I used to be such a good christian... I prayed all the time, whenever I wasn't doing anything. I talked to God about everything that went on in my life. I avoided any situations where I would be tempted to sin. Then, everything just... stopped. I stopped caring if God listened to me... I stopped trying to not sin... and now I just question everything about religion period. It all just seems like something made up a long time ago by people who were terrified of death, so they made up Heaven and Hell.

Are these signs of questioning the Lord, or becoming agnostic? Or atheist?

Even if you are becoming agnostic or atheist (which is OK of course) the statement "I stopped trying to not sin" is a problem here. Even agnostics/atheists want to be good people and play well with others.

That is one humorous sentence right there. As though you are showing symptoms of some disorder. Obviously, you are questioning your belief, which is a good thing. You should question religion, but that does not necessarily mean you are going to move away from religion. It just means you are thinking for yourself and interpreting what you hear and read instead of being herded. Good for you.

To give you another perspective... your faith in the Lord is being tested and Satan could be the one behind all of this, remember to paraphase a Bible verse " we are not fighting a battle against what is seen but what is unseen, that angels and demons are waging wars over people" Be encouraged and remember what God did for you during those times when your faith was strong.

What event or situation happened that started your issue?

It is hard being a follower of Christ but remember He doesn't expect you to be perfect. We have all gone through times of struggle and hardship and have all questioned our faith. I hope some of this helps you. God bless

I wish I knew how to draw on here...

Our spiritual journey through life is not a steady, unwavering, increasing line, with "no faith" on the bottom and "one with God" on the top. Rather, it looks more like those line graphs they use to show economic stuff like the Dow-Jones. It's full of peaks and valleys, high points and low points.

I think that if we are all absolutely honest with ourselves, we will find that we go through periods of questioning our faith, rebelling against it, and even periods of complete apathy about it.

Faith is a journey, not a destination. As Mountain Man said, we will be tested and tempted by our foe. We may also feel sometimes that God is testing us or maybe has caused hardships to fall upon us. In those times, I remember that a fine sword is not made by lovingly caressing a block of iron, or holding the iron gently and reassuring that--one day--it will be a sword.

No, a sword is made by heating the iron until it's red hot, then taking it out of the fire and hammering it brutally with a heavy mallet. It gets flipped over and hammered on the other side. Then it's thrust back into the fire, and the process continues. Finally, when the shape is right, the work isn't done yet. To get its edge, it must be scraped repeatedly over stone, over and over and over again. When it's all said and done, a fine sword is crafted, but not without trial and effort.

I think that God may use a similar process to craft us into what He sees for us, and sometimes that crafting isn't pleasant for us. However, the rewards are great. Not only for us, but for those whom God puts us in contact with for reasons that may be known to Him alone, but which serve His purpose nonetheless.

Walk your road, but know that you don't have to walk it alone. Find others who have walked the road and speak with them. Take assurance in the fact that you are possibly growing into your faith, rather than losing it.

Continue to seek God and His will for you, and He will be faithful to reveal it.

DK

I am an atheist and recognised exactly what you are saying. I have been there before. I found my path and I'm sure you will find yours in time. Research, research, research is the best advice I can give you. One of the things I did was to observe sites that host live debates on the subject. I learned a lot from observing priests of all religions debate against well educated physicists and other people who were passionate about finding the truth. Be careful though as it can become a vacuum and addictive.
One fact is that to believe the standard religions one needs to believe in or have faith. And in my searches I have found faith is believing in something as a fact when there is no scientific logical reason to do so. I have been through a lot of grief over my beliefs through the years and would always recommend that people be careful and sceptical about what they see and read on these sites.

Please correct me if I have misintrepretated something but I have to respond to a common "theme" on this site and that is the fact that in order for you to be a Christian you have to become a mindless follower of a "religion" that has no value. That is just not true! Religion and a true relationship with Christ are not one in the same. A religion does not save your soul but a right relationship with our creator and Lord will!

You will question things regarding your faith. That is a fact that will occur when we walk on this earth. The choice we make when questioning our faith is do we turn to the world for answers or to God. Look at the life of David and see the distinct difference between leaning on you own understanding and leaning on God.

Quote;JohnSnownw agrees: Yup, this is very true. Though I see you still answered the question after me, again ;)
Yes John, (Brotherhood of the wolf) but at least I was brave enough to admit my beliefs. I'm always afraid the word atheism is going to trigger massive bombardment disagreements. LOL, I love talking religion but wish I could remove the judgement option. :-)

QUOTE; Mountain_man


Please correct me if I have misintrepretated something but I have to respond to a common "theme" on this site and that is the fact that in order for you to be a Christian you have to become a mindless follower of a "religion" that has no value.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where did it say that?

No one said that anyone following your religion was "mindless", nor did anyone say it has no value. What you call a "theme" on this site is opinion differing from yours. If we go by a popularity contest there is a much larger percentage of pro-christian posts on this site than posts which offer a differing opinion - therefore the "theme" of this site is pro-christian.

That is the common theme I am referring to, not just with you but with many different people.

What's wrong with questioning religion? Just as you should question your government or your bank charges.

I think you misunderstood what I wrote. I am not going to elaborate on that, as I believe it's unnecessary.

The words I should have highlighted in JohnSnownw's post was "instead of being herded" it implies a certain mindless wandering... my intention wasn't to get away from the poster's original question but that is why I responded.

And yes NeedKarma there is nothing wrong with questioning religious beliefs. And no I am not challenging a "theme" because it differs from my opinion.

Very true, it is difficult for us non-believers to mention our take. I was going to follow up with something more profound here, but I deleted it fearing what I said would be misconstrued. So, I suppose, case-in-point Greg :)

"Doubt is the ants in the pants of faith." - Frederick Buechner

Back on the subject... Does anyone feel that it is unfair to bring a specific (or any)religion to a child who has no ability to define their own logical opinion? I don't believe I know anyone who wasn't raised believing in god.
Quote:: Mahal_kitta9---

I used to be such a good christian...i prayed all the time, whenever i wasn't doing anything. i talked to God about everything that went on in my life. I avoided any situations where I would be tempted to sin. Then, everything just...stopped. I stopped caring if God listened to me...I stopped trying to not sin

I don't think it is unfair to create a foundation of beliefs in a young person but ultimately a relationship with God is quite personal and must be found by that individual.

As I believe I am following the truth, I would want my child to grow up learning the truth...

When I was growing up and questions about other religions arose, our minister (who happened to be my father) answered them, sometimes incorrectly unfortunately. I had wished then, and now realize it was a valid wish, that representatives of other religions could have been brought in to our church as guest speakers and Bible class guests.

If I were raising children again, I would definitely present what I believe but also take my child to the library to do a literature review and find out what other religions teach, and then take my child to other churches, mosques, synagogues, etc. and talk with those of other faiths.