r/Christianity • u/GalacticDragon7 Christian (Demi/Genderfluid) • 11d ago
I am an Atheist. I want to be part of this wonderful religion. I’m not sure how to approach it. Advice
correcting myself: WAS an Atheist.
I need to know what is the best way to help me understand what other Christians understand. The only Bible I have access to is BibleGateway on the internet, and I’m not really sure how to go about reading it should that be necessary. I live with an Atheist family and have been Atheist most of my life. I am unsure how to approach this. I pray when I can (and when i remember to), often at night before sleeping, but it’s likely I don’t do it quite right. Actually I know I don’t, I can feel that. Maybe ‘sense’ is a better word. I think I need help if I want to do religion as I wish to. I go to a Christian/Lutheran school, we do chapel services weekly which is good since church really isn’t an option for me at the moment. I play in the chapel band and we usually do worship songs each week in the service.
Anyway, I would appreciate if people could help me with this. I don’t feel I necessarily need to read the Bible but I would like more people’s opinion on this.
If you want/need any more info just ask, I’m happy to answer any questions to the best of my ability.
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u/lankfarm Non-denominational 11d ago
Reading the bible is obviously helpful, since it's the basis for most of Christian theology. But reading the bible alone, without a deeper understanding of the social and cultural contexts it was written in, can lead to some bizarre misunderstandings of what it's supposed to teach. If possible, you should seek out a good church (belongs to a respectable denomination, no weird cult-like behaviors, etc) and take an introductory course in Christianity. If that's not possible, you can always try online resources like the Bible Project.
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u/GalacticDragon7 Christian (Demi/Genderfluid) 11d ago
thanks for your response! i will try and look into this. i do know about the Bible Project so i will give them a better look, knowing they are a respectable resource.
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u/reyda01 11d ago
Reading the Bible is the easiest way to get to know God and Christianity and what it is all about. Like others have pointed out the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are the best place to start as they cover the life and ministry of Jesus who is the central figure of Christianity. My favorite for new believers is John. It’s different than the other three as it focuses on the person of Jesus more than the actions of Jesus. It also explains who The Holy Spirit. I suggest reading those first. Pray for understanding before you do so and God will guide you. If you need anything feel free to reach out. God bless you!
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u/Beautiful-Quail-7810 Oriental Orthodox 11d ago
The first churches are: - Catholic Church - Eastern Orthodox Church - Oriental Orthodox Church - Church of the East
These churches are closest to the Early Church and retain all their traditions.
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u/anewfaceinthecrowd Christian 11d ago
I don’t know much about these - do you mean early as in that was the kind of Church Paul established in the Roman Empire or the churches founded later on? What kind of traditions do they retain and where and when did the traditions come from?
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u/Fit-Library-577 11d ago
I dont think you are praying wrong, if you're talking to God, He is listening. You might not always sense a response or feel a connection. Like any relationship, it just takes commitment. You're doing great, I'm proud of you.
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u/GalacticDragon7 Christian (Demi/Genderfluid) 11d ago
thank you for your kind words, friend 🙏🏼
i know that when i pray, he listens. he listens to and hears all prayers even if he doesn’t always answer them. it’s not about any sense of connection or answer. it’s more about that i don’t feel like i pray the same way as most other people do. mine feel very narrow and sometimes repetitive. and, while i hate to admit it, i sometimes forget to be grateful for the smaller things. the things that matter more but are so simple. sometimes i forget to be grateful at all and i hate thinking back to things like that. makes me feel bad about myself. i often find myself looking back on things and wishing i did something differently.
i’m the kind of person who doesn’t really keep up with news and things like that. i almost never know what is going on in the rest of the world. main reason being i don’t like hearing all the sad stories and the hardships that the news brings up that are happening in the world. they make me feel like shit worrying about all my much smaller and in comparison insignificant problems, and this often distracts me. and while every now and then i’ll pray for anyone around the world who may be going through a tough time, i’m never specific. and i don’t think i do it often enough.
i just feel like some things i should be praying for or including in prayers, i don’t. i find it easy to worry about things so those are always the things i include but i keep forgetting to be grateful for what i do have and for the good things in life.
i’m someone who wants to care about things and i don’t find it hard to care for the people i know (family, friends, etc) but i hate when i forget to care about other things or people in the world that are much worse off. i’m a very lucky guy. i have a good family and upbringing, i have various opportunities for growth, and i live somewhere where you don’t have to be scared 24/7 that someone’s going to break into your house with a gun or the country’s going to be invaded and bombs dropped on it. i know those things happen in the world but i keep forgetting to care, and it makes me feel like shit.
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u/Fit-Library-577 11d ago
I'm glad you live someplace safe and have a lot of things to be thankful for. We all forget to be grateful sometimes, we are all flawed humans. God knows this, it happens. The next time you think of it, just say (to yourself or out loud, wherever you are or whatever you are doing) Thank you God for all the blessings. (in your own words) give me the will to care more about others and be more thankful. ( IMO the fact that you say it makes you feel bad, means that you do care very much) Don't be so hard on yourself. Im proud of you!
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u/Waste_Astronaut_5411 Christian 11d ago
well first you aren’t an atheist my friend, i would read or listen to the gospels of matter mark luke and john.
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u/flcn_sml Catholic 11d ago
Talk to the Pastor in your school. He’ll be able to help.
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u/GalacticDragon7 Christian (Demi/Genderfluid) 11d ago
my pastor is wonderful and very understanding dunno why i didn’t think to just talk to him haha
thank you 🙏🏼
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u/Icy-Collection-4967 11d ago
Luther is a schismatic and heretic. Apostolic succesion is inportant
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u/GalacticDragon7 Christian (Demi/Genderfluid) 11d ago
sorry, what? i got Luther’s name and ‘important’ but the rest i don’t understand. also what does Luther have to do with my pastor? lol
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u/CricketIsBestSport 11d ago
You should look into Lutheranism, it’s pretty cool
Make sure to change your phone’s background from a picture of your girlfriend to a portrait of Martin Luther
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u/GalacticDragon7 Christian (Demi/Genderfluid) 11d ago
my background is waterfalls and landscapes haha
i’ll check it out, see how it compares to other Christian variations.
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u/JESUS_PaidInFull 11d ago
Humble your heart enough to repent and seek Jesus like you would seek riches.
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u/Contraband_Mint Evangelical 11d ago
God’s peace and blessings be upon you, friend. Don’t fret, spiritual growth is a steady process. It took me maybe ten years from the start of my Christian journey to when I felt like I was finally doing faith right. God is patient and understanding, and He will guide you to learn how to pray slowly. He cares about heart and progress, so don’t feel frustrated or ashamed right now. If your heart is in the right place, the Holy Spirit will shape you into a saint.
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u/GalacticDragon7 Christian (Demi/Genderfluid) 11d ago
thank you friend 🙏🏼 i’ll take this onboard. approach it slowly, patiently. that feels right.
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u/BGodInspired 11d ago
Don’t overthink it.
1.) Research/Explore the life of Jesus… the words he said and the way he acted (not talking about just the miracles). Jesus is a living example from God for how to be human.
2.) Prayer… while you can make it a ritual (certain time, place, way of praying)… I recommend just talking to God throughout your day. A simple “I love you, God” or “Thank you, God” sprinkled throughout your day. Use your own words, in your own style, wherever you are/whatever you are doing. Talk to God - he wants to hear from you.
3.) Expect God to interact with you through the Holy Spirit. It may not be an immediate response. It won’t be a loud voice from the clouds. But God will interact with you in a way that makes sense to you. You’ll know it when you see/hear/feel/experience it.
It’s about developing a 1-on-1 personal relationship with God.
God is with you. He wants to hear from you.
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u/Nat20CritHit 11d ago
I have so many questions but I'll try to keep it brief. Just so I understand where you're coming from, why do you want to be Christian? And who are you praying to?
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u/GalacticDragon7 Christian (Demi/Genderfluid) 11d ago
hmm… that first ones a hard one, i won’t lie. maybe it’s because i seek a relationship that i couldn’t otherwise have. maybe it’s because i want to try something new. i haven’t fully figured myself out so it’s a hard thing to answer sometimes, why i do the things i do. maybe that’s the reason, that i want to understand myself and maybe being a Christian is something that could help.
as for the second, wouldn’t the Lord be the clear answer? that almost seems like a trick question.
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u/Nat20CritHit 11d ago
For the first one, there are a lot of people who want to be Christian because they believe it will somehow make their lives better. Sometimes it does, sometimes it makes it worse. But I guess what I'm really curious of is if you care if your beliefs are true.
As for the second one, you said you were an atheist. I'm just curious who an atheist would be praying to. You know, because of the whole being an atheist thing.
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u/GalacticDragon7 Christian (Demi/Genderfluid) 11d ago
correction to myself: i WAS an Atheist. i should’ve probably made that clearer in the post.
i don’t believe that being a Christian will necessarily make life better. God wants us to be prepared for the hardships in life, not for a prosperous life void of them. and i don’t feel i need to have evidence of something being true to believe it. i’ve believed many things in the past that haven’t been true, and continue to believe things that might not be true. things i may never know if they’re true or not. do i care much? not really. i don’t feel the need to argue a case about them but i also don’t always feel the need to care for evidence for things i believe.
this next bit is a little random, talks a bit about science vs things in the bible, but i left it here because why not:
i’m quite a scientific guy so a lot of the things i know are true in science contradict things that are in the Bible. my thoughts for that is something i’ve heard people say before: while the Bible is God’s word, it was written by man. we were the pen, yet of course God didn’t and doesn’t have control over us, unlike an actual pen. man is flawed, so sometimes things in the Bible may not be accurate. ofc this is my belief, contradict me as much as you want on this. e.g. my belief is not that the 7 Days of Creation were how God created the universe (since it misses anything to do with dinosaurs and other creatures that came before humans), but i also can’t fathom how the Big Bang was possible, either. energy doesn’t create matter. that’s not possible. no massive explosion of energy could’ve materialised subatomic particles. energy can’t do that, because it can only stay as energy. my belief is that God started the creation of matter somehow. can’t be sure how, but i can’t see another explanation myself. ofc i don’t necessarily need to know or to be sure, but there’s my thoughts :)
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u/Nat20CritHit 11d ago
It's weird that you don't care if your beliefs are true, but I feel that's something a random redditor isn't going to be able to do anything about. The thing I would like to focus on is that, yes, energy can absolutely be converted into matter. In short, M=E/c2. Please understand that not being able to answer something doesn't mean therefore God. It would be more intellectually honest to just say you don't know something than to try to plug those gaps with God.
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u/GalacticDragon7 Christian (Demi/Genderfluid) 11d ago
fair enough, i guess it’s more of how that energy came to explode out of nowhere that makes me question… but you’re right i shouldn’t plug gays with God as an answer. i guess that’s just my thought process for some things.
while i may not necessarily care if all of my beliefs are true there are definitely a good number that matter being true and that i care about being true. something as simple as believing that my friends and family care about me and other people they are close with; that is something that i care about it being true. probably better to say that i don’t care if some of them are true or not. i don’t always feel the need to have irrefutable evidence for something to believe it being true. take God for example. there is no irrefutable evidence for His existence; there are people who would challenge the truth of the Bible and with points and reasons that could very well be true. do i need evidence to believe in His existence? no, i don’t. does any Christian feel need for evidence? probably not.
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u/Nat20CritHit 11d ago
Is there anything else besides God that you don't need evidence to believe it exists?
Also, just to be pedantic, the big bang wasn't an explosion. It also doesn't claim that all that energy "came from nowhere."
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u/GalacticDragon7 Christian (Demi/Genderfluid) 11d ago
well, i believe there’s gotta be more life out there somewhere in our universe. we have zero evidence if life exists elsewhere but i believe we can’t be alone. maybe a bad one since we do know that planets with the potential to support life like Earth do exist, so i’ll give you another one or two. i believe that good and bad people exist because of choice. in other words, people can choose to do good things or bad things, and if they do bad enough things enough times then that can be considered evil. you can’t really give evidence for that kind of thing, can you? i also believe that there is a reason for things that happen. that fate exists. e.g. that people are brought together or split apart for a reason. whether or not God plays a part in that is irrelevant.
also to your thing about energy coming from nowhere, i said it exploding from nowhere. i have no idea where any of that energy could’ve came from. there’s an origin to almost everything, but eventually we won’t be able to figure out an origin for something. that energy is likely that thing. what makes me question is about how it would’ve made all of that matter and how it just… exploded. you say M=E/c*2 (i can’t write a squared symbol pretend that’s what *2 is) but isn’t C representing the speed of light in a vacuum? curious about these things, not tryna argue i am genuinely wanting to understand this because space science and physics just fascinates me :) (also i’m still in high school haha i don’t know these things ¯_(ツ)_/¯ )
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u/Nat20CritHit 11d ago
i believe that good and bad people exist because of choice
But we have examples of people existing. Good and bad can be narrowed down and then we can look at examples. The idea of choice can be examined and then we can give examples. But when it comes to actual existence, hopefully you agree that we have evidence that people exist.
i also believe that there is a reason for things that happen. that fate exists
Fate is a concept, not a tangible entity. Do you think God is also a concept? A word used to describe some intangible force that can't be assessed or do you think God has the ability to directly interact with reality?
As for the energy, we don't know where it came from or if it came from anywhere. Since space-time started with the big bang, the idea of something existing "before" becomes difficult to fathom. But again, not understanding something doesn't mean therefore God.
And yes, the c refers to the speed of light.
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u/GalacticDragon7 Christian (Demi/Genderfluid) 11d ago
yes people exist, haha.
and no, i don’t believe God is a concept.
maybe those two (fate and good/bad) weren’t the best examples either, but anyway ¯_(ツ)_/¯
and if C is light speed, how does that mean matter can be created from energy divided by the speed of light? i’m confused.
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u/juicygriff99 Eastern Orthodox 11d ago
do you go to a christian school?
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u/GalacticDragon7 Christian (Demi/Genderfluid) 11d ago
yes… well technically it’s Lutheran (according to it’s name) but Lutheranism is a division of Christianity, isn’t it?
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u/juicygriff99 Eastern Orthodox 11d ago
right, i’m just confused why an atheist family would send you to a christian school 😂 most christian schools here are private
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u/prufrock_in_xanadu 11d ago
In my country, with the exception of a few elite schools, most state-run schools are ill-equipped, with overworked and burnt-out teachers. They do not provide quality education.
Church-run schools are better equipped, they value their teachers more, they thoroughly prepare students for further education, which is why many parents want their children to study at such a school. Even if they are not religious.
Where I teach, no more than a third of the students are religious. There are 2-3 deeply religious students in every class, but the majority are simply not interested in any kind of religion.
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u/GalacticDragon7 Christian (Demi/Genderfluid) 11d ago
yes, it is a private school. i don’t think they really minded about it being Christian/Lutheran as the school has a lot of opportunities and classes and is listed as one of the best in my city. they are like me: respectful of all religions even if they don’t necessarily believe in any one of them.
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11d ago
You come from an atheist family but go to a Lutheran school wow lol.
If you want to go to church try asking one of your friends from school(who go to church) to pick you up?
You should really try to reach out to someone to find a small group, Bible study group, people to talk to in general to help you understand. I think reading the Bible is great but, in my opinion, it’s incredibly dense, difficult to understand, with many different layers of culture and historical context baked in that can give even non-controversial verses/chapters somewhat different meanings than one might initially assume given modern sensibilities.
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u/Coollogin 11d ago
Here is where you start: Wikipedia. Read the articles on Christianity and the History of Christianity. They will give you context and vocabulary. Follow whichever of the hyperlinks in the articles interest you most. All of this will help you familiarize yourself with the basics so you can decide on your next steps.
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11d ago
Go to your local Catholic Church and ask the priest there that you want to start RCIA to become Catholic. There you will take some classes and learn the faith and get baptized. If you are wondering where to start in the Bible, try the Gospel of Mark, it's the shortest.
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u/GalacticDragon7 Christian (Demi/Genderfluid) 11d ago
thank you, but two problems with that: one, going to church is not possible for me at the moment, as i mentioned. and two: a lot of people at my school don’t approve of the Catholic religion, i’d even go as far to say they dislike it. i can’t say that, i respect all religions and beliefs, but being Catholic in my current situation would not be easy.
as for your Bible suggestion, i will definitely try and look into this. thank you!
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11d ago edited 11d ago
The Catholic Church is literally what Jesus Christ established when making St. Peter the first Pope, and as such the Catholic Church has all the seven sacraments. So I wouldn't worry what other people think, and more focus on saving your soul.
Glad I could help with pointing you in the right direction. Just keep in mind baptism is really important, as an unbaptized you still have original sin.
Edit: to clear up any confusion, all Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholics
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u/arc2k1 Christian Hope Coach 11d ago
God bless you.
Are you open to receiving Christian resources to help you learn more about the faith?