My Testimony on my Salvation Experience!

[Saint_of_Me]

Hello All. And God Bless. Good to be here. I am a new member and wanted to share my testimony. I am a Born Again Christian after a lifetime of ardent atheism and sinning.

This is what happened to me a little over 18 months ago.......

Well I won't go too deep into it since from my experience I know full well that most people's "testimonies" on their God Experience, or their Getting Saved tends to bore others. Especially non-believers. But suffice to say I was in a miserable state; suicidal; gun in hand, ready to end it all. In a crummy motel room in downtown San Jose, CA.

I had left my wife about a week before. I had lost a business I had--a CrossFit Box i co-owned--from my own recklessness and sinful behavior. (hookers, drugs, all that cliche stuff! Ha!) For some reason out of desperation I picked up a bible. Part of my story here is it was given to me about an hour earier by a guy I never saw before or after downstairs outside my motel. I wont go into how he looked because it too is too clicjhe on how a human angel (I know!) would look. (but he did!)

He goes..."Take this...and do it fast. You look like you need it!) (I really did not look too bad. I am well-groomed and fit and was dressed in pressed jeans and a sports coat).

So I am upstairs, I had a couple shots of chilled vodka (only two! I was not drunk!) and I loaded up the Taurus .38. I opened the bible at random and came to the part where, when Jesus finally expires on the cross the "temple curtain tore in two." (I know this is a metaphor, btw--more on that later.)
So i re-read it over and over. Weird, how it struck me. Obsessed me. I had read it before and considered it just another fabrication by a gospel writer. (I think it was Mark).
My heart-rate speeded-up. I get a ringing in my ears. The room gets bright like a dimmer switch is rotated ion but the light is orange.
Now the good part..the curtain to my window, well, splits. like a laser was cutting it from top to bottom. I actually held it in my hand to try and figure out where the light-laser was coming from but it would just pass through my hand with no pain. I even smelled smoke. And the curtain DID smoke. My smoke alarm in the room went off!

I look outside and that bible guy waves at me ans walks away. I sit in my bed. The curtain is now pure bright orange light, but in two pieces. And the bible is open to that page on the bed and there is a trace--a path of light form the curtain to the page and it lit it up. So I go to the bathroom to splash water on my face and to throw some on the curtain! Ha! but when I come to, t everything is normal, except that curtain is torn int two, still. Wit the edges burnt!

I was overcome with a feeling of total elation and calm. Everything made sense. My state of being and how to get out of my misery. Well, it was gone. it was a narcotic feeling. A state of arousal. Peace with the world. Again, yeah, this all sounds cliche but I'm explaining to the best I can.

I sudden became very tired. Went to sleep and slept for a good 10 hours. When I got up the same feeling of elation was there.Total rejuvenation. I had an insatiable yearning to know God better and read the Word as often as I could. Which I still do. I got back on my feet within a week. Got my business back, everything. (but I did get divorced).

The motel manager accused my of burning the curtain and I had to par for it!

Thank you for the opportunity to tell you my Story. I will be more than happy to expand on any parts of it or answer any questions or critiques.

[rikuoamero]

[Replying to post 38 by Saint_of_Me]

So it is a common misconception today among many people, including Atheists and religious fubndamentalsists alike, that if somebody calls himself a Christain that that person must believe the the entire Bible is the inerrant word of God.

And they must agree with all of it.

And believe it to be as factual as a science book.

Just to correct you here, no I don't think this. I am well aware there are many Christians who don't believe the entire Bible. What I was commenting on before was this from post 33

But again I ask you to consider the idea that the God of the Old Testament, of the Torah, of the Hebrew Bible, the Abrahamic God, is NOT ac accurate portrait or description of the True God. Our Creator God.

Since the OT is about half of the Bible, it's always struck me as weird that there are people such as yourself who say you hold to the Bible, and yet, that the god you believe is real has little to nothing to do with the first half of the volume.

It may interest you to know I also do not believe that JC was God. Nor was he Divine. He was a human, I think. Albeit one who was so full of God, so "tapped in" to the True Godhead as to posses Divine-like qualities. The likes of which we here on earth have never seen before nor since.

Yeah I honestly don't care. As it stands, we're unable to prove that there even was a Jesus Christ (there probably was a wandering preacher by that name) and we most certainly cannot prove that if there was, this Jesus was or was not God. I've talked with other Christians who say they experience God in some fashion and they say Jesus IS God, no doubt about it.
So I've got you on the one hand (Jesus isn't God) and I've got them on the other (Jesus is God)...

Remember that the True God in all likelihood finds the Yahweh of the OT as absurd as do you or I.

Does he? What evidence do you have of this? If I was to hypothetically accept your story, I'd end up believing that God burned your curtains, both at the motel and at home. Okay...so where does this "God has nothing to do with OT Yahweh, Jesus isn't God" come from?

Divine Insight said

I wasn't there. I'm not convinced that any curtain was even burnt that night at all. For all I know someone else could have burnt the curtain prior you renting the room, and due to the extreme psychological stress you were under your brain imagined the rest taking a cue from what evidence was already in the room to back up the delusion it was creating.

I have to agree with this as well. The brain is all to skilled at fooling itself. I get in trouble at work every so often. I remember the last time I did, I was asked whether I had done a certain thing (as I was supposed to). I was honestly convinced that I had, I even had the memories for it. Thing is, I didn't. Turns out, that in the extreme monotony and repetitiveness of my job, I get myself confused and for all intents and purposes, fool myself into thinking I'm in the right.

back to Saint_of_Me

I DO believe in ALL of Christ's teachings, however.

Now we're at a contradiction. There are some famous passages from the NT where Jesus says that not a jot or tittle of the old law would pass away; where he speaks about Moses as if he were a real person from real history (thus upholding the Jewish story of the Exodus).
The case can certainly be made, if one is interested, that Jesus upheld the OT god, the OT laws.

ANd I DO believe he was Divine in Nature and set and example for us all to try and apsire to. ANd that thorugh Him we can come to His Father, whom was God.

Another contradiction

I also do not believe that JC was God. Nor was he Divine. He was a human, I think. Albeit one who was so full of God, so "tapped in" to the True Godhead as to posses Divine-like qualities.

So either you mean something different, or earlier you said Jesus wasn't God, but now he is God/divine?

I NEVER said that the only way for all you guys to come to God was to get in as bad a way as I was when He came to me. I NEVER claimed that one had to reach their ultimate bottom in life and suffer to the fullest to have God come to him.

I'll answer this for DI (and for myself). When reading your initial story, it comes across that God will only intervene or show himself when one has hit rock bottom and is about to off themselves. That normal prayers don't work. If God was willing to show himself beforehand, why did he wait until you had a gun in your hand?
Given that both DI and myself did the prayer route, weren't horrible sinners of vices, and still hadn't experienced God in any way, what your OP does is come across as saying that one needs to be doing a lot of vices (drink, drugs, prostitutes), and then be willing to blow one's brains outs. You don't come right out and say it, but the inference can be made.
However, this inference is immediately proven false in that I was once suicidal myself. And yet, the only thing I experienced was a mate calling me over Skype. Not some God happenings.

The reason I asked you to Pray for God to come into your life is becasue it has been mty experience that MOST people come to find God that way.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but both DI and I had already outlined to you that we had done just that, for years at a time. Your suggestion doesn't produce results.

I still find it hard to understand how you and DI can NOT understand how I can believe in God but still think that the God of the Christian Bible is NOT an accurate portrayal of Him. This is a simple ideology guys......

Because the story you tell, of a curtain being burnt and a Bible being opened up to a specific page (a Bible apparently handed to you by someone or something holy?), I could've sworn that the point of your story is that God was giving you a sign that this book, the Bible, does describe him accurately.

"Oh....Saint of Me confuses me becasue he believes the the Planet Mars exists but does not believe that it is like it is in "The Martian Chronicles" sci-fi story."

This analogy doesn't work. In the real world, there are plenty of people who take the Bible to be an accurate description of God. However, how many people take this "Martian Chronicles" (never heard of it before) to be an accurate description of Mars? Unlike with the case of Bible believers, I'd have no reason to think this of Mars and Chronicles.

[Divine Insight]

I am going to ask you politely not to put words in my mouth again.

You won't like me when I'm angry.

I don't recall putting any words in your mouth. Please point out where you think I did?

I said:

According to his experience what we need to do is become extreme sinners to the point where we are so depressed and hopeless that we are seriously contemplating suicide, then, and only then, will God send an angel to hand us a Bible that doesn't correctly describe him, and then set our furniture on fire. It's probably best to keep a fire extinguish on hand in case God does show up.

You gave a testimony. An experience where you claim God had revealed himself to you. Your testimony described a situation where you were extremely psychologically distraught to the point that you had loaded a gun and were prepared to commit suicide.

Is this correct? Am I putting words in your mouth here? I can go back and quote your testimony from the OP directly if need be.

From your OP:

But suffice to say I was in a miserable state; suicidal; gun in hand, ready to end it all.

You proclaimed that you had committed all manner of sins:

From your OP:

I had left my wife about a week before. I had lost a business I had--a CrossFit Box i co-owned--from my own recklessness and sinful behavior. (hookers, drugs, all that cliche stuff! Ha!)

You described a man whom you think looked like how an angel should look, who handed you a Bible:

From your OP:

For some reason out of desperation I picked up a bible. Part of my story here is it was given to me about an hour earier by a guy I never saw before or after downstairs outside my motel. I wont go into how he looked because it too is too clicjhe on how a human angel (I know!) would look. (but he did!)

He goes..."Take this...and do it fast. You look like you need it!) (I really did not look too bad. I am well-groomed and fit and was dressed in pressed jeans and a sports coat).

You are the one who said that after you had this experience you awoke with an insatiable yearning to know God better and "Read the Word" as often you could.

I sudden became very tired. Went to sleep and slept for a good 10 hours. When I got up the same feeling of elation was there.Total rejuvenation. I had an insatiable yearning to know God better and read the Word as often as I could. Which I still do. I got back on my feet within a week. Got my business back, everything. (but I did get divorced).

You are the one who then in later posts referred to the God written in the Bible as a "Comic Book Villain" and have since proclaimed that you don't believe that God is anything like the God described in "The Bible" (i.e. "The Word")

From your post #19

I mean, really: is there a more loathsome character in all of literature that the Yawheh of the OT? He's little more than a tyrannical bully. A Jealous, murderous, petty, and vindictive malevolent being. And seemingly insecure as well, as He constantly demands cow-towing and obsequious praise.

So it's a good thing that MY God, the REAL God, is noting like Yahweh. Who has been anthropomorphized to such an absurd level--endowed with the most base of human frailties and shortcomings--so as to be akin to a comic book villain.

Where am I putting any words in your mouth?

You accuse me of putting words in your mouth with the following:

I NEVER said that the only way for all you guys to come to God was to get in as bad a way as I was when He came to me. I NEVER claimed that one had to reach their ultimate bottom in life and suffer to the fullest to have God come to him.

Or perhaps you can easily correct me here? Show me to be a liar? By simply showing us all a quote form one of my past posts where I DID say that?

I will wait. ANd if you do not produce that, since you will not, since, well, I never said it--I will politely request an apology from you.

And I never said you did. I said that your "Testimony experience appears to be implying this".

I said, "According to his experience,..."

I never said that you personally made that claim. I'm talking about what your "Salvation Testimony" is telling me. It's telling me that if I want to get a sign from God I had better get myself into the same predicament you were in when you had your experience.

Mother Teressa's experience has already told me that it's a waste of time to simply be a good person and ask God politely for a sign.

That's clearly not going to work. If it didn't work for a nun who dedicated her life to Christ, it's probably not going to work for me either.

But your desperate situation seems to have worked. Thus it appears to me that the only way to get God to show us a sign that he exists is to follow in your footsteps.

Following in Mother Teressa's footsteps has already been demonstrated to be futile.

[Saint_of_Me]

[Replying to post 41 by rikuoamero]

I think my analogy on The Martian Chronicles works just fine. Thanks.

As far as God not answering your past prayers, I am sorry you feel that way. I would only ask yo to remember that He does not always work on the same time line as we do. I would ask you further not to cease in those efforts.

You and DI smack of the typical atheist ethos. They were former believers but when God did not give them what they asked for--when they asked for it--like some sort of Cosmic Vending Machine, they abandoned all belief. Even got angry. Found solace and a tinge of revenge toward God (it is not really!) in attacking those of us who have been recipients of his Grace. And who believe in Him.

How do I Know all this about you guys? Easy. I used to be there. The bad old days.

I WILL pray for you.

As far as questioning my belief that the God of the Torah is NOT an accurate depiction of the True God. I am not sure I can explain why I believe this any more than I already have. I thought I made my position pretty clear. I even used examples and metaphors. Thus, I believe I am done on this topic.

I will close by saying that the bible has almost assuredly been skewed with its original message with all of the myriad translations, omissions, censoring, and plain outright fabrications. Most of this was done in the Torah. (Do you guys even know that the OT you read now is NOT the Torah that Jesus read out of when he was found preaching to the Elders in the Temple at the age of 13 by His parents?

Doesn't matter what JC said about the Law not being changed a jot not a tittle. That was 2000 years ago, bro. It happened! It WAS changed. Were JC to come down today to Earth and...1--look at the state of the Christian Church, with all of its hundreds of denominations...and, 2--Read the O.T and even the NT that yo and I read....well, needless to say He would not be a Happy Christ.

Remember the old saying.."The winners are the ones who write the History books."

I also never said JC was God. I DID say He had "divine-LIKE" qualities. I personally do not buy into the Roman Catholic explanation of the Trinity. Or the Triune God. I am a mono-theist. There is but one Creator God.

And he (it?) shares little semblance to Yahweh.

God Bless.

[rikuoamero]

[Replying to post 43 by Saint_of_Me]

I think my analogy on The Martian Chronicles works just fine. Thanks.

We'll have to respectfully agree to disagree on this.

I would only ask yo to remember that He does not always work on the same time line as we do. I would ask you further not to cease in those efforts.

Unfortunately, doing so (continuing to pray) looks like insanity in my eyes. I have prayed who knows how many times in the past, all to no avail. I have no reason to expect any potential future prayers to result in anything different.

They were former believers but when God did not give them what they asked for--when they asked for it--like some sort of Cosmic Vending Machine, they abandoned all belief.

No, back when I was a believer, I never asked for anything like through a vending machine. Besides, even if I did, there are Bible quotes where Jesus promises that any requests/prayers will be honoured.

Even got angry. Found solace and a tinge of revenge toward God

I don't feel revenge toward your god. I don't believe he exists. You might as well have said I feel revenge towards Lord Voldemort.

in attacking those of us who have been recipients of his Grace. And who believe in Him.

Not attacking, in my eyes. Raising pertinent points and showing that there are questions that believers tend not to ask.

How do I Know all this about you guys? Easy. I used to be there. The bad old days.

Not quite. I have to remind you that you described yourself as having been mired in vices (drink, drugs, prostitutes), whereas I never have. In fact...now that I think about it, you only ever referred to yourself as an atheist. You never pointed out whether or not you were a skeptic, rationalist, or whatever. A person can be an atheist and still fall for sorts of hocus-pocus.

I WILL pray for you.

Knock yourself out, however, just to let you know, I view prayer as being completely ineffectual. It doesn't accomplish anything. So it doesn't exactly fill my heart with warmth to know that S_o_M is praying for me.

As far as questioning my belief that the God of the Torah is NOT an accurate depiction of the True God. I am not sure I can explain why I believe this any more than I already have. I thought I made my position pretty clear. I even used examples and metaphors. Thus, I believe I am done on this topic.

Well if you don't want to explore this any further, nothing I can do to make you. *Shrugs*

I will close by saying that the bible has almost assuredly been skewed with its original message with all of the myriad translations, omissions, censoring, and plain outright fabrications.

Which means that your story about being handed a bible, that bible opening to a certain page and a curtain burning now makes even less sense. Why would an all knowing god say or indicate that a book as full of errors as you point out be the book people ought to use to get to know him?

Most of this was done in the Torah.

Very little to none of those omissions etc occurring in the NT?

Do you guys even know that the OT you read now is NOT the Torah that Jesus read out of when he was found preaching to the Elders in the Temple at the age of 13 by His parents?

I'd love to know how you figured this out. Did you one day dig up the copy of the Torah that Jesus read?

Doesn't matter what JC said about the Law not being changed a jot not a tittle. That was 2000 years ago, bro. It happened! It WAS changed.

So Jesus, whom you described earlier as being (what?) as divine as a human could ever hope to be...you're just going to ignore what he said in the NT?
There's a word for what people such as yourself do. It's called cherry-picking.

I also never said JC was God. I DID say He had "divine-LIKE" qualities. I personally do not buy into the Roman Catholic explanation of the Trinity. Or the Triune God.

The language you used earlier could indicate otherwise. Here's what you said earlier

ANd I DO believe he was Divine in Nature and set and example for us all to try and apsire to. ANd that thorugh Him we can come to His Father, whom was God.

and

I also do not believe that JC was God. Nor was he Divine. He was a human, I think. Albeit one who was so full of God, so "tapped in" to the True Godhead as to posses Divine-like qualities.

The descriptions you give for Jesus can and have been used by others to indicate Jesus is God. They describe Jesus as being the Son of God, that his Father is God, that he is divine in nature.
I'm not saying you are correct, and those other people are wrong, or vice versa, just that the language you use is very similar to theirs.

Quite frankly, I couldn't care less whether you believe Jesus to be God or not to be God. I'm most interested in what you can prove. As I've said before, I've got you on one hand saying "Is Not God" and I've got other people on the other hand saying "Is God". Well, that's a deadlock right there. How do we resolve it?

[Divine Insight]

You and DI smack of the typical atheist ethos. They were former believers but when God did not give them what they asked for--when they asked for it--like some sort of Cosmic Vending Machine, they abandoned all belief. Even got angry. Found solace and a tinge of revenge toward God (it is not really!) in attacking those of us who have been recipients of his Grace. And who believe in Him.

How do I Know all this about you guys? Easy. I used to be there. The bad old days.

Excuse me but genuine atheists don't believe in the God in question. Therefore they cannot be angry with something they don't believe exists. Since you claim to have always been angry with God then there could not have been a time when you didn't believe God existed. So apparently there was never a time when you were an actual atheist. Apparently you were just a believer who was angry with the God you believed in.

I WILL pray for you.

The very fact that you feel that you need to instruct God on what to do suggests to me that you are still angry with him, and don't trust him to do anything right on his own without your guidance and instructions.

As far as questioning my belief that the God of the Torah is NOT an accurate depiction of the True God. I am not sure I can explain why I believe this any more than I already have. I thought I made my position pretty clear. I even used examples and metaphors. Thus, I believe I am done on this topic.

In that case then you don't believe in the Biblical God. That should be pretty self-explanatory. Although your testimony and claim to be a "Born Again Christian" sure seems to imply that you support a religion that is based entirely upon the Christian Bible.

I will close by saying that the bible has almost assuredly been skewed with its original message with all of the myriad translations, omissions, censoring, and plain outright fabrications. Most of this was done in the Torah. (Do you guys even know that the OT you read now is NOT the Torah that Jesus read out of when he was found preaching to the Elders in the Temple at the age of 13 by His parents?

If that's true then no living human can have a clue what "The Real God" expects from anyone.

Doesn't matter what JC said about the Law not being changed a jot not a tittle. That was 2000 years ago, bro. It happened! It WAS changed. Were JC to come down today to Earth and...1--look at the state of the Christian Church, with all of its hundreds of denominations...and, 2--Read the O.T and even the NT that yo and I read....well, needless to say He would not be a Happy Christ.

So now you are saying that our atheism toward the Biblical God is not only justified but that even Jesus himself would agree with our position. You are basically suggesting that Jesus is as atheistic toward the "Biblical God" as we are.

Remember the old saying.."The winners are the ones who write the History books."

I also never said JC was God. I DID say He had "divine-LIKE" qualities. I personally do not buy into the Roman Catholic explanation of the Trinity. Or the Triune God. I am a mono-theist. There is but one Creator God.

And he (it?) shares little semblance to Yahweh.

Well, we certainly agree on that much. I personally see the historical Jesus as potentially having been a spiritual Jew who tried to bring the higher wisdom of Mahayana Buddhism into his home culture.

That's a whole other story, but ironically, you appear to view Jesus in a very similar way as I do (i.e. not as the demigod Son of Yahweh).

By the way, the torn curtain would have been torn by Yahweh, not Jesus.

God Bless.

You sure do seem to like to tell God what to do. Do you not trust him to bless everyone on his own? Why do you feel that you need to continually tell God to bless people? Don't you think God already knows who he wants to bless and who he doesn't?

[Saint_of_Me]

[Replying to post 45 by Divine Insight]

I personally have no problem with the hypothesis of some Theologians who think that during his so-called "lost years" (from his mid-teens till his early 30s) that JC might have wandered off to Tibet or somewhere and studied Buddhism. I love Buddhism and put the teachings of Siddartha Gautama right up there with those of Jesus of Nazareth.

I considered the Buddha to be "divine-like" as well. (Contrary to what you think, I do not mean this to be the equivalent of being "a God.") I believe that a good person who practices Buddhism and follows Gautama's teachings could also aspire to a Heavenly afterlife. Just like us Christians.

I know the Buddhhists don't believe in a Heaven per se, but rather refer to their brand of Afterlife Bliss as "nirvana." And that word means "extinguishment" as in extinguishing the flames of desire (dukkha?) that are the main Cause for our Suffering here on Earth, and also which keeps us entrapped on the Wheel of Samsara.

I believe the 8-Fold Path Teachings to be as valuable as The Sermon on The Mount.

And the Four Noble Truths to be as useful as the 10 Commandments.

During my agnostic and Atheist years I often said the only religion I could ever entertain the slightest notion of joining was Buddhism. Zen specifically. Speaking of which, I also believe in their concept of Satori as I do our idea of a Salvation Experience (like mine) or being Born Again.

So if you tried to rile me with your bit about thinking JC might as been a Buddhist you barked up the wrong tree, Divine. LOL. That thinking might (does!) rile a lit of fundie Christians, but not me. I might even have MORE respect for JC's teachings and His Life if we found for sure that he DID study Buddhism.

(If you read some of the apocryphal works that mention accounts of JC, like the Gnostic Gospels or the Gospel of Thomas, especially, you can discern a decidedly Zen-like flavor to some of JC's teachings.) Thus, little wonder that the early Church felt it best to omit these from their official canon, and the Bible's NT that we read today.

Thanks. God Bless

..and when I say the latter, it ain't telling God what to do. This is obvious to most people but you seem to have it stuck in your craw. either that or you are another angry atheist always looking for a fight with a True Believer. At any rate, the term is one of endearment and is simply a more concise version of "may God Bless you." As in, may you find the blessings in your life, and realize them, that through His Grace He bestows upon you. Every day, amigo. Every day. You just don't know it.

God surely does not need anybody like me to "tell Him" who to Bless. Hell, I sometimes even have trouble figuring out why He saved the likes of me. I know no more of His will than most folks. But I am working on that.

[Divine Insight]

So if you tried to rile me with your bit about thinking JC might as been a Buddhist you barked up the wrong tree, Divine. LOL.

I'm not trying to "rile" you at all. That notion is entirely a creation of your own.

You posted a "Salvation Experience Testimony". You specifically invited people to critique it.

From your OP:

Thank you for the opportunity to tell you my Story. I will be more than happy to expand on any parts of it or answer any questions or critiques.

You said that you would be "more than happy" to answer any critique. But apparently having your testimony critiqued causes you to be come "riled" and angry with the critic.

I've merely been pointing out why I find your experience unlikely to have been from any God. And why I feel that if it had come from a God, all that God would be telling me through your testimony, is that if I want to get his attention and Salvation, I had better get out there and start sinning until I'm so depressed and distraught that I'm prepared to commit suicide.

In short, I wouldn't be impressed with any God who was actually involved with the experience you have described.

Not meant to say anything against you.

It's the God I would be thoroughly disgusted with. In fact, I see the behavior you have described of this God to be very much like the Yahweh of the Old Testament. He doesn't intervene in a timely manner saving you from causing yourself and other great heartache and pain. Instead he waits until the damage has already been done and intervenes at the very last moment of utter desperation.

This is a God that I would not be impressed with.

So my rejection of your "Salvation Testimony" really has nothing at all to do with you. I reject any God that would be involved with such a belated intervention.

So please don't take my criticism of your salvation experience personally.

And, as always, keep in mind that it was you who posted on a public forum specifically requesting "critique".

If receiving critique causes you to be "riled" that's certainly no fault of mine.

[Zzyzx]

.

And, as always, keep in mind that it was you who posted on a public forum specifically requesting "critique".

If receiving critique causes you to be "riled" that's certainly no fault of mine.

There is wisdom in the cliche "Be careful what you ask for."

[Saint_of_Me]

[Replying to post 47 by Divine Insight]

No hard feelings, mate!

I didn't really think you were trying to stir the pot with your idea of JC having studied Buddhism. But many more Christians who are more fundamental in their beliefs about Him and His alleged Divinity surely would.

And, yeah, I DID invite all critique on my Salvation Experience. And I still do. And no, I do not get angry with those who doubt it. I think I have said as much in past replies to other posts who have also doubted it. I recall saying how I do not blame them, and that I myself back in my Atheist days would have also had trouble with the veracity of such a claim as the one I have made.

[Divine Insight]

And, yeah, I DID invite all critique on my Salvation Experience. And I still do. And no, I do not get angry with those who doubt it. I think I have said as much in past replies to other posts who have also doubted it. I recall saying how I do not blame them, and that I myself back in my Atheist days would have also had trouble with the veracity of such a claim as the one I have made.

You keep referring to your "Atheist days". And you also seem to use your own personal perspective on atheism as a stereotypical benchmark to brand all other atheists to being nothing other than a carbon copy of what you were like.

I don't personally give this view any credence. I don't know very many atheists who believed as you did when you claimed to be an "Atheist".

You have stated in a previous post:

You and DI smack of the typical atheist ethos. They were former believers but when God did not give them what they asked for--when they asked for it--like some sort of Cosmic Vending Machine, they abandoned all belief. Even got angry. Found solace and a tinge of revenge toward God (it is not really!) in attacking those of us who have been recipients of his Grace. And who believe in Him.

How do I Know all this about you guys? Easy. I used to be there. The bad old days.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but all atheists aren't like you were back in your "bad old days".

Moreover, the mere fact that you were apparently "Angry with God" the whole time you claimed to be an "Atheist" suggests to me that you were never an atheist.

You see, an atheist genuinely doesn't believe in the Biblical God. Typically they don't believe in any God.

However, according to your own claims you not only always believed in a God, but apparently you always believed in the Biblical God and were specifically angry with him.

It's an oxymoron for any atheist to be angry with any Gods.

But here you are, not only telling us that you were always angry with God, but that you know that his is how atheists feel because you were once one of them.

Sorry, but I think almost every atheist on the planet would agree that if you were continually angry with some imagined God, then there was never a time when you had ever truly become an atheist.

It simply makes no sense for a genuine atheist to be angry with a God that they don't even believe exist.

So I don't think you know anything about atheists at all, and claiming to have been one and thus know what they are like hardly holds water. It sounds to me like you were never anything other than an angry "believer".

It just makes no sense that you would be angry with a God that you didn't believe exists.

So I don't think you speak for any atheists. Atheists aren't angry with any Gods. If they claim to be then obviously they are still "Believers". You can hardly be angry with something you don't believe exists.