How could a logical person come to the conclusion that Christianity is true?
sent in by Ben Anderson
The main thing that sold me the idea that Christianity is wrong is this question:
Why did Christianity become the biggest religion in the world?
Here are the conclusions I came to:
1. Christianity is a bully religion. Holy wars and inquisitions are just the beginning. The bible encourages its followers to spread the word across the globe. To their credit, Christians have done this very well. For hundreds of years, Europe was Christian by law practically. There wasn't a line separating Church and state, let alone a wall as we (are supposed to) have in America.
2. I've always had an interest in world history. So I look through history and see all of the vile, disgusting things Christians have done in the name of their god. That wasn't a proof of untruth, but it was an absolute turn off.
3. Christianity is a myth. A modern myth. Thousands of years ago, people needed explanations of why things are the way they are so they made up stories. There is nothing wrong with this. Hypothesizing the origins of life, the cosmos, the earth, the sun, the moon, animals, the seas, these are all part of our world culture. Its just, now that we know for a scientific fact that the world is over 4 billion years old, why should we still give merit to a myth that tells us it is 5,000? That is not the only example of how science puts Christianity in the mud. Science is my Christianity.
4. Regarding world history again, I looked at the ancient religions of the world. The Greeks, the Romans, the Egyptians, the Norse, the Native Americans, the Indians, Chinese, Africans, etc. These people believed with the same conviction and dedication that what they believed was true, but any Christian will tell you they were all dead wrong. Hell, I can tell you that too. What makes their ideas wrong while Christians can say without a breath of doubt that they are right? Christianity is just a modern version of these religions, only with a few exceptions. The Greek gods, and Egyptian gods, and all those deities never required them to forcefully impose their strict rules upon the nonbelievers, or believers of other things.
5. Then there is the kicker. This, I believe is responsible for a large number of people being/staying/becoming Christian: Its like the payoff matrix (for those of you who have taken economics). There are two possibilities regarding the existence of god (either there is one or there isn't) and whether or not to be a Christian (either you are or you are not). Of these choices, there are 4 possible outcomes.
A. You are Christian + God exists = you go to heaven B. You are Christian + God doesn't exist = you just die C. You are not Christian + God doesn't exist = you just die D. You are not Christian + God exists = you go to hell
Now, out of these choices, only one outcome is particularly undesirable, choice D. The only real way to avoid choice D is to become a Christian. So this is the choice many people make based on this formula.
I have given all these reasons for becoming an exchristian atheist. I omitted things I could have included such as there being absolutely no evidence of the existence of a god, and the countless contradictions in the bible. I'll write about those later in life, when I have a publishing contract.
City: Minneapolis
State: MN
Country: USA
Became a Christian: 0
Ceased being a Christian: 14-16
Labels before: Lutheran
Labels now: Atheist
Why I joined: Born into it
Why I left: Christianity is wrong
Email Address: revmouse at rome.com
The main thing that sold me the idea that Christianity is wrong is this question:
Why did Christianity become the biggest religion in the world?
Here are the conclusions I came to:
1. Christianity is a bully religion. Holy wars and inquisitions are just the beginning. The bible encourages its followers to spread the word across the globe. To their credit, Christians have done this very well. For hundreds of years, Europe was Christian by law practically. There wasn't a line separating Church and state, let alone a wall as we (are supposed to) have in America.
2. I've always had an interest in world history. So I look through history and see all of the vile, disgusting things Christians have done in the name of their god. That wasn't a proof of untruth, but it was an absolute turn off.
3. Christianity is a myth. A modern myth. Thousands of years ago, people needed explanations of why things are the way they are so they made up stories. There is nothing wrong with this. Hypothesizing the origins of life, the cosmos, the earth, the sun, the moon, animals, the seas, these are all part of our world culture. Its just, now that we know for a scientific fact that the world is over 4 billion years old, why should we still give merit to a myth that tells us it is 5,000? That is not the only example of how science puts Christianity in the mud. Science is my Christianity.
4. Regarding world history again, I looked at the ancient religions of the world. The Greeks, the Romans, the Egyptians, the Norse, the Native Americans, the Indians, Chinese, Africans, etc. These people believed with the same conviction and dedication that what they believed was true, but any Christian will tell you they were all dead wrong. Hell, I can tell you that too. What makes their ideas wrong while Christians can say without a breath of doubt that they are right? Christianity is just a modern version of these religions, only with a few exceptions. The Greek gods, and Egyptian gods, and all those deities never required them to forcefully impose their strict rules upon the nonbelievers, or believers of other things.
5. Then there is the kicker. This, I believe is responsible for a large number of people being/staying/becoming Christian: Its like the payoff matrix (for those of you who have taken economics). There are two possibilities regarding the existence of god (either there is one or there isn't) and whether or not to be a Christian (either you are or you are not). Of these choices, there are 4 possible outcomes.
A. You are Christian + God exists = you go to heaven B. You are Christian + God doesn't exist = you just die C. You are not Christian + God doesn't exist = you just die D. You are not Christian + God exists = you go to hell
Now, out of these choices, only one outcome is particularly undesirable, choice D. The only real way to avoid choice D is to become a Christian. So this is the choice many people make based on this formula.
I have given all these reasons for becoming an exchristian atheist. I omitted things I could have included such as there being absolutely no evidence of the existence of a god, and the countless contradictions in the bible. I'll write about those later in life, when I have a publishing contract.
City: Minneapolis
State: MN
Country: USA
Became a Christian: 0
Ceased being a Christian: 14-16
Labels before: Lutheran
Labels now: Atheist
Why I joined: Born into it
Why I left: Christianity is wrong
Email Address: revmouse at rome.com
Comments
you know to truly study Christianity you need to know the bible not people