Honest Faith: Dear John

Monday, 14 June 2010

Dear John

8 comments:

Anne said...: I'm sorry if you feel this way.; 14 June 2010 23:23
SteveS said...: Given other things you have said, I can really see how this would resonate with you. Wish it wasn't so; but I understand.; 14 June 2010 23:31
Erin said...: I get it, Barry. Not to say I'm entirely there, but closer than I ever used to imagine myself. There are so many things I can't stand behind anymore, and so few things remain.; 15 June 2010 00:20
Barry said...: Anne & Steve: I'm afraid that is how I'm thinking now. I can't see any real evidence for God's existence, so I've finally decided to come down off the fence in favour of atheism. It wasn't an easy decision, but it's one that, now it's made, I'm at peace with.

I know, of course, that you both disagree with me on this, and that's fine by me. I'm not out to change anyone else's mind, but this is where I stand. Feel free to pray for me if you want to; if God shows me he's real then I will of course abandon my unbelief. To date though, despite much prayer from me, he has not done so, and I don't expect that will change.

Erin: In my case the props came out one by one until the whole roof caved in. There came a point when I just had to admit to myself that, having dismissed so many of my former beliefs on logical grounds, I could no longer believe in God.; 15 June 2010 17:21
Erin said...: Well, you know me, I don't know that I can ever abandon spirituality entirely, but pretty much all of the Christian aspects of it have died for me. I am still on the fence of whether God exists in some capacity (any capacity at all), but that's the last question. I'm almost to the point of admitting where I am, I'm just not ready for the storm that would come in my life if I were to be public about that. It would be major.

I'm reading a very anthropological book right now about the major change humanity underwent about 6000-4000 years ago, and it's amazing how much of the OT is explained away by it. That has helped me a lot, because I have always known there had to be some logical reason the bible was written -- that it wasn't entirely mythological, but rather an honest tale of a real people, even if they attributed circumstances in their life to a make-believe God.

I wish you well Barry, but don't stop blogging now that you have come to a conclusion!; 15 June 2010 19:57
SteveS said...: I understand and certainly will pray for you. For me, while God doesn’t answer to my every call (I serve him, not he serves me); I have experienced enough things in my own walk that I can’t explain by mere coincidence or cognitive bias (and I have seriously looked at it that way). I wish you had some of my rich experience, but I appreciate that you haven’t.

I know from prior conversations that you have been exposed to a lot of people who were playing at being Christians or otherwise faking it. My prayer is that as you let go of your faith, you also let go of all of those fake versions of what it means to follow Jesus and find yourself in a place where God can show you the real thing without your accumulated experiences getting in the way.; 15 June 2010 20:23
Barry said...: Erin: I have no intention of stopping blogging. However, given my change of beliefs, I won't be blogging much (if at all) here on Honest Faith any more.

I've set up a new blog that you are all welcome to visit, though. There's not much there yet, but I have plenty of ideas for posts to come in the near future.; 16 June 2010 17:37
Erin said...: I'll be there!; 16 June 2010 17:56

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)