As I pastored for 20 years, the truth claims of Christianity kept on crumbling - Ed Raby

Today I spoke with Ed Raby, who grew up in the Pentecostal Assemblies of god denomination and worked an ordained minister for many years, but ultimately deconverted as he examined the truth claims of Christianity. We touched on many topics, including: • Spending most of his life repeatedly confessing sin and rededicating his heart to the Lord due to hearing the constant message preached to him that he was never good or holy enough. • Constantly pursuing more power, grace, and holiness in his relationship with god. • Going down to the church alter frequently and "waiting" for the Holy Spirit to sanctify him and empower him for service. • Slowing realizing that the charismatic/Pentecostal culture is a learned behavior, not a work of a supernatural being. • Hearing many miracle stories but never actually seeing one that could be confirmed. • Being taught that demons were trying to attack Christians, that spiritual warfare was real, and that its remedies were critical. • Having a strong desire to do something great for god, which lead him into pastoral ministry. • Observing other ministers being able to "work the crowd" to get the desired atmosphere and emotional hype. • Despite having significant questions about the claims of Christianity and the Bible, staying entrenched in Christianity due to the sudden death of his father and his desire to see him again. • Seeing his faith slowly dissipate as he investigated the evidence for the life of Jesus. • Seeing how Christians attribute cultural and political dynamics to the supernatural realm, which ultimately makes them very susceptible to conspiracy theories. • Struggling to be open with others about his doubts and eventual deconversion and worldview shift. • Navigating relationships with Christian loved ones after deconversion. Thanks to Ed for sharing his story and insights! _________________________________________ Connect with Ed! YouTube: @therabydatheist _________________________________________ Recovering From Religion https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/ The Clergy Project https://clergyproject.org/ _________________________________________ Please subscribe to my other channels (many more channels and videos coming soon!) https://linktr.ee/harmonicatheist _________________________________________ Tim may be reached on FB at: harmonictim Or by email at: [email protected] _________________________________________ Your support for my channel, Harmonic Atheist, is very appreciated. One time PayPal (preferred): paypal.me/harmonictim Venmo: @harmonicatheist Zelle email: [email protected] GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-tim-stay-full-time-on-harmonic-atheist Monthly https://www.patreon.com/harmonicatheist Thanks! --Tim _________________________________________ Ending music by Eyal Raz, "Friends" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qbqNO6DdAQ _________________________________________