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It is quite heartening seeing your journey on this path--I hope truly that you find the flourishing and truth it has to offer. In moving forward, there are many great works throughout history that can be of great help along this path: - The first among these is Boethius's The Consolation of Philosophy, as he first starts writing this work in a state of total hopelessness and despair, and in the end, through seeking God he finds hope and fulfillment even in the face of suffering more injustice than most men would experience in the entirety of their lives. Historically, too, this work is fascinating--after his death which was very shortly after he wrote the book, it was lost to time due to the conditions he had to write it in, but then 200 years later it was found, and then it went on to influence pretty much every significant figure in the west for over a 1,000 years following that. - The next work is Augustine's Confessions, as it is a work about his life story in which is similar to your journey so far. He first was raised Christian, but then in his young he turned away towards Manichaeanism (a syncretic religion that blends ideas of eastern religions with Greek paganism and Christian thought). Later, as he pursued the life of a philosopher in the New Academy, he grew disillusioned with Manichaean thought and became convinced of Academic Skepticism--especially that of Cicero, whom which was a figure had a massive impact on his life. However, then as he studied Neoplatonic thought, he became more and more open to Christianity, and finally after dialogue with the great Ambrose of Milan, he became convinced that it is true. Later, through his extensive corpus, he became the most influential theologian/philosopher in the entirety of Christian history--there are of course many other works I would recommend, like, "Enchiridion on Faith, Hope and Love" (as it is a work that goes over many fundamental aspects of the Christian life), "City of God" (as it is a reply to the accusation of the Roman and Greek pagans, which many of those same challenges are still repeated (like the problem of evil, for instance)), and as a classical protestant (Reformed), I would recommend "On the Spirit and the Letter", "On Grace and Free Will", and the other anti-Pelagian as those are important in the debates in the Reformation. - I also recommend works such as Aquinas's Summa Contra Gentiles and Summa Theologica, Athengoras's A Plea for the Christians, Junius's Treatise on True Theology, and Anselm's Monologion and Proslogion, as those works are very philosophically driven accounts of Christian thought. - Lastly, I would recommend you check out Dr. Jordan B. Cooper's RUclips channel, as he gives a lot of good answers to question that are relevant to our contemporary context. God bless, and hats off to you!

Anytime I’ve gone to church I’ve felt nothing. I see people worship and they look crazy to me

I realize I'm a bit late, but I think the best sources of information arguing both for and against the existence of God are: 1) Alex O'Connor (who I'm sure you've come across by now), IIRC raised Christian, now an atheist 2) The Truth Project, which is a video mini-series on apologetics. Both have given me an immensely deeper understanding of both sides of the argument, and if you're truly searching for knowledge and understanding of the arguments for and against the existence of God I cannot recommend those sources highly enough!

I do want to point out that spirituality/God/prayer is atop Maslow's Hierarchy of needs. I just think about that a lot, and it makes a lot of sense

Two things came to mind as I watched this video. Firstly, to address your comment about religious texts becoming corrupted over time, I think you might be interested in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest manuscripts we have of the Bible. They were discovered in the 1940s and are 1000 years older than any other known Old Testament manuscripts at that time, yet they almost perfectly matched more recent manuscripts, showing how well the Bible had been preserved over the years. The other thing I would suggest is looking specifically at the supernatural elements of each religion, since that’s what will prove which God is correct. In that point, I would mention a few things to narrow the options down: -Many religions either base their beliefs on myths not verifiable in any way (ex. the Vedas) or on religious texts which have zero basis in archaeology (ex. the Book of Mormon). The Bible is the one religious texts which has been verified frequently by archaeology. -I believe it is safe to rule out Islam, Mormonism or any other religion which asserts that the Bible or some other Abrahamic text became corrupted over time, since Abrahamic religion teaches that God is all powerful and all good and would thus have a motive and the means to preserve the Scriptures. Once again, see the Dead Sea Scrolls for evidence of this.

ruclips.net/video/nSFembK2ojE/видео.htmlsi=f4MAchK6_qrmWEw6, I use to be iffy about the Bible as well but this is what let’s you know the Bible is the only book completely inspired by God, written by him thru human hands. That makes him even more God than to have written it himself. We have classified it as a religious text but it’s just the instructions of the game, it is the truth, being a creator and having made a creation makes it pretty “logical” that he will leave some instructions to people, the Bible is the truth and of course as how the Bible portrays evil, if you were to be the devil and you know that there is one only truth and one only way which is the teachings of the Bible, what would you do? Create many other religions many other messiahs so that people get to what this man is experiencing, confusion. As the Bible says the devil is a liar and he came to steal, kill and destroy.

I saw your other video first and I’m thinking.. about what you said - why you had it so easy.. look at you now.. it les you to this point where you have a platform to discuss these big questions and maybe that’s your purpose…

I’m an Atheist. My parents were Agnostic despite all of us being Jewish but not raised in the religion. I don’t need religion. Perfectly happy without it.

What I have to say about christianity -- that is, a relationship with God throught Christ Jesus, is that first its about faith. While I admire your dedication to this task, it must be noted God will chsnge your heart through faith in the gospel. What got me is that history and religious schisms corroborate this claim. Most "religions" created before Christ were paganism, worship of spirits and created things, and anything sfter Christ were a response to the cross be it by unbelievers, false prophets, or people obsessed with traditions (these are the categories i use to describe athiests, jews, muslims, catholics and other denominations). Traditiona of interpretation if scripture were given more power and authority than the scripture itself, so much so that people got prideful and claimed to be the only true people of God due to these traditions started hundreds of generations ago. God gives generously to those who seek Him. History and implication corroborate the claims of the tanakh and the new testament, and end times prophecy in the past 2 millenia. I'm one that's hard to convince, and i was once wise in the ways of the world, and i still struggle to let go of these practices. It wasnt until i saw how my whole life had been perfectly choreographed to bring me to Christ, that i began to battle my own iniquity, and trusting in His grace to give me strength and guidence the closer we get to judgement. In this life, its Christ or nothing. And even if you were to totally botch it, still approach it as one to whom the texts are submitting, rather than submitting to the Word of God and use it as a moral crutch like Alex O Connor, you would still live an upright life persuing charity and generosity, chastity, honesty, and resilience. Though this isnt something i would recommend, because pride and unfaith was the first sin (you shall become like gods), thinking you knew better than the One who made you, and acting duely. The world is designed by God and ruled by the serpent, a spiritual arena meant to test your faith. So don't let up. Know what to pray for and keep coming back, day after day, multiple times a day if you can. When you wake up and before you go to bed. Listen to audio bibles and christian podcasts (dance of life with Tudor Alexander is my first choice). We're all praying for you

Somewhere I found a debate clip where its illustrated to be an atheist you would literally have to know everything about everything and every person, and then say, "yeah you're wrong", not to accuse christians or even God of being wrong and not existing respectively, from your own myopic human view.

Why is his voice deeper

the fence you talk about is owned by Satan aswell. You have Jesus on of side and satan on other side,if you are in the middle on fence you are still closer to satan than Jesus.Satan owns the fence that seperates us from Jesus.

Read Good morning Holy Spirit book you can find it online.

The pursuit of reality is the highest process. Where reality leads you is the goal.

Good video! As a positive atheist/agnostic, I’ve come to see the “unnecessary” nature of things as what makes them meaningful. Love and kindness, for example, aren’t strictly required for survival (at least not to first order), and yet we’ve evolved to experience and value them deeply. The fact that we can recognize how others also enjoy these things creates a shared connection that makes it even more beautiful. A lot of the good in my life comes from people who weren’t obliged to help me-friends, family, even strangers-who gave their time or kindness freely. I don’t attribute these to divine forces, which makes me channel my gratitude towards these people instead. I can’t say that things like “evil” are objectively wrong, but I’m grateful we’ve evolved to appreciate what we now call “good” and that we actively work to push harmful behaviors away. As you mentioned, I see how religion likely evolved as a way to keep us grounded during tough times. Even as someone who isn’t religious, I wouldn’t rule out that I’d be reaching for it if I found myself in extreme hardship-it’s a tool that served us well in the past, and maybe still can. I know there are many people struggling to have a positive outlook on life on an atheistic world view, so I’m careful not to try to convince anyone about it. I hope which ever world view you have, that you recognise our shared human experience of enjoying love and kindness, and through empathy will help spread it towards the friends, family and strangers in your life while also push against harmful behaviour. Whether or not god exist, t seems to me that we find ourselves in a situation where we prefer certain experiences more than others, and that we can recognise that other people do so too - which is a pretty interesting situation to be in nonetheless

I like the structure and flow if your videos its really cool

Beautifully said i love the fix its an amazing way to explain it

ruclips.net/video/-7RMbS5Ox3w/видео.htmlsi=gOsLftguCVwC8vVB Tim Mackey is a really great resource for my interpretation. Also, I love that you feel closer to God and less so to religion. Christian Less religion and more relationship with God through Jesus.

I have no idea if this will reach you, but I've delved into the texts some. The Confessions of St. Augustine is really good. He was an agnostic, if I remember correctly. He was saved through his mother's faithful prayers. I don't really remember all of what was in it, but he was on a similar tight-rope as you seem to be. Additionally, Foxe's Book of Martyrs is one that I have read, and am reading, that has brought me to tears. These people, dedicated to Christ, gave up their lives to believe in him. Christianity was never supposed to be a religion, it is a relationship between us and God through Christ. All we need to do is profess that we believe in him. In my thoughts the Bible functions as a guide. When we ask the why and the how it gives us the answers and the route by which we can lead others into a relationship with Christ. The theology behind that is complex and I struggle to wrap my brain around it, but there is reason and logic. I recommend reading The Westminster Confession. Each question and answer has at least fifty verses that it pulls from. Laslty, I have been a 'christian' most of my life. I attended church regularly, said my prayers, obeyed my parents, etc etc, Except, I wasn't fulfilled. The reason? I was a social Christian, but I'd never believed in my heart. The first day I truly acknowledged Jesus as my savior (right before my fifteenth birthday) the world was newly shaped. Ever since then I;ve been fulfilled. Yes the days are harder because I can't mindlessly slip into the sin I once could. I'm aware of it now, how it has worn away at my soul and constantly tries to trick me back into the ways of my old life. "You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness and in all faithfulness" (Psalm 119:138). I'm praying for you brother! I pray that the Lord grants you ears that you may hear and eye that you may see.

I am so happy that you are searching for God not for a religion. This means you want to deepen your relationship with Him. I feel He has been waiting for this all your life. Have a great with Him.❤

I have a lot of respect for the attitude on your journey. You are a wise man, brother. God bless you ❤‍🔥 "You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart" Jeremiah 29:13

Praying for you. Keep seeking bro. You’re on the right track. My own story is that I explored and tried many spiritual practices and some religions before finding my home in Jesus (Native American, Eastern religions, new age, Hinduism) after all of that… for years.. I thought to try Christianity. What I did was pray to God and I asked “God, if Jesus really is your son, please show me” the next weeks that followed I started reading the Bible and I saw miraculous things start happening when people prayed in Jesus name and in general, life became organized in a intelligent design and like things started syncing up, and I found myself being guided like you’ve spoken of. It’s hard to explain but basically I no longer lived in a reality of choas but things were like all part of major themes and prolonged incidents of overwhelming coincidence, down to miraculous things, and even strange happenings like seeing physical messages from Him hidden in plain sight. One thing I will say is God is not a god of confusion, that comes from the enemy spirit we know as Satan, hate to tell you, but I won’t leave you ignorant. If you’re seeing Jesus you will be facing opposition. I think that’s a good sign too, something else that sets Christianity apart. Please connect yourself with a seasoned Christian, like a pastor who is down to earth, but biblically solid, or a trusted family member. Because you’re vulnerable alone. Either way God will deliver you through this, but I went at it alone and got some bruises. Would’ve been better with someone I could explain my experiences to and get some clarity about before making the decisions I made.

can you make trading journal notion template like this

My Personal experience with a lot of Atheists is that most of them actually believe in God, they just hate Him. Most moves from faith to atheism seem to stem from a life event [death of family member, traumatic experience, etc...] and so they blame God. I would consider Agnostics as the true "maybe there is, maybe there isn't" people. They tend to be more accepting of other people's faith and just want to live and let live. This is just my personal opinion and observation. Hope everyone has a blessed day!

Go after the one with best evidences, as always But yeah, it's a ton of work If you research, you'll notice that this exclude all non Abrahamic Religions. So you'll be between Torah, New Testment, Quoran, Apocrypha, Book of Mormon, Jehovah Witnesses stuff and so on and on Then, you'll basically have to study each one, and find the most coherent. Then, at last, you'll need to research about the preservation of the texts, and search if they are really a bunch of copy's of copy's of copy's or they are well preserved I did it all. Quoran Contradicts itself, Book of Mormon have also some problems, Apocrypha it's just arbitrary and non coherent with the rest of Torah and New Testament. Torah and New Testament it's pretty good. Look it up, they're not just a bunch of missprint, it's more than 5 thousands manuscripts and pieces of manuscripts, in the original Greek language, and a bunch of people of the 1st century quoting parts of the bible, so it's basically irrational to think it's corrupted. Finally, I just have to trust who wrote it. Paul for example. And yeah, I just trust the guy. He didn't have reasons to change everything he had, just to suffer instead of enjoying his past prestige and dying for it. Humans don't lie like that. And I say the same about the others. That was my journey

Notice how your video on God is your most viewed. Not a coincidence. Glory to God 🙌🙌

You may enjoy St. Thomas Aquinas's writing, as it does a decent job of combining faith and reason.

Good luck brother. I for one had a very similar experience, and landed on the Catholic faith in a pursuit of truth, and I would hope you could find that for yourself. Praying for you, even if you don't continue on this path.

I again will have to be dismissive on this and ppl should watch ufc tbh ya stop playing games

so no one is here trying to use ai to get answers for random questions? I think game design is gimmicks and only a few designers are like that like I think u can glue it to another random guy play it instead ya that's why I quit games someone else found it this doesn't even take account speedrunners and other ways ppl do no hits or other exploits I would have typed a longer response but i have to get my hours of watching stuff online done so I can find a random nugget of info

What happened to my last comment? I worked pretty hard on it. 😕

If you decide to investigate Christianity, I recommend that you study Catholicism. Protestantism and Catholicism have substantial differences. I believe there are many Protestant denominations that have different interpretations of the Bible and include different books. The Catholic Church includes all books of the Bible, and the teachings are uniform across all churches around the world (for the most part).. For people considering the Catholic faith, there are RCIA programs, which are designed to help people who have come from atheism. I will also say, one (of many) drivers pushing people away from Christianity is the lack of understanding of the faith and limited catechesis.

Super thought-provoking! I’m a leftist atheist who was raised by two US naval officers, one of whom was (still is) a chaplain. I remember this feeling, especially when I started struggling with faith around my confirmation years. I think the biggest thing I’ve learned, whether you’re religious or not, is that life has meaning when it’s no longer about you. Some people find that through God, some through their children, some through volunteering and community outreach, the list is long. Once I found my meaning (trying to improve the world ever so slightly for the people who will still be around after I die), I was able to fully let go of the cynicism and find fulfillment. The only thing I’m still trying to figure out is compartmentalization. It’s very easy to give problems to God and allow God to handle them. It’s a cheat code to mental health. But if you don’t believe in God, you have to take responsibility for those problems, for better or worse. (At least that’s been my experience.) Therapy has helped, and I’m hopeful I’ll crack that code soon. Good luck on your journey! And thank you for the really thoughtful commentary.

Well to answer that last question why are some people more blessed when they don’t believe in God then some people who do well I believe that it is because we live in a world where the devil rules the earth and so people like me who believe in God will be tempted and attacked from the devil because we have faith in God but ultimately the devil can’t do anything to us because God is in control and Jesus died on a cross and raised himself from the grave and so he already conquered death and defeated the devil so Jesus wins and we are fortunate enough to be able to receive salvation threw Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross

I don’t know what the truth is… but there are things we discover all the time that we thought was not real or possible… things we can’t observe with our tools nor bodies. So there may be sentient beings that can perceive us but we can’t perceive them. And they may be smarter. And they may be able to reveal themselves when they want.

Thanks man

One thing that convinces me that God is real just because of pure mathematical probability of the universe being able to sustain life. There is such a low probability that each individual unique aspect of just a plant comes from a cosmic accident that I don't believe it is logical to put your faith (being belief that something is real without 100% proof) in that world view. There is a higher chance that you win the mega millions lottery one billion times in a row than the chance of life being sustained by accident. In fact you more than 100 billion times more likely to win the lottery that many times in a row than the likelihood of sustainable life being made by a cosmic accident. However, many individuals bring up theories that would make the probability much greater, but there has yet to be any evidence for any of the theories to actually by true. For example to infinite universe theory which states that the universe does not have a beginning, unlike the Big Bang Theory is often thrown around when someone brings up the chance of life being formed. This theory has no evidence to it. It's all formulated under the idea that we don't have enough information to conclude if the universe has a beginning or not. So far I have not come across an real evidence that makes the chances of us existing are any higher than the chances of the molecules in my room all of a sudden forming a crisp 100 dollar bill in my hands right now.

You should really read the Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas.

i got really happy hearing this, hope u find ur faith may God bless u

Also an ex-atheist here, my conversion was one year and a half ago and life has neve felt more fullfilling than now. What I think most atheist fail to see is that there were A LOT of incredibly smart people throughout the last 2000 years who were christian. Saint Augustine of Hippo, Saint Tomas Aquinas, Saint Paul, Saint Francis of Sales and on and on and on. And the other thing is, God can be found from within our hearts, we can logically find Him inside ourselves. Search about the conversion of Saint Augustine and the proofs of the existence of God by Saint Thomas Aquinas (most, if not all, are yet to be refuted (trust me, they wont be)). Thank God for your humbleness, this is what led you there. Brother, dont just keep praying, go way deeper. God want you to have a shallow relationship, if you just prayed the first time and felt that. What do you think He has for you going on? Think this: If God is real and He wants a relationship, how much bigger, deeper and more fullfiling will it be than every other thing you have ever done and will ever do in your life? Trust Him, and go for it with all your heart brother!! Praying for you.

I understand why you might want to weigh the opinions of people in the process of changing their minds as more valuable. However, something you should remember is that once you embrace a belief, that belief is not stagnant. You grow it and develop it; Christians would phrase this as a maturation in your faith. For that reason, I would not ignore those who have held their beliefs for a long time, as they might have more profound insights to offer after having lived in their beliefs for a time.

This comment might go unnoticed since it's been awhile since your video posted, but 2 people that I highly recommend you look into are Hugh Ross, he is an astrophysicist who talks a lot about the accuracy of the creation in Genesis. Also, Cliff Knechtle is a great resource for combining your own logical thoughts and applying them to scripture, he very often emphasizes not to take his word for it, but to look into the reliability of Jesus and the gospels yourself.

Insanely good video man

I pray for the eyes of your heart to be enlightened (i.e. given light, not the Buddhist concept) more and more as you continue to seek God with all your heart. I know I myself, a wretched sinner if there ever was one, struggle to seek Him with even half my heart most days, but the most important thing is that you are "willing to be willing." As Jesus (is claimed to have) said, God can move mountains on account of even a mustard seed of faith in Him. (The parentheticals are mainly for the benefit of your background as an atheist, which is close to where I came from as a lapsed Catholic young adult. I know how hard it is to "deprogram oneself," as I often put it early in my faith life.)

It’s interesting you take the labyrinth as an example because Jesus said « I am the way » and « no one comes to the Father except through me ». During your prayer times, have you tried to simply said « Hey God, reveal yourself to me, show me who you are » ? I’m sure you will find Him :)

Don't follow religion, follow Jesus Christ. Just say his name.

Bible: 2 Thessalonians 2:15 Ignore the mistake of Sola Scriptura. No, we don't believe the world was created in six human days, a day for God is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day. It's narrated miding this, to Him it was made in a blink of an eye, it's to say how He doesn't need you and yet He wants you.

Love that Christians automatically think he's talking about their transgender God. Today I identify as a son, tomorrow ill be a father and the next I'll be a spirit.

I think for Athiest converts God will give you powerful spiritual gifts because people who struggle with doubt, He will show His hands more clearly. The reason I say this is because I was raised Christian, but out of all my siblings, i was the biggest skeptic. I also listened to Athiests in college and even considered turning Athiest (mainly out of rebellion), and it was the emptiest period of my life. So i decided to remain Christian and do more religion versus really working on a relationship with God. Recently i decided to fully submit to God after a period of depression and God started giving me the spiritual gift of dreams. This is how I can prove God is real: I had a dream that someone i knew still had her post partum stomach way after giving birth and her husband was yelling at her. It was scary because you can feel his rage in the dream. I told her about the dream and the date i had it (write down your dreams!), a week prior she confirmed her husband had a big blow out on her due to stress related to work and her belly still looks like she is pregnant due to having abdominal muscle injury during delivery 1 year after giving birth. I couldnt have possibly known this because she never revealed these things to me. God showed me through that dream that I can trust Him. In the Bible it says 1 day is a thousand years for him and a thousand years is 1 day for God. Meaning God transcends time. He knows all things. So if He knows your future, you need to trust him to guide you to the best path as much as possible. All in all, if you are a skeptic or an athiest, God will find a way to convince you He is real as long as you seek him genuinely. Not out of rebellion or resentment but full submission.

Michael- this takes a ton of courage! I am continually impressed with people who choose willingness; who remain teachable, and who seek facts and details of the world which has preceded us as young adults. I appreciate that we can examine societies and their fruits; that we can learn about what modes of thinking produce dignity and sanity. Christianity does not run contrary to scientific thinking and in fact quite the opposite. There is an entire world of context to explore. I would recommend a similar thirty day challenge exploring the Gospel stories (if nothing else to brush up on history and culture). The Jordan Peterson lectures on Genesis helped me see biblical teaching as an observation of ancient psychology- that truly helped erase the stigma. Good work here🦾🦾🦾