The one message I hear frequently from atheists and agnostics is that they choose to “trust science and logic” instead of “emotions”

Yes, faith has a large element of emotion, and many stories of those who become Christians have a heavy emotional element to them, but many others find faith through delving into science, logic, history, or other factual thoughts.

A recent thread on Reddit had asked the question:

“The only ‘I used to be an atheist’ stories that I have ever heard which seem to have even a remotely compelling reason for conversion are based on a personal experience. Can someone prove me wrong?”

The post quickly had hundreds of stories, comments and discussions, here are some of the most powerful stories:

I don’t know if this would be compelling to you, but I like this line of reasoning:

Here are a few claims nearly universally accepted as historical fact:

-There was a man named Jesus who was a religious leader in the Roman province of Judea around 30 AD.

-Jesus was put to death by the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate.

-After Jesus’ burial, multiple people claimed to have experiences where they saw him physically alive again.

-These followers began preaching Christ alive as a result of these experiences under the threat of persecution.

-The apostles, by and large, met unfavorable ends because this including crucifixion, beheading, and exile.

This includes Saul of Tarsus, better known as Paul, who was a Jewish Pharisee and very hostile towards the church. Paul claims to have experienced a revelatory conversion and immediately began ministering. Paul was one of the ones who were met with beheading as his end.

To me, it just takes a rather over-comfortable confidence in an explanation like “mass hysteria” to explain why the early church behaved they way they did in the wake of what we know as relatively settled historical fact. Why would the Apostles preach Christ Alive up to their deaths? Why would many lesser known or even unknown martyrs in the mid-1st century gladly accept their fate?

It seems to me that something had to have happened to make them behave this way and the Bible’s version of events is the only thing I can imagine that would make people do that.

Okay, I am a former atheist of 27 years who converted:

 I had no religious experience of any kind until I had already been a Christian for nearly 8 months.

I converted because I realized that the only way to be an atheist is to not think – to not think about the meaninglessness and hopelessness of existence in a godless universe; to not think about the fact that there is no such thing as good or evil; to not think about the fact that all we are is walking collections of carbon atoms, that all we are is slaves of our genes and neuroreceptors, that the only possible truly free action any of us can take is to opt out – to kill ourselves.

I decided I didn’t want to live in that universe. My choices were: die, or convert.

While my conversion was influenced by personal factors in my life – a major traumatic loss, profound suicidal depression – I had no concrete experience which led me to choose God. I chose God because I realized I could simply choose God. I could choose to hope and to believe that there is an objective Good in the universe; and that that Good will be Victorious in the End. I could choose to live my life faithfully to that Good, instead of living for nothing but material pleasures and pointless, subjective desires that will all turn to dust.

I could choose to make Jesus of Nazareth – that man of Love, who walked the land of Galilee, who taught Peace and Kindness, who died for it, naked and nailed to a piece of wood outside Jerusalem 2000 years ago, offering no resistance whatsoever to his killers, only forgiveness – my King. I could choose to make Love my God. I could choose to have hope that He Is King; I could choose to live in the hope that Love Is God.

Only later did I meet Love in the flesh. But I don’t talk about my subsequent religious experiences – because they were not, and are not, the reason for my faith.

I am faithful because there is noone and nothing in the universe worth being faithful to – noone and nothing, except for Almighty Love.

Anyone who tells you that there is zero argument with science or any data backing it up for God generally has not taken the time to look into it seriously. Even many atheists can understand why people believe in God even if they make the personal decision not to.

It’s easy to dismiss things that make us uncomfortable as untrue, its difficult to spend the time to actually look into things to see if they actually are.

Do yourself a favor, and look into the facts so that you can back up the things you believe in.