im an atheist, can any of u christians help me!?

someone once told me that if you're doubting God/christianity/etc. then that's because God really trusts you (to eventually come back to him and christianity). It may sound far-fetched, but I'll just tell you my personal story and you can make your own decision about it. I'm also a fairly analytical and logic type of person. I've grown up surrounded by christians. A couple of years ago I began to doubt, in got to the point where I stopped praying and believed God was just a story. How could he possibly exist? I began to feel confused and nothing made sense. Science classes only made me more confused. I grew to the point where I was uptight and cranky all the time. My siblings avoided me and my parents frequently asked me what was wrong to which I always said things like "I don't know" or "Im just tired" or simply "nothing". I felt like I was living a double life in a since because there was no way I was going to tell my family I didn't believe - I was afraid of there response. A big mistake I thin people often make is thinking that a good christian is perfect and has never doubted ... well that's totally wrong. I believe. good christian is the one who has doubted and left the religious path of their 'family roots' so they find out for themselves if that's really the right path for them as an indivdiual. The people who grow up and say they've never had a moment where they doubted their faith are the ones I consider 'fake' because they are the ones who don't know WHY they believe. Wondering why and how you can believe such a crazy thing builds your character and strength as an individual and gives you the true piece of mind. Anyway, what happened to me, was I ended up studing things myself - trying to find out how and why anyone could believe something so crazy. I studied other religions and studied christianity. In the end I made up my mind that of all of them I liked Christianity best but I still couldn't accept that something like that exist. I studied christian scientists and began to look at how these analytical people tied their faith in with logic and science. One thing that really got me was the fact that God never tells us HOW he created the world. Maybe he used the big Bang to make it - I can believe that. Also, maybe the world did form over millions of years - the bible says he created the world in one day, but who says that one day for him is same amount of time as one day for us? No one ever said that. As far as evolution is concerned think about the dimensions of Noah's ark. I don't remember the exact measurements but there is no way in heck that all the different species and animals of the world could have fit. so how come we have so many animals then? I tdon't think it's because Noah's Ark never happened - they've actually found proof that it did, christian and non-christians (most of them) agree that according to something about soil formation the earth was probably once flooded in water...hmm. So I think evolution is real. It has to be, all the animals on noah's ark habve since evolved in the billions of species around today. I know I am a happier person since my long bout of doubt (haha I rhymed!), I've only recently accepted God again. I wouldn't say it's made my life easier, but it has my my life happier. Now rather than have a copy of the faith my family has, I have my own. True, it's same faith, but now it's personal because of the journey i took to reach where I am now in my walk with God. I feel like a new and better person. I'm in no way perfect, but I'm happy and other people can tell. That doesn't mean I don't doubt anymore, I still have doubts but I know they make me stronger so I accept as challenges for myself.I still struggle with trusting my life to God, but that's just another challenge and it's part of growing up. I start college next fall and I'm terrified but that's just how life is. For the void in your heart, you may want to hear it, but I think that's need for god to come back in your life. Something else that helps is finding a friend who's christian - especially if they're christian and struggling too, friends like that to support you can really help. I don't if I've really helped or if what I'm saying makes any sense, but I want to help you so feel free to send me a message ( pinkbleach4@yahoo.com ) with any questions or comments. :D

Okay, first off, I am a Christian, and I also accept evolution. The love of science and faith are not mutually exclusive.

Second, I would love to be able to give you a pat answer to help you become a Christian, but the fact of the matter is, there isn't one. YOU have to decide what's right for YOU. No one can tell you which path is right for you. You're going to have to find it yourself. I'm really sorry you feel you can't believe. I hope someday you're able to. But if you're not, that's just who you are. Don't force yourself to be something you're not.

But, I do have one piece of advice for you: Don't settle. Continue seeking knowledge, from every place you can find it. Even if you decide that atheism is right for you, don't only read things to support it. Read the other side, too.

I wish you the best, and would you mind if I prayed for God to help you?

And by the way, the Bible never says how old the Earth is.

Well being anti-religious myself, I can tell you that your beliefs are probably more than correct.

The fact is, is that the bible is full of fictional stories, not meant to be taken literally, but since it at the time (hundreds, if not thousands of years ago) was the best explanation of where and how we came to be, it was taken literally and sadly, there are still people who take it literally, regardless of what science and other greater knowledge has proven. Trust me, those who claim they are religious are far from it. If a person wants to actually be fully religious they cannot swear, they cannot commit a "sin", which is utterly ridiculous.

And, yes I know people will disagree with me, but being open minded and actually thinking religion through can help. And you are being open minded, unlike a lot of people who stay closed minded who believe immediately what they are told.

In my opinion, you do not need help. Believe in what you believe, because it makes you a better person. Don't feel alone, feel special, simply because you aren't believing in a childish character who is apparently within the clouds, funny we don't see him when we're on a plane or going into space.

Your question poses several issues.

First, your Christian background is limited to a denomination founded by one man's vision, a break-away church thus giving you a distorted view of Christianity. Religion is supposed to give you what you need to cope with the trials of every day life, live a moral life and eventually be saved, not "make you happy". This is a delusion that causes many to leave their faith and is a major flaw in modern Protestantism.

Second, crazy people don't rise from the dead on their own power, and they didn't have sophisticated special effects crews 2000 years ago, so either Jesus is who He says he is, the Son of God, or he is crazy and millions of intelligent and educated people have been deceived. THAT is insane.

We Catholics believe that we can know truth by faith and reason. We can know things by reason alone and we can know things that reason cannot tell us. For example, we can know the Big Bang, existence of Pluto, formation of a star, and mathematics from reason alone. We do not need God to tell us these truths. However, there are some things which we cannot know by reason like the Trinity, Virgin Birth, and Incarnation. We can only know those if God told it to us, like revealing them in Scripture. Reason is like the eye. We can see a lot of things with the eye, but we cannot see everything with it.

Faith is like a microscope or a telescope. We cannot see a cell from the naked eye, but we can see it with the help of a microscope. This is like the relationship between faith and reason. When people think of faith, they immediately think of something that cannot be reasonable. This is not true. Though reason does not produce faith, faith can be based on reason. It can be a reasonable faith.

With other truths we can know by reason, we can know God's existence by reason. How? From the world. From the effect, we can know the cause. Scripture says, "Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made." (Romans 1:20) So we can be sure if God really exists by looking at the world and even ourselves (CCC 31). So we believe that since God's existence can be demonstrated, we can be sure if He exists or not. Here are some examples of demonstrations for the existence of God.

http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/p28.htm

You said you want to believe but you just can't. Take it from there. That means the "seed" of faith is in you.

The feeling of wanting to believe is the tiny speck of light at the end of the tunnel. So keep going. Your folks must have been constantly praying for you to see that light, and their prayers must have been answered. Your loved ones have already done their part, the supreme one has already given you the grace to "see". Now the ball is in your hands.

The void which you feel inside you could be the emptiness waiting to be filled with God's goodness and that is what christians call faith. It starts as a small seed like that of a mustard, and when it grows, it's so huge that it becomes the biggest tree you can find. However, you are so pre-occupied by the stuffs you learn in school that made you so humanly logical barring anything that lies beyond human reason. Your current state of mind and heart completely rejects the essence of faith and its opportunity to grow in you.

The theory of evolution and everything science teaches is not bad. What makes it anti-faith is when man looks at it from his own point of view as a human person where human reasoning serves as the only framework of all that he learns. Try to loosen your human reasoning a bit and look at things beyond logic. Think of abstract ideas sometimes like feelings of love, patience, kindness even though how illogical they can be. This is tough but I believe once you do this, abstract nature of creation will slowly reveal many things to you that will complement your logical thinking and start making wonders for you to search. Once you reach this point, keep searching while armed with logic and abstract concepts you now have. This will gradually open your mind to see beyond what human reason can see. And if at this point faith presents itself, just let it come and occupy that void in you. Believe me, it will be the most magical thing you'll ever encounter in this life.

Bless you!

Jaxon, I think you have probably been influenced by the other atheists on YA. Theirs is a convincing argument, and since you are required to do nothing as an atheist, theirs is the easiest to follow. I am sure that your dad as a pastor could show you what you need to know. I bet you haven't told him that you have atheists leanings. You are at an age when the testosterone starts to flow, big time, and it is natural to rebel against our parents at that age. We want to do it our way, and we really want to resist authority.

This is a natural place you are in and we all have been there. What is important is, that you do not turn your back on Christ. Realize that there are a lot of evil influences in your life right now, and they want you to go down the tubes with them. Misery loves company. Don't do it, Each day ask God to show you what you need to see, and He will. Pray for wisdom to make the right decision and I know you will do that too.

This is a simpe thing to answer. If you don't believe in God, accept your non-belief. If you accept it every one else will too. I personally strongly believe in God and Jesus - But there are some parts of the Bible like God creating Earth in 7 days or whatever it was definatly isn't true. My whole family is Christian but my brother isn't sure if God exists. You may not believe in God as a person, but if your family want you to believe in God you could start thinking about him as..er...nature? love? Just something that's all around. There's no reason why you shouldn't be allowed to not believe in God. So if you don't believe - then don't feel as if you have to, because that'd make you something you're not. :)

You would have to do a little study in theology to understand how the Almighty, eternal Creator who exists outside of the physical universe that He made, including the dimension of time, can watch over everyone at once. As to your other questions, since you major in biochemistry and bio-med, why don't you consider some well reasoned and scientific arguments on the other side.

http://www.foolishfaith.com/book.asp

If it could be shown to you through solid and persuasive evidence that God created the universe and everything in it, would you believe it?

Featuring an impressive cast of world-class scientists and scholars, Foolish Faith exposes the failure of mainstream science to answer the ever-present question of where we came from — unveiling a surprising store of controversial facts that support the existence of God, but are largely ignored by the media.

Beginning with a fast-paced trail through the origins of the world’s major religions, followed by a provoking pursuit through the reasoning of modern science, this book’s easy-to-understand arguments will bring you face-to-face with seven tremendous facts that will propel you to rediscover the truth about God’s place in the world today.

I think that what's really going on here is that you are unhappy, you want to be happy, and you've learned that religion isn't going to be able to give you that.

Instead of beating a dead horse, just accept that you can't be happy that way and move on to something else that might give you happiness.

You're obviously not stupid enough for the drug that is religion to work on you.

Most people are, you're not.

Deal with it.

There are a lot of other ways to be happy in this life than by making yourself an ignorant, fearful, unquestioning slave to some imaginary deity.

It all starts with faith. Daily prayer and bible reading can draw you closer to God. Ask God to come into your life because you want to get to know Him better. If you don't have faith, then nothing will make sense to you. Once you understand God and have a personal relationship with Him, it will start adding up because He will put the truth and knowledge in your mind. Didn't God say "Whoever seeks me shall find me."?