Is unbelief curable?

[SeattleUte]

I've never known any mature unbeliever who once believed and returned to his belief. Is that possible? Electroshock treatments? I know plenty of believers who stopped believing. It's telling, isn't it.

[Bengal Cougar]

I've never known any mature unbeliever who once believed and returned to his belief. Is that possible? Electroshock treatments? I know plenty of believers who stopped believing. It's telling, isn't it.

I have a good friend that fits in this category. There was a time where I could go out for a beer with him, now he tries harder than my family to try and get me to go back to church.

[smokymountainrain]

I have a good friend that fits in this category. There was a time where I could go out for a beer with him, now he tries harder than even my own family to try and get me to go back to church.

SU Bengal Cougar

[mUUser]

Would Hopfrog fit this description? Only he could answer that, I suppose.

[clackamascoug]

It is possible. People do get over themselves.

[ERCougar]

CS Lewis

[Flystripper]

Edit. Wrong thread

[CardiacCoug]

I don't think you can go back to being a "true believer."

But unbelief is curable in the sense that occasionally people abandon and then come back to organized religion, believing in a different way than before they left.

[Pelado]

As long as there's a desire to believe, if Alma can be trusted.

[pellegrino]

I met a guy a few months back who would qualify as such. He told me about how he was a doubting Thomas, had lost his faith and then he saw some videos that gave scientific evidence about the crossing of the Red Sea (don't ask me, this is what he said) he was sold and has been devout ever since.

I don't know how this helped him believe in the BoM or JS and I don't know what level of unbelief he was at before he returned to his belief.

[Indy Coug]

I met a guy a few months back who would qualify as such. He told me about how he was a doubting Thomas, had lost his faith and then he saw some videos that gave scientific evidence about the crossing of the Red Sea (don't ask me, this is what he said) he was sold and has been devout ever since.

I don't know how this helped him believe in the BoM or JS and I don't know what level of unbelief he was at before he returned to his belief.

Sounds to me like his belief/unbelief is like a house built upon the sand.

[lambdacoug]

I've never known any mature unbeliever who once believed and returned to his belief. Is that possible? Electroshock treatments? I know plenty of believers who stopped believing. It's telling, isn't it.

I don't it find it that hard to believe that someone might return to a belief. I know of one guy locally that claims to have taken this sort of journey from belief to disbelief to belief again.

[Moliere]

I'd say unbelief is curable (although I wouldn't use those words). I've had personal experience in this realm, maybe not to the same degree as SU is getting at, but to a degree I'd probably fit this description.

[ERCougar]

I'd say unbelief is curable (although I wouldn't use those words). I've had personal experience in this realm, maybe not to the same degree as SU is getting at, but to a degree I'd probably fit this description.

I don't know if su is trolling here, but I think many Christian thinkers would use those words. 'Doubt not, but be believing.' And 'help thou mine unbelief ' are two really telling phrases regarding the Christian view of doubt.

[Green Monstah]

In the LDS context, I've seen it a few times, but it is fairly rare. I would actually put myself in this category to an extent. However, in my limited experience, their belief is always highly qualified after returning to the fold and is completely different from their former faith. I'm sure there are exceptions.