Biology trumps spirituality

Here's another in an occasional series of "deconversion" stories. Though there are many more over at debunkingchristianity.com I only feature those that stir a responsive chord in me. This one is from a former Seventh-day Adventist and hits at the point that even learned Bible scholars can see the light eventually. As a Christian Scientist I had taken "the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life," and studied the Bible diligently, applying the unconventional interpretation that religion imposes on the texts. Gradually, over several years, several of the supporting concept of Christianity began to crumble. I could no longer believe in the doctrines of the virgin birth, the resurrection, or even the very existence of the person who is claimed to be the founder of Christianity. Eventually this led to my complete disbelief in the existence of any "supreme being" or individual "Creator" of the universe. Like "Evan" in the following account, the evidence of evolution became the universal acid that dissolved every supporting column of spiritual belief.

My departure from Christian Science, and all forms of "spirituality," came as a result of long and deep thought, observation and testing. After thirty years of immersion in a specific form of it, Christian Science, I believe my decision should not be taken lightly by those who continue to cling to spiritual beliefs. I am someone who has gone before you and worked it out. I encourage you to take on the adventure for yourself. I'm not saying it will lead you to bliss -- in fact, it will probably be difficult making the transformation - but you can rest in the conviction that your views are more truth-based than any religious or spiritual doctrine.

Here's an excerpt from Evan's story:

I was a believer in biblical inerrancy and a young-earth creationist just like all those around me. I was the best in my age group at Bible trivia (we called them Bible sword drills) to the point that our Sabbath School teachers would keep me from playing because it wasn't fair to the other kids.

In high school some of my friends were growing disillusioned with our church and I listened to their arguments but didn't find them compelling until I got to college. I wanted to go to medical school eventually, but I initially declared a major in Religion while taking all the science prerequisites needed for my premed aspirations. The second quarter of my freshman year, I took a class in Jesus and the Gospels. This was the first exposure I had had to higher literary criticism of the Bible and my exposure to the textual theories about the Gospels astonished me, and made me realize the all-too-human nature of the text. This also led me to investigate other German theories regarding the Bible including Graf/Wellhausen, which confirmed my concerns.

My study of religion abolished my faith in biblical inerrancy and I changed my major to biology.

I began to see strong evidence for evolution, even though all my professors were young earth creationists.

Full text at: http://debunkingchristianity.blogspot.com/2008/02/my-deconversion.html