Having been involved in an evangelical Baptist church for over 10 years, I then woke up to realize the mythology of the Bible. After learning of the knowledge in the Summerian tablets, I can now see where the Bible stories come from. As my sister is still a believer, I will say to you what I say to her. We will agree to disagree. I do not hold your beliefs against you, nor will I mock you. Have a great day. WWG1WGA!
I was raised Roman Catholic. In my teenage years, I came to the conclusion Christianity was fake because of countless contradictions I found between the Bible and the traditions. The "one true Church" taught Mary was the Queen of Heaven and was assumed into heaven, which is nowhere to be found in the Bible.
I still remember the day I made up my mind about this.
We were singing the following hymn during the May Crowning Ceremony-
1 Immaculate Mary, your praises we sing.
You reign now in splendor with Jesus our King.
Refrain:
Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria!
Ave, Ave, Maria!
2 In heaven the blessed your glory proclaim;
On earth we your children invoke your fair name. [Refrain]
3 We pray for our Mother, the Church upon earth,
And bless, Holy Mary, the land of our birth. [Refrain]
We were placing a crown of roses on a statue of Mary as part of the ceremony. Even though the Bible specifically bans the worship of graven images, we were taught this ceremony wasn't worship, but merely "veneration."
Crowning the statue seemed ridiculous to me once I actually thought about it. Realizing the Pope could just declare something ex cathedra such as Mary's supposed Assumption and it would be declared true without any Biblical support led me to believe it was all a sham.
In my college years, I studied world religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, Shintoism, etc., and eventually became an agnostic who was into conspiracy theories as a hobby.
Note- I never looked into Protestantism because I assumed the various denominations were simply splinter groups from the "one true Church" composed of people who wanted to eat steak on Fridays during Lent, get remarried without obtaining an anullment, etc.
It was actually an atheist who asked me what NIV stood for that led me back to the Bible.
He assumed I was Christian for some reason and attacked me for being a poor excuse for a Christian after I told him I knew NIV was an acronym for a specific Bible translation but I didn't know what it stood for.
I explained I wasn't a Christian, which stopped the discussion in its tracks.
However, now I just had to know what NIV stood for, because that's the kind of person I am. As soon as I got home (no smart phones in those days), I Googled NIV and discovered a rabbit hole I'd never seen before. People battling over which version of the Bible was correct, etc.
My search ultimately led to a video which highlighted verses which had been changed in the "modern" Bibles based on the "oldest, most reliable" translations. I discovered many of the changed verses contained contradictions which were what led me to reject Christianity in the first place.
I was angered and outraged by this discovery. I had been lied to.
Ultimately, I began to study the Bible again, but what truly convinced me of the truth contained in Scripture was the Isaiah 46 challenge.
Isaiah 46:9-11
9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
I began to study prophecy.
One of the already fulfilled prophecies I discovered absolutely blew me away.
Ezekiel 26:1-6
1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:
3 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.
4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.
5 It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God: and it shall become a spoil to the nations.
6 And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
It's one thing to predict the destruction of a city. It's something else to predict the remains of the city would be cast into the sea and become a premium fishing spot.
Tyre was destroyed by Babylon but was not tossed into the sea. Nearly 200 years passed, but then this happened-
Having been involved in an evangelical Baptist church for over 10 years, I then woke up to realize the mythology of the Bible. After learning of the knowledge in the Summerian tablets, I can now see where the Bible stories come from. As my sister is still a believer, I will say to you what I say to her. We will agree to disagree. I do not hold your beliefs against you, nor will I mock you. Have a great day. WWG1WGA!
It's funny you say that.
I was raised Roman Catholic. In my teenage years, I came to the conclusion Christianity was fake because of countless contradictions I found between the Bible and the traditions. The "one true Church" taught Mary was the Queen of Heaven and was assumed into heaven, which is nowhere to be found in the Bible.
I still remember the day I made up my mind about this.
We were singing the following hymn during the May Crowning Ceremony-
I can still hear this music in my head and still know all the lyrics over 30 years later. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCgk-b4iMOk
We were placing a crown of roses on a statue of Mary as part of the ceremony. Even though the Bible specifically bans the worship of graven images, we were taught this ceremony wasn't worship, but merely "veneration."
Crowning the statue seemed ridiculous to me once I actually thought about it. Realizing the Pope could just declare something ex cathedra such as Mary's supposed Assumption and it would be declared true without any Biblical support led me to believe it was all a sham.
In my college years, I studied world religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, Shintoism, etc., and eventually became an agnostic who was into conspiracy theories as a hobby.
Note- I never looked into Protestantism because I assumed the various denominations were simply splinter groups from the "one true Church" composed of people who wanted to eat steak on Fridays during Lent, get remarried without obtaining an anullment, etc.
It was actually an atheist who asked me what NIV stood for that led me back to the Bible.
He assumed I was Christian for some reason and attacked me for being a poor excuse for a Christian after I told him I knew NIV was an acronym for a specific Bible translation but I didn't know what it stood for.
I explained I wasn't a Christian, which stopped the discussion in its tracks.
However, now I just had to know what NIV stood for, because that's the kind of person I am. As soon as I got home (no smart phones in those days), I Googled NIV and discovered a rabbit hole I'd never seen before. People battling over which version of the Bible was correct, etc.
My search ultimately led to a video which highlighted verses which had been changed in the "modern" Bibles based on the "oldest, most reliable" translations. I discovered many of the changed verses contained contradictions which were what led me to reject Christianity in the first place.
I was angered and outraged by this discovery. I had been lied to.
Ultimately, I began to study the Bible again, but what truly convinced me of the truth contained in Scripture was the Isaiah 46 challenge.
Isaiah 46:9-11
9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
I began to study prophecy.
One of the already fulfilled prophecies I discovered absolutely blew me away.
Ezekiel 26:1-6
1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:
3 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.
4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.
5 It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God: and it shall become a spoil to the nations.
6 And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
It's one thing to predict the destruction of a city. It's something else to predict the remains of the city would be cast into the sea and become a premium fishing spot.
Tyre was destroyed by Babylon but was not tossed into the sea. Nearly 200 years passed, but then this happened-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaVsRYTNqWc
Prophecy fulfilled.