Is CosmicSkeptic the next Apostle Paul?

[mr-jon]

If you get sudden major flashes of light in your vision, go to a eye doctor immediately, it could be a retinal detachment

[seanhartel]

Everyone is on their own path. Alex seems like a genuine guy. All the best.

[malirk]

I've told many religious people I just need one good reason to believe.

They always go in to a meta-conversation about "What is a good reason?" rather than give a good reason. It usually ends with them telling me my standard is too high.

Funnily, I use examples from the Bible that I would accept as reason to believe (God appearing before me, Fire reigning down from Heaven on command). I didn't know Biblical standards of evidence are too much!

[kalebsatterfield]

Watch Alex be the antichrist, that'd be a hell of a plot twist and i'm here for it lmao

[neuronstellingstories]

I could arrive in heaven and simply conclude, “What a glorious hallucination I am experiencing!”

[bass-tones]

I actually disagree with Alex here. I could also be convinced of a God’s existence, but it would take way, way more than a flash of light or brief meeting. I’d probably need a several-hours-worth conversation with this deity, an unambiguous demonstration of power, ideally in its knowledge of myself, as well as some kind of artifact I could refer to daily to prove that what I experienced actually occurred in reality.

I’d much sooner believe I was losing my mind if I had a brief encounter with god. That’s not because I’m close-minded; that’s because it would justifiably take _a lot_ for something to come along and convince me that essentially everything I’ve observed over the last ~30 years was fundamentally mistaken.

[billyroland]

Alex makes a reasonable request.
Which to this day has not been granted to him.

[misterocain]

Why would a flash of light make someone a Christian apologist as opposed to, say, an Islamic apologist? Besides Alex is not a tax collector.

[robbielanoue]

I love this response. I'm in the same position. One undeniable miracle; one sign that makes it absolutely clear that God is real, and I'm going to be shouting it from the rooftops.

[Canto-XXXIV]

I’ve felt the same way for sometime. I know the YouTube atheist sphere can be zealous, but I’ve become more and more a reluctant atheist. I can’t help that I don’t believe, I would like to. But I’m not going to compromise either and believe something I don’t feel genuinely convinced of either.

[findmemusic]

I’m fairly certain we will never meet, but if the chance ever arises, I’d love to discuss this exact topic with you.

I had a very very major experience like Paul, except years later I had many many more experiences even more powerful.

Oddly enough, those experiences eventually lead to out of the christian faith to where I am now, with no clue “what up” so to speak - lol - but I’m so incredibly at peace. I peace beyond understanding.

[jakecostanza]

Plot twist: God reveals himself to Alex but is not the God described in the Bible.

[cyber_rachel]

I feel something similar

I stopped believing a few years ago now. I pray every once in a while just in case, and I kept up going to Bible studies.

In all that time, despite many things changing in my life, I haven't changed my phone screen from Caravaggio's 'The Incredulity of St Thomas'. Because due to my experiences I, like Thomas, can no longer believe until I put my hand into Christ's side or my fingers in his hands.

I don't really understand why I've not been allowed that. I've been told such a thing would *force* me to believe in God, and violate my free will. To which I must ask: if it can be done for Thomas, why not I?

[Ebiru]

I am confused by this. So if you experience a flash of light in a manner tht mirrors the representation of god, you will believe? You won't question what the possibilities are to have caused that?

[InformationIsTheEdge]

I used to hear that people could "feel" the holy spirit when they prayed. That some change would come over them and that they would feel a loving presence. Ever since I was 4 or 5, every time I folded my hands, bowed my head and closed my eyes, it was just me and my thoughts. Never once since has it ever NOT been just me and my thoughts. No presence, no change. Just me.

[smickos]

Alex gets it. Christians cannot honestly refute this honesty.

[andrewbarton-willson]

I have had such an experience. In fact more than once. Unexplainable things. Events that persisted while I questioned their reality and which I immediately related to my wife. These have made me more prayerful and open to God.

[thoughtfulbeetle]

Alex has set the bar about as low as you reasonably can for belief in the Christian God. But even then, it seems like God just can't muster the will to clear it.

[glennjohn]

And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

[zacariaspedraza]

Alex O'Connor becoming the next St. Paul and becoming the most prolific Christian apologist ever would be absolutely awesome. Praying for it. May the God who said "Let light shine out of darkness" shine in Alex's heart to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. Amen. (2 Cor 4:6)