Ex-Atheists: What Changed Your Mind? (page 6)

drwtsn32

I'm tempted to say if someone became an ex-atheist they were never a real atheist, but that reeks of the "no true Scotsman" fallacy. ;)

passwordprotected

John Doe says;

More emotional based diatribe. I grow weary of the intellectually dishonest.

Diatribe?

diatribe |'di??trib|
noun
a forceful and bitter verbal attack against someone or something

Perhaps not reading these threads would be useful.

Please allow me to remind everyone of subject and intent of this thread. Negative and critical remarks regarding belief are best suited for another thread. I have a desire to understand the beliefs/decisions of others. This thread allows ex-atheists to give their two cents. Thank you for your understanding.

Ex-Atheists: What Changed Your Mind?

passwordprotected

I with Chalam; read "The Language of God".

leavingwt

passwordprotected -- Good to see you around here, again. Thanks for seconding that book recommendation. I also received a recommendation for 'The Shack' via PM.

goldensky

Dear Leavingwt, I just wanted to tell you how I delight in your open-mindedness, your objectivity and your respectful attitude towards all posters, and that not just on this thread, where it definitely stands out, but as your general demeanour on the board.

(I'd also love to know your opinion on the book "The Shack" if you get to read it -I'm quite puzzled by the good reactions of people whose opinions I respect compared to my disappointment and anger as I read it-).

leavingwt

goldensky -- Thank you for those kind words. The buzz around 'The Shack' has reached the point to where I'd like to check it out.

Guest with Questions

I’ve never been an atheist. Someone with doubts of God's love at times in my life, but never an unbeliever. Books can help us in our journey but God ultimately calls us. I think the unpardonable sin is the rejection of the Holy Spirit. He calls us throughout our lives and never gives up. Some accept Him early on, some finally on their death bed.

Below are two former atheists.

I highly recommend Dawkins Proof by Richard Barns which can be downloaded for free.

His Foreward:

I found out about the problems of atheism by taking atheism seriously. I tried to be a consistent atheist and I believed the conclusions that atheism led to. But I found that what consistent atheism led to was something utterly unworkable. It was, paradoxically, my desire to be a thorough atheist that drove me towards God.

This book is a result of that experience. It is a response to Richard Dawkins’ book The God Delusion but it is not simply a reply to Dawkins’ arguments against God. I will also be looking at evidence for the existence of God that is provided by Dawkins himself. My argument is not only that Dawkins cannot refute theism, it is that he is unable to be consistent to his atheism. God’s existence is so inescapably part of human life that even Richard Dawkins lives as if God exists.

The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel -My road to atheism was paved by science...but, ironically, so was my later journey to God."

God-The Evidence by Patrick Glynn I haven’t read it yet but there’s an interesting quote on the back of the book.

Is Science Uncovering the Face of God?

A startling tranformation is taking place in Western scientific and intellectual circles. Recent discoveries in physics, medicine, psychology, and other fields paint a radically new picture of the universe and humanity’s place within it. Central is the dawning realization that the cosmos, far from being a sea of chaos, appears instead to be an intricately tuned mechanism whose every molecule and every physical law seems to have been designed from the very first nanosecond of the big bang toward a single end– the creation of life.

In this provocative book, Patrick Glynn lays out the astonishing new evidence that led him away from the atheism he acquired as a student at Harvard and Cambidge. The facts are fascinating: Physicists are discovering an unexplainable order to the universe; medical researchers are reporting the extraordinary healing powers of prayer and documenting credible accounts of near-death experiences; and psychologists are finding that religious faith is a powerful elixir for mental health. God: The Evidence demonstrates that faith today is not grounded in ignorance. It is where reason has been leading us all along.

Some interesting quotes that I have saved from a few publications

The idea that undirected processes could somehow turn dead chemicals into all the extraordinary complexity of living things is surely "no more nor less that the great cosmogenic myth" of our times. Michael Denton-biochemist

Steven Weinberg physicist atheist :"sometimes nature seems more beautiful than strictly necessary."

Would it not be strange if a universe without purpose accidentally created humans who are so obsessed with purpose? Sir John Templeton He once predicted that "scientific revelations may be a gold mine for revitalizing religion in the 21 st century."

Why should a bunch of atoms have thinking ability? Why should I, even as I write now, be able to reflect on what I am doing and why should you, even as you read now, be able to ponder my points, agreeing or disagreeing, with pleasure or pain, deciding to refute me or deciding that I am just not worthy the effort? No one, certainly not the Darwinian as such, seems to have any answers to this...The point is that there is no scientific answer. Michael Ruse

Evolution is "random and undirected" and "without either plan or purpose"-undirected purposeless, variation to the blind, uncaring process of natural selection. Sorry, I think Richard Dawkins said this.

"Man is the result of a purposeless and natural process that did not have him in mind"- evolutionist George Caylord Simpson

‘Let me summarize my views on what modern evolutionary biology tells us loud and clear …… There are no gods, no purposes, no goal-directed forces of any kind. There is no life after death. When I die, I am absolutely certain that I am going to be dead. That’s the end for me. There is no ultimate foundation for ethics, no ultimate meaning to life, and no free will for humans, either.’’ Dr William B. Provine, Professor of Biological Sciences, Cornell University Provine, W.B., Origins Research16(1), p.9, 1994.

I like this quote by John M Templeton (God: The Evidence): "This thoughtful and documented book may help more intellectuals to understand that humans searching for evidence of God is much like a wave on a ocean searching for evidence that the ocean exists."

leavingwt

Guest with Questions -- Thank you for those quotes, etc.

snowbird

Dear Leavingwt, I just wanted to tell you how I delight in your open-mindedness, your objectivity and your respectful attitude towards all posters, and that not just on this thread, where it definitely stands out, but as your general demeanour on the board.

Hear, hear!

He's a gentleman first, then a poster.

If you haven't done so already, check this one out: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/179405/1/Share-Your-Blessings-What-Has-God-Done-for-You

Sylvia

Ex-Atheists: What Changed Your Mind?

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