Ask HN: Ex-atheists/agnostics, I will be 50 y/0 soon. Should I explore Faith?

Re:Ask HN: Ex-atheists/agnostics, I will be 50 y/0 soon. Sho... by AnimalMuppet on Monday November 16, 2020 @01:47PM (#25115411)

There's truth, and there's emotionally comforting. Which do you want? I agree with raptoraver, that truth is what you should seek.

I suggest reading "He Is There And He Is Not Silent" by Francis Schaeffer. He argues that what is really there is also what we really need as humans - a God who actually exists, not just as an idea or a philosophical construct, but one who is really there. And this God is Someone, not just Something, so our human aspirations for being persons, not just machines, have a basis in what actually exists.

But don't stop there. Don't stop with knowing the truth as an intellectual construct. That's not what you really need. You need faith, not just knowledge. You need truth rather than lies or wishful thinking, but then you need faith in that truth.

("You" in this post is addressed to jelliclesfarm, even though I'm directly replying to raptoraver.)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Ex-atheists/agnostics, I will be 50 y/0 soon. Sho... by jelliclesfarm on Monday November 16, 2020 @02:05PM (#25115622)

I hear you. That’s why I was hoping someone who had crossed over from atheism to theism would be able to provide insights.

Even dipping my toes slightly, I am finding that I need to have a strong faith in an omnipresent/omnipotent being. This is problematic.

I wanted to approach it as an intellectual/philosophical/man made construct, but the pieces are not fitting for a coherent narrative. I think I can even filter some religious dogma.

If I can find a rational reason for the possibility of an omnipresent/omnipotent/omniscient being(proof not required), then it would be easy to surrender. It is not an egoic thing. I don’t want to subscribe to imaginary constructs.

That’s where I am today. Or at least, this afternoon.

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Re:Ask HN: Ex-atheists/agnostics, I will be 50 y/0 soon. Sho... by combatentropy on Wednesday November 18, 2020 @06:19PM (#25143979)

I was never an atheist, but one of my favorite writers was until his 30s: C. S. Lewis. You might try some of his slim books: The Problem of Pain or Mere Christianity.

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Re:Ask HN: Ex-atheists/agnostics, I will be 50 y/0 soon. Sho... by AnimalMuppet on Monday November 16, 2020 @02:52PM (#25116188)

That's exactly Schaeffer's strength, that he has a philosophical and intellectual approach, but he fits the pieces into a coherent narrative.

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