Elderly people leaving Christianity

[Lees]

What do you mean? What I'm saying is that I disagree with God's ways, not that I don't believe in God.

How does the fact that I disagree with God's ways change the fact that He's in charge? It doesn't. He is in charge and I figure that if there's a chance that prayer persuades Him to help another fellow human, then I should get other people involved in the process of persuading Him.

But, you disagree with God's ways. If you disagree with God's ways, why would you want others prayers to Him, who accept God's ways?

If you disagree with God's ways, why would you want God to heal the person in the first place? In other words, if God heals, that is God's ways, which you don't like. Oh...but you like them if they agree with you. Typical atheist and whiner.

You have nothing but disdain for God. Yet you want others to pray to this God for someone you are concerned. over.

No, you tried to get people who believe in God to pray for this person. Why? Because you don't believe in God. Your prayers are a reflection of your statements in this thread. He doesn't listen to you...and why should He?

Did you pray for the person you were concerned over? What did you expect from your prayer? Please be honest.

Lees

 

[Hadassah]

Lately, I've come across several elderly people on the internet who have deconverted and left Christianity after decades of being practicing Christians and believers. Some of them began making videos about how much they regret having dedicated their lives to something they truly believed to be real and how disappointed they are about how much God and Jesus let them down.

After 25 years of being a pastor for 5 churches, this 65-year-old man deconverted and claims that Christianity is fiction. He spent hours reading all sort of apologetics books in order to build his faith, but eventually Christianity just didn't make any sense to him and the overwhelming atheistic arguments convinced him:

This man is in his 60s and has recently started a TikTok account to share how Christianity and following Jesus ruined his life: TikTok - Make Your Day

This lady is in her 70s and makes videos on YouTube about how, after decades of praying and being a practicing Christian, she found none of the "freedom in Christ" that Christianity preaches. She has deconverted and talks about a plethora of issues:

This man is in his 60s and has deconverted after being a very devout Christian for decades. The lack of applicability of the Biblical promises to everyday life started to pile up until it became overwhelmingly clear that either the Bible is flawed or God doesn't exist: TikTok - Make Your Day

What is your opinion about the elderly people who leave the faith?

I understand that the general explanation for young people who deconvert is that they are seeking their own desires and prefer to live in sin rather than follow the teachings of the Bible. However, what sinful desires would elderly people have? Most of them are past the age of seeking fornication, adultery, parties, drugs etc. Most of them have truly and genuinely sought Jesus in prayer for years and have gone through the Bible countless times.

Huh. I argue they never were true believers to begin with. Sounds like a lot of " what's in it for me" salvation isn't the heart of the objective for him. One's heart always gives the person's intentions away.
The one thing that matters is what was given to us, a get out of jail free card. Not free of service to the One who gave it, but freedom from those closed door behaviors big or small, those obvious ones and less obvious.
Unfortunately, many believe they are Christian when in actuality they are a counterfeit, a knock off.
They deny fundamental doctrines in exchange for false narratives. Right off the bat he is of an assembly that on the surface has "a name of being alive but thou art dead". His doctrine never was complete therefore, could have never been alive to begin with. After which, even what he thought he had died as well. It could never sustain him for the marathon. He was on fuel for a sprint that he was only running for himself to begin with.

 

[Albion]

I did not suggest that He should let sinfulness get a pass, but rather that He should offer life circumstances that make it possible for the people that are born with a propensity for certain sins to not be tempted by them. For example, He could bring into the lives of people who are prone to fornication a loving spouse whom would help and support them to such a degree that the temptations would simply disappear.

I think that God does intervene in such ways as it is.

But I also have no doubt about what comes next. Some people who are helped will turn their lives around while others will choose to stay in their sins. Then your own reaction will be to say that it's unthinkable for a good God not to save all of them regardless.

 

[Lamb]

Some have heard it plenty of times and dedicated years of their lives to studying it, yet it doesn't make sense to them. Why should they be punished for something that it beyond their abilities? Do you think it would be fair to punish someone who is tone deaf for failing a music test? Do you think it would be fair to torture for eternity someone who has heard the Gospel, studied it and concluded that it was incoherent, irrational and unjust?

Seeds have been planted...we don't know that when those people die, whether the seed has died or has grown a bit. It isn't the amount of faith, but that we have it. The Gospel is foolishness to those who don't believe according to scripture. It's not something we have to TRY to understand in order to believe. It's a gift from God.