Of all the religious concepts I wrestled with while I was still a Christian, it was the doctrine of salvation that proved to be the decisive factor in my transformation from a believer into an atheist.  No matter how much I tried, I could not find a way to rebut the logical inconsistencies that kept popping up all over the place when I thought long and hard about the issue.

I was born and grew up in Britain, where my family were heavily involved with the Methodist Church—a very liberal denomination by American standards—and I continued to attended church services, if somewhat sporadically, after I left home and well on into my twenties.  Although I have always had moments of doubt about Christianity, I didn’t seriously consider the possibility that it may only be the elaborate invention of the human mind until I was in my early thirties, soon after I had arrived in the States.  (The two events are not entirely coincidental.)

Having made several trips to the U.S. before moving here, I was already aware that the Christian community is divided into two camps when it comes to the doctrine of salvation—one that believes you must ask for and receive personal salvation before you can enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and one that believes personal salvation is not essential and that you can get into Heaven as long as you a lead a reasonably decent and honest life, even if you are not a Christian.

Read the rest of this entry »