seriallink:
After going through posts & threads made by some christian- to-atheists converts, I came to these conclusions:
1. Most of them were dedicated churchgoers and do not understand christianity when they were christians!

4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen[c] away, to be brought back to repentance.

seriallink:
2. Most of them were church doctrine followers and not good bible students. They probably left Christianity for Atheism because they were tired of obeying silly church laws & doctrines!

seriallink:
3. Most of them were victims of false teachings & doctrines. That's why they see biblical teachings as illogical & silly!

seriallink:
4. Most of them prayed without faith when they were christians and expected answers. How can you pray without faith and expect answers or miracles to happen?

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

seriallink:
5. Some were victims of tithe fraud!

seriallink:
An atheist is not supposed to be worried about religious people's heaven or hell, since he/she doesn't have faith or believe in the existence of a God. They aren't supposed to bash religious people or engage them in debates on topics relating to God/heaven &/or hell because they do not believe in anything that has to do with the existence of God. But from what I have observed so far, most christian-to-atheist converts had problems with christianity because of at least one of the points I listed above!

seriallink:
Advice to my christian brethren & sisters: If you are a churchgoer, study your bible with honesty, praying & asking for the holy spirit to lead & give you wisdom to understand it very well. Do not rely on teachings from your Pastors (MOGs) or some silly church doctrines & interpretations of scriptures! Decipher scripture with scripture!

If you are not a churchgoer or do not have a church but believe in Christ, study your bible at home & pray that the holy spirit leads you & give you understanding; share with brethren online too.

seriallink:
Scripture says:
Isaiah 28:10 For precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little:
Use scripture to explain & interpret scripture. Brethren & sisters, if you do not do these; but rely only on your so-called pastors & church doctrines, you'll end up becoming a stiff-necked atheist!
These are my observations. What are your own views?

Please, no bashing o...Na my views on wetin dey go on be that.

Thank you.

Kay 17: Also one can choose to bash a religion or not

seriallink:
4. Most of them prayed without faith when they were christians and expected answers. How can you pray without faith and expect answers or miracles to happen?

Thank you.

seriallink:
An atheist is not supposed to be worried about religious people's heaven or hell, since he/she doesn't have faith or believe in the existence of a God. They aren't supposed to bash religious people or engage them in debates on topics relating to God/heaven &/or hell because they do not believe in anything that has to do with the existence of God. But from what I have observed so far, most christian-to-atheist converts had problems with christianity because of at least one of the points I listed above!

seriallink: After going through posts & threads made by some christian- to-atheists converts, I came to these conclusions:

1. Most of them were dedicated churchgoers and do not understand christianity when they were christians!

2. Most of them were church doctrine followers and not good bible students. They probably left Christianity for Atheism because they were tired of obeying silly church laws & doctrines!

3. Most of them were victims of false teachings & doctrines. That's why they see biblical teachings as illogical & silly!

4. Most of them prayed without faith when they were christians and expected answers. How can you pray without faith and expect answers or miracles to happen?

5. Some were victims of tithe fraud!

An atheist is not supposed to be worried about religious people's heaven or hell, since he/she doesn't have faith or believe in the existence of a God. They aren't supposed to bash religious people or engage them in debates on topics relating to God/heaven &/or hell because they do not believe in anything that has to do with the existence of God. But from what I have observed so far, most christian-to-atheist converts had problems with christianity because of at least one of the points I listed above!

Advice to my christian brethren & sisters: If you are a churchgoer, study your bible with honesty, praying & asking for the holy spirit to lead & give you wisdom to understand it very well. Do not rely on teachings from your Pastors (MOGs) or some silly church doctrines & interpretations of scriptures! Decipher scripture with scripture!

If you are not a churchgoer or do not have a church but believe in Christ, study your bible at home & pray that the holy spirit leads you & give you understanding; share with brethren online too.

Scripture says:

Isaiah 28:10 For precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little:

Use scripture to explain & interpret scripture. Brethren & sisters, if you do not do these; but rely only on your so-called pastors & church doctrines, you'll end up becoming a stiff-necked atheist!

These are my observations. What are your own views?

Please, no bashing o...Na my views on wetin dey go on be that.

Thank you.

Siraillink: Advice to my christian brethren & sisters: If you are a churchgoer, study your bible with honesty, praying & asking for the holy spirit to lead & give you wisdom to understand it very well. Do not rely on teachings from your Pastors (MOGs) or some silly church doctrines & interpretations of scriptures! Decipher scripture with scripture!

plaetton: My journey to atheism.

I was never a dedicated christian(whatever that means).
Like everyone else, I was forced-fed on christianity before I was able to think. When I was able to think, I tried very much to make sense of it, but somehow,it never made any sense. So I became obsessed with trying to understand it. They more I looked, The more I prayed to the holy spirit to come into me and make me understand, the less sense it all made.
God was a contradiction,Jesus was a contradiction, the Pope was a contradiction, prayer was a contradiction,blessing was a contradiction,sin was contradiction,forgiveness was a contradiction, judgement, heaven and hell were all contradictions.

At a time when being born again was in vogue, I was the odd person out. I tried so much to see the light, I read the bible day and night, I prayed for the holy spirit to infuse my mind with its mystery and new way of understanding,but all to no avail.
The more I tried , the more silly the whole thing seemed.

In my tender age, the very important tangents occured when,in my search, I discovered ,

A. That Jesus was neither from my Village, the neighboring village, nor even my townsman.lol
B. That Israel was not even In Africa, but in a very far place that most people cannot even find on a map.
C. That Jesus lived 2000yrs ago(that was a real shocker)
D.Finally, when in class two secondary school, I read Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart and finally realized how Christianity came to our shores as perfect tool for the pacification,division and control of African people.
It struck me as not being a mere coincidence that modern Europeans themselves were not teaching religion to their children because they themselves had long jettisoned religion.

By mid secondary school, I had confirmed that organised religion was the perfect fraud.
However, I remained puzzled about the nature of god, and was still intrigued by ,and even revered the character of Jesus, based solely on the teachings attributed to him. By this time, I had become an Agnostic.
So my hunger and thirst for understanding religion only increased. So over the years ,I went on a reading frenzy to discover all I could about the various religions and their histories, especially the Judeo-Christian religions.

Another turning point in my road to atheism occurred some years ago when , one after another as if by design , I cam across in a bookstore, 3 books that really laid rest to my mind, the mystery of god.

The first one was the Pulitzer-Award winning book by former Jesuit priest Jack Miles, aptly titled, "God, A Biography". This is recommended reading for everyone.
The other book,again a best seller,by British Journalist Karen Armstrong titled " The History of God" even had a greater influence on my thinking.
http://www.amazon.com/History-God-000-Year-Judaism-Christianity/dp/0345384563

The third book, The one that threw the knock-out punch was titled[b] "God: A Brief History" by John Bowker[/b], former dean of Trinity College in Cambridge.
http://www.amazon.com/God-Brief-History-John-Bowker/dp/0789480506

After reading this last one, I had a sort of an epiphany, a great realization.
Yes.
OMG.
That was it .
God is a mystery because god is an evolving idea, or a set of evolving notions and ideals.
That is why god had different, even contradicting characteristics.
That is why god was different from individual to individual, from culture to culture, from era to era: Because god was in the mind. Each mind or cultural mindset, creates its own god.
That is why wicked people or wicked prophets create a wicked god, kind and loving people or prophets create a kind and loving god.
That is why greedy people and prophets create a greedy money-grabbing god.
Wow!
So the quality of the god created depends on the quality of the mind that creates it.
Bingo!!
SO I had finally found god, right in the sacred ,but fragmented precincts of the human mind.

So religion was just a set of contrived notions and ideals patched together, often by the stronger, in order to control the weaker.




As for understanding the origin and dynamics of the universe, I have turned to my scientific education in physics as my guide.

plaetton: My journey to atheism.

I was never a dedicated christian(whatever that means).
Like everyone else, I was forced-fed on christianity before I was able to think. When I was able to think, I tried very much to make sense of it, but somehow,it never made any sense. So I became obsessed with trying to understand it. They more I looked, The more I prayed to the holy spirit to come into me and make me understand, the less sense it all made.
God was a contradiction,Jesus was a contradiction, the Pope was a contradiction, prayer was a contradiction,blessing was a contradiction,sin was contradiction,forgiveness was a contradiction, judgement, heaven and hell were all contradictions.

At a time when being born again was in vogue, I was the odd person out. I tried so much to see the light, I read the bible day and night, I prayed for the holy spirit to infuse my mind with its mystery and new way of understanding,but all to no avail.
The more I tried , the more silly the whole thing seemed.

In my tender age, the very important tangents occured when,in my search, I discovered ,

A. That Jesus was neither from my Village, the neighboring village, nor even my townsman.lol
B. That Israel was not even In Africa, but in a very far place that most people cannot even find on a map.
C. That Jesus lived 2000yrs ago(that was a real shocker)
D.Finally, when in class two secondary school, I read Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart and finally realized how Christianity came to our shores as perfect tool for the pacification,division and control of African people.
It struck me as not being a mere coincidence that modern Europeans themselves were not teaching religion to their children because they themselves had long jettisoned religion.

By mid secondary school, I had confirmed that organised religion was the perfect fraud.
However, I remained puzzled about the nature of god, and was still intrigued by ,and even revered the character of Jesus, based solely on the teachings attributed to him. By this time, I had become an Agnostic.
So my hunger and thirst for understanding religion only increased. So over the years ,I went on a reading frenzy to discover all I could about the various religions and their histories, especially the Judeo-Christian religions.

Another turning point in my road to atheism occurred some years ago when , one after another as if by design , I cam across in a bookstore, 3 books that really laid rest to my mind, the mystery of god.

The first one was the Pulitzer-Award winning book by former Jesuit priest Jack Miles, aptly titled, "God, A Biography". This is recommended reading for everyone.
The other book,again a best seller,by British Journalist Karen Armstrong titled " The History of God" even had a greater influence on my thinking.
http://www.amazon.com/History-God-000-Year-Judaism-Christianity/dp/0345384563

The third book, The one that threw the knock-out punch was titled[b] "God: A Brief History" by John Bowker[/b], former dean of Trinity College in Cambridge.
http://www.amazon.com/God-Brief-History-John-Bowker/dp/0789480506

After reading this last one, I had a sort of an epiphany, a great realization.
Yes.
OMG.
That was it .
God is a mystery because god is an evolving idea, or a set of evolving notions and ideals.
That is why god had different, even contradicting characteristics.
That is why god was different from individual to individual, from culture to culture, from era to era: Because god was in the mind. Each mind or cultural mindset, creates its own god.
That is why wicked people or wicked prophets create a wicked god, kind and loving people or prophets create a kind and loving god.
That is why greedy people and prophets create a greedy money-grabbing god.
Wow!
So the quality of the god created depends on the quality of the mind that creates it.
Bingo!!
SO I had finally found god, right in the sacred ,but fragmented precincts of the human mind.

So religion was just a set of contrived notions and ideals patched together, often by the stronger, in order to control the weaker.




As for understanding the origin and dynamics of the universe, I have turned to my scientific education in physics as my guide.

mollie12:

Wow.

What a journey.

You seem convinced, so I should probably not bother trying to persuade you otherwise. But just in case you are a bit unsure about the present path choice you 've made, let me try to help you out.

The first thing I'll say is
YOU LOOKED IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES!

Or more like, WHAT EXACTLY WERE YOU LOOKING FOR ANYWAY!?!

A book by a Jesuit priest and another by an academic don?!? Guy, that's like going to the orthopaedic surgeon when I need my tooth pulled! No - there's no way you could have gotten any useful information (or help) from any of those guys.

You say Jesus lived 2000 yrs, Israel is not in Africa, bla bla bla, PLEASE HOW DO ANY OF THOSE FACTS CONTRADICT THE GOSPEL MESSAGE!?! Or is it the same Christianity I'm thinking of that you are referring to? My brother this is HIGHLY CONFUSING!

I read 'Things fall apart' and see the story of imperfect man, using the perfect message of Christ to achieve selfish ends, you read the same book and see... otherwise. I guess I'll just put that to perception.

The true God, His true Son, and their true Gospel message is out there and cannot be tainted by whatever anyone thinks or says or perceives.

I'll plead with you to give God another shot. This time, please look in the right directions, and look with your heart.

NB: Err... we don't pray to the Holy Spirit oh, we pray to God.

mollie12:

Wow.

What a journey.

You seem convinced, so I should probably not bother trying to persuade you otherwise. But just in case you are a bit unsure about the present path choice you 've made, let me try to help you out.

The first thing I'll say is
YOU LOOKED IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES!

Or more like, WHAT EXACTLY WERE YOU LOOKING FOR ANYWAY!?!

A book by a Jesuit priest and another by an academic don?!? Guy, that's like going to the orthopaedic surgeon when I need my tooth pulled! No - there's no way you could have gotten any useful information (or help) from any of those guys.

You say Jesus lived 2000 yrs, Israel is not in Africa, bla bla bla, PLEASE HOW DO ANY OF THOSE FACTS CONTRADICT THE GOSPEL MESSAGE!?! Or is it the same Christianity I'm thinking of that you are referring to? My brother this is HIGHLY CONFUSING!

I read 'Things fall apart' and see the story of imperfect man, using the perfect message of Christ to achieve selfish ends, you read the same book and see... otherwise. I guess I'll just put that to perception.

The true God, His true Son, and their true Gospel message is out there and cannot be tainted by whatever anyone thinks or says or perceives.

I'll plead with you to give God another shot. This time, please look in the right directions, and look with your heart.

NB: Err... we don't pray to the Holy Spirit oh, we pray to God.

plaetton:

First, I did not say the three books made me an atheist. I am convinced that I was born an atheist, to question things, especially something as important as religious beliefs.
The books led me to the realization and full acceptance of a reality that I had been running away from, even while persuing same.
The books did not reveal anything entirely new, but just helped to point out realities that I had ignored, even though they had been in plain sight all along my journey.

And from whom would you prefer to gain knowledge or useful information , some academic dons, or from stone-age tent cave dwellers, tent dwellers and sheep herders of the middle east? You are entitled to your choice.

I have long created my own god, an evolving god. I created it , so I set the rules, boundaries and control it. It has no choice but to evolve with my mind.

As for praying to the holy spirit, do you mean to say that I had been dialing the wrong number all this time?

seriallink:

That was exactly what I was trying to convey! You are probably one of those who dialed the wrong number ! Give it another try with genuine faith & you'll find answers. It works brah!

jammyng: Their pastors didn't teach them well!

plaetton:

And the 150 million Nigerians are the proof that it works? What number are they dialing, wrong number too?
Who has got the right number?
Let me guess, your church?

seriallink:

You must have been confusing me with soneone else I'm a Christians not a Churchgoer! I don't have a Church, I study my Bible at home & share with brethren online sometimes. I'm okay with that so, no pastor or church doctrine for me!!

Uyi Iredia: A question for plaetton: What if religion is actually evolving a means of understanding God in the same way science evolves to arrive at the truth ?

plappville:

True talk! A true atheist will have no dealing with religous matters/discussion. Because it make no sense to them.
NL atheists appears to be truelly formal church goers as you say. That is why You see them all around Christian thread.

I don't have interest in Atheist discussion, so i don't visit thier thread.



That was a good advise to the churchgoers who truelly seek God broda.!

plaetton:

Good for them.
But which religion and which version of god?

God, or the idea of god, has been with mankind from the beginning. We have had many sacred books, many alters, many prophets, saviours and many visions and revelations.
If after all this time, religion is still trying to evolve a means of understanding god, then one must ask, what has all that noise,conflicts, wars and exploitations been about, since, apparently, we are yet to evolve a means of understanding god?
If religion is actually evolving a means of understanding god, then what are those TV evangelists all talking about? It means they have, just like the rest of us, been clueless all along.
I guess they just decided to milk it for what it was worth. Do you agree?

Uyi Iredia:

Partially. Some are milking it, some aren't. But I think that monotheism has finally evolved a concept of God that is accurate seeing that it has been stable for more than a millenia now.

Logicboy03:



What about the trinitarians vs human Jesus?


Even christians are divided on whether Jesus is God.

Which god I ask?

Uyi Iredia:

Stop polarizing the issue by asking which God. You know most religions refer to one ultimate Creator.

yah:

In this respect, paganism and christianity all serve the ultimate creator, do they not?

Uyi Iredia:

Stop polarizing the issue by asking which God. You know most religions refer to one ultimate Creator.

Logicboy03:


Most religions are polytheist.


Fail. Paganism existed far before monotheism.


Fail.

Uyi Iredia:

But even then these pagan religions recognise an ultimate source of all life. In the Greek Mythology it was Cronos. In Ifa worship it is Eledumare. I was once in Ifa worship so I know this.

seriallink: After going through posts & threads made by some christian- to-atheists converts, I came to these conclusions:

1. Most of them were dedicated churchgoers and do not understand christianity when they were christians!

2. Most of them were church doctrine followers and not good bible students. They probably left Christianity for Atheism because they were tired of obeying silly church laws & doctrines!

3. Most of them were victims of false teachings & doctrines. That's why they see biblical teachings as illogical & silly!

4. Most of them prayed without faith when they were christians and expected answers. How can you pray without faith and expect answers or miracles to happen?

5. Some were victims of tithe fraud!

An atheist is not supposed to be worried about religious people's heaven or hell, since he/she doesn't have faith or believe in the existence of a God. They aren't supposed to bash religious people or engage them in debates on topics relating to God/heaven &/or hell because they do not believe in anything that has to do with the existence of God. But from what I have observed so far, most christian-to-atheist converts had problems with christianity because of at least one of the points I listed above!

Advice to my christian brethren & sisters: If you are a churchgoer, study your bible with honesty, praying & asking for the holy spirit to lead & give you wisdom to understand it very well. Do not rely on teachings from your Pastors (MOGs) or some silly church doctrines & interpretations of scriptures! Decipher scripture with scripture!

If you are not a churchgoer or do not have a church but believe in Christ, study your bible at home & pray that the holy spirit leads you & give you understanding; share with brethren online too.

Scripture says:

Isaiah 28:10 For precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little:

Use scripture to explain & interpret scripture. Brethren & sisters, if you do not do these; but rely only on your so-called pastors & church doctrines, you'll end up becoming a stiff-necked atheist!

These are my observations. What are your own views?

Please, no bashing o...Na my views on wetin dey go on be that.

Thank you.