The Reasons why "Just Following Jesus" Doesn't work

[TheRocketSurgeon]

I hear that you don't believe because of the evidence that you have found. That you said that you have had to do mental gymnastics. I don't know how you were brought up or what you believe so I can't say wither or not it was grounded in biblical faith. I do know that no argument will shake my knowledge of God. You all on the forum my just think I am another religious nut but my relationship with God transcends religion. Take all the books and ceremonies away and the relationship I have with God still stands. I know He died for my sins and rose on the third day with all power and authority. I know Him and that relationship isn't a theory but a personal thing where He is directing me to move from my country or speak to a certain person or pray for a certain thing. These are things not found in the bible but are real.

Then stick around Rekeisha. You will hear many of our background stories, and may be surprised to learn that many, many of us come from hard-line evangelical/literalist Christian backgrounds like yours. I personally was raised Southern Baptist, we never missed church when its doors were open, and my parents were both active in the church through numerous programs, as I was, then. My dad is to this day leader of the church orchestra, while my mother is just retired this year as a department head and professor of speech/theatre at a private Baptist university (Louisiana College), though she has taken up part time teaching at Louisiana State University at Alexandria (LSU-A). I gave up my faith when I realized that I was doing "mental gymnastics" to keep from understanding the actual evidence about the world, and that my church had misled me as to the facts about science and even taught wrong information about other beliefs, including atheism. When I started to look into the facts, with an open mind, I discovered that (like Redbeard) I could no longer square my beliefs with what I had learned.

It is a question of basic intellectual honesty. No truly honest person would ever say, " I do know that no argument will shake my knowledge of _______." <--- It does not matter what goes into the blank; it is fundamentally (pun intended) dishonest to make any statement which precludes the ability to honestly examine your ideas and beliefs, and to change your mind if you are wrong.

Your relationship is not a "theory" because it doesn't even qualify as one. The label of Theory is the highest praise we can give to an idea, in science. It means that it has been repeatedly tested and proven to comport with all facts, and has been modified and changed when the facts do not fit, or a better explanation has been offered, until it withstands scrutiny from all who assail the idea. Atomic theory, germ theory, kinetics theory, the theory of evolution by natural selection, and the theory of gravity... all are ideas I hold but would change upon better evidence. That is called "intellectual honesty". Stopping one's self from doing it is what we referred to as "mental gymnastics", dodging each new idea that doesn't fit with our pet belief system.

I would be deeply ashamed of myself if I said that there was an idea--any idea--I held which could not be prevailed upon by evidence. And you should be, too.