Some of the emails below have been edited down for brevity, and I have added punctuation in some cases for clarity. Some passages are compiled from ongoing email discussions I had with readers.

An ex-chistian from Michigan:
“Really enjoyed your site. Thanks for sharing your story. ... I have been an 'ex-xtian' for several weeks...and I the more I learn the more I'm not only turning my back. I'm running. Full speed. I think I might train for a marathon if this keeps up. ...
... My conversion to Christianity came in 1992. ... Looking back, I wonder why I made a decision without really 'reading' the bible...from cover to cover. ... I began to question Christianity after I began to actually 'read' the bible. No, wait. Actually, I have always had my doubts about the 'Noah's Ark' bit, as well as Jonah, Adam and Eve, etc. ... As I read more and more, I began to have serious doubts ... [On] the internet ... there are stories and essays of many people who have or are going through the same thing that I am right now: a rejection of the faith that I once held so close. ... I think that many Christians have the same questions that I have, but fear has long since buried them. It seems to me that people are more caught up in emotion than they are in any particular religion. A warm fuzzy feeling means that 'God is with me'or has 'spoken to my heart'. ('.....Therefore, I know this is right. I just know it. I can't explain it, I just know it....') This boggles my mind. I feel like I have allowed myself to become deluded ... As I wander through the bible, I wonder how on earth any rational mind could take this book 'literally'. The answer, I believe, is, you can't. ... .I am grateful that I ... am facing the questions that I have had. I find more and more questions (read: doubts) as I continue to search the bible. ... There is a great parable I found yesterday on the web, entitled 'The Man Who Bought a House'. ... It's short, to the point, and presents a good case for continually asking questions (something that the church discourages, for the most part). Here's the link:
http://www.california.com/~rpcman/PARABLE.HTM" [new address: http://www.2think.org/parable.shtml]

A common Christian response:
“I just read your page and am saddened at what your reasoning has led you to. I dont know who you are but God does. I am a Born Again Christian and I Have dealt with some of the same issues that you have. I am praying for you right now that you would find your way back to the Truth in Jesus.
Bruce"

Coleen :
“I know what you're saying! ... My "Christian" life also led to a brick wall dead end, but something happened when I got there and I think that's what is supposed to happen to everyone who is sincere about being a Christian. It wasn't the Bible that turned me off and left me high and dry... it was everybody's interpretation of it and their expectations of how I was supposed to respond. I honestly don't believe anyone should be part of a "group thought" isn't that why Christ appeared on the horizon in the first place? What's good for someone else rarely applies to my life and I got sick and tired of trying to be persuaded to "feel" something that isn't there. ... God Bless you and keep reaching for understanding in your own right ..."

Duane, a med. student:
“I enjoyed reading your site. .... My aunt is a hard-core fundamentalist christian, .... even now, whenever I start to feel too smug about the worldview I ascribe to .... I get this pang of fear. I mean, what if all the crazy stuff they talk about is true? How could adult people really convince themselves of something that a few days of *true* reflection would cast more than just a shadow of doubt upon? ....
... apparently, it still works to keep us in line. ......”

Lynda:
“I enjoyed your web site very much and related to it so well. i was a christian for over 20+ years --- and then i got a computer! It was been very painful for me emotionally, not unlike a divorce from a spouse, to break away from the security of christian faith. Its been 3 years now and it doesn't hurt much. The freedom to own my own thoughts is incredible. ... I just wanted to say thanks for putting down the words to your story that we share so well.”

Tim:
“..... I am a Christian but like you did have a lot of doubts about a lot of the issues. ....... my sister was a very devout Christian growing up, but now has a Ph.D in Religious Studies and no longer believes in it. She said, "The only thing I know for sure is, I have no idea." ............
..... if I love and am kind to others more than I would have been as an atheist, than isn't it still a good thing that I am a Christian, even if it is a total lie? I think so. ....... If something gets you to be this way toward your fellow humans, does it matter so much what the catalyst for this behavior is, or if it is indeed even real? .......
........ I think the popular conception of Jesus is he was all about Love and not much about Judgment and repentance, and when I reread the gospels I had the opposite impression.
............I admire you for writing what you did because I think it is important to think and question things. .......”

A Dallas Theological Seminary student wrote over 40 emails to me in ongoing discussions about my site and Christianity, including:
“God knows that the heart cannot rejoice in what the mind rejects. He has given us ample evidence which demands that we place our faith is Jesus Christ. ... There are good answers to all of your objections! ... ... The Bible can be trusted as God's Word to man because of Archaeological evidence, manuscript evidence, secular history, and ultimately fulfilled prophecy. ... We never will be able to "prove" with scientific certainty many aspects of our faith, yet God does give us reasons that warrant faith. ... We are encouraged to seek and ask ( see Acts 17:11), but when we treat God as a curiosity to be quantified and explained, invariably we end up disillusioned. ...
... how can you say with certainty that God's judgment is not fair? If you could say that with certainty, then you would have to [be] omniscient yourself. What you are saying is, "It doesn't seem fair." Respectfully, that is your opinion. Furthermore, the Bible does teach that our ability to understand spiritual matters has been affected by the fall of man. Our thinking faculties have been radically corrupted by the stain of sin-- the Bible calls this a "darkened mind" or a "depraved mind" (See Romans 1). What I'm saying, ... is that we should be very careful when we say "I think." ... My philosophy is don't let that which is unclear, or even seeming contradictory, cast doubt on the goodness of God. ... Your tendency is to retreat into agnosticism everywhere. ... There comes a point when you have to make a decision and stop retreating into "the mystery of the unknown." For goodness sake, you have no guarantee that when you eat a cheeseburger that the cook has not poisoned it! You take it by faith that your cheeseburger is OK, ... Everybody makes the decisions of life based on probability, not certainty. Decisions are based on a combination of faith related to fact. ... How is it that brilliant men and women throughout history have believed the Gospel? Do you think they were "hoodwinked" by a vast Christian conspiracy to control their minds? What about me? According to your page 5, I have been manipulated and bamboozled by shoddy evidence and anecdotal fairy tales. You know, the thing about being deceived is that you don't know your deceived. ...
... Concerning your March for Jesus Parade- have you ever thought that God did not want you demonstrating your faith in that way? Conversely, have you ever thought that God wanted you to march in the rain to show your devotion? ... If God is the sovereign God that the Scriptures claim He is, you must realize that your ways will not [always] be His ways. ... We should not question omniscience and darken God's counsel by suggesting that there is no good reason that it would rain on this particular day.
... Christ has flooded my heart with love and Grace. There is no way to prove it to you. You could look at my life and see the joy and satisfaction I have, but you'd say that it's all about the mindset I've created. .... You could look at how God took a self-centered man and gave him a new heart for troubled teens, but you'd say that this is also exclusively a matter of my will. I could go on and on....
... I looked through several issues of Biblical Errancy, the website you formed a link to on your page. ... I believe academic honesty requires that BE says something to the effect, "there seems to be a contradiction here, but there are possible solutions to these which fall within the acceptable parameters of probability." ... I would be willing to guess that most of these questions BE has could be satisfied by an honest handling of the Scriptures. ... I believe that my approach is better- "Yes, there are some seemingly contradictory issues, especially with numerical issues in the OT, but I refuse to completely jettison the whole Bible because of a few seemingly contradictions that have plausible solutions. ... If I were you, I would remove BE's link from your webpage. Even if you disagree with me, I can say that you are a better handler of truth than this group.
... I was also able to talk with Dr. Harold Hoener, perhaps the worlds leading authority on the synoptic gospels. He has an excellent book available called, "The Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ." Dr. Hoener stated that many of the [Bible's] supposed "contradictions" are not really contradictions, they just appear to be. Many times one of the authors will give supplementary information already contained in another book, and at first glance it appears to say something different, but in reality it may just be adding information”

Nicholas:
“...I don't consider myself religious at all. My girlfriend, however, [is] ... a casual, nondenominational Christian these days, [and] our religious differences are the major source of friction in our relationship. I definitely agree with your statements about mind control: the influence is so strong that when she and I tried to read the Bible together and came across sections that didn't seem logical or ethical to her, she preferred to end the discussion and stop reading altogther rather than seriously questioning her beliefs.
I think your page has the potential to have a positive effect on people's lives. ”

The most "anti" reaction so far:
“I think that your thoughts are deluded. ..... Spirituality is not something you can reason about in your little mind. You are hindered by your mind, and your haughty belief that your mind is somehow mighty. Let me know when you create a universe or two, then I may listen to some of your vain babbling. In the meantime, you have alot of fools to agree with you, many are called, few are chosen. ...”

Elaine:
“Guilt brought me in. Poverty and despair are bringing me out. .... The theology makes sense to me, but the lifestyle that I've absorbed over the past 15 years have done little or nothing to improve my life. I've come to despise myself, second-guess myself, and sit passively, waiting for God to intervene and assuming it's my fault when he does not. Before coming to Christ, I was optimistic, energetic and resilient. But once I denounced myself and put everything in God's hands, one calamity after another struck, and now I'm chronically unemployed .... I believed in God before, but need to discard a lot of the teachings and principles I've learned since then. As for heaven, it's always sounded like an incredibly boring place to me as described from the pulpit. I see no sin in having some happiness here, as long as it isn't blatantly at someone else's expense. I'm now on a quest to [seek] my "reward" here. Thanks for sharing your story.”

At the time of writing this, I have responded to all those who have sent emails to this site,
and I plan to continue to do so.