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"The Christian Delusion was an awesome book. The End of Christianity is even better. Indeed, I think the two volumes together amount to a decisive refutation of Christianity. A bona fide litmus test. No rational person can read both volumes and not walk away a skeptic." Link

By far the single biggest challenge to my Christian faith, during this early part of my de-conversion process, came in the form of a book, by John W. Loftus, Why I Became An Atheist. I believe that most Christians have little difficulty maintaining their faith, even when challenged, since it is propped up by dozens, if not hundreds, of individual pieces (& thought patterns) they deem to be solid on their own (and even stronger together)...if one of those pieces takes a hit, hey, no big deal, there are still plenty of reasons to continue believing!...But what happens when a sizable number of those pieces, propping up your worldview, are attacked simultaneously? Well, this can cause one to question their entire paradigm, and in my case, that paradigm was the truth of Christianity.

Weston Bortner stated: “John, you can't just assume that people are scared and avoiding you. That's a little silly. Perhaps they have a valid reason and you just don't know it.”

If this is what John assumed, then he made a great assumption!

I live in Greenville, SC ten miles away from Bob Jones University. They have an “Award Winning” student debate team and a Bible faculty they consider second to none in defense of the “Great Fundamentals of the Faith”. So, I thought, if I were to challenge this Award Winning debate team backed up by this first rate Biblical faculty, I would stand about a much change as Satan getting into Heaven.

Hell, I even told the University to choose a topic they KNEW was a sure-to-win issue Fundamental Biblical Doctrine and I would met at the place of their choice and debate. Non response! (Faculty member (Layton Talbert) did challenge me to on an email debate over the use of the word Greek word ἐθνικὸς (Gentile) in Matt. 18: 17, but dropped out when his limited second and third lexicon definitions felled to hold up.)

Secondly, I called the then senior Pastor (Alan Cairns) of Faith Free Presbyterian Church (strong Fundamentalist BJU supporting church) http://www.faithfpc.org/minist... which has a strong seminary (Reformed Theological Seminary) known among the area Fundamentalist churches for their apologetics.

I told Rev. Cairns (who became very antagonistic and combative when he found out I wasn‘t a Christian) that I wanted to debate the truth of the Bible and I would allow the following:

1. His church could choose a topic they felt / knew they could win (just as in the BJU case.)
2. I would allow them to “seek the power of the Lord in prayer” for several weeks for divine apologetic help to win.
3. To be sure their church knew I would lose, I would even allow them to label me as a “tool of Satan (which I’m sure they would do anyway). (Hey, the New Testament clearly states that God will always subdue Satan!)
4. I would show up alone and debate any or all ministers and seminary faculty they chose.
5. The ONLY requirement I demanded is that the debate be before their church’s congregation, so – as I told Rev. Cairns – they could see just how “truth defeats error”.

Guess what, I was told the scriptures demanded totally separation from unbelievers and there was no way a “tool of Satan” was getting in front of their congregation!
Frankly, John’s books would have as much of a chance of ever seeing the light of day in any conservative Bible believing seminary or church as a prohibitionist in a liquor distillery!

Finally, for Lifelong conservative Christians, anything outside of their sect’s faith is – not of the Lord – and considered of Satan.

The following course description taken from an apologetic course at a Christian college:

"Who is Satan? Where did he come from? Why is he still on the loose? How do evil forces operate against individuals and against churches? How can we keep our focus on Christ, not Satan? What steps should we take to resist temptation and other attacks?"

When Christians are not apologetically fighting Satan, they are attacking each other over what constitutes “true” faith or that necessary dogma to get into Heaven.
For the past 40 years the textbook of choice used in universities such as BJU has been “The Kingdom of the Cults” by Dr. Walter Martin which lists any and every Christian group other than conservative Protestants as heretical. http://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-...

In conclusion, Christianity can only exist in its conservative form by how it limits objective knowledge and controls what I call “positive apologetic ignorance”.

To think that conservative / evangelical Christianity is going to objectively check its credibility by engaging any outside facts which could cause its limited thinking members to start down a new and open mental path in life is one truth they will not allow!

Link.