[AppyPappy]

I don't think your problems were related to God or the Bible at that time. You developed your own god and attributed properties to him that you feared. That's typcial of people (like kids) who find God via external forces. You didn't know God; you just knew what other people said about it. You truly see God through people who LIVE like God intends. In the Christian world, we call it "being more like Jesus". In the atheist/pagan world, people tend to view Christians in terms of those "Christians" who yell the loudest or the fearsome God they invented in their childhood. I grew up in the church and I don't remember that fearsome God but I became an atheist anyway.

I read the Bible as an atheist and I didn't think it proved God, it just showed that people believed in Him. You will find God when throw out everything you know about God and you discover the true meaning of "Grace".

[Prodigal Son]

I don't think your problems were related to God or the Bible at that time.

Which problems?

You developed your own god and attributed properties to him that you feared.

No, it was the God described to me in the Bible and by an assortment of family members, Baptist clergy, Sunday school teachings etc. I simply took them at their word.

You didn't know God;

You have no clue what my religious experiences were. To this day I count them as some of my most important experiences in life. There is nothing to compare to the awe one feels in the presence of his God.

read the Bible as an atheist and I didn't think it proved God, it just showed that people believed in Him.

Hmmm. Interesting. I am not an atheist though and have less patience for atheists than I do for believers.