I was raised agnostic. Sometimes I wish I was Christian, and have attended church but I cannot find it in myself to believe. Can anyone appeal to my logical side?

I posted this on /r/changemyview, but I thought I'd throw it on here as well for a different perspective.

So growing up, my parents never introduced me to religion, and we've never talked about it. I don't even know if my parents are religious. Being fairly young and growing up in the age of the internet, I frequently sought out information on the internet, and learned all about different types of religions, conflicts based on religion, the basic teachings of those different religions, etc.

However, a lot of the stuff I found in my early age, being the internet, was very atheist-biased and hated on religion, and that has really stuck with me over the years. I came into middle school a devout atheist, thinking anyone who was religious was beneath me. However, I quickly made many religious friends, from Christians (Non-denominational, Catholic, Mormon), to Muslims and Jews. They are some of the nicest, awesomest people I have ever met and never judged me for being an atheist or tried to sway my views. I learned to be a lot more open to religion, and identified as agnostic early in high school. I am now a senior. The concept of the Abrahamic religions (Christianity specifically), the afterlife, and morals have always comforted me and sometimes my friends would invite me to church, like if it came up while we were hanging out that they had to go to church on Sunday or whatever and they asked if I wanted to come along. Usually I'd say no thanks, but sometimes I'd take them up on their offer and just join in on prayer and worship. I think it would be awesome to be a Christian and have that camaraderie, comfort and love of the community, but even after all the research and going to church, I simply cannot find it in myself to believe the Bible.

I'm sure you all have seen the endless points on the Theist vs Atheist debate, and I won't tire you by listing them all, but here are my main issues I have based on my admittedly limited knowledge of the Bible:

• Creationism and certain views that contradict plausible science that has been proven again and again.


• The fact that there is such a harsh distinction between the two possible afterlives: endless punishment or endless paradise, and the fact that someone evil like Ted Bundy, "confessed" and apologized for his sins before execution, would be sent to Heaven and a virtuous, amazing human being like Bill Gates would be sent to Hell because he is an atheist.


• Anti-gay, anti-contraception and other repressive movements in the name of religion. The fact that there are so many religions, and within those, many different denominations and inconsistencies. How can one possible say their belief is the absolute truth, held above the others?


• Various miracles and stories (like Noah's Ark) in the Bible are hard to believe.

Here's what I DO find plausible:

• There is a God. Maybe it is not an Abrahamic God or Pagan Gods, but with the vast scale of the Universe and the beauty of life, it is not out of the question that there is a higher power.


• There is an afterlife. As humans, we have so much emotion and complex thought that it baffles me to think that it all disappears once we die.

So, please, do not take offense to what I am saying. I am open to religion, and would love to hear respectable arguments from Reddit's Christian community. Thank you!