Comments on: Atheist converts back to Christianity http://bluepanjeet.net/2009/04/19/4490/atheist-converts-christianity/ Journey with an ex-seminarian as he fulfill his dreams and search his place in the greater scheme of things on the wings of his dream Thu, 03 May 2012 20:22:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Romuald Matthieson http://bluepanjeet.net/2009/04/19/4490/atheist-converts-christianity/#comment-25604 Romuald Matthieson Thu, 29 Dec 2011 13:53:59 +0000 http://bluepanjeet.net/?p=4490#comment-25604 @Rhett I don't think this article is trying to convince anyone. We all know that Atheists are eternal skeptics even to the point of stupidity and irrationality. So its useless to convince if common sense and brain function is as faint as a sigh. @Rhett

I don’t think this article is trying to convince anyone. We all know that Atheists are eternal skeptics even to the point of stupidity and irrationality. So its useless to convince if common sense and brain function is as faint as a sigh.

]]> By: Rhett http://bluepanjeet.net/2009/04/19/4490/atheist-converts-christianity/#comment-25603 Rhett Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:28:19 +0000 http://bluepanjeet.net/?p=4490#comment-25603 From what I can see, he didn't have very strong intellectual grounds for his atheism, so it's unsurprising that he needed similarly weak grounds for rediscovering his faith. This testimony will be unconvincing for anyone who isn't already convinced. From what I can see, he didn’t have very strong intellectual grounds for his atheism, so it’s unsurprising that he needed similarly weak grounds for rediscovering his faith. This testimony will be unconvincing for anyone who isn’t already convinced.

]]> By: Mauricio Escobedo http://bluepanjeet.net/2009/04/19/4490/atheist-converts-christianity/#comment-8938 Mauricio Escobedo Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:50:35 +0000 http://bluepanjeet.net/?p=4490#comment-8938 Dear Honey, I just finished telling Mr. Cool that the facts of the Gospel are crucially important in order to have a true conversion to the faith. But you have touched on reverse side of the same coin (as James wrote in his Epistle); and without the whole coin (both sides), no one will see God. If we say that we love God, we must also keep His commandments (or we are liars and we do not know God at all). What commandments are we to keep? That we love God truly, and that we love one another, just as He loved us. Without these two realities (love of God and love of our neighbors) no one can say that he is converted to Jesus. And our love cannot be like the world's love which is full of ego, greed and deception. Nor is our love to be only for those who are attractive, who please us or who stand to repay us: our love is to be for the poorest of the poor; for widows, orphans and those who are marginalized. Then, we will truly become His witnesses (as He said) before a watching world that will want what we have: a Savior who gives Eternal Life and Hope. Honey, may God bless you to walk in the Light, AND IN THE CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE OF GOD (GIVEN ALL THE PROOF), until the dawning of the Day that will see Jesus return in Power and Great Glory. Dear Honey, I just finished telling Mr. Cool that the facts of the Gospel are crucially important in order to have a true conversion to the faith. But you have touched on reverse side of the same coin (as James wrote in his Epistle); and without the whole coin (both sides), no one will see God. If we say that we love God, we must also keep His commandments (or we are liars and we do not know God at all). What commandments are we to keep? That we love God truly, and that we love one another, just as He loved us. Without these two realities (love of God and love of our neighbors) no one can say that he is converted to Jesus. And our love cannot be like the world’s love which is full of ego, greed and deception. Nor is our love to be only for those who are attractive, who please us or who stand to repay us: our love is to be for the poorest of the poor; for widows, orphans and those who are marginalized. Then, we will truly become His witnesses (as He said) before a watching world that will want what we have: a Savior who gives Eternal Life and Hope. Honey, may God bless you to walk in the Light, AND IN THE CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE OF GOD (GIVEN ALL THE PROOF), until the dawning of the Day that will see Jesus return in Power and Great Glory.

]]> By: Mauricio Escobedo http://bluepanjeet.net/2009/04/19/4490/atheist-converts-christianity/#comment-8937 Mauricio Escobedo Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:32:00 +0000 http://bluepanjeet.net/?p=4490#comment-8937 Mr. Cool; respectfully, I ask you to consider that the reasons for one's conversion do matter. A lot. God Himself has certain requirements of people who say that they believe. Remember that Jesus said that on the Day of Judgement, some will say, "Lord, did we not cast out demons in your Name?" In that day, the Master will say, "Depart from Me, I never knew you." Mr. Cool, do you see? We are to judge ourselves, rather than to wait until He Judges us; for if we are true men and women, then there will be a place for us in the Kingdom of Heaven. So what does God require? The Scriptures say, "Whoever comes to God must believe that He is..." You see, we must be CONVINCED by reasonable and rational consideration of the evidence that there is good and sufficient reason for us to believe that God exists. Saying that we have warm feelings toward God or an intuitive, subjective, certitude are insufficient. Jesus rebuked St. Thomas for NOT believing the EYEWITNESS EVIDENCE of people whose credibility he knew! And then Jesus blessed those of us who would be convinced by the preponderance of the evidence, rather than by being eyewitnesses ourselves like the Apostles (who wrote: What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you...). Those who enter God's peace must, then, believe in One God, the Creator of heaven and Earth...we must believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (one God), we must believe that Jesus suffered and died, under Pontious Pilate, a Propitiatory, Vicarious death, we must believe that Jesus died, was buried and physically resurrected from the Dead on the third day, according to the Scriptures... . Does this sound familiar? We say this every Sunday. So then, there is a set of beliefs that ALL CHristians MUST believe, or they are christians that the Lord Himself will repudiate on the Last Day (even though they address Him as, "Lord." We are indeed glad for believers around Mr. Wilson, but let us be sure that they are true men, women and children who communicate the True Facts of the Faith that was delivered to the Church once and for all. Mr. Cool; respectfully, I ask you to consider that the reasons for one’s conversion do matter. A lot. God Himself has certain requirements of people who say that they believe. Remember that Jesus said that on the Day of Judgement, some will say, “Lord, did we not cast out demons in your Name?” In that day, the Master will say, “Depart from Me, I never knew you.” Mr. Cool, do you see? We are to judge ourselves, rather than to wait until He Judges us; for if we are true men and women, then there will be a place for us in the Kingdom of Heaven. So what does God require? The Scriptures say, “Whoever comes to God must believe that He is…” You see, we must be CONVINCED by reasonable and rational consideration of the evidence that there is good and sufficient reason for us to believe that God exists. Saying that we have warm feelings toward God or an intuitive, subjective, certitude are insufficient. Jesus rebuked St. Thomas for NOT believing the EYEWITNESS EVIDENCE of people whose credibility he knew! And then Jesus blessed those of us who would be convinced by the preponderance of the evidence, rather than by being eyewitnesses ourselves like the Apostles (who wrote: What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you…). Those who enter God’s peace must, then, believe in One God, the Creator of heaven and Earth…we must believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (one God), we must believe that Jesus suffered and died, under Pontious Pilate, a Propitiatory, Vicarious death, we must believe that Jesus died, was buried and physically resurrected from the Dead on the third day, according to the Scriptures… . Does this sound familiar? We say this every Sunday. So then, there is a set of beliefs that ALL CHristians MUST believe, or they are christians that the Lord Himself will repudiate on the Last Day (even though they address Him as, “Lord.” We are indeed glad for believers around Mr. Wilson, but let us be sure that they are true men, women and children who communicate the True Facts of the Faith that was delivered to the Church once and for all.

]]> By: honey http://bluepanjeet.net/2009/04/19/4490/atheist-converts-christianity/#comment-8197 honey Wed, 20 May 2009 16:10:07 +0000 http://bluepanjeet.net/?p=4490#comment-8197 I was about to exit your homepage when i found this article, i could not miss it... its inspiring that the Christians around him became his inspirations too in going back to his faith. The most effective way of preaching is to live the faith we profess and sharing Christ to our brothers and sisters in deeds. honeys latest blog entry..<a href="http://honeyreyes.com/2009/05/18/backside-smoother/" rel="nofollow">Backside Smoother!</a> I was about to exit your homepage when i found this article, i could not miss it… its inspiring that the Christians around him became his inspirations too in going back to his faith. The most effective way of preaching is to live the faith we profess and sharing Christ to our brothers and sisters in deeds.

honeys latest blog entry..Backside Smoother!

]]> By: coolwaterworks http://bluepanjeet.net/2009/04/19/4490/atheist-converts-christianity/#comment-6623 coolwaterworks Sun, 03 May 2009 14:54:13 +0000 http://bluepanjeet.net/?p=4490#comment-6623 At last kapatid na Bluep, nakabisita na rin ako sa iyong newly renovated house... Partly, I have to agree with Bro Mauricio about AN Wilson's return to faith... BUT I believe no matter how inadequate his reasons may be, one can never come to God unless he is not called. His response to the call of conversion may not be adequate to our own reasons, but who are we to judge? I am still happy that there were Christians surrounding AN Wilson whose noble lives became a potent call and message to his return. coolwaterworkss latest blog entry..<a href="http://coolwaterworks.wordpress.com/2009/04/28/featured-in-pbsp-annual-report/" rel="nofollow">Featured in PBSP Annual Report</a> At last kapatid na Bluep, nakabisita na rin ako sa iyong newly renovated house… Partly, I have to agree with Bro Mauricio about AN Wilson’s return to faith… BUT I believe no matter how inadequate his reasons may be, one can never come to God unless he is not called. His response to the call of conversion may not be adequate to our own reasons, but who are we to judge?
I am still happy that there were Christians surrounding AN Wilson whose noble lives became a potent call and message to his return.

coolwaterworkss latest blog entry..Featured in PBSP Annual Report

]]> By: Ishmael http://bluepanjeet.net/2009/04/19/4490/atheist-converts-christianity/#comment-6571 Ishmael Sun, 26 Apr 2009 02:19:42 +0000 http://bluepanjeet.net/?p=4490#comment-6571 Sa britain daw ay maraming anti-religion sa intelligentsia. Dito sa Piilipinas. Marami ring ganyan. Tingnana na lang natin yung maraming blogs ng Filipino Bloggers na laging tinitira ang Simbahan at pinagtatawanan tayong mga nananalig sa Kanya. They do not understand. They do not want to open up their minds. Ishmaels latest blog entry..<a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BeforeTheEasternSunset/~3/84ltalosFog/san-jose-occidental-mindoro.html" rel="nofollow">San Jose, Occidental Mindoro</a> Sa britain daw ay maraming anti-religion sa intelligentsia. Dito sa Piilipinas. Marami ring ganyan. Tingnana na lang natin yung maraming blogs ng Filipino Bloggers na laging tinitira ang Simbahan at pinagtatawanan tayong mga nananalig sa Kanya.

They do not understand. They do not want to open up their minds.

Ishmaels latest blog entry..San Jose, Occidental Mindoro

]]> By: Mauricio Escobedo http://bluepanjeet.net/2009/04/19/4490/atheist-converts-christianity/#comment-6560 Mauricio Escobedo Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:23:48 +0000 http://bluepanjeet.net/?p=4490#comment-6560 Although Mr. Wilson's return to faith is laudable, his reasons for returning to faith are as inadequate as his reasons for leaving in the first place. In the Broadway play, “The Man of La Mancha,” Don Quixote wisely advises us to beware of a fanatical pursuit of happiness, lest, unhappily, we should overtake it. In his own quest for faith, Mr. Wilson is in danger of overtaking it. You see, we who believe in Jesus the Messiah possess a palpable person, not a hypothesized faith. Therefore any actual return to the Faith will require a conversion to the set of all the facts that Christianity asserts. Without realizing that Christianity is factually true, faith in the Christian story is worthless. Mr. Wilson will need to face and study the historical events of the factual Christian Faith and convert to the following certainties: the apodictic fact that God became a real human being, the apodictic fact that Jesus was God in human flesh, the apodictic fact that all men and women are, from the moment of conception, evil sinners condemned to a real and endless punishment in hell, the apodictic fact that Jesus was in His own body the Propitiation for humans’ sins so that no one will be in hell who chooses not to be in hell, the apodictic fact that Jesus was crucified and died under Pontius Pilate, the apodictic fact that Jesus died and was buried for three days, the apodictic fact that on the third day Jesus rose physically and literally from the grave, the apodictic fact that there is one, and only one, True God, one, and only one, true Gospel that leads to salvation, one, and only one, true intercessor between God and man and one, and only one, True Faith. When Mr. Wilson does this, then he will actually realize the meaning of the Scripture which says, “And this is the Victory that has overcome the World: the Faith which we possess.” By this, we do not mean that we overcome Mr. Wilson’s list of skeptics by means of a confident moral certitude (nor by a sixties-style defiant skepticism of skepticism itself), but rather, we mean that Christians can face the full fury of the World that “kills the dreams we dream,” as sung by Susan Boyle, because Jesus has removed the enmity in us that kindled God’s fury against us by removing all of our sins by His propitiatory, vicarious death. May we all pray that Mr. Wilson, Great Britain, and the Whole World may find this kind of saving faith: obedience to the facts that Christianity asserts. Although Mr. Wilson’s return to faith is laudable, his reasons for returning to faith are as inadequate as his reasons for leaving in the first place. In the Broadway play, “The Man of La Mancha,” Don Quixote wisely advises us to beware of a fanatical pursuit of happiness, lest, unhappily, we should overtake it. In his own quest for faith, Mr. Wilson is in danger of overtaking it.

You see, we who believe in Jesus the Messiah possess a palpable person, not a hypothesized faith. Therefore any actual return to the Faith will require a conversion to the set of all the facts that Christianity asserts. Without realizing that Christianity is factually true, faith in the Christian story is worthless.

Mr. Wilson will need to face and study the historical events of the factual Christian Faith and convert to the following certainties:

the apodictic fact that God became a real human being,
the apodictic fact that Jesus was God in human flesh,
the apodictic fact that all men and women are, from the moment of conception, evil sinners condemned to a real and endless punishment in hell,
the apodictic fact that Jesus was in His own body the Propitiation for humans’ sins so that no one will be in hell who chooses not to be in hell,
the apodictic fact that Jesus was crucified and died under Pontius Pilate,
the apodictic fact that Jesus died and was buried for three days,
the apodictic fact that on the third day Jesus rose physically and literally from the grave,
the apodictic fact that there is one, and only one, True God, one, and only one, true Gospel that leads to salvation, one, and only one, true intercessor between God and man and one, and only one, True Faith.

When Mr. Wilson does this, then he will actually realize the meaning of the Scripture which says, “And this is the Victory that has overcome the World: the Faith which we possess.”

By this, we do not mean that we overcome Mr. Wilson’s list of skeptics by means of a confident moral certitude (nor by a sixties-style defiant skepticism of skepticism itself), but rather, we mean that Christians can face the full fury of the World that “kills the dreams we dream,” as sung by Susan Boyle, because Jesus has removed the enmity in us that kindled God’s fury against us by removing all of our sins by His propitiatory, vicarious death.

May we all pray that Mr. Wilson, Great Britain, and the Whole World may find this kind of saving faith: obedience to the facts that Christianity asserts.

]]> By: bonistation http://bluepanjeet.net/2009/04/19/4490/atheist-converts-christianity/#comment-6559 bonistation Fri, 24 Apr 2009 18:46:10 +0000 http://bluepanjeet.net/?p=4490#comment-6559 nice.... But there is more to it than that. My belief has come about in large measure because of the lives and examples of people I have known - not the famous, not saints, but friends and relations who have lived, and faced death, in the light of the Resurrection story, or in the quiet acceptance that they have a future after they die. nice….

But there is more to it than that. My belief has come about in large measure because of the lives and examples of people I have known – not the famous, not saints, but friends and relations who have lived, and faced death, in the light of the Resurrection story, or in the quiet acceptance that they have a future after they die.

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