Abandoned my faith
Here's a real shocker, not that anyone should care, but after all these years, I have abandoned my faith in Christ. True, life has been unbearable for me over the last years. You might even say... unfair. There has not been one day over this time that I haven't prayed that God would allow me to die… but that's not the reason I discarded my faith. Actually, this desertion of my faith took place quite some time ago. And I really have no particular reason as to why I'm going public with it now.
Just so I'm not misunderstood, I would like to give some background information on religion that I believe is not widely known. I'm not trying to influence others to abandon their faith; that's not my job. But I am trying to expose something that all religions must admit, or live in denial of.
As I see it, religions exist to answer the mother load of all questions: How do we get into heaven, assuming there is one? No matter which religion you choose, the answer will ultimately reduce to this: faith. Religious faith is the panacea of all eternal hopes. Yet not one religion can provide any objective, verifiable evidence that proves they are the right religion -- not Muslims, not Hindus, not a one.
It was this realization that made me take a closer look at Christianity. Working with the understanding that all religions operated on the basis of faith, I had to ask myself obvious questions: Why is Christianity any different? Is it? It was my passionate pursuit for an answer to this nagging question that forced me to abandon my faith. Let me shift my focus from religion to religious faith.
It may come as a surprise to most to know that Christianity is not based on faith; it's the only “religion” that can make that claim. Faith, and by faith I mean “religious faith,” is the ace trump of all religions. Rather than providing objective evidence for their truth claims, religious fanatics simply retreat to the impenetrable defense of “we don't need evidence; we have faith.” In other words, religion is not open to rational discourse or scientific investigation. As a self-imposed limitation then, all religions are based on speculation, wishful thinking, or are anti-rational.
One of the most important discoveries I made during my search for answers was that all religions require their followers to accept their fundamental, core beliefs by faith. This resulted in people believe very strange teachings. Worse yet, even faith in unverifiable claims. This proved true in every instance, with every religion, except one? With Christianity, such foolish faith, which I now call it, is to be rejected as speculative and sheer nonsense. Christianity made no claims to being founded on religious faith, nor does it require that its members accept the claims of Christianity by religious faith.
For example, why do I say Islam (since it is a religion) is based on faith in “unverifiable claims”? Here's why: because Mohammed's claim to have been visited by Gabriel the angel with a message from God is not open to verification. The same situation obtains with Mormonism as well. Neither of these religious founders provided their followers with objective verification of their claims, so all one is left to do is to accept their claims by faith or, of course, reject them.
This truth became an all-consuming preoccupation with me for quite a while. I simply couldn't get this out of my mind. All religions, I kept thinking, all religions are based on religious faith… all but one that is. Christianity never claimed to be based on religious faith, although some uninformed Christians do. But why? The answer has to do with the critical distinction between religious faith and biblical faith.
Unless the object of one's faith is subject to verification, a verification even open to skeptics, it is not biblical faith. Jesus never asked anyone to have religious faith in him!!! Please reread that last sentence. Please! In case you are in a hurry, let me repeat it again. Jesus never asked anyone to have religious faith in him!!! Don't ever forget that. Such a request would have been rightfully dismissed by any thinking person of his day, not only would it be rejected, but ought to be rejected.
All religions before and after Jesus invariably subscribe to one dominating, universal principle: “salvation” (whatever they conceive that to be) is based on religious faith or religious acts (being good, helping others, feeding the hungry, doing missionary time, jihad, etc). But in every religion it will be discovered that religious faith presents itself as biblical faith. But the two are at polar opposite ends of credibility.
When Christ denied this universal, religious phenomenon, I was sure I was onto something. Christ made a statement that had never been said before or after. It is found throughout the Gospels, but most directly stated by Christ in John 10:37
“If I do not perform the works of my Father (God), do not put your faith in me.”
This proposition has forever changed religion as we know it.
This seems so painfully simple as to need no further comment, but it may prove beneficial to make a few peripheral remarks.
Notice that Jesus demanded that people NOT put their faith in him, unless he could first demonstrate to their satisfaction that he was sent from God. And how does one do that? Well, not on the basis of religious faith! Otherwise, I could ask people to believe in me with equal validity as Christ!
In fact, Mohammed (founder of Islam) and Joseph Smith (founder of Mormonism) did exactly that. Their religions are based on unverifiable claims. Neither of these guys could say, “Do not believe me unless I perform the works of God.” Why? They would have been immediately exposed as frauds. (Mohammed was asked to perform miracles to vindicate himself, but he declined to do so, leaving only the “supernatural” Qur'an as his only “miracle.” Unfortunately, the Qur'an is available to the public and therefore open to investigation. That is, its claim of being supernatural is easily discounted.)
So why did Jesus put himself in such a bind? This is where the story takes an unexpected turn.
Jesus actually did supernatural miracles to the satisfaction of his audience. For example, when asked by the disciples of John the Baptist whether or not he, Jesus, was the long-awaited Messiah, Jesus told John's disciples to return to John with the following message: The lame walk; the dead are resurrected. Nobody is denying this! All these miracles are being performed in public, open to objective verification by any skeptic. (anyone can claim to be God)
Why is that important? And where's the unexpected turn?
It was not only that Jesus performed miracles, but two other conditions had to be met. First, he had to do specific miracles that the Old Testament prophets said the Messiah would do. Second, and completely out of his control, he had to do these miracles at that exact moment in human history.
If you are not, you ought to be surprised by that answer. It's not something you read everyday, if ever. But keep this in mind: the Old Testament prophet Daniel foretold the exact moment in human history in which the Messiah would live, and that moment had to occur within weeks of the time Jesus was doing his miracles! Had Jesus not died on the very week he did, all bets were off. Jesus would have been a fraud, regardless of his unexplainable miracles (what atheists call singularities).
You see, folks, it's not just that Jesus did miracles; it's that he did predicted (very specific) miracles, miracles that were predicted literally hundreds of years before he was born. It's not just that he did miracles that were subject to verification by the skeptics of his day; it's that he demanded that nobody put their faith in him unless he did such miracles as could be verified. It's not just that he did all this; it's that he did all these predicted miracles WHEN he did them.
And now, this story takes yet another unexpected turn. And I mean unexpected.
The challenge Jesus made to those skeptics of his day is as much open to verification today as then. Anyone is free to examine the evidence. And if one is not convinced that Jesus is who he claimed to be, then on the authority of the word of God, I say, “Do NOT put your faith in him.” He will not hold you liable. All of which means, Jesus insists that you accept his claims, not on faith, but on objective, verifiable evidence.
It is another subject altogether, but for now, remember this: faith, biblical faith that is, is a response to evidence or reasoning. Evidence and rational thinking can only take a person so far. Once all the data is analyzed, a person is then asked to respond to it. Keep that in mind: faith is a response to the evidence!
Let me reiterate what I said earlier. Christianity is not based on religious faith. Religious faith has no place in Christianity. And why is that? Because Christianity must remain open to objective verification to all skeptics, and skeptics are not expected to have any kind of faith BEFORE they examine the evidence! And further, Christian faith is the opposite of religious faith. If you want to believe some religion on faith, join the Muslims or Mormons, or even the Hindus. But if you want to know the truth, examine the objective evidence. Don't believe anything that can not be proven! (Jesus never asked anyone to have faith in him! I defy anyone to show me anywhere in Scripture where Jesus asked someone to have religious faith in him. Remember, Jesus demanded that nobody put their faith in him unless he could prove himself to have been sent from God.)
Some people actually do turn to Christianity on the basis of religious faith. I did. But I have long since abandoned that. Yes, you can now see what I mean when I say that I have abandoned my faith in Christ. I have abandoned my religious faith in Christ and exchanged it for faith in the evidence. After all, the statement Jesus made, that nobody was to put their faith in him unless he could prove his claims, applies to me. To believe in anyone or anything before examining the evidence takes religious faith, the kind of faith every religion stands or falls on. But only Christ requires us to examine the evidence, and to have biblical faith in him if he can prove his claims.
If you are a Christian and base your belief in Christ on something other than the objective, verifiable evidence, then obey the command of Jesus himself and stop that! You are no different than a Muslim or Mormon, or New Age person.
With every ounce of creativity you can muster, try to imagine Mohammed or Joseph Smith, or any religious leader saying, “Do not believe me, unless I perform (specific, predicted) miracles from God.” Biblically, no one can. Why? Because they are all disqualified. Why? Because the only messenger God authenticated had to have lived in the first century per the Old Testament predictions! There is only one religious founder who qualified.
