About

Plato is dear to me, but dearer still is truth.
— Aristotle

I started this blog at the end of 2006, when I was a fundamentalist Christian. During 2010, I posted no articles, because I was in the midst of studying my way out of my religion. At the beginning of that year, I ran across articles that pointed out where the Book of Daniel contained inaccurate historical information. As I studied to try to disprove those claims, I found that the evidence actually came in against the Bible’s inspiration, not in support of it. That led me into further studies about the prophecy fulfillment issues, the internal inconsistencies, the historical and scientific inaccuracies, and all the problems involved in selecting and assembling the various manuscripts. And then, of course, there are all the problems with Christianity’s doctrines, not to mention the philosophical considerations.

Coming to terms with all of that information was incredibly difficult, especially since my wife and I were raising three young children. We eventually reached a point where we knew we could no longer call ourselves Christians, and we did not want to raise our children under a set of beliefs that we felt were false. But this presented even more problems for us, since our families were strictly observant Christians who believed they had to sever relationships with any who left the faith.

This blog discusses how I navigated my way out of faith, and it illustrates how religion can actually be very damaging, even though most people assume it’s helpful, or at least innocuous. In the beginning, this blog was intended as a beacon to help draw people closer to Christ, but now I use it to help undo some of the falsehoods I helped spread as a Christian. You’ll find some of my more substantial posts linked below.

About the Blog’s Title

“Finding Truth” is a goal — an aspiration. I’m not claiming to have found truth; this blog simply represents my ongoing goal of reaching it.

Why Do I Blog?

A Brand New Direction
Why Do I Blog?
What Have I Gained? (by leaving Christianity)

The Story of My Deconversion

Start here: How It Happened: My Deconversion Part 1

On Withdrawal

Withdrawal Part 1: My Situation
Withdrawal Part 2: Doctrinal Considerations

Skeptical Bible Study

Skeptical Bible Study: The Book of Daniel
Family Ties: Nebuchadnezzar, Nabonidus, Belshazzar, and Nitocris
Skeptical Bible Study: Tower of Babel
The Book of Job: Serious or Satire?
“Times of Ignorance”
Bloody Well Right
Romans 9: A Divine and Fickle Dictator
Jewish Disciples Wouldn’t Have Created the Idea of a Resurrection?

Prophecy Failures

Does the Bible Contain True Prophecies?
Prophecy Part 1: Introduction
Prophecy Part 2: Throne Forever
Prophecy Part 3: Egypt & Rachel
Prophecy Part 4: Triumphal Entry
Prophecy Part 5: Virgin Birth
Prophecy Part 6: Tyre (You can also check out this post: This City Doesn’t Exist)
Prophecy Part 7: Isaiah 53 & Psalm 22
Prophecy Part 8: Conclusion
Cities Without Walls

Series on the Prophecy of Tyre

Part 1: The Prophecy at Face Value
Part 2: A Brief History of Tyre
Part 3: Mainland or Island?
Part 4: The Details
Part 5: Final Thoughts
Tyre by the Numbers

Contradictions in the Bible

Contradictions Part 1: Introduction
Contradictions Part 2: Two Examples
Contradictions Part 3: Brief Examples
Contradictions Part 4: Hares Chewing the Cud
Contradictions Part 5: Out of Egypt
Contradictions Part 6: Jesus’s Genealogy
Contradictions Part 7: Judas
Contradictions Part 8: The Crucifixion
Contradictions Part 9: The Resurrection
Contradictions Part 10: Conclusion
Contradiction: Was There a Sojourn in Egypt or Not?

The Problem With Hell

The Importance of Hell
The Problem of Hell Part 1: Textual Issues
The Problem of Hell Part 2: Logical Issues

The Problem of Evil

The Problem of Evil

Morality

Is Color Objective or Subjective?
Objective Rock Music
The Bible’s Morality
Why, as an Atheist, Do I Value Morality?
What About My Children?

Miscellaneous Aricles

The Big Picture
Why Some People Believe the Bible (And Why the Reasons Aren’t Good Enough)
Frustrated
God Made Us This Way — It’s Only Reasonable He’d Be Angry About It
Letter To Kathy (the Bible Has Problems)
Love and Compulsion
Is It Fair to Expect Inerrancy from the Bible?

303 thoughts on “About”

  1. Hi Ryan,

    Thanks for the response. It’s true that examples I listed were of people who already believed in God, with the exception of Abraham. It seems as though he was not directly familiar with Yahweh at the time God began speaking to him. However, there are other examples, like Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, and Cyrus. They were not familiar with the Israelite God, but he still interacted with them.

    As I was going through my deconversion, I desperately prayed to God to help me find the truth, whatever it was. I was ready to put aside every preconception I’d ever had — I just wanted to know what was true. I never heard anything.

    I know you’ve experienced a lot of turmoil over what’s true yourself. I wish you could experience a little more comfort with it though. Learning more about these issues is not a bad thing — and if you feel less certain of your beliefs after more study, that’s not your fault. That’s the nature of religion. And when it comes down to what you believe, that’s not something you choose so much as it’s something you realize. No decent God should punish you for the conclusions you come to. If he wanted you to come to a different belief, he could help you get there.

    So if you think God is all-loving and merciful, then you have very little to worry about. If you don’t believe in such a God, then all bets are off as to how he’ll treat you anyway. May as well just live the best life you can live and not worry too much about the things you can’t control.

    I don’t know if that’s helpful or not, but it’s how I see things.

    I think it also indicates that those who knew less about Jesus (Muslims, Hindus) would be treated justly and would not be punished as much.

    But really, if they’re punished at all, then they’re not being treated justly. God could make it plainer. By and large, people are sincere about their beliefs. If they’re wrong, they should be convinced, not punished.

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  2. If you don’t mind my asking, why do you believe in the Christian god? What is it that makes you choose that one out of all the other available options?

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  3. I think your right about Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, and Cyrus. I actually agree with most, if not everything you have said above.

    Always appreciate your input, helps me get a second perspective 🙂 thanks.

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  5. to be really, really honest its because I feel I should be living a Christian life and witnessing to my grandparents, and in order to do that I need to be following what Jesus actually taught.

    Because I don’t know if there’s a hell or not, but if there is I don’t want my grandparents (or anyone else) to go there. I don’t want to be sitting in regret 5 or 10 or even 20 years from now thinking, I should have lived this way…or I should have expressed this..

    I had the same thing with my great grandmother when I was younger, and I tried to witness and share the message with her when I visited her at the retirement centre. I think she appreciated me visiting. but yeah, thats the truth. I dont want to regret, and the fact is I just don’t know and can’t be sure there is no god

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  6. lately I def havent been living as Christ taught, and have been really feeling conflicted about it, but not conflicted enough to change drastically. so yeah… but I just don’t want anything to happen to my grandparents, just in case they havent believed. But then I think of my own salvation, and I wonder that biblically speaking I might be headed for hell as well, which does bother me, but Ive been avoiding all of this and try to find distractions.

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  7. But I am also painfully aware that this confliction is keeping me from enjoying and appreciating this time of life now, for things will change, people are healthy atm, and I shouldn’t worry that all away. Even the Bible says be anxious for nothing

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  9. I understand that — it’s very similar to the way I used to think. But why do you think the god of the Bible is even real? It’s possible that a god exists and it still not be the Christian one, you know… So what are your main reasons for believing in a god? And secondly, what are your main reasons for believing in the Christian god?

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  11. Here is a brief outline of some reasons off the top of my head why I think the God of the Bible is real, in no particular order:

    (Just to clarify, I believe the God of the Bible to be expressed in Jesus and His Spirit.)

    1. Jesus is a historical figure, which is a distinction from Kali, Vishnu, Thor or Shiva.

    Granted Mohammad and Buddha were also historical figures, but much of Islam was adapted from Christian and Jewish Texts, since it cam after both these faiths.

    Buddha has been integrated into other faiths, like Hinduism and revered as a God, even though he made no such claim. And yes, Jesus has also been integrated into other belief systems, like the Gnostic faiths, but a key difference I think is that from the most consistent sources Jesus did claim to be God.

    2. There are prophecies Jesus fulfils

    (temple being destroyed, Peter denying Him, Being a Nazarene, going to Egypt, pierced in the side, no bones broken, being put on a tree).

    These are just off the top of my head. I am aware that these prophesises are also all expressed in the very books that his supporters wrote, but that’s where faith comes in.

    3. Jesus taught that if people seek him and do what he says, follow his teachings he will send his Spirit and lead us into truth. I feel I haven’t properly followed Him, so I don’t think I know what it is to be lead into truth. Furthermore I will always believe in Gods Spirit.

    4. Jesus teaches things that I believe are quite profound- namely not just to love people because they are likable or even loving, but because Jesus loved us first. I don’t think there can be a separation from the Bible and Jesus, since the Bible points to Jesus. I do think it’s potentially problematic to treat the Bible as inerrant, since the Bible itself seems to make no such specific claims as many of the proponents in inerrancy make.

    5. Many things they I consider worthwhile in my life or things I have done have been prompted by my faith in Jesus teachings. eg. Talking to strangers on buses.
    I met one of my best friends this way, he’s from Somalia, a Journalist on a protection Visa, since Al shabab were targeting journalists and some of his colleges were murdered. He is a Muslim, and a fantastic person.

    6. When I’ve tried to live without God I feel I tend to get bored and self absorbed

    I’m heading over to Darwin in a few hours for two weeks, when I get back I’ll flesh out these a bit more if you have any questions 🙂

    Hope this helps clarify some things and gives you a better idea where I’m coming from.

    Kind regards, Ryan

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  12. Hi Ryan,

    Thanks for the reply. I want to offer a few points to consider about your reasons, but I won’t belabor them — they’re your reasons, and I want to respect your willingness to share them.

    1) Jesus may have been a historical person. There’s no way to prove it definitively, but it’s certainly reasonable to assume that he was. However, if you’ve never looked into the case against his historicity, it’s worth checking out. The lack of contemporary historical sources is something to consider.

    2) I disagree with the prophecy thing. For one, the temple destruction is hard to count, because most scholars believe the gospels were written after the temple’s destruction. So it would have been easy for the writers to claim Jesus gave that prophecy, whether he actually did or not. The same goes for Peter’s betrayal. The prophecy and fulfillment were all recorded together. The Nazarene prophecy doesn’t actually exist in the OT, so it’s hard to consider it an actual prophecy. Going to Egypt was also not given as a prophecy in the OT. I talk about that here. The broken bone thing doesn’t seem to be talking about the Messiah when you read Psalm 34 — it appears to be talking about righteous people in general. I believe the hung on a tree thing is from Deut 21, and this was a law Israelites were to observe when administering corporal punishment. Don’t leave the body to hang on a tree overnight. There’s nothing at all in the passage to indicate that it had any more significance than that.

    Personally, I think Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 are the best examples of Messianic prophecies. But even they have some issues, mostly in the fact that they’re still a bit vague. And considering that the gospel writers (especially Matthew) had no qualms about repurposing OT passages, it’s easy to see how they could add a few details to the crucifixion accounts to make correlations where they wanted.

    Real prophecy would be a great reason to believe the Bible — it’s one of the reasons I used to give too. But if you haven’t taken the time to really investigate them critically, I’d recommend that you do so. Even if it doesn’t change your mind, you’ll likely come away with a different impression of them.

    3) Fair enough. But how will you ever know if you’re actually being led by the Holy Spirit, or if it’s just a figment of your imagination? And if you never feel like you’re being led at all, how will you know that you just weren’t trying hard enough? The beauty of Christianity is that it excels at making its adherents think that any fault they have with the religion is actually a fault with themselves. They’re just not doing it right. Or they don’t have enough faith. Or they’ve been misled into following a “false” version. When you convince people that they are the problem, there’s no way for them to objectively investigate the religion.

    4) I get your reasoning here. I’m not sure that Jesus’ teachings were as revolutionary as people sometimes claim, but that’s something I’m looking into now, so I’ll hold off on commenting about it.

    5 and 6 are personal points, so I won’t comment on those either.

    Thanks again for going into your reasoning. I’ve said before that I’ve got a lot of respect for you and your sincerity. I hope that whatever path you find yourself on brings you peace of mind.

    Talk to you soon,

    Nate

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  13. Nate, I have been making my way through your blog over the last couple of months. I just want to say thank you. My husband and I have been going through our deconversion for over a year now. My husband was/is ahead of me – so to speak – in the process. Nevertheless, I am now beginning to live in the freedom that comes after shedding Evangelical Christianity. And I have to say, you and your blog have been of tremendous help to me. In fact, I resonate with so much of what you say; and it’s been very encouraging to hear from you. Thank you.

    BTW, you’ve conversed with my husband before. He’s Jericho Brisance.

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  14. Jbars, your comment means a lot to me — thanks!!! I’m so glad my blog has been helpful to you in some way. We get into some deep conversations here, from time to time, but the people who comment rarely change positions. But I know there are those, like yourself, who may not weigh in directly, but are watching. Those are the people I’m most excited about, so thanks for letting me know you’re there!

    I know this last year or so has been really tough for you guys. From reading your husband’s posts and comments, I’m really struck at how similar your story is to what my wife and I went through. And his blog is fantastic! I’m glad we’ve run across one another.

    Please feel free to comment any time! And good luck with everything as you guys continue to deal with the repercussions (both good and bad) that come with such a huge change.

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  15. Pingback: Seeing the TRUE light « Enquiries on Atheism

  16. Nate, thanks so much for the reply. I really appreciate it. We, too, have been struck by the similarities. I look forward to future interaction.

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  17. Hi Nate,

    I know I have asked this before, but what are people’s thoughts on the King James Version of the Bible?

    As I’m sure you know, there is a movement out there that adheres to the belief that the KJV is the only valid translation. I’m wondering whether this position corrects any discrepancies, by saying that the KJV is authentic while other translations are deceptive or with errors.

    Here are two charts showing how key verses have been omitted, changed from specific translations in comparison to the KJV:

    1. http://wordofgod.0catch.com/NKJVOmissions.html

    2.http://av1611.com/kjbp/charts/various.html

    It also puzzles how Isaiah 14:12 is referenced in different translations as O morning star

    This is talked about here: http://www.cobblestoneroadministry.org/whythekingjamesbible.html

    Do people think these differences make a difference?

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  18. You know, the translation debate is not something I’ve looked into a whole lot. From the little I’ve researched it, I think most scholars agree that the KJV is the least accurate translation. As I understand it, the reason many modern translations omit or change some of the passages from what the KJV says is because they’re using older texts, which should make them closer to the original. The KJV has some passages that appear to have been added to the Bible much later.

    In that last link you provided, the author says he thinks the KJV is the best translation because he finds it to make the most sense. But that really has nothing to do with its accuracy. To me, the more important points would center around how close the translation comes to the originals. Of course, we don’t have those, but the older manuscripts should be closer to the originals than later manuscripts.

    What are your thoughts on it?

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  19. The KJV as the Least accurate? Wow, I never would have thought so! I was brought up with the KJV being THE ONE TRUE VERSION. 😉 The Revised KJV was acceptable, but the NIV? Forget about it–all full of Liberal re-writing and hogwash! Funny thing about that, though, is that there were still Insets, and Extra Verses that even our church recognized (thanks to the JFB or Clarke’s Commentary) to be additions…but, of course, the additions the ministry liked were Divinely Inspired additions. *whew*, glad we know which of the non-original text is Divinely Inspired vs. that which was put in apparently at the suggestion of the Evil One. (lol…)

    Which newer translations are the ones using the older manuscripts?

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  20. @eSell, here are just 16 NT verses omitted or noted in current versions like the NIV and the NLT . Nate is spot on that over the past 65 years we have found older manuscripts which do NOT have these verses.

    Mt 17:21 , Mt 18:11, Mt 23:14, MK 7:16, Mk 9:44, Mk 9:46, Mk 11:26, Mk 15:28, Lk 17:36, Lk 23:17, Jn 5:4, Acts 15:34, Acts 24:7, Acts 28:29, Acts 8:37, Rm 16:24

    In addition, the longer version of Mark 9 through 20 which is the entire Ascension Story.

    Also Luke 24 3,6,9,12,36,40,51 & 52 are termed “Dubious” and “Unlikely” as these don’t appear in earlier and more reliable texts.

    Last but not least John 7:53 through 8:11 (The woman caught in adultery story) is NOT found in the older manuscripts.

    Several of these scriptures are Red Letter Quotes attributed to Jesus.

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  21. You can go to http://www.biblegateway.com and see which Translations have these scriptures. The ones who do list these scriptures all have a foot note saying these scriptures were “added” to some manuscripts. The Good Old King James version that I possess one of refuses to admit this. Interesting.

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  22. Thanks for providing that info, KC. I grew up using the NKJV, so when I think of passages, I still remember them in that version. But over the last 6 or 7 years, I’ve used the ESV as my go-to translation. It still contains the dubious passages, but gives them with the caveat that they don’t appear in the older texts.

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  23. Nate, my 95 yr old Mother still uses the KJV. She says if it was good enough for the Apostle Paul, it’s good enough for her. 🙂 BTW , the 1611 KJV also contained the Apocrypha . I believe they left those books in until the 1800’s.

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  24. You gotta love quotes like that! 🙂

    I had forgotten about the Apocrypha being in the KJV initially. A couple of years ago, they “re-released” the 1611 version for its 500th anniversary. I came so close to picking one up. I still might at some point…

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  25. Nate, I did purchase one. About 5 years ago I was also able to purchase a single leaf from an original 1611 KJV Pulpit Bible. I bought it from an ancient manuscript dealer . It had my favorite scripture Luke 12:48, “To whomsoever much is given….much is required” I have been incredibly blessed the past 20 years of my life and I always try to remember to help those less fortunate. Though it is a Christian Scripture, I believe it’s just a good basic principle anyone can and should live by no matter their faith or lack thereof . I have found I receive the most joy when helping others.

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