This is intended to be the opposite of the atheist life history thread.

Why are you theist? How did life shape you to become one?


(Pletho, you're welcome to post your story, I'm more than happy to suspend our agreement ITT)

Good post. I would love to see all the theists answer this one.

when I was 9 I learned about logic and reason and concluded that both Santa and atheism where human constructs and never looked back

You sure? I'm reasonably certain my dog was an atheist.

god = dog backwards

WHAT A TWIST! (said like the guy from robot chicken)

Do you guys (theists) just not know how you became theist, or are you uncomfortable telling the story or what?

My story is probably similar to others. I was exposed to Christianity as a child, developed a belief by my experiences at church and in life from grade school through high school, but never took it all that seriously back then. I went to college and lost touch with it for the four years there. Kind of faded in and out of it until I was married. Then my wife and I found a Lutheran church and I re-connected with the beliefs that I had developed as a child. Since that time, my faith has become stronger (albeit with a few bumps in the road) and continues to do so to this day.

Not sure if that is what you were looking for, but I guess it is a start.

ty for sharing, I'm not really looking for anything specific; it is a good start (hopefully)

ahahaa awesome

Uncomfortable, not at all.

My story is close to "shores". Growing up I attend church randomly with my parents, and did so up until Jr. High. At that point sports, and other activites had taken over weekends, and excuse after excuse, I stop going.

During this time of not going I personally reflected on my faith all the time, without pressure from others...I have always felt compelled to be drawn towards Christ.

To conclude I truly feel that since 5 or 6 years old (?) I have just always believed in Christ our Savior, NO QUESTION OR NO DOUBTS. I have never looked in the mirror and said "Well did the world really flood? or "Did Jesus really feed 5000 people with a couple fish and bread"? I HAVE ALWAYS JUST FELT NATURALLY COMPELLED, and I have blieved without question.

I will also say that I am 100% sure my parents never were on my ass to make me believe, and my family as a whole is not overly religious.


Please I dont need burnt for this, but any questions that are reasonable i will try to answer.

obvious question would be why haven't you questioned things that don't make any sense?

FYP for politeness sake...he did ask not to be flammed but the question is certainly legit. I am curious too....

I was walking in a winter wonderland and happened upon three frozen waterfalls.

No thats a perfectly fine question to ask, becasue it wasnt like you are telling me I am wrong, you are just questioning me, so.......


You ask why dont I question things that dont make since?

Well to start is, possible they make since to me and not to you. I fell the reason I dont question is becasue of "Faith". (Dont ask me what Faith is, that would take a while)

An example: The bible said God made everything in 6 days/ Rested on the 7th. One might question how could all of this be made in 7 24 hour periods. You must remeber who ever establish time? Did God create time? NO...Man created time.

My point is 1 day in our time, might mean 100 years in Gods time (This is only a rough example)

So...People now need to have science to prove something, and need a reason for everything. Did anyone every think that science just gives a theory, and when it comes to religion, there is no testing method.

Sometime things dont need to be explained......

One last question...Do you beleive that in Space there is other life (doesnt mean human form, could be green aliens or could mean bugs?) Just in general do you believe there is life.

If so, how can you believe casue it doesnt make any since, Right? If it does make since, thne how could you rule out that there is God - Heaven

?

Like I said before lets keep it respectful!!!

Ok then, with respect:

Well, we can debate the logic of this statemnet, but that's not the point of this thread. However, we've now established that you haven't believed "without question" in order to even come up with this explanation you have to have questioned, DUCY.

Of course people have thought of this, this is one big problem atheists have with religion.

Well, I don't think you mean "need" here, you mean "want": sometimes you don't want things to be explained.

What exactly is it about the possibility of life on other planets that doesn't make sense? For myself, I believe it is very likely that there is life on other planets although I do not know if for a certainty. We can use logic to determine that it is probable (but that's another thread, and is actually a current thread in SMP).

Finally, I don't believe most atheists would rule out the possibility of God. They just think it extremely unlikely that he exists.

/forum

Started life with absolutely zero religious experience what so ever. Was invited to a summer (week long) camp with one of my friends sophomore year of high school - I was 16 or so (I know I was driving). Got to the camp and realized it was a christian camp.

Felt totally and completely out of place - I knew absolutely nothing about the bible. Had no clue who Jesus was (other than he had something to do with christmas) - no clue about any other people mentioned in the bible -had never even seen 'the 10 commandments' or other movies that might give some basis.

Had a great time at that camp - lots of extremely fun stuff - and only a small % of activities centered around christianity.

Came home from that camp; learned more on my own - and later decided to dedicate my life to Christ (ie become a christian). Spent the next few years (5-6) pretty devoted to learning more and more - bible studies - fellowship - etc etc - and was the happiest I had ever been in my life. And liked myself more than I ever had in my life - was more comfortable than I had been - closer friendships - etc - etc - etc.

Moved away to college - and let my faith slip significantly on my priority list. Focused more and more on other things - thought about it less and less; prayed less and less - end eventually hit a span of ~15 years where I hardly thought about religion at all - never prayed - and pretty much sought fulfillment in other areas.

During that period - I dabbled in drug use - tried most things at least a few times - drank - had a few girlfriends - but all in all - a pretty unhappy period for me (not like suicidal or anything - but that time felt 'wasted') - even though I did have some major successes (major life goals met and things like that) - they were hollow; meaningless victories to me - again - life was just hollow.

Those years passed. I eventually got married - and started fighting my way back into a christian centered life (it's a work in progress) - I'm getting better - and I feel much, much happier when my life is built on that foundation - I like myself better; more confidence; more happiness; better coping with stress/worry; all in all a better person in my opinion.

I've now got 2 kids; happily married - and very, very little I would change about my life.

I'm almost 40 - my own case study spans both sides of the coin - and I believe that my experience shows me that it is crystal clear where I should be - and what I should believe.

My family has generations of believers. I grew up going to sunday school, usurer during church. I cant sing or Id be in the choir(neither can my mom but doesnt stop her lol)! People are kind and lend a hand when help is needed.

Ive always questioned, when I have concerns about stuff I ask the pastor after service. My mom encouraged it because she didnt have answers so she directed to someone who might. There was never enough time as there were other people to tend to..

Ultimately, I wonder about why bad things can happen to good people but bad things happen to bad people too. I think it requires lots of courage to believe in God whom we cannot see. We are on our own as in the freewill sense, asking for His help doesnt show weakness imo. Ive been praying ever since Ive learned how to do so.

aaaarrrgghh

Where did you grow up? I'm thinking the deserts of Yemen, for you to be 16 and have no clue who Jesus was and no absolutely nothing about the bible (Even I knew about Noah Zark and the mighty boat he built).

Seems like it would be worth a post just explaining your background, such that you reached the age of 16 in this state of ignorance. I assume your parents are not religious at all...?

parents not religious at all - had never set foot inside of a church (except 1 wedding) - grew up in Texas (shocking I know).

(a couple of - extra - dashes - for - fun-ology - go back to teaching your english class!)

QUOTE:
Well, I don't think you mean "need" here, you mean "want": sometimes you don't want things to be explained.


Well I have wanted things explained to me in the past, and going through school it was. It was called "Evolution", among other scientific based theories.

I dont beleive in them, and never have. To be honest I cant answer some of the question that we all ask about God and Christ, and may never be answered until death.

What I Blieve, I put my faith into, and I dont need the answer explained. The grace of god and the love of Christ compell in me, and that is what drives me.

How can I explain it? I CANT.....Nor Can I Prove it. When you believe you believe, and when you dont I pray for you.

come on man, learn the bible before you try to defend it:

Genesis 1:5:
"God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day."
1:8 -
"And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. "

and so on and so on.

If you want to claim that you can take Genesis 1 allegorically or metaphorically, fine, but if you want to claim that it should be taken literally by assuming day != 24hrs, then you really need to examine why you take such illogical and irrational
liberties when studying the bible, but not in any other aspect of your life.

It was just an example, and probably not the best. Nor am I Scholar in religion.

I believe thats all I got to say.....Im not looking to argue any points.

Peace

1993 - Friend of my Mother speaks about the second coming of Jesus in my presence. I'm interested and begin studying the Bible prophecies.

1994 - Genocide of apocalyptic proportions occur in Rwanda. A celestial sign of Biblical magnitude occurs on Jupiter with 21 Comet fragments slamming into the planet over a period that coincides with the Silver 25th Anniversary of the first Man on the Moon. War in Yugoslavia is raging. The end-times seem fast approaching.

Late 1994 - I've accumulated enough knowledge to know what God expects of me. Serve others, tame anger, tame ego, refrain from masturbation(insert joke here). Plenty of continuous praying. I decide to go the extra mile and offer penance of icy cold showers in imitation of Saints and Visionaries. Around the time I'm offering penance, one night I fashion a simple device of string tied to to a metal ring in attempt to get information from the otherworld to find out if I can fetch the upcoming winning lottery numbers. If the ring sways back and forth it meant "YES" that number will be picked in the next lotto draw, If the ring sways in a circular motion it indicates the answer was "NO". I'm in my bedroom. A minute after finishing the attempted consultation with the otherworld, even though a big part of me knew it was wrong, I ask God with my inner voice "was that wrong of me?" Immediately a loud series of knocking occurs on the brick wall on the east side of the house about 17 feet high from the ground and slightly higher than my head, at a point on the wall about 5 feet from where my head is positioned. the knocking consists of 7 to 9 solid and intense BANGS! with a 1 or 2 second interval between each of the knocks. I've lived in that house for 11 years by that point and have never heard such an occurrence before. I was 17 years old.

After one to two months of the cold water penance, I decide the November/December weather is making the water too darn frigid for me. And I stop doing the penance.

1995 - I don't return to offering the cold-water penance when temperates warm up.
I discover the Pope believes the 3rd secret of Fatima is nearing fulfillment for the end of the 20th century....if the Pope believes it how can I not believe the same. I suspect the Pope made such a comment because the 3rd Secret itself mentions the end of the 20th century.

mid 1995 - A strong wind storm occurs. Knocking occurs on the wall. something is loose. I assume that God has downgraded the sign for my lack of penance. In the next few years a strong windstorm causes the knocking again a few more times. Foolishly I don't think about it at that time. Some years latter I try to discern if the original knocking was a coincidence or a sign from God. I don't recall hearing any wind gust during the original occurrence. Subsequent occurrences were accompanied by strong gusts of wind. The original incidence consisted of nearly 10 knocks with a steady pattern. I don't remember clearly but I think the subsequent occurrences had a maximum of 2 or 3 irregular knocks then a long delay of minutes if any further hits against the brick, I can't remember for certain though.

1996 to 2000: my efforts to live right are correlated to the degree of expectation of an approaching fulfillment of the 3rd secret of Fatima, based on events happening or not happening in the world at that time.

2000 - The Pope releases the 3rd secret of Fatima to the world - at least a version of it -- and now I'm nearly certain that the full 3rd secret of Fatima contained a reference to the end of the 20th century.
I quickly lose my belief in God over the next six months.

2000 to 2007 - I think of myself as agnostic. And decide my level of belief is around 5 to 8%. That only 5-8% of me still believes in God. All the while deeming it necessary to one day attempt another stab at offering penance to God included with all the other stuff I would have to get doing for a period of time to see if God converts me.

2008 to 2009 - The prospect of the Fatima prophecies fulfillment suddenly gets a serious boost of potential with Kosovo re-emerging as a future hotspot threat acting as a continuation to events of 1999. Thus allowing for the events leading up to the fulfillment of the 3rd secret of Fatima to have begun at the end of the 20th century. The economy begins a collapse-potentially-in-progress. Signature number of God...777 occurs in the Dow at a pivotal beginning point, with 777 becoming the largest daily point drop in the Dow's history. On March 6 (3-6), in the second most watched index(the S&P500), the market reverses at the signature number of Satan...666 starting a massive potentially-false-hope rally in progress. God points down in the market, the Devil points up. Early 2008, a two-headed power tandem arises in Russia possibly setting up the motivation for the invasion of Kosovo by Medvedev as a means to win against Putin in the future Presidential election. H1n1 pandemic with potential future mutation that potentially collapses the stock market. And a comet hits Jupiter with the debris plume action overlapping the 40th anniversary of the first man on the moon and possibly hinting at a "continuation" of the 1994-end-times Jupiter celestial sign and partially confirming a belief I held even before it happened that for the 1994 Jupiter bombardment to retain it's connection with end-times that an even greater celestial event would have to happen on the 50th anniversary of the first man on the moon.

2009, late September. After 15 years I finally revert to offering penance. It's the second penance cycle of my life. This time: 3 cold showers. Helping others at every opportunity. Controlling angry responses from escaping my mouth, plenty of inner prayers, etc. About 12 days from the start of my efforts I get bored and start observing porn on my laptop. Before getting hands on, I step away, I know I'm about to give in. I say "God make the coin land tails up 7 times in a row and I'll give up porn forever." I didn't do the calculation yet but I'm thinking the odds are about 1 in 60. I go get a Canadian dime. I flip the dime making sure I toss it good with great air spin. 7 times I flip, 7 times it lands tails(sailboat) up. A 1 in 128 chance of occurring. Good enough odds for me on just the right time for maximum impact. First two cycles of penance in my life and two signs. If it was all a coincidence, I've been had but It's too late to turn away now, I've been hooked good enough for life...probably. A few days afterwards I back my car into a parking lot garbage dump, the glass shatters and leaves a big dent in the back door. Arguments result. I get annoyed. Expected to pay $1000 bucks to repair or replace the door. Costs much less. Regardless, I stop with the "serving God" and resort to porn again. But I know this time I'll get back to the penance and the serving fairly quickly. Which I do.