Learning From Young Atheists: What Turned Them Off Christiany

Christian Post ^ | 07/03/2013 | Eric Metaxas

[SeekAndFind]

It's something most Christian parents worry about: You send your kids off to college and when they come back, you find they've lost their faith. The prospect of this happening is why many parents nudge their kids towards Christian colleges, or at least schools with a strong Christian presence on campus.

But in many ways, the damage has been done long before our children set foot on campus. That's the message from a recent article in the Atlantic Monthly.

My friend Larry Taunton of the Fixed Point Foundation set out to find out why so many young Christians lose their faith in college. He did this by employing a method I don't recall being used before: He asked them.

The Fixed Point Foundation asked members of the Secular Students Associations on campuses around the nation to tell them about their "journey to unbelief." Taunton was not only surprised by the level of response but, more importantly, about the stories he and his colleagues heard.

Instead of would-be Richard Dawkins', the typical respondent was more like Phil, a student Taunton interviewed. Phil had grown up in church; he had even been the president of his youth group. What drove Phil away wasn't the lure of secular materialism or even Christian moral teaching. And he was specifically upset when his church changed youth pastors.

Whereas his old youth pastor "knew the Bible" and made Phil "feel smart" about his faith even when he didn't have all the answers, the new youth pastor taught less and played more.

Phil's loss of faith coincided with his church's attempt to ingratiate itself to him instead of challenging him. According to Taunton, Phil's story "was on the whole typical of the stories we would hear from students across the country."

These kids had attended church but "the mission and message of their churches was vague," and manifested itself in offering "superficial answers to life's difficult questions." The ministers they respected were those "who took the Bible seriously," not those who sought to entertain them or be their "buddy."

Taunton also learned that, for many kids, their journey to unbelief was an emotional, not just an intellectual one.

Taunton's findings are counter-intuitive. Much of what passes for youth ministry these days is driven by a morbid fear of boring our young charges. As a result, a lot of time is spent trying to devise ways to entertain them.

The rest of the time is spent worrying about whether the Christian message will turn kids off. But as Taunton found, young people, like the not-so-young, respect people with conviction-provided they know what they're talking about.

Taunton talks about his experiences with the late Christopher Hitchens, who, in their debates, refrained from attacking him. When asked why, Hitchens replied, "Because you believe it."

I don't know what that says about Hitchens' other Christian debate partners, but it is a potent reminder that playing down the truth claims of the Christian faith doesn't work. People don't believe those they don't respect.

Here's something that one of the students told Larry Taunton; he said, "Christianity is something that if you really believed it, it would change your life and you would want to change [the lives] of others. I haven't seen too much of that."

Folks, that's pretty sobering. This puts the ball in our court. Are we living lives that show our children that we actually believe what we say we believe? And here's another question-do we actually believe it? I have to say, as a parent I'm taking this very seriously. If possible, join me in reading Taunton's excellent article. Come to BreakPoint.org and we'll link you to it.

[Don W]

I lost my faith after my dad fell into the cult of Armstrongism (Worldwide Church of God) which utterly destroyed all non-church activities, and as a bonus estranged us from our non member friends and family. As another benefit, we kids were pulled from the top performing school system in the province and dropped into the public schol system, but NO extracurricular activities that happened on Wednesdays or weekends were permitted

The actual realization of and rejection of faith didn’t occur until HE realized how he had been defrauded.

I have reasoned it out and have returned to the Catholic church, but I regret to say that civility to proselytizing protestants is in short supply in my life.

Proselytizing atheists, I wouldn’t p155 on if I saw them burning on my sidewalk.

[Kip Russell]

I don’t know that I was ever turned “off” from Christianity...I never had a negative experience with it, but was never particularly religious. I was an agnostic by age 18, and an atheist by 30 (and remain so).

Perhaps if I’d been brought up in a household with stronger religious traditions, things would have turned out differently.

[Mrs. Don-o]

A very beautiful testimony. Thanks for this.

I just went to my Concordance to look up what the angel said about time ending, in Revelation, and couldn't find it. I'm interested. Could you give me chapter and verse?

Thanks again..

[imardmd1]

Phil didn't "lose his faith."

You can't lose something you don't have to begin with.

No one who has learned to persistently commit complete trust in the faithfulness of Christ has ever "lost" their commitment to Him.

One who knows Him and walks with him cannot be dissuaded of His real presence.

[OneWingedShark]

I just went to my Concordance to look up what the angel said about time ending, in Revelation, and couldn't find it. I'm interested. Could you give me chapter and verse?

Rev 10:6 [KJV]
And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:

Though upon looking it up I see other translations have delay instead of time. Interesting; I really hadn't thought of that (e.g. there's not more time!).

[imardmd1]

I just went to my Concordance to look up what the angel said about time ending, in Revelation, and couldn't find it.

Please forgive me for intruding?

Revelation 10:6

"When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more,
And the morning breaks, eternal, bright, and fair;
When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore,
And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there."

(1st stanza of the spiritual song "When the Roll is Called Up Yonder,"
words and melody by James M. Black, an American song writer.
Found in almost every Protestant hymn book.)

[Mrs. Don-o]

Thanks very much. It was an online Concordance and I didn’t know which translation would work ;o)

[Mrs. Don-o]

Oh, that is good! As OneWingedShark just explained to me, it apparently depends on the translation, because some of them say "There will be no delay" (= "There'll be no more time").

Both are true, I'm thinking: there will be no delay, and time will really end.

Yes, that song's an old favorite!

[darkangel82]

In my case it was certain life events followed by the realization that neither of my parents believed(despite their insistence to the contrary). Both occurred before I was 13.

[imardmd1]

... the "roll" = scroll = the Book of Life

Rev. 20:12

"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."

Rev. 20:15

"And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

"Without (the quality of) faith, it is impossible to please Him for he that cometh to God must believe that He Is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." (see Heb. 11:6)

[imardmd1]

This is a very precise translation of the Koine of Revelation 10:5-7, for your edification:

==========

5. And the angel, whom I beheld remaining standing upon the sea and upon the land, lifted his hand unto Heaven

6. and swore by The One Absolutely Living for ever and evermore, Who created The Heaven and the things in it and the Earth and the things in it and the sea and the things in it, that space of time shall no longer be.

7. But in the day of the sound of the seventh angel, whenever he is about to sound a trumpet, also the mystery of God should be finished, as He pronounced glad tidings to the bondslaves of Himself, namely, the prophets.

==========

(From "A Precise Translation" by Fred Wittman, Koine = Pierpont/Robinson Majority Textform, in preparation for publication)

[Cvengr]

Antichristian groups wouldn’t ask about their “journey to unbelief”, unless they intuitively understood belief in God is true.

[Kip Russell]

In my case it was certain life events followed by the realization that neither of my parents believed(despite their insistence to the contrary). Both occurred before I was 13.

I can't really point to any event that caused me to fall out of faith, as it were...the only church I ever attended was a few weeks of Sunday School as a young boy; I rapidly grew bored with it and asked my parents if I had to attend (the answer was, "No").

Religion simply hasn't been part of my life; growing up, I was aware that it was something that was important to many people, but since no one in my immediate family ever went to church or even discussed matters theological, my only exposure to Christianity (or any other religion) was through books (I was and remain a voracious reader). As such, it strikes me as an interesting sociological phenomena, but not one that appeals to me on a personal level.

[imardmd1]

There is as great implicit error in the title of this posted article:

"Learning From Young Atheists: What Turned Them Off Christiany"

The real problem here is not that Phil, the protagonist, was "turned off" -- the cause is that he was never "turned on"!

The case is, as so typical, he was never made to be a disciple, mentored in a one-on-one confrontation of sin and salvation with a truly regenerated believer-discipler, to find out his real spiritual status.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Thank you.

[BigCinBigD]

There is no evidence for the existence of “God”. None what so ever. People believe based on faith, not evidence.

I can not do that. I look at the stories in the holy books and understand that primitive people looked to the supernatural to explain things they could not understand. There is no need for that today.

People who do today, who literally believe a 2000 year old dead Jew is coming back for them are ill. That is just my opinion.

[HarleyD]

I’ve always been very frank with my only son about the cost of discipleship. He has told us that his desire is to go into missions overseas after college. This has been hard on me and I suppose it will be hardest on my wife as we’ll rarely see our son again. I “happened” to run into a person while on vacation who is experiencing a similar problem-his son has been a missionary overseas facing extreme hardship. He rarely sees him or communicates as he’s in a closed country. It has been difficult for him.

I suppose discipleship is multifaceted and is something we learn no matter what our age. Our children may be called by God to serve in areas abroad, all the while we know the hardships that awaits them. That is such a hard lesson. Still if God gave up His Son, can we not also give up our own? And can we not trust His sovereign will to direct his (and our) paths?

Discipleship isn’t just about attending church and fun. It is a serious commitment but one that God shares with us. I can (and I know Dr. E could) relish in the fact that at least my son has joined a PCA church and wants to work in their mission field. :O)

[MarkBsnr]

I am very grateful to your son for putting his life on the line for Christianity. Thank him for that, if you would, in spite of our differences.

[Marie]

Same here.

[Kip Russell]

People who do today, who literally believe a 2000 year old dead Jew is coming back for them are ill. That is just my opinion.

While I personally have no belief in the supernatural, I don't think that the 95% of people who do believe in it (in some form) are ill simply because they do...any more than I think that people who believe in astrology are ill, despite how absurd I find it.