When Ryan Bell made a pledge to try giving up belief in God for just one year, he had no idea whether the experiment would cement or erase his faith. Now that his year without God is complete, Bell has decided to go full atheist. He recently told NPR that he does not think God exists.
Bell was a Seventh-day Adventist pastor for over 20 years, and was formally employed by the Azusa Pacific University and Fuller Theological Seminary when he decided to “try on” being an atheist. He was promptly fired from his job when they found out about his decision to live for one year being “good without God.” What he found during his exploration of his faith was that there was no evidence to support God’s existence, he says.
While he claims that he still does not yet feel 100 percent comfortable being called an atheist, his beliefs at the current time are widely considered to be full-on atheist, as he says “I don’t think God exists.” This is in line with many atheists who also hold this view. Richard Dawkins, for example, one of the world’s most famous atheists, says he cannot be 100 certain that God does not exist, but that he strongly believes that chances are that God does not exist since there is no direct evidence to support such an existence, saying “I think the probability of a supernatural creator existing (is) very, very low.”
Bell says his initial break from his church occurred when he started to question its stance on homosexuality. While writing for the Huffington Post, he explained that he did not like the treatment of LGBT congregation members. Due to this opinion, he says, he began to feel as though he did not fit in.
He then decided to “pursue the truth” about God and to see if atheism was a good fit for him. As it turns out, it was. Although he has received both criticism and support, he feels this view will most likely be permanent.
After living for a year as an atheist, Bell says, he now has a “closer relationship with reality.” Embracing rational, fact-based thinking has led Bell to his current position. “I’ve looked at the majority of the arguments that I’ve been able to find for the existence of God and on the question of God’s existence or not,” he explains, “I have to say I don’t find there to be a convincing case in my view.”
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