what happens to your brain when you stop believing in god

Dorsum when I was a defended Christian, I read a book called Christian Apologetics by Norman Geisler and became very interested in the field of study. Soon after, I read several more than books about the supposed evidence for God and Christianity. Books like Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, Why I Believe past James D. Kennedy, Show That Demands A Verdict by Josh McDowell, and The Instance For Christ by Lee Strobel, to name a few.

I was overwhelmed past all the philosophical and historical prove for God and the Bible. How could anyone be an atheist? Perchance they just weren't enlightened of the evidence. Possibly if more of them knew about it, and so at to the lowest degree the ones who were open-minded would change their beliefs.

For a short time, I felt God was calling me into the ministry building so I could help share this data with the secular world. I came up with a very specific strategy: I would prove atheists that if you arroyo the question of God'southward existence and the historicity of the Bible with an open up listen and no biases, y'all will come to the conclusion that Christianity is truthful. But in club to show them that, get-go I had to practise it myself.

My plan was to pretend I'd never heard of Christianity, exist as objective equally possible, and investigate the Christian faith with an open mind. Every bit a Christian, I already "knew" I would come to the conclusion that Christianity is true, merely I wanted to do it anyway so I could walk atheists through the process and show them my line of reasoning.

I never expected to observe out that Christianity isn't true.

You might be picturing a cliché montage of a educatee spending hours at the library, sitting at a table and poring over book later on volume. It didn't happen similar that. Yep, I did a lot of reading, but the chief matter I did differently was alter my perspective to that of an atheist. I tried to imagine how they saw the world and what criticisms they might have for Christianity.

If y'all're a Christian, then at this point you might think I read several atheist books and was "corrupted." Nope. I didn't read a single atheist book or article. Throughout my entire deconversion procedure, I read aught but the Bible and Christian books. In fact, I didn't read any atheist books until years afterwards. Which means I deconverted completely on my own.

All I did was imagine the atheist perspective and I came upwardly with all sorts of questions I'd never idea of earlier:

• Isn't information technology a contradiction to say we're born guilty?
• Why carp praying if God has a master plan?
• What's so peachy almost blind obedience?
• Why do the ten commandments seem so archaic?
• How can a loving god punish good people so viciously?
• Why doesn't God perform big miracles anymore?
• Why doesn't God appear to people anymore?
• What would I believe if I had been born elsewhere?
• Why is God'southward give-and-take so poorly organized?
• How can a loving God threaten his children with torture?

And dozens more. I looked for answers in Christian books, but nigh of them didn't even address these questions. I also asked family members and people at church, simply information technology was obvious they'd never seriously considered these questions. In fact, they seemed to exist making up their answers on the spot, and their answers ordinarily missed the indicate of the question anyway.

I day my pastor said something I'll never forget: "You have to accept organized religion." I know, it seems pretty obvious, right? All Christians e'er talk most is faith. Only what I realized is that faith is all they have.

One time yous point out all the problems with their philosophical arguments and supposed historical prove, they always fall back to religion. "Yous only have to believe and trust God," my pastor said. "Anytime he'll give you all the answers, just for now you take to have faith."

Suddenly my program to lead atheists to God using bear witness was ruined. Why? Considering there is no evidence. Certain, in that location are countless reasons why people believe in god, but none of them involve reliable testify that other people can verify. In fact, there's more evidence for aliens than for Christianity. And then if you want to be a Christian, you just have to prepare aside your doubts and believe.

Simply that raised a new question: How did I know my beliefs were true? Normally when you lot're non certain if something is true, you can do your research and find out. But when it comes to religion, you lot can research it everyday for the remainder of your life and never come any closer to finding out whether it's true. All you tin practise is have faith.

So how did I know my faith was in the correct faith? I didn't. I remember the moment I realized that. I was driving to work, and it made me so ill to my stomach that I almost pulled over. Up until that moment, I would take happily said, "I know Christianity is true." But now my honest answer was, "I don't know if Christianity is true."

In one case I acknowledged the possibility that Christianity was just some other made upwardly religion, I began to see more and more problems with it. Pretty presently, the stories of Yahweh seemed about as plausible as the stories of Greek gods. And the life of Jesus seemed about as realistic as the life of Muhammad. How could I go on dedicating my life to something that might non even be truthful?

Information technology's one thing to have strange behavior. Lots of people believe in things similar Bigfoot, aliens, and the Lochness monster, and most of these people will acknowledge that they could be wrong, but they're fine with that because they're non basing their lives on these beliefs.

Simply with Christianity, everything hinges on information technology: how y'all look at the world, how you care for your spouse, how you raise your children, how you lot make up one's mind what'south correct and incorrect, how you spend your Sundays, and so forth. Christians are even counting on their beliefs to be true so they can escape death itself.

How could I let Christianity dictate my entire life and hopes for the future if I didn't even know if information technology was true?

"You have to have faith."

That answer just didn't work for me anymore. I didn't–and still don't–know how to base my life on something that could exist completely fabricated up.

At some betoken, I forgot all nearly my plan to convert atheists to Christianity. At starting time I kept reading Christian books in hopes that I would stumble upon amend answers to my questions, but the more I read these books the more certain I felt they were wrong. Eventually I quit reading Christian books birthday. It was also depressing.

Over the next two years, my faith in God and the Bible continued to fade away. There were a couple times when I got emotional and rededicated my life to Christ, but information technology never lasted long. Sometimes I begged God to strengthen my religion, but he never did, and that only made my faith weaker. Somewhen, I simply didn't believe in god anymore.

I still idea god was one possible explanation for the origin of the universe, life, and consciousness. But I likewise knew there could be other explanations, perhaps ones nobody had even thought of still. Then until somebody could testify the god hypothesis, I wasn't going to believe information technology. And that's how I became an atheist.

The reason I'thousand sharing this is to offer myself as an example of someone who set aside his biases, investigated the claims of Christians as objectively every bit possible, and came to the conclusion that there is no good evidence for the existence of God or the historicity of the Bible. Ultimately, you have to have religion. And if Christianity requires faith, then it'due south no more valid than any other faith.

To the Christians reading this, I know some of you probably skeptical. You might think I was never a true Christian or that I'thousand suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. Go ahead. All I can do is share my experience. Y'all don't have to believe me.

Merely I want you lot to do something: Stop assuming y'all're right and at least consider the possibility that you could exist wrong. End beingness so arrogant as to recollect you lot accept information technology all figured out, and have a little humility. When you go to church, written report the Bible, or read a Christian book, don't enthusiastically agree with everything you hear and read. Instead, just think well-nigh information technology. Be equally disquisitional of Christianity as you would be of whatever other faith. If your beliefs are true, then y'all accept naught to be afraid of.

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Source: https://southernskeptic.com/why-i-stopped-believing-in-god/