What Is One Thing That You Would Have Told To Your Predeconverted Self?

[Galien]

You don't have to put up with this emotional abuse baby, these people really really really dont care about you. At all.

[Chikirin]

I don't have to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Not all people and ideas are worthy of it.

[Overcame Faith]

I would tell myself to read the following passages very carefully and without your Christian prejudices:

 

³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance^[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas,^[b] and then to the Twelve.

 

1 Corinthians 15:3-5

 

27 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. ² So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

³ When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. ⁴ “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

⁵ So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

 

Matthew 27:1-5

 

²⁰ “For,” said Peter, “it is written in the Book of Psalms:

 

“‘May his place be deserted;

let there be no one to dwell in it,’^[e]

and,

 

“‘May another take his place of leadership.’^[f]

²¹ Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, ²² beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

²³ So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. ²⁴ Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen ²⁵ to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” ²⁶ Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

 

Acts 1:20-26

 

Connect the dots for me.

 

In 1 Corinthians 15:3-5, Paul says that after his resurrection Jesus appeared to, among others, The Twelve. That is an obvious reference to the twelve apostles. However, as we learn in Matthew 27:1-5, one of The Twelve, Judas, committed suicide prior to Jesus' crucifixion. That left only eleven apostles, not twelve. Then, as we learn in Acts 1:20-26, Judas' replacement, Matthias, was not chosen until after Jesus' ascension and so from the time of Jesus' crucifixion until after the ascension, which time period included Jesus' alleged post resurrection appearances, there were only eleven apostles. Therefore, Paul could not be correct that Jesus appeared to The Twelve after his resurrection because there were only eleven. Realizing that problem would have speeded up my deconversion.

[mcdaddy]

I would tell myself to read the following passages very carefully and without your Christian prejudices:

 

³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance^[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas,^[b] and then to the Twelve.

 

1 Corinthians 15:3-5

 

27 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. ² So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

³ When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. ⁴ “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

⁵ So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

 

Matthew 27:1-5

 

²⁰ “For,” said Peter, “it is written in the Book of Psalms:

 

“‘May his place be deserted;

let there be no one to dwell in it,’^[e]

and,

 

“‘May another take his place of leadership.’^[f]

²¹ Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, ²² beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

²³ So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. ²⁴ Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen ²⁵ to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” ²⁶ Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

 

Acts 1:20-26

 

Connect the dots for me.

 

In 1 Corinthians 15:3-5, Paul says that after his resurrection Jesus appeared to, among others, The Twelve. That is an obvious reference to the twelve apostles. However, as we learn in Matthew 27:1-5, one of The Twelve, Judas, committed suicide prior to Jesus' crucifixion. That left only eleven apostles, not twelve. Then, as we learn in Acts 1:20-26, Judas' replacement, Matthias, was not chosen until after Jesus' ascension and so from the time of Jesus' crucifixion until after the ascension, which time period included Jesus' alleged post resurrection appearances, there were only eleven apostles. Therefore, Paul could not be correct that Jesus appeared to The Twelve after his resurrection because there were only eleven. Realizing that problem would have speeded up my deconversion.

 

Ok that's what I thought you were getting at. That always made me wonder too. But I just glossed over it.

[mcdaddy]

Ever notice how the list of the 12 has different names depending in which book it's in?

[Positivist]

Realizing that problem would have speeded up my deconversion.

Ok that's what I thought you were getting at. That always made me wonder too. But I just glossed over it.

 

It's like we had this giant warning light flashing on the dashboard of our minds/lives. We just kept ignoring and silencing it. Ignore. Ignore. Ignore. Ignore.

 

Eventually, something blows up and we realize that the warning light was trying to tell us something important.

[Margee]

Trust your instincts, grasshopper.

 

This.

 

This. I can clearly remember the night sitting there in that huge church, filled with people dancing, clapping, crying, speaking in tongues, shouting, jumping up and down and saying to myself, ''Margee, as fun as this looks - it's a cult''...... but I did not leave...they hooked me that night.....it was too late..... they 'drugged' me somehow......

 

It is only at this age and since my deconversion... that I trust my instincts.

[Guest Babylonian Dream]

Also, when I was writing my summary of "Biblical History", I would tell myself, "Hey bud, you didn't make a mistake. No need to read it 700 times over until you're able to reconcile the first two chapters of genesis. It actually just contradicts itself."

[Paine]

Three words:

 

Council.

 

Of.

 

Nicaea.

 

And to make damn sure I was clear on the difference between TRUTH and BELIEF.

[Voice]

You're manic depressive, bipolar type II. Get help.

[RedStar]

Look into all of it deeper. You're a logical person, if you base your whole life on this why haven't you researched it's history? If you really think it's true why are you frightened to look into it? Don't just go to Christian sources to find the answers to questions about the bible, even though some people are very against the bible they do have very valid points, you not liking it won't change the facts, and deliberately denying facts is not smart.

 

How is it fair for you to conclude that your religion is right and everyone else's is wrong when you a) don't know much if anything about other religions and b ) don't have any proof that your beliefs are right over theirs?

 

Doing your own research is important. Just because someone you trust says something it doesn't mean it's true. That doesn't always mean the person is deliberately deceiving you, it's just that many people don't fact check things before they believe and spread them. Why wouldn't you want to be sure something is correct before repeating it?

 

If God is loving why would he allow people to go to hell for having different beliefs or not believing at all. The bible makes a lot of claims that are very difficult to believe, especially with the lack of evidence, and with all the other deceiving going on in the world why should a person be punished for being careful and wanting proof?

 

If God is loving why would he allow anyone to burn in hell forever? This is very cruel and unessicary. Saying it's a person's choice not to believe isn't fair, what about those brought up in a different culture with different beliefs? If someone came and told you everything you believed was wrong without proof would you accept it? Why should anyone be punished for not finding the 'right' religion? There are so many, surely getting it wrong doesn't deserve such a horrible and unfair punishment!

[mcdaddy]

Look into all of it deeper. You're a logical person, if you base your whole life on this why haven't you researched it's history? If you really think it's true why are you frightened to look into it? Don't just go to Christian sources to find the answers to questions about the bible, even though some people are very against the bible they do have very valid points, you not liking it won't change the facts, and deliberately denying facts is not smart.

 

This was moment one of deconversion.

[stryper]

you are safe, always.

[VacuumFlux]

The emotional intensity of an idea's presentation has no correlation with its truth value. Or in simpler words, being passionate doesn't make them right.

 

Anyone who would shame you for getting psychological help is an asshole. Mental health concerns are not a plot by the devil to mask people's awareness of their sin and keep them away from god.

 

If you believe that every human life has value and that maximizing happiness is a good thing, it is immoral exclude yourself from the right to seek happiness.

[Guest Babylonian Dream]

I'd tell my deconverting self, "you're scared now, but watch, you're going to be laughing later. Especially seeing how you are afraid of a monster you don't even believe in, hiding under your bed, waiting till you die to send you to hell. This fear will get easier with time. Also, you'll stop focusing on death and it won't matter to you by age 21, it will be the rest of the way replaced with focus on how great you're making this life."

[FeelHappy]

I'd simply use two ideas: The outsider test of faith: basically for just once approach Christianity openly for the first time as you would approach any religion and then:

 

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." -- Galileo Galilei

 

 

(Actually I wouldn't change a thing about my conversion, everything leading up to here has been preparing me for this moment, and I believe it happened at just the right time in my life. I feel lucky that it happened this way and I'm without regrets).