Happy New Year!

Wishing all you wonderful folks a happy new year!

To all who have contributed to the site throughout 2018, through articles, comments or both, thank you.

We run this blog because we think there is great value in talking about our experiences and what we've all learned throughout the process of leaving a highly-controlling religion.

Some of you may have had the great fortune of being able to walk away from the religion with relative ease, while others of us have found the process incredibly challenging and difficult. By sharing our unique experiences and perspectives, together we can heal the wounds, and help to make every year a little better than the last.

To that end, I want hear your feedback and suggestions of what you'd like to see more of in 2019 on this blog. Let's celebrate the magic of life, the universe, and everything, and have a little fun along the way as well.

So once again, happy new year! Let's make 2019 a great one!

-Thom

Archaeology Of The Hebrew Bible

"From the beginnings of what we call biblical archeology, perhaps 150 years ago, scholars, mostly western scholars, have attempted to use archeological data to prove the Bible. And for a long time it was thought to work. [William Foxwell] Albright, the great father of our discipline, often spoke of the "archeological revolution." Well, the revolution has come but not in the way that Albright thought. The truth of the matter today is that archeology raises more questions about the historicity of the Hebrew Bible and even the New Testament than it provides answers, and that's very disturbing to some people."

Click here to read the rest of this article

Tired of Hearing About Tyre - Ezekiel 26 Prophecy Failed

Assyriologist and Old Testament Scholar Dr Josh Bowen explains the failure of the prophecy against Tyre in Ezekiel 26. He provides evidence from both the biblical text and also other Ancient Near Eastern texts, demonstrating clearly that the prophecy failed. Also in this video you will see why those who claim otherwise often try to contort the text to make it say something it clearly does not say.

Quote of the day

"Life is not perfect, neither is it meant to be. It is a lesson and its lessons escape the Christadelphians because they believe they know exactly the meaning and purpose to life. In doing this they close themselves to so much that could have been experienced."

Anonymous contributor, Whose Truth?

Morality And Atheism

By Thom Jonas

PLEASE NOTE: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect the views of all admins, nor the views of all ex-Christadelphians.
--

If you have read any material from believers on the topic of morality you will no doubt be familiar with the idea that morality requires or implies the existence of a god, and the idea that we get our morals from God and/or the Bible. I disagree with both of these ideas, and in this article I will offer some reasons why.

Quote of the day

"Science is a search for truth – whatever the truth may turn out to be, even if it’s evidently not what we wanted to believe it was. In science, it doesn’t matter what you believe; all that matters is why you believe it. This is why real science disallows faith, promising instead to remain objective, to follow wherever the evidence leads, and either correct or reject any and all errors along the way even if it challenges whatever we think we know now."

Aron Ra

Thinking On Purpose

By Thom Jonas

As someone who no longer believes in some kind of afterlife, I quite often come across the claim that life without belief in God or an afterlife must be meaningless and without purpose. I think the fundamental problem with this claim is that it is self-fulfilling. It is only true if you believe it to be true. But you don't have to believe it. There are other ways to look at meaning and purpose, just as there are evidently many ways to live a fulfilling life.

Quote of the day

"Unfortunately, the Christian habit of emphasising the problems and failing to contribute to solutions is unhelpful. Just hanging around until Jesus comes to solve all the problems is not constructive. Surely it would be better, regardless of what we believe, to be actively working to make a better world now."

Rob Hyndman

Quote of the day

"There are days when I miss my old convictions as if they were an amputated limb. But in general I feel better, and no less radical, and you will feel better too, I guarantee, once you leave hold of the doctrinaire and allow your chainless mind to do its own thinking."

Christopher Hitchens

Quote of the day

"My objection to supernatural beliefs is precisely that they miserably fail to do justice to the sublime grandeur of the real world. They represent a narrowing-down from reality, an impoverishment of what the real world has to offer."

Richard Dawkins

Quote of the day

"Most people believe most of the things they believe only because they believe that most people believe them."

Mokokoma Mokhonoana

10 Signs Your Religion May Be Harmful

By Thom Jonas

THIS article contains a list of common features of groups that are generally considered harmful and potentially unsafe. There are several such lists online and many of them offer some combination of the features listed below.

If you recognise similarities between the warning signs listed below and your own ecclesia or even the Christadelphian religion as a whole, then perhaps it is time to ask yourself some critical questions or seek a second opinion from a counsellor or third party outside the religion.

Quote of the day

"The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion."

Thomas Paine

Thoughts for doubting Christadelphians

By Phynnodderee

When I first started having niggling doubts about my faith, I assumed there must be answers out there somewhere, it was just that I wasn’t smart enough or knowledgeable enough or spiritually mature enough to figure them out. Later, when these unanswered questions developed into serious doubts, I began to wonder what on earth was wrong with me. Everyone around me seemed to have such a strong, easy faith. Why did I alone seem to be struggling with doubts? Was I crazy?

Quote of the day

"[Science's] only sacred truth is that there are no sacred truths. All assumptions must be critically examined. Arguments from authority are worthless. Whatever is inconsistent with the facts - no matter how fond of it we are - must be discarded or revised."

Carl Sagan

Quote of the day

"Many people fear to apply themselves to a reconsideration of their own beliefs because 'You never know where it will lead you'. Even a minor reassessment of one topic is feared - '...how far would it go?' Still others think that there is no intermediate position between faithful adherence to a traditional stand and complete chaos where everyone has his own views and all differ from each other. All these attitudes I feel... to be faithless and wrong."

From Christadelphia Redivivus by G. McHaffie

Quote of the day

"There need be no scheme of rewards and punishments transcending this life to justify our moral intuitions or to render them effective in guiding our behavior in the world. The only angels we need invoke are those of our better nature: reason, honesty, and love."

Sam Harris

What if ... ?

By Thom Jonas

“What if Jesus soon returns and you are left behind?
What if you are judged and your eternal life declined?
What if the kingdom really comes and loud you hear the shout?
What if the Christos enter in but you yourself miss out?”

Quote of the day

"It is amazing to me that a difference of opinion upon subjects that we know nothing with certainty about, should make us hate, persecute, and despise each other."

Robert G. Ingersoll

Video: 7 Tips for Helping Someone Out of a Cult

A former Jehovah's Witness shares some advice on encouraging someone who is involved in a high-commitment religion to think outside the confines of their belief system.