I Am No Longer A Christian. Here’s Why! by Michael Bradley

 

I Am No Longer A Christian. Here’s Why!

by Michael Bradley

I was a "born again Christian’ for over twenty years. I had always gone by faith and was living a model Christian life of what I believed was holiness, loving others and public evangelism. I decided to investigate what I believed honestly and objectively, to see if what I had been indoctrinated with was actually true. I discovered that it was not. 

I discovered that the story of Adam wasn’t about the beginning of all humanity. There was no first man named Adam who was made from dirt, whose wife was formed from one of his ribs and who had been deceived by a talking snake. Since there was no real Adam, there was also no inherited ‘sin’ that affected the rest of humanity. 

I discovered that hell (Gehenna) was never a spiritual place of unending fiery torment but rather, it was the Valley of Hinnom, located just outside of Jerusalem.

I discovered that nobody will go to the biblical ‘heaven’ after they die. The concept of the righteous going to some otherworldly place after they die is based on religious traditions, not facts. 

I discovered that satan was never a fallen angel boogeyman, but rather, was a personification of opposition to Israel’s god or to Jesus and his small cult of Israelite apocalyptic doomsday preppers.

I discovered that (according to the story), the ‘Holy Spirit’ was given selectively to Israelites and that it was only meant for the time leading up to the end of the age, which was in AD70. In reality, there never was a Holy Spirit. It was nothing more than a plot device in a story filled with fairytales.

I discovered that the “gentiles” Paul and the disciples were seeking to reach with the gospel were descendants of the tribes of Israel who had been dispersed among the nations, people who had been under the law....which is not anyone today. 

I discovered that genuine Christians were Jews and non-Jewish descendants of the tribes of Israel who had been dispersed among the nations before the end of the age of the old covenant religious system and temple community. That end came in AD70. The Christianity that followed AD70 was just an invention of Greek cultured people. 

I discovered that Jesus, John, Paul and others all expected the need for the gospel to end in their generation.

I discovered Jesus’ ‘return’ was interpreted by his disciples to be through the judgment of destruction of the old covenant religious system and through their faith, salvation from Jerusalem’s destruction, which happened in AD70. There will be no future “return” of Jesus.

I discovered Israel’s god YHWH was just one of many ancient near eastern tribal deities believed on by primitive and superstitious people in the mid to late Bronze Age, no more real than Baal, Yahweh’s consort Asherah or Moloch.

I discovered the bible’s redemptive narrative only pertained to old covenant Israel, that I was never a sinner, was never on the way to some judgement and never needed to be saved or redeemed.

I discovered that being ‘born again’ was not the emotionally charged religious cult conversion experience that people in modern times act out.

I discovered that my previous hope of ""eternal life" was illusory and based on a highly literal misunderstanding. Eternal life from a first century Isrealite's perspective was not a future, unending life after death but rather, a restored relationship between ancient Israel and their god. Eternal life was a present reality to them, not the hope of an unending life after death.

I discovered my "Christian" faith was based on false premises (some of them mentioned here) and that I was giving a church or a fake pastor 10% of my money to promote something that wasn’t true. I had been ripped off for over twenty years.

I got out, and I have no regrets. 

I discovered that I could love people more without judging them by a [biblical] law nobody today is under. I began seeing people through my own eyes and not through the lens of someone else’s two thousand year old mail. Even though nearly all of my so-called ‘Christian’ friends don’t talk to me anymore, I've never been more happy and fulfilled.

I’m a better person now, a better husband and father, even a better neighbor since I departed the cult of Christianity. I no longer fear a narcissist god that I’ve been told loves me but who will throw me into a fiery abyss if I don’t love him back. I’m no longer the moral despot and tyrant of the home, no longer demanding that my wife wear long skirts, flat shoes and have long hair. I’m no longer plagued with the self-loathing that comes with believing I was born in sin and have a wicked heart. I’m more mentally and emotionally healthy since I departed the cult of Christianity. 

I’m often asked “But what will happen to you after you die?”. My answer is...Nobody knows what happens after their last breath, if anything. Probably nothing. There is no good reason to hope for anything after we die. It may just be lights out forever. I can accept that. I’m not afraid of that. I don’t need to believe in an afterlife. I can accept that life is short. I’m thankful for the time I have and believe I can and should live each day and love others as if today was my last day.

If you believe you’re a Christian, I hope you can find your way out of it as I have.