What led you to believe the way you do?

Question

I posted a version of this yesterday, but I guess people didn't know what an epiphany is because I only received four answers. I think it's an interesting question, so I'm trying again.

I've found that most people, myself included, can point to a single event, thought, or question that helped form their religious beliefs. For example, my few Christian friends talk about the first time they truly felt God in their lives, my Atheist friends talk about the first time they realized The Bible is just a book, etc.

I'm curious about the stories of the R&S crowd. What were your epiphanies?

Answer 1

I swear it was water, officer.  Jesus must have turned it into wine.  Hallelujah, it's a miracle!

Answer 2

well, i read the Book of Mormon, prayed and asked God if it were true, the Holy Ghost told me it was true, no matter how hard i tried i couldn't deny that i felt the Holy Ghost and he told me it was true, i gained a testimony of the Book of Mormon, Bible, God, and Christ, and now today, it is seriously impossible for me to deny that i felt the Holy Spirit (aka Holy Ghost) and that he told me that it was true.  

Answer 3

my super smart brain to realize how stupid some peoples religions can be.

Answer 4

I've been an atheist for about the same length of time that i've been capable of critical thought. One of my epiphanies (that made me more ardent and less shy about my lack of belief) was attending the church service of a christian friend of mine who had committed suicide.

He was a true Christian believer who engrossed himself in belief, pleading that Jesus would save him from his suffering.  The whole chirade of the service made it patently clear what nonsense he followed.

Now for a happy story. As a young kid, i saw a lightning rod on the side of a church!  If that's not an epiphany what more do you need?

Answer 5

I was raised in a christian family and accepted the dogma as a small child just as I was told to.  But even by age of 9 or 10, I seriously questioned it.  By 12, I dropped all belief in god.  It wasn't due to a single event or epiphany, just a gradual maturation process.  If I'm wrong, I welcome god to tell me so, but I don't want to hear it secondhand from anyone who doesn't have concrete evidence to offer.

Answer 6

People who were trying to lead me. I'm not easily led.

Answer 7

For me it was a matter of becoming aware of what had been there all along, rather than discovering my belief through an event.

I suppose that enlightenment came as a consequence of emotional maturity.

I grew into my belief.

It was a gradual process, much like an apprenticeship, I suppose.

The more I learnt, the more I began to see.

The more I learn, now, the more I see.

Life, it seems, is a journey of growth and learning.

Answer 8

There was no single event or instance.  I simply reached adulthood, and eventually I realized that, as a scientist, I no longer had any compelling reason to believe in anything that does not have proof to support it.

Answer 9

FOX news..and telemundo..

Answer 10

My parents basically forced Christianity upon me when I was a kid, but now I'm beginning to accept and open to other ideas. I'm still learning about God, but I don't want to restrict myself to other religions. I might actually be atheist because there's things about God i dont neccessary agree on. My parents get pretty pissed when I go against God. I guess that's because I'm just kid, but when I grow up, I'm not going to let myself settle for what my parents believe in, unless I actually BELIEVE. Maybe that's also the reason I fell in love with the R&S section.

Answer 11

The truth.

Answer 12

I'm an Anubis worshiper, I know, strange. I am this way simply because I found that no other religion seemed to make sense. The specific to Anubis came about when I was in an accident while my friend was driving, before I was resuscitated, I literally saw Anubis with the scale of Judgment, keeping in mind I had no knowledge has to what was going on until about a year later and did the research. That is why I worship Anubis.

Answer 13

Common sense. I was raised a Christian, however by the time I was in high school, there were too many things which didn't work out (theology-wise).  I began studying the beliefs of other religions, and even studied religion in college (as my major).  It was a gradual transition to Deism, which is what I consider myself now.

Answer 14

I was raised Protestant.  As a child, I realized the whole thing didn't make any sense, and I began asking questions.  No one could provide any more evidence for God than for the Tooth Fairy.  I have read the Bible many times, and studied many different religions and philosophies.  

I ultimately returned to the atheism that is our natural state.

Answer 15

I was always an Atheist.

Answer 16

I became convinced that "magic" is real when I manifested a visualized situation almost accidentally. there were too many details and included parameters for it to have happened by chance.

Answer 17

Just the fact that I have come to realize how useless religion is and just always wondered, why can't we all do our own thing? Why the total conformity just to find God? Then I realized..F all of that, and went my own way.  

Answer 18

I have always believed in Jesus and conveyed my thoughts to God most often most of my life.

MY EXPERIENCES

I experienced God many of times, when you fellowship with him.   I received the Holy Spirit one day before I came to the church that I am attending now.  The power of the Holy Spirit was so powerful that it was a force that rippled from my feet through my body and up to my head.  It removed the pain and depression that I had at the time and it caused a great sensation of peace and laughfter (to this day, I was never water baptized).  He will be there for you; he knows your needs and wants.  One night after doing the will of God (ministering to someone against the book of James) I was driving back home and I continued to fall asleep on the fwy. On the third time, my ears popped opened, like a loud explosion, I felt a rush of pins and needles swirling around the inside of my head,  I felt pins and needles from my elbows to my hands and then I was wide awake, like I had slept for days. I knew it was God and I drove all the way home and when I got into the driveway I started to fall a sleep again. Once he picked me and my motorcycle up, while riding in the mountains after I was about to crash.  I blacked out and when he set me back on the path, I woke up.   Once he sent an angel down to stop me from doing something stupid, this angel looked like a human but when I turned away for a second and then back he vanished. I can go on and on. Have faith, sit in a church, learn God's word and pay your tithe.  You need to find a home church, be obedient, follow his word, be baptized with the holy spirit, show your self approved  and do the will of God (Mark 16: 15 - 18)

http://www.mylordmysavior.com

Answer 19

Well, I always believed there is higher power and that it was Allah. I didn't really experience any epiphany that made me come to that conclusion, I just knew deep inside me that there is someone out there. I also know that I have to believe in myself, because just praying to Allah won't solve my answers. You have to reach for your dreams not just pray.

For those out there not knowing what epiphany is it's a sudden, powerful, and often spiritual or life-changing realization that a character experiences in an otherwise ordinary moment.

Answer 20

Common sense and my brain.

Answer 21

My main epiphany in that sense was a negative one, but it has been incredibly useful.

I saw a UFO.  A mind-bogglingly, bowel-loosening, emotionally overpowering, unmistakable, UFO.

It stalked me for fifteen minutes.  I had no doubt *at all* as to what it was.  And I was wrong.

If I hadn't stayed long enough to see its refutation, revelation, as a natural phenomenon and a mis-interpretation of my brain, I would be swearing beyond all doubt, to this day, that UFO's are real.

So.  The epiphany was that even the most powerful of experiences may not be what they seem.  Even what it seems they *have* to be.

Becoming an atheist after many years as a committed Christian, however, was the result of about five years hard work: study, thought, consultation, the exploring of alternates...

It started out only with the objective of understanding the bible and Christianity better, as I was teaching it.  It ended with me concluding that the only honest thing I could do was become an atheist.

Answer 22

I didn't have one. My views evolved as I gained more knowledge, and did more research on the topic. Then, at some point, I just figured out that my views had become a match for atheism, and they have stayed that way for over 30 years since.  

Answer 23

I never in my heart could believe the God was three in one. I could not believe the God did not talk to us today, like we are not in need or worthy, I did not see a God who needed pomp to be worshiped, if he did he wasn't as smart as me.

Then came the teachings of the LDS when I was in the Navy, and bang, they answered all my questions and I have never looked back.

Answer 24

I can't say that I've had a single epiphany; it seems to me that I've had several of them, and  they've all helped re-enforce the idea that love is a much more powerful force in our lives than I was ever willing to believe possible.  Best wishes!

Answer 25

Sorry to disappoint you.Mine stemmed from a long line of reading, observing and praying since I was probably 5, no joke.I could read really well by the time I was about 10.That was when I realized I simply didn't "fit" into the religious system to which I was born.I felt it was like a huge puzzle and the middle was gone! I read the Bible cover-to-cover I don't know how many times,prayed for direction, and observed people around me. Later in life I found an acquaintance who was a part of the religion I was searching for.It was the perfect "piece" to my puzzle.She simply introduced herself to me. Then she invited me to her church(while in MY church building!).Since we were the same age and acquaintances, I went. I knew instantly where God wanted me to be. I swear I heard the voice of the Lord tell me not to return to the church I was in.I never went/looked back, ever. I have been Apostolic for 8 yrs now. I'm as happy as a clam in the sand. God Bless!