Posted on 12/23/2014 3:57:10 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Ryan Bell, an ex-pastor who quit his faith in God for a year following his resignation from the Hollywood Adventist Church and a divorce from his wife of 17 years, is set to decide New Year's Day whether he will remain a believer or become an atheist. While he has distanced himself from zealous atheists, Bell expressed a desire to be "good" without submitting to boundaries.
Nearing the end of his yearlong embrace of non-theism, Bell told the LA Times that leaving the faith has allowed him to see "both sides of the coin." The former Fuller Seminary and Azusa Pacific University teacher has consorted with several atheist groups as a public speaker, sharing his experiences of walking away from church life. "Being with atheists, they can have the same sort of obnoxious certainty that some Christians have," he said of his experiences. "I don't want to be part of that. It feels like I'm stuck in the middle. I want to be for something good, but I don't want boundaries, and religion just feels like a very bounded thing."
As he nears a self-imposed January 1 deadline to decide between atheism and faith, Bell told the LA Times, "The question I am asking right now [is] why do I need religion to love?"
Bell announced in a January blog published by The Huffington Post that "for the next 12 months I will live like there is no God. I will not pray, read the Bible for inspiration, refer to God as the cause of things or hope that God might intervene and change my own or someone else's circumstances."
Bell also stated that he has long struggled to relate to church, church people and God. He particularly struggled with the Bible's position on same-sex marriage, resigning his position as an Adventist pastor in 2013 over the issue. His 17-year marriage has also ended in divorce.
Since making that vow, Bell has a new job teaching for a nonprofit that helps the homeless and is dating a devout Christian.
He denies claims from Christians that he is bitter against God or rebelling. In a December 7 blog post he wrote, "As best I can tell, I'm not acting out. I've simply stepped away and explicitly taken the time to ask important questions about my past loyalties. At times I have been angry and I've made unfair generalizations as a result. But against neither anger nor rebellion is the central part of my journey."
Bell said he plans to spend the Christmas before his decision giving gifts and thanking his family and friends. While he doesn't plan to attend church services, he said he is not above going to one, noting that he still enjoys the season's rituals.
...”remain a believer”? He has to become one first.
How appropriate that Oprah Winfrey gave this guy a show on her wretched network.
without an outside objective standard, “good” is a relative, subjective, unclear term that can mean far different things to 6 billion different people.
It’s impossible to take a break from your beliefs.
He clearly doesn’t believe in God. Any claim going forward that he does is simple deception for his own ends.
“Bell also stated that he has long struggled to relate to church, church people and God.
He particularly struggled with the Bible’s position on same-sex marriage, resigning his position as an Adventist pastor in 2013 over the issue. His 17-year marriage has also ended in divorce.”
YBPDLN PING!
Ryan Bell
Not to be confused with Rob Bell.
an ex-pastor who quit his faith in God for a year following his resignation from the Hollywood Adventist Church and a divorce from his wife of 17 years, is set to decide New Year's Day whether he will remain a believer or become an atheist.
Oh, yeah. Him. Drama queen. Making a huge production out of apostasy.
Bell has a new job teaching for a nonprofit that helps the homeless and is dating a devout Christian.
Female devout Christian, I hope.
The good pastor is confused about why he needs religion. It is true that a legalistic religion such as his does not necessarily produce the fruit of love, rather it produces judgment.
So I guess this means the mitzvoth performed by Jews means diddly squat?
This yutz only got attention in the first place because his name was similar to that of the celebrity heretic “pastor” Rob Bell.
From the outside looking in, I would say that is a pretty fair judgment.
lol, right
Exactly. Seems as though he is sewing the devils fruits to me.
Love what? Certainly not his wife, his church, his God.
People in our worldly nature would like to pick and choose what to love. The love of God is that, while we were still sinners and enemies against Him, Christ still died for us. This is what we are to emmulate.
As for "taking" time off from his "religion", this comes to mind...
One has to wonder, if he actually KNEW the true and living God, why would he even want to consider taking time off?
If you have to "decide" then you've already decided.
...One has to wonder, if he actually KNEW the true and living God, why would he even want to consider taking time off?
These old threads might have the answer:
He used to lead a congregation in Southern California, but in March [of 2013], he was asked to step down after voicing some of the doubts that led to this decision to "try on" atheism. Just a few days into the new year, after announcing his resolution, Bell was asked to leave the teaching positions he held at the Christian Azusa Pacific University and Fuller Theological Seminary...."I feel like I lost my church leadership position and then I really didn't have any compulsion to go to church internally, like I just didn't feel like participating in church. I tried a number of times."We also got these tidbits from CNN on January 8th:
-- from the thread Former Pastor Decides To Spend A Year Without GodBell had announced his experiment to "try on" atheism for a year in The Huffington Post on New Year's Eve, saying he was struggling with his faith and had difficulty reconciling it with the treatment of homosexuals and women in the Adventist Church. "For the next 12 months I will live as if there is no God. I will not pray, read the Bible for inspiration, refer to God as the cause of things or hope that God might intervene and change my own or someone else's circumstances," he said, clarifying that he was not an atheist ("at least not yet").
Ro Os, a friend of the ex-pastor, warned against the pitfalls of Bell's experiment on the fundraising campaign's page. "Ryan is a personal friend. I support anyone honestly wrestling with questions of belief and unbelief, as any half-thoughtful person must. Dietrich Bonhoeffer's move toward 'religionless Christianity' comes to mind. I am disheartened, however, by performative aspect of this campaign, which is not honest in the way that it paints Ryan as the victim of heartless Christians who abandoned him in his time of need," wrote Os.
-- from the thread Atheists Donate to Former Pastor, Ryan Bell, Who Lost Jobs for Trying Out Atheism for a Year
He’s 42 and has been a pastor or in seminary for most of his adult life. Now he faces the prospect of poverty and taking odd jobs to feed his two daughters, 10 and 13....He had advocated for the church to allow gay and lesbian leaders, campaigned against California’s same-sex marriage ban and disputed deeply held church doctrines about the End Times....Bell said he bears no ill will toward the church or the schools that let him go, though he wishes they would tolerate, if not support, his atheism experiment. The loss of income has led to some family stress, he said. “I have kids to support and utilities to pay and the rent is due,” Bell said. “At this point I’m willing to do almost anything.” Bell said he and his wife are divorcing, though not because of his atheist experiment.Smells like someone is having a mid-life crisis.
-- from CNN
>>there is a difference between Religion and
>>Relationship and evidently he has yet to discover this.
“Fallible and uninspired [but religious] men have assumed dominion over the faith of others...”
Faith is the work product manifested between the Creator and the created — not a product of religious L.I.F.E.R. sheeple herding.
Amen!
>>Bell had announced his experiment to “try on” atheism for a year
It’s interesting that he chose atheism when he could’ve chosen to pluck the vestigial religious plumage off his spirituality instead.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.