I finished reading “Not God’s Type,” by Holly Ordway. A conversion story, but a rather unique one. I’ve read others, and also seen interviews with some on “The Journey Home” program. Ms. Ordway started from a position of not just atheism, but almost militant atheism, viewing theism not as simply wrong but superstitious and unreasonable, akin to the stories of Greek or Roman or Norse gods. Not even worth the time to investigate seriously.
That was a little unusual because she was a professor of English literature, much of which has its underlying inspiration in Catholic theology and scripture. Catholic poems especially influenced her, though not as a reason to investigate the Faith.
She got started in theistic investigation because she got interested in fencing as a sport. She put a great deal of study just into studying whether there was a rational basis for accepting God’s existence, (just as she was putting a lot of effort in the study of fencing.) Then she had to decide whether God was merely an uncaused cause, or a Person. It was a difficult journey, and when she finally decided to become a Christian, she entered into an Evangelical congregation.
But she was drawn to a more liturgical style of worship, and to prayer based on liturgy, so she eventually ended up Anglican and then Catholic, necessitating a new struggle with what she perceived originally as difficulties with Catholic doctrine. But that struggle was easier.
An interesting read, in any case.
