by nykid 50 Replies latest jw experiences
I have watched a debate he had with a believer of the Bible, his arguments were weak IMO. Have you any specific examples that would give me a better perspective?
Kate xx
Sure, I mean a quick google finds a few, but here is a one in regard sto Bart's book, "How Jesus became God".
http://larryhurtado.wordpress.com/2014/05/29/how-jesus-became-god-per-ehrman/
2 years to deconvert. Arguments against mormonism , in general, applied to all faith ideologies. Research , an emotional response when I read and listened to Hitchens and Dawkins (intellectual feeling of being 'home'). Here, finding myself unable to justify my religious beliefs and finding that the reasons for doubting and leaving the WT were equally valid for leaving lds corp.
It seems that for most of us, if not all, our beliefs died the death of a thousand stings. There was no major epiphany that could remove our faith because there's always wiggle room for individual beliefs, where we can come up with desperate apologetics. But once you've learned enough contradictions between reality and your beliefs, the sum weight eventually becomes unignorable.
I guess the key there is "learned enough"; many JWs do not read enough outside of WT literature, and so there's a massive gulf they have to cross before they can even understand a fraction of what we know now.
A friend of mine was serving where the need was great in Ecuador. He read Joseph's Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces. That book made him realise on the spot that the Bible is just another book that follows the standard script of mythology.
For me it was a book "How to Read the Bible
by James Kugel... his showing the Epic of Gilgemesh was word per word part of Genesis 8.
Once that hit me I started looking to see if there was any solid evidence of evolution and found ERVs... indisputable.... Chromosome 2... can't be argued. Done.
The two passages about Jesus killing a fig tree because it had no fruit when it wasn't the season for fruit.
What specifically made you stop believing in God and the Bible?
The problem of evil
Lack of evidence, or rather, redefining what evidence really is
The history of and division on both subjects
Sex, drugs and rock n roll
Was it a steady road of doubts or it was reading one book or one major event that made you realize the Bible was not what it's claimed to be?
My doubts began in my early teens and by the end of them, I left the religion. Leaving belief completely took a bit longer but it was interesting to explore other angles and try to understand other people's beliefs. It still is, actually
I do recall significant events, discussions and personal revelations along the way that swayed my convictions but no one particular "aha" moment.
Sure, I mean a quick google finds a few, but here is a one in regard sto Bart's book, "How Jesus became God".
She said "better perspective", not apologist perspective.
Losing faith in the bible was easy. Just read it. I don't mean cherry-pick verses I mean really read it. It is obviously written by people who knew less about the world than an average 21st century 10 year old child.
Losing faith in god was a long and painful process. For me it was based on 2 main issues...
1. The problem of evil - specifically natural evil.
2. The hiddenness of god.
3. Understanding that arguments from design amount to willful ignorance of reality.
My doubts about Jehovahs Witnesses being the true religion came long before I abandoned beleif in the bible .I was a convert at 19 years of age, and I soaked up all I could read of the WT`s publications and was baptized 12 months later.I truly beleived their was a God named Jehovah who was directing this organisation.I would have died refusing a blood transfusion , as I would have let my children (2) and my wife die , beleiving this religion.I was brought up with a beleif and respect for the bible .When I became a witness I thought I was a bible student , little did I realise I was only a WT publication student .
I was a MS , but did not want the responsability of being an elder and avoided it at all costs.....After 33 years , little things that at the time didnt seem to be much , all seemed to build up and make me wonder .Egotism ,pettiness ,manipulation ,bullying,and a couple of cases outright fraud and deception amongst the elders ,something just doesnt seem to add up here.Then their were examples of what christendoms religions were doing proving they were a false religion , then a similar thing was brought out that occured amongst the witnesses , however that was put down to human imperfection .Double standards ?
I left the religion in 1993 ,and it wasn`t till I gained a computer and joined this site that I learned a lot about the bible that led me to do research and find out more about its history and the pros and cons of its authenticity and reliability.I would weigh up the beleivers and the non beleivers on this site and see who had the most compelling arguments , and then I would weigh it up with what I thought I beleived as a witness .
During this process I became an agnostic at first , after a couple of years ? maybe
but now I have no hesitation in saying I am an atheist in the sense that I do not beleive any religous book or text represents the God they portray whether it be the bible or any other book.
Whether the universe has a greater/lesser intelligence out their I do not know , what I do beleive is they have no input / concern over what transpires here on earth.
smiddy
