The Cure for Hopelessness

Every week I receive an email from Christian author Lee Strobel called “Investigating Faith.” In last week’s email, he talked about the hopelessness he felt when he believed that death was the end of life. I felt that same hopelessness before I became a Christian. Here is how I described it in Part 1 of “My Faith Journey” on my website, dondavidson.net:

I grew up as an agnostic. At about age fifteen, I briefly and naively embraced Christianity, but my newborn faith quickly fizzled when my father assailed it with tough questions for which I had no answers (many of which are addressed in my first book, Beyond Blind Faith).

Unfortunately, when I talked to Christian friends and acquaintances, I found that they had no satisfactory answers, either—only the lame response, “you just have to believe.” But I could not “just believe” in a religion that seemed so foolish and nonsensical. On the other hand, I had no satisfactory alternative. The other world religions seemed to suffer from the same flaws as Christianity—or worse. Deism offered only a non-communicative God who was apparently indifferent to His creation. Christianity, as foolish as it appeared, made more sense than that.

I can remember being intensely disturbed by the thought of eternity. The incredible vastness of time and the endless expanse of space diminished my own existence to a desperate triviality. I craved immortality, but saw no way to attain it. Thoughts of suicide invaded my mind—if I must die anyway, what difference would it make when or how that occurred? In a hundred years, no one would care anyway. Suicide would at least end the struggle, the pain, and the feelings of hopelessness. But I lacked the courage to attempt it.

Convinced that Christianity was a lie, I evangelized on behalf of my hope-crushing dogma. During my early college years, I aggressively confronted matriculating Christians with the absurdity of their religion. I asked them those tough questions, and repeatedly found that even these intelligent and educated believers could not defend their faith. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was attacking a caricature of Christianity. Yet the Christians I encountered never challenged this flawed image of their religion—until I met B.P. 

You can read Part 2 of “My Faith Journey” here. As you will see, my own faith journey has convinced me that Jesus Christ is the answer to the hopelessness of life without God.

If you are feeling that same hopelessness, may I suggest that you read “Why Reasonable People Should Consider Christianity,” which you can read on my website for free. Just click here.