Yes... therefore no one here has yet satisfied the criteria for me. That isn't to say no one ever will.
Ok & fair enough. I'm mainstream Xtian. I follow the nicene creed <--- and that is what I believe separates Christians from those that don't accept Christ. It includes Catholics & Protestants, but not JWs, Mormons etc.. I believe on faith: that is, faith defined as this:
I came to faith through a lot of time struggling with the concepts of Xtianity, finally having to submit to the balance of my conclusions.
^^maybe that's the crux you'd be interested in... and it consists of the mechanisms outlined in the definition of faith above.
I grew up with little or no religious influence at home. I rebelled against sunday sch at an early age and was excused. I moved from not much idea to atheist as I grew up. Later I became interested in all religious observation. Drawn to paganism, though that never lead anywhere. I did have my own minor experience of prophetic dreaming.. the kind that never meant much - I dreamed situations that I would then live through - like re-watching a movie. The only ones that puzzle me are the ones where I had no prior experience of the place, things or people there. It's kinda freakish and I have no explanation. I don't attribute it to anything. I am strongly skeptical and dismiss all those kind of things as psychological in causation. Saying that - I think our minds are substantially more powerful than we manage to tap into in our waking lives. Perhaps we don't need the depth of information that our dreams show we do retain.
I got the opportunity to consider Xtianity at age 24. I was full on until age 32~ish when I de-converted. About three years ago it was all dragged up again speaking with atheists with obvious misunderstandings of faith that I got back into it again, and became Xtian again.
Ok & fair enough. I'm mainstream Xtian. I follow the nicene creed <--- and that is what I believe separates Christians from those that don't accept Christ. It includes Catholics & Protestants, but not JWs, Mormons etc.. I believe on faith: that is, faith defined as this:
Quote:What is Faith:
I came to faith through a lot of time struggling with the concepts of Xtianity, finally having to submit to the balance of my conclusions.
^^maybe that's the crux you'd be interested in... and it consists of the mechanisms outlined in the definition of faith above.
I grew up with little or no religious influence at home. I rebelled against sunday sch at an early age and was excused. I moved from not much idea to atheist as I grew up. Later I became interested in all religious observation. Drawn to paganism, though that never lead anywhere. I did have my own minor experience of prophetic dreaming.. the kind that never meant much - I dreamed situations that I would then live through - like re-watching a movie. The only ones that puzzle me are the ones where I had no prior experience of the place, things or people there. It's kinda freakish and I have no explanation. I don't attribute it to anything. I am strongly skeptical and dismiss all those kind of things as psychological in causation. Saying that - I think our minds are substantially more powerful than we manage to tap into in our waking lives. Perhaps we don't need the depth of information that our dreams show we do retain.
I got the opportunity to consider Xtianity at age 24. I was full on until age 32~ish when I de-converted. About three years ago it was all dragged up again speaking with atheists with obvious misunderstandings of faith that I got back into it again, and became Xtian again.