Nope

Feb 28, 2009 -- 5:41PM, Maristella88 wrote:

I was raised in a strongly atheistic household where sentences such as "Religion is the root of all evil" and the like are often tossed about. However, when i was young i went to a CoE primary school and attended church regularly. I've always found church beautiful, the service, the building, the gathering together of people. But despite this i never took communion or really became involved and since leaving school haven't been to church more than a handful of times.

I've looked into several religions but always come back to Christianity, although admittedly Buddhism did strike a chord with me (I liked the level of personal freedom it gives you etc.), particularly Quakerism and once again Anglicanism.

However, i'm not sure where to go from here. I fear that even though i might be able to attend services and be involved in the church community on the surface, i might never be able to truly believe. Almost as if i've had the ability to believe in religion beaten out of me over the years. I guess i'm looking for advice on how to proceed. Has anyone else here gone from atheist to strong believer? And if so, what did you do about those nagging doubts in the back of your mind?

One thing that I have noted as a Christian of 60 odd years is that when I think about things I encounter doubt. Any thinkng Christian will entertain doubts, because we step out in faith and do not always have the empirical proof we often long for. It seems to me God calls us to press through these doubts and hang on to Him. The doubts are usually legitimate and are not sins in my opinion. Rather they are concerns honestly come by. Again rather than deny their existence I hang on to God and slowly work through my doubts and in time some are resolved. Those that remain are still to be worked on and I imagine some will remain unresolved until I meet God face-to-face. This is my experience and so I would urge you to continue with your exploration of Anglicanism or Quakerism and maybe voice your doubts on one of the boards associated with these two groups.

Maristella88:

Before becoming a Christian, I was an agnostic who leaned toward atheism.

One of my earliest challenges as a new Christian was reconciling my belief in God to my love for science.  Over time I learned that science doesn't do away with God.  Not even evolution does away with God, contrary to what some atheists and some preachers would have us to believe.

I can support what I claim about science with statements made by scientists who support evolution theory.  However, posting those statements would make this post too long.  So, I will provide links to my personal essays that contain the statements by evolution-believing scientists:

God & Science

Evolution Theory for Dummies

Evolution: A Legoist Perspective

The pro-evolution website TalkOrigins also supports my claim that science doesn't do away with God.

Knowing that a person can be scientific without being atheistic has helped me to grow as a Christian.