Going to church when you don't believe in God.

[Whenthenight]

I find it fascinating that so many intelligent people believe in God. I believe in there being a strong energy field in the world that helps things happen but more in relation to nature and spirit.
I am confused that intelligent people believe that God made the earth and then Adam and Eve etc all in 7 days. Didn't dinosaurs come before humans?
I have however, in the last 2 years been drawn to the church. I know, the irony. The community of support, singing, kindness, the feeling of belonging. I've done a little volunteering and been to a few lovely church services at my local church for different things, made friends even.
But, I just don't believe in God and can't understand how/why others do? I've considered speaking to the minister about my questions but not sure it would go down well.
Do people who go to church really believe all of what is written in the bible? Am I missing something?
I feel like a hypocrite every time I walk through those church doors, but there's a sense of togetherness that I can't help but love.
Very confused.
Can anyone shine some light?

I would also recommend The Reason for God by Timothy Keller and also looking up Lee Strobel on YouTube. I like how Timothy describes doubts as the 'anti-bodies' in our belief.

My feeling is that you can't find faith, it has to find you. The important thing is to be open to it though and even if you don't believe in God you can say a 'skeptics' prayer and ask for help with that.

On your other point, the priest at my church has a Physics degree and I doubt very much he thinks the earth was created in 7 days.

Thank you for posting this, Op, I'm in a very similar position and found your post and responses really helpful and comforting.

Sorry this is rather long, but I'm just trying to articulate this properly.
I'm from a Catholic family but was brought up more "culturally Catholic" than actually religious. I don't believe in God (and don't remember a time when I did) but will occasionally go to Mass.
I think part of it is an acknowledgement of my roots and of ancestors who were murdered for their faith.
There is also an element of "us and them" to it. I loathed Mass as a child and couldn't wait to leave my Catholic primary school for the local CoE secondary. Up until that point, I had pretty much no knowledge of other Protestant denominations however, at the school, there was a range of pupils from Baptist, Evangelist, Pentecostal etc backgrounds. I went with new friends to their services and baptisms, to their Youth clubs and Christian Unions, sat through a LOT of anti Catholic rhetoric from both them and teachers in RE lessons. I found that, while I'd thought of the Catholic church of anachronistic and miserable, I preferred that immeasurably to the rather over zealous (to me, obviously if you believe in God, it would be different) congratulations of my Evangelical friends.
None of my Catholic peers in Primary School had actually believed in transubstantiation, or 7 day creation or anything like but a lot of my secondary school friends did. And I did find this really odd. There was an understanding about religion that I had with other Catholics (even ones I barely knew) that I just didn't have with Protestant friends, no matter how much we talked about it. So there came this idea of "my people", of my culture.

OP, you sound very much like your fit in with the Quakers - do read the recent Ask Me Anything on here, from a Quaker - it was really interesting.

Please don’t read Lee Strobel’s Case for Christ. I’m an atheist who was given it by an evangelical friend of mine (I seem to recall she might have mentioned it and I asked to borrow it as I was genuinely interested) - I found it the least convincing, intelligence-insulting, poorly argued piece of polemic I’ve ever read. I seem to remember there was a lot of asserting that the gospel writers were writing about what happened so it must be true - totally missing the point that it might not be true! This is one attempt at rebutting it, with quite a lot of detailed arguments which I don’t personally know about, but you don’t have to have a theology degree (I don’t) to see that the Strobel is poorly argued and not at all convincing.

No, I don't believe they all believe in God as defined in the bible. I think some go for community and to be a part of something. Some go because they are scared not to believe or scared of 'hell'. I do not think they all truly believe in God.

I have also done Alpha and as a PP said, Do not read the case for christ.

You can just watch Lee Strobel on YouTube. I can well believe the book is lame. He's that brand of American evangelical I find off putting, although his heart is in the right place and he probably did move from cynicism to belief, which rather messes with your head.

OP, everybody is welcome at church - from atheists to Christians to people of other faiths. Jesus asked us to love our neighbours, and defined those neighbours as everyone.
Only fundamentalists take the entire Bible as literal truth.
The rest of us (vast majority of Christians) accept the analysis of theologians that it is a collection of some historical fact, some poetry (including deeply erotic and sensual imagery in the Song of Solomon), some folk myths handed down by oral tradition for millennia before being written down, (the book of Genesis had at least 3 different writers and two different conflicting creation stories), some allegory, some political point scoring, some humour - it is a glorious literary mixture covering four thousand years of history up to the first century AD.
It has also been tampered with by men for their own agenda. For example the epistles of St Paul have two different writers with differing styles. The misogynist bits are not his - they are a later addition to try and stop women priests, whereas Paul himself encouraged women who founded and ran churches all over Asia Minor.
As for the sneering assumption that intelligent people can’t believe God produced the Universe - science has no explanation for how or why the Universe exists either!
Logically, there should just be nothing here at all. How the big bang actually occurred and created all this energy and matter is not known.
I love the poetry of Genesis, that describes the big bang in religious imagery:
“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void. And darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said ‘Let there be light’ - and there was light. “

How beautiful and moving is that depiction of the cataclysmic birth of the universe, encapsulated in the quiet, confident, voice of God!

If you read the bible, OP, you need explanatory notes to reveal the rich subtext of politics, history and belief, but you will be rewarded with some of the most sublime literature ever written.
Please talk to your church minister and keep attending your local church. You stand to gain so much, and to have the opportunity to give to others too. It is a cliche that faith is a journey, but it is true. The destination is to be reunited with the God who loves you. Bon voyage, OP!

@Babdoc. Lovely post.

Thanks Meadowland! I sometimes feel like God’s beleagured public relations agent, there is so much anti Christian sneering and misinformed criticism around these days, often from people who haven’t even studied the Bible or have any idea what our beliefs actually are.
Christians are the most persecuted of any religion in the world, regularly suffering the firebombing of our churches, and the imprisonment or murder of our converts from Islam.
At least in Britain all we get is verbal abuse.
Although why atheists object so much to the church being one of the biggest charity supporters in the country, running homeless shelters, food banks, vulnerable support groups, etc, I have no idea!
I hope OP continues her exploration of faith, and that her minister will encourage her. Threads like this can be a useful channel to dispel misconceptions too, and maybe allow other readers to think about coming to church.

A: “I find it fascinating that so many intelligent people believe in God.”
B: “I believe in there being a strong energy field in the world that helps things happen but more in relation to nature and spirit. “

I’m curious about the distinction between the different beliefs being articulated in the two statements. Are you saying there’s an incompatibility between intelligence and belief in God, but no equivalent incompatibility between intelligence and a belief in a ‘strong energy field’ that ‘helps things happen’?

Maybe the 'strong energy field' you believe in is God? You feel drawn to church... maybe that's the Holy Spirit working in you.

Look, everyone has their own beliefs, let people be and believe what they think if that's what is right for them.

Go to church, learn more, allow yourself time to work out what you believe. Go with what ever energy is drawing you to a certain place. It sounds like a good thing to me.

You're right, people are drawn to church because of the social aspect of it... have a little think about why... what's the energy there and what or who is working it? Go with it!

Take care of yourself and God bless you x

Are you the same poster who used to bump old threads to promote some random American anti-choice church?

Do I literally believe what it says about creation, Noah's Ark etc in the bible? No, of course not. Most churchgoers don't either.

Why are you bumping a 2 year old thread @Rohitstad ?

I’m pretty sure that many Christians see the creation story as a myth and don’t believe in the literal truth of everything that’s written in the Bible - which, as has been said, comprises 66 different books. I don’t think that alone should be a stumbling block to exploring faith (if that’s what you want to do).
As someone with a religious upbringing who’s no longer religious, I share your perception of the church as a place almost like no other to find ‘community’.

I I assume he doesn't mean the entire old and New Testament...?

As PP have said, many church goers and 'believers' do not believe that the things written in the bible happened in a literal sense. I know many religious people with a deep belief in God, who do not believe the resurrection actually happened and that it is more metaphorical.

I am a Christian and believe that God is glad to see any of his children in church. A bit like teenage grandchildren visiting a grandparent. The grandkids might secretly be a bit bored but the grandparents 1) know that and 2) are still delighted to see family.

In a busy and stressful world, an hour out is fine.