Craig Bloomberg, Evangelical author, discusses De-Conversion. . .
Studies of deconversions find three fairly consistent factors or kinds of experiences that trigger such rejection of Christianity. First, a crisis of some kind unexpectedly intrudes into a person’s life. Maybe it is the loss of a loved one, a major personal failure or even sin, a life-changing injury, a divorce or a devastating financial loss. Second, the community to which this individual has normally turned to for support in hard times turns on that individual instead. Perhaps it is a kind of church discipline that does not seem geared to lead to rehabilitation. Perhaps it involves pat theological slogans that don’t adequately address the complexity of the situation. Perhaps it includes interpersonal estrangement rather than empathy. Third, the hurting person is introduced to and/or for the first time takes seriously and investigates seriously an alternate world view. This may be a different religion or, as it commonly seems today to be, some form of agnosticism or atheism.
http://www.denverseminary.edu/craig-blombergs-blog-new-testament-musings/deconversion-blogs-and-enemy-love/
At 'Former Fundy', a discussion of Bloomberg's comments:
According to the studies of de-conversion which he fails to cite, an apostate typically experiences:
1. A personal crisis.
2. A let-down by the church.
3. A questioning of his or her world view.
I don't know about others but in my case, #'s 1 and 2 were not involved. I increasingly came to the conclusion that the Evangelical Christian world-view was inconsistent and incoherent. It did not "mesh" with the real world in which I was living. There was no more reason to believe the Bible was really a divine revelation than there was to believe the Koran or any other "holy book." They all reflected the religious ideas that were prevalent in their time and in their culture.
It is interesting how Blomberg phrases his #3. The person is introduced to and/or for the first time takes seriously and investigates seriously (emphasis mine) an alternate world view.
I think he has hit the nail on the head here. Most Evangelical Christians will not take seriously the possiblity that their world-view (which includes an inspired and inerrant Bible, a bloody human sacrifice which satisfies God's wrath against sin, an eternal hell, and so on) might be wrong. Their minds are closed to that possibility. If you can ever get them to seriously question their world-view and seriously investigate other world-views, there is an excellent possiblity that they will de-convert.
One of the comments at this post, that some of us will be able to relate to. . .
"I think that without Internet access, I would still be a believer today. I might have wondered why the Bible gives permission to beat slaves, and I might have asked my preacher about it, but I don't think I would have searched the local libraries to find atheist authors and see what they had to say! As the son of 2 conservative Christian parents and the husband of a conservative Christian wife, I would have been hesitant to purchase or borrow any books that try to debunk the Bible, but entering "Yahweh genocide" in a search engine (with the intent of finding a Christian response) can easily land us upon a site like this."
http://formerfundy.blogspot.com/2010/10/craig-blomberg-on-de-conversion.html