(July 19, 2012 at 12:50 pm)Marnie Wrote: I have been wondering how religions, in particular Christianity, gain willing adult converts. I don't mean people who were in a hard place (addiction, divorce, depression) and were preyed upon by religious folk claiming the religion and not the counseling, community, and support made them better. I mean adults who converted on their own whim to Christianity.
I think the same kind of brainwashing going on in children can occur in adults by way of missionaries, apologetics, and only being exposed to one source. I have trouble seeing how someone could read anti-apologetic and anti-missionary materiel, scholarly bible studies, and information about other religions and come out a conservative Christian. I suppose there's also atheists who were always unaffiliated with religion or never gave it much thought and could be swung over to a form of theism easily. The same thing goes for theists though.
A new study shows that at least 30% of atheist convert after they become adults, not all to Christianity but some religion. CNN.com
God loves those who believe and those who do not and the same goes for me, you have no choice in this matter. That puts the matter of total free will to rest.
