Why Are Christians Deconstructing?
Greg talks to @NatashaCrainAuthor about what deconstruction is and why so many are walking away from traditional Christianity. Then they discuss what our search for truth should look like.
Watch the full interview at https://youtu.be/Q-l4XgV1Y0w?si=uSQww9N5xIXXxIuE.
#StandtoReason #Apologetics #Christianity #Theology #Worldviews #Deconstruction
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Who is the women Greg us talking with
8:41 The evidence (real evidence, not unsubstantiated assertions from ancient mythology) leads away from religion. Don't feel bad, it's nothing against any one religion. None of them are special, none of them are true.
People are leaving their faith because religion hasn't evolved . It's stagnant and boring. People want something else in life. Christianity has fallen with no way back. Islam will fall also with time .
I notice that they don't really talk about evidence. They talk about point of view. They talk about whether or not someone is willing to believe what they were brought up to believe. They don't talk about letting evidence be your guide and demanding evidence for claims made. A lot of times deconstruction is looking at things from an evidence-based perspective and demanding evidence for claims made. The Bible isn't evidence. Evidence is what is objectively verifiable. It isn't about authority. It is about evidence. They seem to see everything in terms of authority. Christianity tends to be shockingly authoritarian. Instead of seeing things in terms of evidence, they see it in terms of authority. A lot of people (myself included) do not see it in those terms. While not everyone who uses the word deconstruction means that they are letting evidence be their guide rather than authority, many are.
Secularism has faith that everyone on the plane only sees the horizon. Christianity is shutting your eyes and believing you see all the kingdoms of the world. The bible is incompatible with reality
What causes any Christian to deconstruct is not how they were raised, but their foundation, whether or not it was truly in Jesus. Not Christ, but Jesus Christ. Did they go to church and get told about how that if they can spout all of the right theological treatises, then they would be able to endure? This is why the church abroad is multiplying and the church in the west, the protestant church, is dwindling. Talk vs power. much of Western religion is just talk, and not power.
Deconstruction is not someone having logical problem with Christianity it's an emotional one, and it's almost ALWAYS an issue with Christians and Christian leaders not the actual biblical truths and practices, in my experience. Giving them apologetic reasons that the bible is true is not going to convince them that pastors don't hate gay people etc. etc. you have to actually show them real true Love through your actions alone, especially now that we're in a post-fact society.
The real question, did these people who have supposedly been Christians all their lives and have deconstructed ever really part of the fold? Did they experience regeneration? Did they come to a point of recognition of their evil nature and come to God in repentance? There are many who have not deconstructed and are going through all the motions of portraying themselves as Christians, who, in the end will face God, and he will say, “I never knew you.” I would say these people were never Christians in the first place. Those who have deconstructed have exposed themselves for who they are, they came to a place where they have shed their sheep’s clothing to expose they are wolves. They have followed the path of Judas.
Here is what we want you to think about with deconversion stories in either direction (Christian to atheist or atheist to Christian). The issue to focus on is not how really convinced someone was in the past and how genuinely unconvinced they are now. The issue, rather, is the reasons that they think justify the change. Instead of being distracted—and possibly discouraged—by the strength of someone’s emotions regarding his old beliefs, we need to focus on the strength of his reasons for rejecting those beliefs.
Here’s a case study from Greg Koukl. Greg takes you through a set of complaints against Christianity and walks you through how to respond: https://rsn.pub/3UlqbE1.
I was raised in a very devout Baptist family, gave my life to Jesus at a Bible camp when I was a child. I truly believed. I attended church, Sunday school, youth group, taught Sunday school, led Bible studies, spent three years at a very conservative Bible school. Was a deacon in my church, etc. But even in those days there were many, many things about the Bible and the Christian faith that seemed very illogical to me. Finally in my 70's (now I am 80 years old) I seriously deconstructed and de-converted and now am a complete and total atheist and anti-theist. Why? Because I came to realize that the Bible is a book of plagiarized legends, invented and distorted history, and total scientific nonsense. I also graduated in engineering and worked my whole life in engineering and science. In my first job I worked alongside geologists on geological surveys, and already as a young man realized the nonsense of the story of Noah's flood. Plus the Bible is the story of the most sadistic and misogynistic god humanity has ever imagined. As an atheist I have formed new meaning for my life and I have a sense of freedom and purpose and joy that I never had as a Christian. And looking at hundreds of videos on you tube, of atheists and de-converted Christians has become a great new hobby. Would truly recommend that to all of you.
From the deconstruction videos I've viewed, Calvinism was the reason for all of them. They continued to struggle with sin, and since that Gospel preaches one has to be without sin to prove they are saved, they logically figured God damned them from eternity past to be lost, so they accepted their fate. I don't believe most deconstructionists have ever heard the true Gospel.
I hear many deconstructionist talk about being in church but never in Christ. They never speak as though they had a true relationship with him. It's always about everything else in churchianity. I believe they were never born again. A true Christian could never deconstruct. It's impossible.
All 'deconstructing' is, is unsaved cultural Christians walking away.
Truth isn't what you want it to be……….. but you want your truth to be true……..
I deconstructed, which meant I questioned every world view claim including my own and weighed these against reality and discarded whatever didn't and didn't make claims about what I can't defend. I'm a confident thiest, greatful mere christian, but carefully reconstructing I am more humble and stable in my claims.
There are many dangers, many stall; never reconsructing a defendable worldview. If they stall, empty, they will be lawless, or inventive, or suicidal.
I was about 7 when I deconstructed. The stories read to me as a child had magic and talking animals and ghosts and giants. When I got just a little bit older, I learned the difference between fiction, non-fiction and fairy tales. When I learned how to read, I figured out that the bible stories fell into the latter category, but for some reason mom and dad believed them. I quickly learned that if I didn’t play along with their delusions they would beat me with a big wooden spoon. Anyway, the analytical skills I learned as a 7-year-old tell me that as much as Koukl talks about talking to atheists, he almost never actually does it. I also believe that his teenage children learned how to tell him what he wants to hear a long time ago.
Deconstruction means undoing indoctrination that has been imposed on them since childhood.
There’s a far more common cause: The vast majority (>90%) of “Christians” never met God, God’s way.
They joined churchianity or lived in a Christian culture, but their minds or hearts were of the three soils in which the Word bore no fruit (Matthew 13). They follow a different voice and perish because they were never Jesus’s sheep (John 10).
Deconstruction purifies the church by removing false Christians. And, since you have to accept your condemnation to become saved, deconstruction brings to those who thought they were not condemned a better perspective: Now, they know they are not saved.
So, I see deconstruction as more a positive than a negative.
Far to much information in today's world are not taught. It seems Churches just parrot over and over, lightly touching on Scripture, many times "out of context."
Far to many Christians have questions, far to many Churches don't have answers.
I am still a Christian but I had to do years of research to find my own answers.
There are some wonderful resources out there, like "Stand to Reason," which is brilliant.
We need more good Christians, educated in Scripture.
I have not been attending church lately. I still feel very strongly about my Christian faith and my scripture reading. When my pastor shows up in a flannel shirt and jeans, I have to question where is the respect God is due? I work in the same building as the music leader. When he comes to work, he is dressed in shoes, a business jacket, a vest, and a tie. He looks very professional. When he shows up at church, it's sneakers a tee shirt and jeans. How can I go along with that?