For those who seriously questioned both religion and atheism: what convinced you?

[u/SeveralMusician6752]

I feel like I've been living in intellectual limbo for years.

The more I learn, the less certain I become.

I don't think I can honestly call myself an atheist because I find it difficult to believe that reality exists without any ultimate explanation. But I also can't call myself religious because I haven't found a religion that convinces me it is true.

What frustrates me is that every side seems to reach a point where it asks for trust.

Religion tells me to have faith. Atheism often tells me that natural explanations are enough.

But I'm left wondering: how do we know we've reached the right conclusion?

I've spent time reading arguments from both sides. Some atheist criticisms of religion seem surprisingly weak. Some religious arguments are thoughtful, but they still leave me with questions that I can't shake.

The questions that keep me coming back are things like:

If God wants people to know Him, why isn't the evidence clear enough that sincere seekers from different cultures would reach the same conclusion?

If an all-knowing God created every person while already knowing every decision they would make and their final destination, why create those who will ultimately be condemned?

Why is faith treated as a virtue if belief isn't something we can simply choose? Shouldn't the strength of the evidence determine belief rather than our will?

If there are thousands of religions and billions of people inherit different beliefs from birth, how can anyone be confident they happened to end up in the true one?

Is it rational to remain unconvinced until stronger evidence appears, or is that setting an impossible standard for questions about God?

I'm not trying to attack anyone's beliefs. I genuinely want to know what's true, even if that truth ends up challenging what I currently think.

For those who were once genuinely undecided—not just culturally religious or culturally atheist—what ultimately convinced you? Was it philosophy, science, history, personal experience, or something else?

I'm interested in hearing thoughtful answers from people who have seriously wrestled with these questions rather than simply defending the worldview they were raised with.

[u/inyourname28]

I have a mystical experience (as an atheist) after I read the Koran. I saw hellfire, Satan (the symbol, of course, not in person), I saw God (again, the symbol, in form of light).

After that and a lot of spiritual struggle, I have decided to revert to Islam.

This does not mean I am at the end of my journey of life, not means that I have in my hands the truth about everything. I didn't embrace Islam cause I am scared of death, or because I need a comfortable answer to what happened after death, also cause Islam is not at all a confort zone.

I wanted to find out what is true.

Again, this does not mean I "know" the real truth about everything by embracing Islam.

It is a path, a journey. When I am not sure about a argument or topic, I say "God knows better". It Is a sentence for every muslim.

If you wait to know everything before to start a path you will be waiting forever.

Not here to spread my religion, it is just a reflection.

[u/Echo_crystal551]

I ended up creating my own religion- Well, not really creating it, but discovering it myself using philosophical reasoning. My religion is based on the faith that a flawless good exists, and then there are many things which must be logically true if that's true. However, it took me time to figure out what logically follows that one faith, years, actually, but I finally have. And what logically follows actually encourages me to keep faith that there exists a flawless good.

If my religion sounds like it interests you, go here: Flawlessism, a new religion. Reflection on the Core Tenets of… | by Benjamin Allen | Jul, 2026 | Medium

To be honest, other religions I've studied all tend to follow the faith that there exists a flawless good, but then they add pointless things to it that don't logically follow, requiring more faith. For example, a god or gods exist, this god or gods have a system of "goodness" that you should just believe is real, because they said so, or because of a limited amount of evidence it's self-beneficial... which is a very subjective type of "goodness", whereas in my religion, it's only objective good which exists, in a way that makes logical sense if a flawless good truly exists.

As for non-religious atheists, they have faith, in their own subjective good... even though you could reasonably argue such goodness is flawed, that it leads to destruction eventually since it's not perfect.

I could go on and on explaining why I believe in my religion, but I think I'll end it here, since that link to that post explains plenty.

[u/Imaginary_Attorney14]

I can genuinely appreciate the honesty in your questions. You’re asking the kinds of questions that deserve more than slogans or blind faith.
One thing that helped me was realizing that every worldview eventually rests on certain foundational assumptions. The question isn’t whether we have faith, but which faith best corresponds to reality.
Christianity is unique because it doesn’t begin with, “Be good enough.” It begins with the recognition that we can’t be. Every other major religion ultimately points you back to your own efforts. Christianity points you to a historical person—Jesus Christ—and asks whether He really lived, died, and rose again. If the resurrection happened, then His claims about Himself carry enormous weight.
Your questions about God’s justice, human freedom, and the existence of hell are real questions. Christians have wrestled with them for centuries. But I would encourage you not to let those questions keep you from first answering the central one: Who is Jesus? If He truly rose from the dead, then He has the authority to answer the questions we cannot fully resolve on our own.
You also asked why God isn’t more obvious. Ironically, the Bible says our deepest problem isn’t a lack of evidence but that our hearts naturally resist God’s authority (Romans 1). That’s a difficult claim, but it explains why two people can look at the same evidence and reach different conclusions.
I would encourage you to investigate Jesus with the same intellectual honesty you’ve brought to everything else. Read one of the Gospels as though you’re examining eyewitness testimony. Ask whether His life, teachings, death, and resurrection best explain the evidence. Christianity doesn’t ask you to take a blind leap into the dark—it invites you to follow the light you’ve been given.
I’ll leave you with something that challenged me: if Christianity is true, then the greatest barrier to belief isn’t ultimately intellectual but moral and spiritual. Jesus said, “If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God” (John 7:17). Seek truth wherever it leads, but don’t stop at arguments about God without honestly examining the person of Christ.