Atheists Finding God - Jana S. Harmon

Atheists Finding God

Unlikely Stories of Conversions to Christianity in the Contemporary West

(Autor)

Buch | Hardcover
240 Seiten
2023
Lexington Books (Verlag)
978-1-7936-4132-8 (ISBN)
95,95 inkl. MwSt
This book examines the unlikely conversion stories of fifty former atheists as they move from belief in naturalistic atheism to strong belief in God and conservative Christianity. Their own perspectives and journeys provide deep insight for those who are interested in why and how such dramatic change is possible.
In a Western culture of increasing skepticism towards conservative Christianity, what motivates intellectually-driven atheists to believe in the reality of God and become passionate followers of Christ? Review of social science literature confirms a predominant functional approach to religious conversion, effectively reducing a complex, substantive phenomenon to a partial functional explanation. In response, the chief focus of this book is to take a broader look at religious conversion to determine the precursors and pathways from atheistic disbelief to belief in God and Christianity within an educated population.

Findings are drawn from PhD-based research evaluating a broad range of functional and substantive variables influencing religious conversion. Data was collected through both survey and interview of fifty educated, skeptical atheists in the contemporary West who once held belief God and Christianity as implausible, unattractive, and irrelevant. Yet, they became utterly convinced that the Christian faith was true and good, worth personal life commitment.

These former atheists not only experienced a change of their worldview, but also a dramatic transformation of their ‘whole world.’ In-depth narrative analysis revealed the integrated, transformative nature of religious conversion in areas of sense-making, identity, experience, meaning and purpose, community, language, and spirituality. Overall, this book advances the case for using an inclusive, transformational perspective in future description, conception, and modeling for religious conversion of atheists to conservative forms of Christianity.

Jana Harmon is teaching fellow for the C.S. Lewis Institute of Atlanta and a former adjunct professor in Cultural Apologetics at Biola University.

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter One: Religious Conversion—Changing Stories of Reality

Chapter Two: Atheism and Christianity—Conflicting Worldview Stories

Chapter Three: Becoming an Atheist—Atheists’ Reasons for Atheism

Chapter Four: Being an Atheist—Atheists’ Views on Religion and Life

Chapter Five: Catalysts Towards Change—Disruptive Challenges and Longings

Chapter Six: Catalysts Towards Change—Disruptive Experiences

Chapter Seven: Questing Towards Belief—Seeking After Truth

Chapter Eight: Questing Towards Belief—Experiencing God

Chapter Nine: Putting the Pieces Together—the Complexity of Conversion

Chapter Ten: Putting the Pieces Together—the Comprehensiveness of Conversion

Appendix: From Atheism to Christianity—Unlikely Stories of Conversion

Bibliography

About the Author

Erscheinungsdatum
Verlagsort Lanham, MD
Sprache englisch
Maße 157 x 237 mm
Gewicht 494 g
Themenwelt Geisteswissenschaften Religion / Theologie
ISBN-10 1-7936-4132-3 / 1793641323
ISBN-13 978-1-7936-4132-8 / 9781793641328
Zustand Neuware
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