Hi,
I'm not sure if I belong here or not, my relationship with the Christian religion is unlike that of most people. Raised Catholic, hopped off the wagon in my early teens. I was an atheist through my twenties. Around my mid twenties, I read the Gospels, and was inspired. Very, very inspired. But I was still an atheist.
At one point, I began discussing what I was getting from the Gospels with a Christian friend. I don't want to get into too many details, but life threw a curve ball at us. We were both witness to a very serious and horrible crime. And he accepted a very large bribe to keep quiet about it. As off-putting as it was that he did this, what was worse was that he was convinced that "God gave him the money." It sickens me to this day. If anyone is wondering, I reported the crime, but not him. Perhaps unfairly, I held his transgression against the Christian religion.
Now, in my thirties, I'm taking another look at Christianity. I am still inspired to an incredible degree when I read the Gospels. I hear a profound and liberating moral message in them. Matthew is my absolute favorite. I like John too. Luke and Mark are good, but I kind of feel like Matthew has what they have and more. I've read Matthew like ten times, maybe even twenty. As for the rest of the Bible, I've read some of it. I like James and Ecclesiastes. I've read Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Job in the OT. And some of Paul's epistles in the NT. (Maybe a fourth of it at most, IDK.) But I've read the Gospels multiple times, and I like them the most. I'm not so sure that everything in the Bible is true. I doubt this A LOT.
Okay, sorry for the life story. But what compels me to become a Christian is because I want to be "a Christian when it counts." Not just when it suits me. That is SO important to me. I've tried a handful of denominations and had a go at the Catholic church again. Nope! Sometimes I believe that God is there. Sometimes I doubt he exists. Anyway, I've been going to Quaker meetings the past few months, and I really like it. They don't judge me for doubting God, they just tell me to follow the Inward Light. And they agree with the whole "being Christian when it counts" thing more than any other church to which I've been.
Anyway, I came to discuss the Gospels and maybe make a friend or two. Hopefully, I belong.
I'm not sure if I belong here or not, my relationship with the Christian religion is unlike that of most people. Raised Catholic, hopped off the wagon in my early teens. I was an atheist through my twenties. Around my mid twenties, I read the Gospels, and was inspired. Very, very inspired. But I was still an atheist.
At one point, I began discussing what I was getting from the Gospels with a Christian friend. I don't want to get into too many details, but life threw a curve ball at us. We were both witness to a very serious and horrible crime. And he accepted a very large bribe to keep quiet about it. As off-putting as it was that he did this, what was worse was that he was convinced that "God gave him the money." It sickens me to this day. If anyone is wondering, I reported the crime, but not him. Perhaps unfairly, I held his transgression against the Christian religion.
Now, in my thirties, I'm taking another look at Christianity. I am still inspired to an incredible degree when I read the Gospels. I hear a profound and liberating moral message in them. Matthew is my absolute favorite. I like John too. Luke and Mark are good, but I kind of feel like Matthew has what they have and more. I've read Matthew like ten times, maybe even twenty. As for the rest of the Bible, I've read some of it. I like James and Ecclesiastes. I've read Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Job in the OT. And some of Paul's epistles in the NT. (Maybe a fourth of it at most, IDK.) But I've read the Gospels multiple times, and I like them the most. I'm not so sure that everything in the Bible is true. I doubt this A LOT.
Okay, sorry for the life story. But what compels me to become a Christian is because I want to be "a Christian when it counts." Not just when it suits me. That is SO important to me. I've tried a handful of denominations and had a go at the Catholic church again. Nope! Sometimes I believe that God is there. Sometimes I doubt he exists. Anyway, I've been going to Quaker meetings the past few months, and I really like it. They don't judge me for doubting God, they just tell me to follow the Inward Light. And they agree with the whole "being Christian when it counts" thing more than any other church to which I've been.
Anyway, I came to discuss the Gospels and maybe make a friend or two. Hopefully, I belong.