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This is a list of notable converts to Christianity from Atheism.
- Steve Beren - former member of the Socialist Workers Party (United States) who became a Christian conservative politician.[1]
- Anders Borg - Sweden's Minister for Finance.[2]
- Julie Burchill – British journalist and feminist.[3]
- Kirk Cameron - Actor, star of Growing Pains (former atheist)[4]
- Whittaker Chambers – Former Communist turned conservative writer.[5][6]
- Francis Collins - physician-geneticist, noted for his landmark discoveries of disease genes, and the director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (former atheist)[7]
- Larry Darby – Former Holocaust denier and former member of the American Atheists.[8][9]
- Joy Davidman – Poet and wife of C. S. Lewis.[10]
- André Frossard - French journalist and essayist.[11][12]
- Maggie Gallagher – Conservative activist and a founder of the National Organization for Marriage.[13]
- Bo Giertz - Swedish Confessional Lutheran Bishop, theologian, and writer (former atheist).[14]
- Patrick Greene, former atheist activist.[15][16]
- Keir Hardie – Raised atheist and became a Christian Socialist.[17][18]
- Anna Haycraft - Raised in Auguste Comte's atheistic "church of humanity", but became a conservative Catholic in adulthood.[19]
- Peter Hitchens – Journalist who went from Trotskyism to Traditionalist conservatism, and estranged brother of outspoken anti-theist and Vanity Fair writer Christopher Hitchens.[20][21]
- Paul Jones – Musician, of Manfred Mann. Previously atheist and in 1967 he argued with Cliff Richard about religion on a TV show.[22][23]
- Ignace Lepp - French psychiatrist whose parents were freethinkers and who joined the Communist party at age fifteen. He broke with the party in 1937 and eventually became a Catholic priest.[24]
- Khang Khek Leu (also known as Comrade Duch) - Cambodian director of Phnom Penh's infamous Tuol Sleng detention center[25]
- C. S. Lewis - Oxford professor and writer; well known for The Chronicles of Narnia series, and for his apologetic Mere Christianity.[26]
- Leah Libresco - Atheist blogger, recently turned Catholic.[27]
- Shelley Lubben - former pornographic actress, current author and Executive Director of the Pink Cross Foundation, anti-pornography activist.[28]
- Norma McCorvey - "Jane Roe" in Roe v. Wade[29]
- Claude McKay – Bisexual Jamaican poet who went from Communist-leaning atheist to an active Catholic Christian after a stroke.[30][31]
- Alister McGrath - Biochemist and Christian theologian. Founder of 'Scientific theology' and critic of Richard Dawkins in his book Dawkins' God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life [32]
- Czesław Miłosz - Nobel prize winning poet
- Nina Karin Monsen - a Norwegian moral philosopher and author who grew up in a humanist family, but later convert to Christianity through philosophic thinking.[33]
- Crissy Moran - former pornographic actress and current anti-pornography activist.[34]
- Lacey Mosley - Vocalist and lyricist for Alternative metal band Flyleaf.[35]
- William J. Murray - author and son of atheist activist Madalyn Murray O'Hair[36]
- Bernard Nathanson Medical doctor who was a founding member of NARAL, later becoming a Pro-Life proponent.[37]
- Marvin Olasky - former Marxist turned Christian conservative, he edits the Christian World magazine.[38][39]
- Giovanni Papini – He went from pragmatic atheism to Catholicism, also a Fascist.[40]
- Rosalind Picard – Director of the Affective computing Research Group at the MIT Media Lab. She was raised atheist, but converted to Christianity in her teens.[41]
- Enoch Powell – Conservative Party (UK) member who converted to Anglicanism.[42]
- George R. Price - Geneticist who became an Evangelical Christian and wrote about the New Testament. Later he moderated his evangelistic tendencies and switched from religious writing to working with the homeless.[43][44]
- Gerald Priestland – News correspondent who discusses having once been the "school atheist" in Something Understood: An Autobiography. He became a Quaker after an emotional breakdown.[45]
- Allan Sandage - a prolific Astronomer converted to Christianity later in his life stating that "I could not live a life full of cynicism. I chose to believe, and a peace of mind came over me." [46]
- Dame Cicely Saunders - Templeton Prize and Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize winning nurse known for palliative care. She converted to Christianity as a young woman.[47]
- E. F. Schumacher – Economic thinker known for Small Is Beautiful, his A Guide for the Perplexed criticizes what he termed "materialistic scientism." He went from atheism to Buddhism to Catholicism.[48][49]
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn – Nobel Prize-winning dissident author who converted to Russian Orthodoxy.[50]
- Edith Stein - Phenomenologist philosopher who converted to Catholicism and became a Discalced Carmelite nun; declared a saint by John Paul II.[51]
- Peter Steele - Lead singer of Type O Negative.[52]
- Lee Strobel - Author of The Case for Christ (former atheist)[53]
- Allen Tate - American poet, essayist and social commentator, and Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress.[54]
- Fay Weldon - British novelist and feminist.[55]
- Monty White - British Young Earth Creationist (former atheist)[56]
- A. N. Wilson – Biographer and novelist who entered the theological St Stephen's House, Oxford before proclaiming himself an atheist and writing against religion. He announced his return to Christianity in 2009.[57]
- John C. Wright - Science fiction author.[58]
References
- ^ Seattle Times "In 1975, he threw off his atheism and became a Christian."
- ^ Wall Street Journal
- ^ The Guardian "I grew up, and stopped being an atheist, in my 20s, in the 1980s."
- ^ Sin: An Honest Mistake?, by Kirk Cameron, Boundless Webzine. From the introduction: "But much more noteworthy than his acting career was his conversion to Christianity. Kirk was not raised in a church-going home and described himself as a devout atheist from a very young age." (Accessed 13 June 2007)
- ^ Heritage Foundation
- ^ TruTV: "He had been an atheist and had been kicked out of Columbia University for writing a play considered blasphemous."
- ^ "He converted from atheism to Christianity in his twenties after seeing how radically his patients' faith transformed their experience of suffering, and after reading several works by C. S. Lewis." The Question of God: Interview with Francis Collins, WGBH Educational Foundation, 2004 (Accessed 14 June 2007)
- ^ Ohio Atheists
- ^ [http"//www.mathaba.net/news/?x=539389 Statement disavowing Atheism]
- ^ San Francisco Chronicle: At 8, she read H. G. Wells' "The Outline of History" and pronounced herself an atheist.
- ^ Obituary at the Independent
- ^ I have met Him: God exists by André Frossard "We were what could be called perfect atheists, the kind that no longer ever question their atheism." (not in link itself)
- ^ "The making of gay marriage’s top foe" by Mark Oppenheimer; Salon: "I was an atheist from the youngest age. When I was 16, I became a Randian. Becoming a Catholic began as an intellectual thing."
- ^ [Bo Giertz, The Hammer of God,revised edition, XIII, Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis, 2005.
- ^ "Patrick Greene, Longtime Atheist Activist, Announces Conversion To Christianity" (in English). The Huffington Post. 4 April 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2012. "Two months after he threatened to sue a Texas county for allowing a Nativity scene on public property, longtime atheist Patrick Greene has announced that he is not only converting to Christianity, but also plans to become a pastor, the Christian Post reports."
- ^ "Texas atheist activist Patrick Greene’s conversion spurred by Christian woman’s compassionate act" (in English). The National Post. 5 April 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2012. "A few months ago Patrick Greene was an atheist who was threatening to sue Henderson County, Texas, if the county didn’t remove a Nativity scene from its courthouse lawn. Today he is a believer in Christ who underwent a radical change of heart that was catalyzed by the compassion of one Christian woman."
- ^ Men who made Labour: the PLP of 1906, pg 75
- ^ Spartacus Schoolnet "Although raised as an atheist, Hardie was converted to Christianity in 1897."
- ^ Telegraph "She reacted strongly against her parents' beliefs and became a Catholic at 19, because she 'no longer found it possible to disbelieve in God.'" (pg 2)
- ^ Near Christianity: "Hitchens describes his tumultuous journey from atheist to Christian and the moral reasoning that caused his conversion," book description
- ^ I couldn't paint golden angels by Albert Meltzer, pg 319
- ^ Stockport Express 17 May 2006
- ^ Cotswold Journal 14th October 2010
- ^ Time Magazine from July 19, 1963 "Lepp has the credentials to explain the mind of the atheist: he was one himself for 27 years."
- ^ "The Killer and the Pastor" article from Time.com
- ^ "Lewis lapsed into atheism in his teens but experienced a reconversion to Christianity in 1931." Lewis, C.S.. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved June 28, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online
- ^ MSNBC
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://www.theinterim.com/march98/18colleton.html
- ^ A Fierce Hatred of Injustice By Winston James, Claude McKay: "Prior to his conversion to Catholicism in 1944, his atheism was one of the most powerful and enduring threads of continuity in his outlook on life."
- ^ Claude McKay: rebel sojourner in the Harlem Renaissance : a biography, pgs 357-359
- ^ biography on official website
- ^ Norge IDAG - Monsen med bok om sin tro
- ^ [2]
- ^ Interview for Christianity Today: I was so outspoken about not believing in God. I had real problems with Christians.]
- ^ statement of William J. Murray
- ^ Nathanson, Bernand Aborting America (1981 Pinnacle Books)
- ^ Marxism and Me by Marvin Olasky: My communism was based on atheism, and when I could no longer be an atheist, I resigned from the party.
- ^ Creators Syndicate Profile
- ^ Cassell dictionary of Italian literature, pg 423: "Although a confirmed atheist in his youth, Papini experienced a religious conversion in later life...
- ^ Interview at Inspire Magazine
- ^ The Guardian's obituary of Powell
- ^ University of Bielefeld
- ^ Chronicle of Higher Education article obituary (Copied by Gametheory.net) has the following "Because George was a fire-spitting atheist and Julia a devout Christian, their relationship was contentious from the beginning. After eight years, the marriage ended in acrimony." "On June 7 [1970] I gave in and admitted that God existed", he explained to friends.
- ^ Antiqbook
- ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/science-obituaries/8150004/Allan-Sandage.html
- ^ Article from the University of Wollongong
- ^ Sustaining the earth by John Young, pgs 96-112
- ^ New Scientist Jul 26, 1984. pg 38
- ^ The Australian
- ^ University of Chicago "made a spiritual journey from atheism to agnosticism before eventually converting to Catholicism"
- ^ Decibel Magazine
- ^ Strobel's official website calls him an "Atheist-turned-Christian."
- ^ "...he was an atheist arguing for religious values, a man writing an essay on religion 'in a spirit of irreligion.'... He would not convert to Catholicism for two decades, but his need for religious authority was acute even in 1930." Allen Tate: Orphan of the South, p. 167, biographer Thomas A. Underwood, Princeton University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-691-06950-6
- ^ The Guardian Quote: Even though she was raised an atheist, in the past three or four years she has been going to church. In her eighth decade, she has even submitted to being baptised.
- ^ "At that time, I was an atheist." "...I was converted as I repented of my sins and asked God to accept me in Christ." My Spiritual Pilgrimage from Theistic Evolution to Creationism by Monty White
- ^ New Statesman
- ^ Advocates for self-government (A Libertarian site) says of him "A lifelong 'vehement, argumentative, proselytizing atheist,' Wright suffered a heart attack in 2003 and soon afterwards had a 'supernatural' religious experience that made him, he wrote, 'aware of a spiritual dimension of reality of which I had hitherto been unaware... I was altered down to the root of my being.' Wright is now a Christian.
