The Atheist Who Went to Church

Outreach Magazine ^ | March/April 2007 | Heather Johnson

[Flo Nightengale]

Curious and open to Christianity, Hemant Mehta became the "eBay atheist" when he posted his soul on eBay and began accepting bids to visit churches and then share his thoughts. Some 30 church services later, he's still an atheist. He tells us why, what he does believe in and what Christians should consider when talking to someone with different beliefs.

I like many others, first learned of "the eBay atheist" in a Wall Street Journal article last year. Hemant Mehta had posted his "soul" on eBay, the article read. He told eBay patrons: "While I don't believe in God, I firmly believe I would immediately change those views if presented with evidence to the contrary. And at age 22, this is possibly the best chance anyone has of changing me."

To that end, he proposed visiting one hour of church for every $10 of the final bid. One week, 41 bids and more than 10,000 eBay hits later, the winning bid of $504 was made by Off the Map (off-the-map.org), a Christian organization trying to make evangelism practical for ordinary Christians. A deal was made. Hemant would visit 10 to 15 churches selected by Off the Map, and then write about his experiences for the organization.

What has transpired is much more than he bargained for—national secular and religious media coverage, a popular blog (friendlyatheist.com) and a book deal. All this because an atheist said he'd go to church.

[Flo Nightengale]

This is my first article posting. Hope I did OK! :)

With all the controversy about Warren, seeker-sensitive churches, etc., I thought this interesting because it talks about the messages one atheist heard in churches. What are people actually hearing when they come to church? Does it matter?

[billybudd]

Interesting stuff. With a sampling of 10 - 15 churches, he'll get a pretty good idea of what Christianity in his local area is like. I doubt he will change his mind on the theology, since his objection seems intellectual rather than spiritual. (He would do better talking to a theologian at a university or religious institution.) But he might at least find that many church communities are kind and welcoming, regardless of his outlook.

[rawcatslyentist]

>""While I don't believe in God, I firmly believe I would immediately change those views if presented with evidence to the contrary."

Well try existing without chlorine gas (extremely poisonous) and the highly reactive metal sodium.

Oh yeah what was the Hindenburg filled with? An explosive gas..... Well combine that explosive gas with another gas (one absolutely necessary for combustion) and you have the universal fire extinguisher.

But you go on and live in your accidental creation, oblivious to the fingerprints all around you. He did such an awesome job you almost could. Almost....

[Caravaggio]

Selling his soul on ebay is probably the wrong way to go about it, but God works in mysterious ways and may use this immature stunt to lead him down the right path eventually (that is, if he's truly seeking the Truth).

He certainly seems OPEN to believing, but then again it could just be a ruse. Not knowing his motives for sure, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt....

[dan1123]

Distilled version:

Attending a Catholic Church: I went to a Catholic church in Chicago near where I lived. My first observation was that while the people knew what the rituals were, they weren't even thinking about them as they did them. The priest had a memorized script, but at one point, he talked about how we need to overcome obstacles. He shared about this time when he had smoked cigarettes and really wanted to quit. He prayed to God and then—cold turkey—he just stopped.

I thought that was a really great story, powerful stuff! You could tell he was emotional about it. But as soon as he finished the story, he went back into the monotonous scripted speech. I thought, Ah, you had me! I was listening, and then I got bored again.

Speaking to a Pastor: But one, a local church outside of Chicago—Parkview Christian Church—invited me to come and talk onstage with their pastor, Tim Harlow, for all three services. He was doing a whole series on The Da Vinci Code, and the final week, he was basically preaching about how it's OK to have doubts and that if you have doubts, the Church thinks it can help.

It was really cool. We got into evolution and some of the harder spiritual questions. This was a pastor who really believes in intelligent design, and yet he was talking to me who believes in evolution. Most importantly, the audience got to hear the discussion. Yes, it got heated at times, but when all was said and done, the pastor and I were still friends. We were still able to shake each other's hand, and I genuinely liked that guy. Yes, I disagree with him about some very important issues, but the idea was, we can have a discussion. He didn't try to convert me or tell me that everything I believe is wrong.

General Objections: heard a lot of what I considered to be hate speech. Some churches led missionary trips with the intent to "convert Muslims," as if that was the reason some countries were under-developed or impoverished.

Then, there were prayer services where people were asking God for things I figured they could just take care of themselves. You have a problem in your relationship? I think you should talk to the other person and work it out. You don't like your job? Then work on finding one that suits your passions. I think atheists are a lot more confident than Christians in their own abilities to make things happen.

Assumptions Overturned: Before, I thought church was a boring place everyone was forced to go to on a Sunday morning and that there was absolutely no thinking involved. I was wrong on those points. The churches I saw knew how to bring people in and keep them there, and several times, I heard sermons that raised ideas I had hardly thought about. Of course, there were also sermons that put me to sleep, but not as often as I thought they would. The people in the church chose to be there, and so did many of their children.

Not getting it:You need to spread the message of Christianity—the message being what Christianity stands for—loving each other, helping the people around you. Those are things everyone can get on board with.