How Do You Keep Believing This Jesus Bulls__t?


Anonymous asked a question:

How do you believe when, pardon my french, you’ve been taught that everything about Jesus is bulls__t? I’d love to believe it, I really want to, it’s just hard to when you’ve been taught the opposite. Do I have to unlearn the foundation of my education?


Hey dear friend, to be truthful: you’re in the best place possible, with the single biggest advantage over someone who’s been raised in the church.

You get to be in a place where you’re starting with a hugely skeptical eye towards Christianity, which means that if God starts to lean in on you, you will have already encountered your biggest questions about faith. If only every Christian honestly encountered every doubt and argument and problem with Christian theology, with complete openness and abandon, then we might see how deep Christianity can really go.

Please do not think you have to unlearn anything you’ve learned. I suggest the opposite. Use your education to fairly weigh every piece of evidence you encounter. Keep digging into Christianity down to the bottom, to see that it’s both true and fulfilling, that it’s both intellectually coherent and existentially satisfying.


I grew up an atheist, and I’m so very grateful that I was at one end of the spectrum before I went to seminary. I got to see the strongest arguments from my atheist brothers and sisters, which helped me to solidify a more informed decision when I began to explore faith.

Every once in a while, I’ll plunge back into a spiral of atheist blogs and books and lectures, just to challenge myself on where I stand. It’s always disorienting, but ultimately I find that it never compels me to go back to atheism. Probably for some, it will. But for me, when I examine every “side” over and over again, I find that Christianity accommodates (doesn’t answer, no, but satisfactorily fills in) for all of life’s biggest questions.

I find that while Christian faith doesn’t always answer the why, that it can answer the how and what-now, that it’s a resource for our worth, our relationships, our mental health, our purpose, our pain. It tells us about a God who shows solidarity in our suffering, who both knows us yet loves us, who is the perfect beauty and fulfillment we long for. I find that God has a name, and knows ours, too.

Maybe you’ll discover the same thing, or maybe not. Yet you must know, you have the benefit of doubt at the crossroads of your journey, which means you will not travel blindly. This is a good thing.

J.S.

10 thoughts on “How Do You Keep Believing This Jesus Bulls__t?

  1. Reblogged this on jimwise111 and commented:
    Good advice: an honest approach to Christianity. ” Keep digging into Christianity down to the bottom, to see that it’s both true and fulfilling, that it’s both intellectually coherent and existentially satisfying.”

    Like

    1. Screw anybody who doesn’t appreciate what Christ went through for us!You don’t believe because YOU ARE NOT CHOSEN!!!!You don’t percieve it BECAUSE YOU BELONG TO SATAN

      Like

      1. I think you missed the point of the man’s blog. You might schedule an appointment with a psychologist. Unless you’re being facetious then hahaha! Good one!

        Like

  2. Somewhere I heard about a man that was an atheist. He started reading the Bible to gain information to prove that it wasn’t true. The more he read the more he believed it was true. it changed his life. That would be a good place to start. I would suggest the New living translation because it is easier to understand than older translations because it is in the language we use today. I have nothing against the King james translation. It was the language of that time it was translated making it harder to understand by those used to the English language of today. I heard of a man that told a Christian that he didn’t believe in God. He ask him what he had to say about that. The Christian told him congratulations you have a lot more faith than I do. The atheist ask what he meant. The Christian told him that it was easier to believe that god created everything than to believe that everything happened by accident through an explosion and random things coming together to form life. I know of people that pretend to be christians that give Christianity a bad name and have no intention of living the Christian life. Don’t let these people fool you into thinking they are christians because you would never want to act like they do. If you accept Christ as your savior you stand a better chance than they have because God wants people that live the Christian life.

    Like

  3. Whatever the case, are you non-believers willing to risk losing your chance at eternal life if you don’t believe what Jesus did for you at Calvery?? There’s only 2 places to go when your earthly body dies, because we all have a soul. Heaven or Hell its your choice. You should really decide soon because when Jesus comes to get the believers you will be left behind to face the tribulation for 7 years and if you still refuse to believe you go to hell with all the other non believers for eternity. Something to think about heh

    Like

  4. Better to believe that God exist now than to come to the end of your life only to find that He actually exists..Walk by faith.We don’t see the air,yet it doesn’t stop us from breathing it.Draw closer to God,He is more closer than the clothes we put on.When we look for God,we will find Him.

    Like

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.