About
I became a born-again Christian in 2014, holding a fundamentalist, literal view of the scriptures. But in 2022, I began to question my faith. During that time, I became involved with a close group of believers who held very different theological convictions. Through many deep and honest debates, I came to a startling realization: we each believed the other was sincerely misled. That realization shook me—I saw that I could be just as wrong about what I believed as they might be. And that's when the avalanche began. For me, my faith was all or nothing: either the Bible had errors, or it didn't. Either Jesus is who he claimed to be, or he isn't. I knew these questions wouldn't be resolved quickly, so I started writing them down. Before long, the document had grown to several pages. It all started with what seemed like "insignificant" issues:
- Does Paul really mean all men will be justified in Romans 5:18?
- Is the mustard seed really the smallest of all seeds, like Jesus says in Mark 4:31?
- Why does Mark 1:2 quote Malachi and Isaiah when he says, "as it is written in Isaiah the prophet"?
The scope of my questions became broader:
- Can the Bible have errors and still be infallible in its message?
- Why do Jews and Muslims reject the deity of Jesus when it seems plainly obvious?
- Can God use myths, legends, and stories to communicate his message?
Finally, my questions became faith-shaking:
- Why does an omnipotent and omnibenevolent God allow suffering?
- Why did God create the universe if he did not need to?
- Why would God create scientific evidence that appears to be at odds with the Bible?
- Is my belief in eternal conscious torment (hell) that lasts longer than a googolplex (1010100) years reasonable?
I realized that there was solid evidence against my faith, and I couldn't ignore it anymore. That's why this website exists. It's a collection of faith-shaking data I have found against my fundamentalist Christian worldview. I'm not sure what to call myself anymore: a hopeful Christian, deist, agnostic, or athiest. Regardless of my affiliation, I hope you find the information on this website challenging, honest, and informative.
Timeline
My Beliefs
Below is a summary of my current worldview, organized by topic. Each section highlights a key area of belief or doubt, with links to more details.
God
I find insufficient evidence to confirm the existence of Yahweh as described in the Bible.
The scale of indiscriminate suffering and the amount of unanswered prayers are the most significant challenges to the existence of an omnipotent and benevolent God.
Doctrines about God's nature face significant logical issues and lack clear, undisputed evidence.
The Bible
The Bible in both Old and New Testaments contains internal inconsistencies, discrepancies, mistakes, and errors.
Major biblical narratives including the Flood of Noah, the Exodus, and the Conquest of Canaan are not supported by extra-biblical evidence.
The Old Testament includes morally problematic passages that seem inconsistent with an all-loving God, including commands to kill infants and children, permission of slavery, and instructions on the marrying of virgin war captives.
The Gospels are best understood as theological stories based on a historical Jesus in the context of first-century Judaism. They are anonymous documents which share a strong written interdependence, which suggests they are not eyewitness accounts.
Jesus
Jesus was likely a traveling itinerant preacher in first-century Judea who allegedly performed exorcisms and healings.
His followers posthumously came to venerate him, eventually concluding he was divine and later God himself.
The birth narratives about Jesus in Matthew and Luke differ significantly in details, chronology, and geography, suggesting they are theological constructions rather than straightforward historical accounts.
Claims of fulfilled Old Testament prophecy regarding Jesus often appear to be later theological interpretations rather than clear, pre-existing predictions matching his life events.
The resurrection narratives in the Gospels contain significant differences and contradictions regarding who discovered the empty tomb, what they saw, and what happened afterward. These inconsistencies challenge the reliability of the accounts as straightforward historical reporting.
Nature
Evolution by natural selection, operating on genetic variation over vast timescales, provides a well-supported naturalistic explanation for the origin and diversity of life.
Morality can be understood naturalistically as a combination of evolved social instincts, cultural norms, and reasoned ethical frameworks aimed at well-being and cooperation.
Cosmological models based on observable physical laws (like the Big Bang theory) offer a coherent naturalistic account for the evolution and large-scale structure of the universe.
Current scientific models do not provide an explanation for abiogenesis (the origin of life from non-life) or the state of the universe prior to the Big Bang.
Logical absolutes, time, and the uniformity of nature are necessary properties of the universe that cannot be explained by appealing to the supernatural.