In this video, I consider how some atheists experience a dramatic, effectively religious conversion to atheism, one that leads them to adopt a strident, evangelistic attitude toward others which is remarkably similar to the fundamentalist Christian street preacher. ?
conversion
The Myth of the Authoritative Deconvert
I often encounter a popular idea that deconverts from a particular belief community provide a uniquely authoritative insight into that community and its practices and thus a uniquely authoritative basis to reject it. The idea is like this: “Oh, you want to live in New York? It’s a hellhole, believe me: I lived in Brooklyn […]
The Solution to Christians Becoming Atheists (Part 2)
This is the third and final installment in my interview/conversation with Dr. John Marriott on the issue of Christians leaving the faith to become atheists. Here are links to the first installment, “The Problem of Christians Becoming Atheists,” and the second installment, “The Solution to Christians Becoming Atheists (Part 1).” Needless to say, I strongly […]
The Solution to Christians Becoming Atheists (Part 1)
In this article, I continue a conversation with John Marriott on Christianity and atheism based on his new book, A Recipe for Disaster. In part one, Dr. Marriott summarized some of the catalysts that lead to Christians becoming atheists. In this article, we continue the conversation by turning to consider ways that Christians might seek […]
The Irrationality of Conversion: Christianity and Atheism compared
Many atheists like to highlight what they view as crazy Christian conversion stories. For example, The Atheist Missionary referenced this testimony from Eric Metaxas which is based on a dream that he went on to interpret as a divine revelation. Here’s what’s so puzzling about this. Speaking anecdotally (after all, that’s what we’re doing here), I […]
How to become a Christian when you’re not sure you believe
This is a follow-up to my article “Start with Christianity. Because it works.” Some of the readers responded to that article with a degree of incredulity, believing that while I might have provided a basis to begin an investigation of Christianity, I did not provide a basis to become a Christian. For example, Luke Breuer wrote: […]
Fundraising and the ethics of child evangelism
The other day I visited the website for Christian social service agency Compassion International. And when I did I was confronted, right on the home page, with a list of things that make Compassion distinct: What caught my attention was the statistic on the right. Over the last year, 125,042 women and children had “invited […]
16. Gordon T. Smith on Christian conversion
In this episode of The Tentative Apologist Podcast we get to sit down with one of the foremost theologians in Canada, Gordon T. Smith. Dr. Smith is President of Ambrose University College and Seminary in Calgary where he also teaches as Professor of Systematic and Spiritual Theology. Over the years Dr. Smith has worn many […]
Intellectual excuses come later? Reflections on Craig and Loftus
John Loftus wrote an interesting post in response to a Bill Craig interview in which Craig attributes Loftus’ apostasy to adultery and pornography addiction. You can read Loftus’ response here: http://debunkingchristianity.blogspot.ca/2012/11/william-lane-craig-is-shamelessly.html While Loftus notes that adultery was a factor in his deconversion, he emphatically denies that pornography addiction ever was. If this is true (and […]
A Sermon on Paul’s Conversion
I’m going to be out of town for a couple days. But in the interim here is a sermon I preached this last week on Paul’s conversion in Acts 9:1-9: Jesus and the Persecutor I end the sermon by reading lyrics from one of my all time favorite prophetic songs, “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” […]
