experience if they relate to this.

Well greetings! That sounds like an interesting study and we're glad to have you. You might find some things in the testimonies section, but you may also get some direct responses here.

Not sure if I've shared my entire testimony on this forum, but I was commenting on a small part of it just today I think.

Let me find it.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Let me find it.

Here. Below is a piece of it. You will likely find that most people's conversion was dramatic. Mine pretty much was as well, because it was a switch from something closely akin to a Satanist worldview over into a Christian one. But every man is different.

Blessings, and thank you for joining our forum. Hopefully we can be of help to you.

The Jesus Way

 

[LOOKING]

Hi! I am a student studying anthropology and I'm currently doing a research project about Christianity. My main topic area is looking at the experiences people have that lead them to finding God especially those who have been brought up in an atheist or agnostic environment. Whether there is a particular moment or life event, or a more slow and subtle change that drew them into the Christian community? And how since then one's life may have changed?

I would greatly appreciate anyone willing to share their experience if they relate to this.

I think the key moment in my full conversion was when I realized that intellect is just a mirage—an elaborate mechanism that isn't truly real. There were other significant experiences, but I believe this was perhaps the most important one.

Now, I have a very strong sense that the delusion lies not with religion, but with atheism. Atheists believe they are following reality, but in truth, they are following their intellect, which can easily be deceived—either by themselves or by others.

For example, when we encounter a contradiction in a theory, we often try to resolve it by modifying or adjusting the theory so that the contradiction disappears. The ironic part is that we don't actually solve the problem; we just move it beyond our ability to measure or observe. This is how science ends up with two completely irreconcilable models of the same reality, each following perfect logic.

 

[Dyonisius the Areopagite]

Hi! I am a student studying anthropology and I'm currently doing a research project about Christianity. My main topic area is looking at the experiences people have that lead them to finding God especially those who have been brought up in an atheist or agnostic environment. Whether there is a particular moment or life event, or a more slow and subtle change that drew them into the Christian community? And how since then one's life may have changed?

I would greatly appreciate anyone willing to share their experience if they relate to this.

I was never an atheist. I became a Christian when I was but six years old. The preacher at my Mother's Church gave the "altar call" and I approached and asked the Lord to forgive me my sin and be my Savior. I very poignantly remember the experience. And if you take anything away from this post take that away. It was an EXPERIENCE. An experience I will never forget. I cannot even describe it in adequate words. I just know I met Jesus that day, and He has been with me ever since. Never leaving me. Never forsaking me. In my lowest days, there He was. In my highest days. There He was.
But this is not what you are after. You wish to know what brings people to Jesus who have even been taught that to believe in Jesus is the rankest of superstition. Something totally anti-thetical to the Scientific Method.
I cannot answer you, as much as I would like to, because I have never experienced that state of being. I can only give you the HOPE that is in me that Jesus is REAL. And that if you continually seek Him with a pure heart and mind, He will reveal Himself to you.
That said, I refer you to one of the greatest theologians of the twentieth century and who was an avowed atheist who was taught at Oxford University in England, the great C.S. Lewis, and his nominal work "Mere Christianity".
I do hope that this helps.
May Christ ever be with you and draw you to Himself, through the Holy Spirit.

 

[WIP]

One could say my story is actually quite dry. There was no dramatic, sudden, or aha moment that I could point to. I cannot tell you the day, month, or even year that my conversion took place. I just began to realize that God does in fact exist and that He wants to have a relationship with me, as He does you too. Simple as that.

I was raised in a Catholic tradition, went to Catholic school, studied Catholic Catechism, served as an altar boy, participated in the church choir, and even attended daily Mass regularly, which was something even other professing Catholics didn't do as was evidenced by the meager attendance.

Then in my teens I began to question what I had been taught, the validity of what I was doing and why, and what the church was doing so I left the church and eventually God. I never really completely disbelieved in God so I guess I would say I was agnostic, believing that it was possible, but I certainly didn't believe it was irrefutable. In fact, while in a college class when we were assigned to write an essay of our own choosing, I decided to write about what I saw as contradictions in the Bible. Although, the professor said he didn't agree with my assertions, he said my work was good with regard to the assigned lesson and I received an A grade.

A few years later after a failed 7-year marriage, I got remarried and we bought a country hobby farm. My new wife soon became pregnant with our first daughter. She was raised in the Methodist tradition but not an outwardly Christian woman, but I think she began thinking about our new baby and out of the blue suggested that we find a church to attend.

About that same time, one of our neighbors began talking to me about God and Jesus and he invited us to come to his church, which is a country Lutheran church about 1-1/2 miles from our home. One thing I can say is that there is a pretty good Christian influence around our neighborhood and long story short, we began to attend that Lutheran church and eventually formally joined.

Over the years, I began to realize how wrong I was about those contradictions that I wrote about in college and now understand that the Bible does not contradict itself. Whenever we think it does, the truth is, we are not paying attention or understanding or looking at the Bible in its entirety. We are "seeing things through a glass darkly" as Paul put it in 1 Corinthians 13:12.

As I began to read and study the Bible, I began to notice the evidence of God in everything around me, whether it was something I saw as bad or good. I began to understand that God is sovereign (supreme), and He knows the end from the beginning, and He has a plan and that we are not the ones to determine His plan. We are to trust Him in everything. He is Lord.

All of this began to take place in the late 90's and continues to this day now in my mid 60's. Today, I continue to attend church services regularly, I attend a Tuesday morning prayer breakfast (been doing that for about 20 years) where we study the Bible and pray for whatever is on our mind or heart. I am involved with The Gideons International where our goal is to make the Bible available to everyone who needs it, and we have a weekly Saturday morning Gideon prayer breakfast that I attend as well. Every year on January 1, I set aside time to read or listen to an audio version of the Bible from Genesis through Revelation and every year it seems that something new comes to my attention. I look around me every day and am amazed at God's handiwork. There is no more doubt in my mind whatsoever.

Is my life a bed or roses now because I believe? Absolutely not! Life is full of trials, tribulations, and challenges but what is always certain and unchanging is that God is faithful and is always there for us when we need Him. The Bible says, "All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28 NKJV) The good that is spoken of here is not necessarily what we perceive as good here in this life but good as in our time in heaven with Him. Throughout the gospels we can read about how Jesus healed people of their afflictions and He is often quoted saying something like, "Your faith has made you well." What He is really talking about is not so much the healing of their physical ailments but more about the healing of their spiritual ailments. That is where it's at!

 

[Vaccine]

Hi! I am a student studying anthropology and I'm currently doing a research project about Christianity. My main topic area is looking at the experiences people have that lead them to finding God especially those who have been brought up in an atheist or agnostic environment. Whether there is a particular moment or life event, or a more slow and subtle change that drew them into the Christian community? And how since then one's life may have changed?

I would greatly appreciate anyone willing to share their experience if they relate to this.

I was brought up by what I consider agnostics. My parents met in a bar in the 1960's and liked to party. They smoked (Mom still does as far as I know), drank a lot, and I'm fairly sure were swingers. We only went to church when we visited one set of grandparents for Easter or Christmas.
They were mostly indifferent toward Christianity while I was growing up. Which led to me and my siblings being agnostic/atheist by the time we all finished college. Their indifference turned to hostility when I became a Christian in my late 20's. None of us are on speaking terms to this day.
As far as what led me to "finding God", it started with some Socrates quote my wife said to me. "The unexamined life is not worth living."
Her quote was probably a hint to be a better husband. She had a somewhat Christian upbringing but the only time we ever were in a church was to get married. Neither of us ever really talked about Christianity, Jesus, or God. We weren't at rock bottom or struggling anymore than the average person. The quote eventually led to me investigating Christianity, after exhausting many other topics. At the time I thought the Bible was a bunch of bunk, however, I had never read it myself. So I decided to give it a fair shake, then chuck it aside.
I got as far as all the sanitary laws in Leviticus (6:28) before reading something that changed me. In my mind, there was no way basically cavemen, who invented the concept of God, came up with the idea of sanitizing a bronze pot vs destroying a clay pot. It's too specific to be an accident. Plus the many other laws of burning clothes, quarantine, etc.
If through trial and error they figured out germ theory, then inventing the idea of God is superfluous. To me, it makes more sense those ideas were only conveyed to those ancient people by someone who actually knew about germs, namely God (or aliens/time travelers but those have many problems). While that was the initial WTF God is real moment in my life, my sinner's prayer conversion came a few weeks later after reading Evidence that Demands a Verdict (McDowell). Since then me and my wife have had many life changing moments where we know God is there. An angel told my wife we would have a child a few weeks before she got pregnant. She also knew their birthday right after finding out she was pregnant.
While I wish my family could meet my children, I'm not sure their hostility toward Christians has waned. We all feel so blessed and keep praying for them!

 

[Vinny37]

Hi! I am a student studying anthropology and I'm currently doing a research project about Christianity. My main topic area is looking at the experiences people have that lead them to finding God especially those who have been brought up in an atheist or agnostic environment. Whether there is a particular moment or life event, or a more slow and subtle change that drew them into the Christian community? And how since then one's life may have changed?

I would greatly appreciate anyone willing to share their experience if they relate to this.

Not answering but examining your request, to me a main problem is a disconnect between your stated focus on Christianity (finding Christ), and “finding God”. Christ is but the permanent temporal mode of the uncreated eternal second person of deity, ie the incarnate mode of the noncarnate son.

I would argue that many find God within general theism (eg Hinduism, Islam, etc), of which is Christianity is a subset. You might consider Ed Husain (The Islamist) who found God within Islam; and Mosab Hassan Yousef (Son of Hamas) who found Christ beyond Islam. You might consider C S Lewis, who from cultural Christianity turned to atheism, later feeding his soul on various other philosophies, then reluctantly turned to theism (found by God as a mouse is found by a cat), and a year or so later found Christ (realised myth). And Anthony Flew (There is a God) found God beyond atheism (deism as a subset of theism). Another testimony would be ‘Christ on the Jewish Road’ (Richard Wurmbrand), an ethnic-Jew (all Christians are spiritual-Jews) who turned from atheism to Christianity. I wish you well in your project.

 

[Cate-inVA]

My father was an atheist and I believe my mother may have been agnostic.
My father was very intellectual and academic — religion was looked down on as a crutch for weak people. Growing up, I never went to church or even really knew what the Bible exactly was.

My first week in a college dorm the only really kindly and friendly person was named Wendy. When I mentioned her to my roommate and a group of others, they said, “oh yeah, Wendy is a Jesus freak.” I had no idea what that meant.

So a few days later when I was with Wendy, I asked her why she was being called a Jesus freak, and she asked if I knew Jesus or had ever read the New Testament. I said no, and she gave me a copy to take to my room to read. As I was walking down the hallway, I flipped open the Bible and it flipped open to Revelations and Rev3:20 just glowed, and I heard the voice of Jesus , and I experienced His direct presence asking me to invite him in. And I did. I was sobbing and on my knees in the hallway experiencing such a miracle.

That was 53 years ago, and it’s been a long and winding (sometimes painful) road to spiritual maturity, but I wouldn’t have traded a minute of it!
And blessings to Wendy…..

.

 

[NoahK]

Hi! I am a student studying anthropology and I'm currently doing a research project about Christianity. My main topic area is looking at the experiences people have that lead them to finding God especially those who have been brought up in an atheist or agnostic environment. Whether there is a particular moment or life event, or a more slow and subtle change that drew them into the Christian community? And how since then one's life may have changed?

I would greatly appreciate anyone willing to share their experience if they relate to this.

In my experience I have found that some people have to run out of worldly options or answers. They have to hit bottom in their lives before they come to understand that the only One able to help them is God. Not the world.

But it is also true that God uses subtle ways as well. Depends on the human He's dealing with

FYI He knows you better than you do, so He knows exactly what to do and how to do it every time.

 

[miamited]

Hi! I am a student studying anthropology and I'm currently doing a research project about Christianity. My main topic area is looking at the experiences people have that lead them to finding God especially those who have been brought up in an atheist or agnostic environment. Whether there is a particular moment or life event, or a more slow and subtle change that drew them into the Christian community? And how since then one's life may have changed?

I would greatly appreciate anyone willing to share their experience if they relate to this.

Hi Student

Don't know if you're still around but do I get to ask a couple of questions before telling my account?

Are you a believer, or just someone asking questions about christianity or God or the Scriptures or anything to do with the christian faith? I ask only that it might make a difference in how a tell my account. What school are you attending?

 

[Student]

Hi Student

Don't know if you're still around but do I get to ask a couple of questions before telling my account?

Are you a believer, or just someone asking questions about christianity or God or the Scriptures or anything to do with the christian faith? I ask only that it might make a difference in how a tell my account. What school are you attending?

Hi miamited

Thanks for your questions! I've attended Christian schools most of my life but have never been certain about my faith. I think this project for me has been an important way to explore this, and hear other people's perspectives and I'm very grateful to all those willing to share their experience and beliefs. This is an undergrad university project as well. Of course I would appreciate you sharing your story but only if you're comfortable doing so.

 

[miamited]

Hi Student

I was raised in a family of regular church attenders. My grandfather was a minister of the truth of the Scriptures all of his life. And so my parents regularly attended church services, but never actually practiced living as the Scriptures ask. I honestly don't remember ever seeing a bible in my home growing up. Both of my parents sang in the church choir. I was baptized as a young child. I don't remember my age at the time but I'm sure I was at least 10 or so. But then I lived like hell and with parents who didn't practice the Scriptures themselves, I never received any instructions from them of anything to do with God. Again, I don't remember ever even having a conversation at home about God or Jesus.

So, I was raised up in the fellowship of believers and was baptized into the fellowship of believers as a child and then lived like hell and never gave it a moments thought. Yes, when I'd be in some kind of trouble I might sometimes throw out a prayer to be 'saved' from the consequences.

Life was lived and days passed. From time to time I'd get a bug that I should be in church and I'd go to some local congregation for a while and then be gone to live a fairly sinful life. Then at the age of about 40 my wife and I had a son and when he got to be pre-k age we decided to enroll him in the christian school around the corner. My wife had two sons from a previous marriage and none of them had ever been to church and for probably 10 years or so I was never found in 'church'. God was completely gone in my life up to that point, but we both thought it would be good for our son to have a christian upbringing so he wouldn't turn out like the other two boys.

Shortly after he started attending the school, which was part of a larger fellowship, I just said to my wife that we should go over on Sunday morning and see what kind of things they were teaching our son. It was a southern baptist aligned fellowship and so it was very, very Scriptural in its teachings. Shortly after we started attending, the teacher was doing a serious, I think it was shortly before Christmas, of all the prophecies of the Scriptures that pointed to Jesus. I'd always heard the stories and had some remembrance of several of them. That Jesus was prophesied to come from Bethlehem, and he did. That he was born of a virgin, and it was claimed that he was. But he went a bit deeper than I'd been before on many of the lesser known prophecies. Something grabbed my heart and was screaming at me that this all seemed pretty amazing and was true. A couple of weeks into the series and I found myself on the floor of my bedroom giving my life to Jesus and asking him to save me.

As a part of that prayer asking for God's salvation, I also asked that God would give me a burning and unquenchable thirst to know Him and His word and His Spirit. For about a year I couldn't put the Scriptures down and I knew that was the work of God and His Spirit in my life. The truth of all that the Scriptures unfold began to be really known and believed in my heart. I knew then, that I had been with God and that He had answered my prayers and that He really did exist.

Several of my wicked ways of life fell away, but honestly not all. So, I still depend on God's forgiveness for my sin. I was also baptized again, since I believed that baptism had to come after belief, and I didn't think that was the case with my baptism in my youth. I really felt like I had done that because of some amount of parental pressure. I mean, my grandfather's a minister and so, of course, all of the children and grandchildren would be expected to be baptized, and it seemed to be such a big deal at the time, but I just didn't feel now, 30 years later, that my heart had truly believed at my first baptism.

So that's my account. I have lived a life of some rebellion since, but I know that Jesus is with me and that when I grieve the Holy Spirit in such things, that there was God's word telling me to repent and ask God for forgiveness again.

One of the major changes in my theology was the creation event. I had been taught growing up about the stars and planets and mankind being 100's of thousands of years on going. Even millions and billions, but as I absorbed the Scriptures, I began to understand that all of that teaching was wrong. God created this realm in which we exist. He created for the singular and express purpose of creating a place for man to live. So there wasn't any reason that the creation was more than 6 days older than Adam. And we have a fairly accurate genealogical record from the creation of Adam through the record of the birth of sons to certain fathers. And of course, when one comes to understand that we live in a created realm of God's work and design for nothing more than the purpose of being a place where a creature that He made called man could live and survive and have the life that He gave us through breathing the breath of life into Adam, then the power and glory and majesty and goodness of God becomes more manifest also.

But for you, friend, there are two roads out of this life. One is broad and most everyone you know or come into contact with is on it. The other is narrow and few there be that find it. But it's the road that leads to the promise of eternal life with your Creator and His Son in an eternal existence, much like the angels enjoy. What you need to consider is what you believe happens to you when you die? God's word says that this life isn't the end of our existence. And if you question whether there even is a God? Study Daniel's prophecy in Daniel chapter 9.

One of the things that God told Israel was how they could know that there is a God and that He does exist, is that what He says does come to pass. Consider all the facts found in Daniel's account that God's angel tells him about. If you have questions, please ask. God bless you and I do pray that you find peace with God. You will need it when you leave here in another few weeks or dozens of years. One day you will come to the end of your life. I know that at your age such a reality seems so far away and not worth bothering about. But it is.

Consider these things:

God is the loving ruler of the world. He made the world. He made us rulers of the world under Him. Revelation 4:11 says, "You are worthy our Lord and God, to receive all glory, honor and power. You created all things. By your will they were created and have their being."

But we all reject God. We reject His rule over our lives by trying to run life our own way without Him. And in doing so, mankind has failed in our ruling over ourselves or society or the world. Again, God's word tells us in Romans 3:10-11 "There is no one righteous. No! Not one! No one who understands. No one who seeks God. They have altogether turned away."

But God won't let our rebellion go on forever. His punishment for our rebellion is death and judgment. God's word tells us, "Man is destined to die once and after that to face judgment." (Hebrews 9:27) That justice sounds hard coming from a loving God, but He has prepared for us a way of escape from His wrath. God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Because He is a loving God, as explained in the first claim, He sent His Son into the world: the man Jesus. Jesus always lived under God's authority and rule. He never sinned against his Father and thus is the one man who has lived the life that God asks of us in His instructions to us. Yet by dying in our place he took our punishment and brought forgiveness. "Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." (1 Peter 3:18)

But that's not all that God has done for us. He raised Jesus to life again as the ruler of the world. Jesus conquered death and now gives new life, and will return to judge. 1 Peter 1:3 says: "In His great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

Two ways to live. Under your own authority or under the authority of God's Son. If we go with being our own little god, then what awaits us is death and judgment. If we submit to Jesus and repent of our sin and strive to follow him in how we live our life, then we find that we can be forgiven by God and given eternal life. "whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. But whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." (John 3:36)