[QUOTE=HubZilla]
**Theist turned Atheist here, thanks to SDMB. **
I can’t say I was so much swayed by any posters (although Opus1 and Diogenes the Cynic did a terrific job), because I never argued in a religious thread as a pro-theist.
I came in May 1999 thinking:
The bible was inerrant; no contradictions or interpolations or errors. As a fundie (Intl Churches of Christ) my faith was based on the Bible being the inspired Word of God, so by definition, it was error-free.
The Universe was created by God. Evolution had too many holes and it was only a theory. All this perfection could not be an accident. Cosmology and abiogenesis were lumped in with evolution, of course. Creationism was the default alternative.
I remember being most shocked by two things:
The Bible has true contradictions. There is no way to reconcile the resurrection between the without going through insane loops. For instance, 11 apostles (minus Judas) saw Jesus resurrect in the 4 gospels. 1 Corinthians has 12 apostles. One HAS to be wrong.
The New Testament was not written in order. I had always assumed that the four gospels were written right after Jesus rose. The epistles were written as commentary after the gospels. In the contradiction above, 1 Corinthians was written before the four gospels.
A visit to Talk-Origins (linked from an SDMB thread) cleared up the Evolution-Creation thing for me. So, that big ball of energy does affect entropy
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Well, actually the apparent contradiction about the number of Apostles who saw Jesus risen was resolved in the more recent discovery of the Gospel of Judas. here
Judas 2:13 And Jesus appeared before Judas in robes of radiant white. And the Lord did say unto Judas in a big loud boomy voice with lots of reverb.
“Behold Judas, thou did betray me , but I have risen, so neener neener neener”
It was right after that Judas went out and hanged himself.
As for the OP. I certainly have a much better understanding of things in general thanks to the discussions on this board.