Here are quotes from individuals who identified as secular humanists before embracing Christianity, discussing their change in faith:
C.S. Lewis (1898–1963), Author and Scholar:
- “You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen [College, Oxford], night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.”
- From “Surprised by Joy”
Peter Hitchens (b. 1951), Journalist and Author:
- “My own return to faith has surprised no one more than myself… My belief in God and Christianity grew ever stronger, partly because of my travels in some of the most troubled parts of the world… I have seen places where the state has tried to replace God, and seen what happens there, and it frightened me into belief.”
- From “The Rage Against God”
Francis S. Collins (b. 1950), Geneticist and Director of the National Institutes of Health:
- While not a secular humanist per se, Collins describes a journey from agnosticism to Christianity and has spoken about the integration of faith and science:
- “I had always assumed that faith was based on purely emotional and irrational arguments, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that one could build a very strong case for the plausibility of the existence of God on purely rational grounds.”
- From “The Language of God”
Julie Rodgers (contemporary), Writer and Speaker:
- Julie Rodgers, who has written and spoken about her faith and experiences as a gay Christian, has described a period of identifying as a secular humanist before returning to Christianity. She has discussed the importance of community and authenticity in her spiritual journey, though specific quotes on her transition from secular humanism to Christianity are less documented in public sources.
Sarah Irving-Stonebraker (contemporary), Senior Lecturer in Modern European History:
- “I began to realize that the implications of my atheism were incompatible with almost every value I held dear… A Nietzschean relativism was not a tenable way to live. And I began to see that even my most ardently held ethical and political commitments depended on metaphysical assumptions… It was as a moral imperative that I began to seek God as an adult.”
- From an article detailing her conversion
Guillaume Bignon (contemporary), French Mathematician and Philosopher:
- Guillaume Bignon was a French atheist and secular humanist who converted to Christianity. He has written about his journey and the intellectual struggles that led to his conversion. Although specific quotes from Bignon on this topic are not easily accessible, he has spoken about the role of philosophical inquiry and the examination of the evidence for Christianity in his conversion.
Holly Ordway (contemporary), Professor of English and Apologetics:
- “As an atheist, I had a strong sense of morality and justice, but I eventually realized that my convictions had no foundation… It was the moral argument and the poetry of the Psalms that first drew me to look at Christianity as something potentially reasonable, not just as a ‘fairy tale.'”
- From her conversion story, where she explains how her engagement with literature and moral questions led her to consider the claims of Christianity.
A.N. Wilson (b. 1950), English Writer and Newspaper Columnist:
- “My belief in the resurrection of Jesus is not a mystical feeling about the Springtime and the possibility of renewal in human beings… It is based on the evidence. I think the evidence for the resurrection is stronger than for claimed miracles in any other religion. It’s outstandingly different in quality and quantity.”
- A.N. Wilson, who was once a skeptic, has written about his return to Christianity and cites the historical evidence for the resurrection as a compelling reason for his belief.
These individuals come from various backgrounds and have unique stories of how they came to embrace Christian faith. Their journeys often involved deep introspection, study, and personal experiences that led them to find meaning and truth in Christianity.
