People’s paths to faith are very different. For some, the journey is smooth and without major upheavals; for others it’s more complicated. The latter includes the conversion of Larry Sanger, which he himself described in detail on his blog.
Co-founder of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia
You may not know Larry Sanger by name, but if we mention the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, everyone who has ever searched for information on the internet is sure to be familiar with it.
We once had extensive encyclopedia collections on our bookshelves at home, where we read about various phenomena of our world. Now, we can simply type a keyword into a search engine and Wikipedia will quickly provide us with at least a brief explanation. Wikipedia was founded in 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger. The latter is not only a web programmer, but also a philosopher.
In search of answers to difficult questions
Philosophy was Larry Sanger's first and greatest love. It was through philosophy that he first became an agnostic in his teenage years, and then several decades later, a believer.
Sanger was born into a Christian family, but in his early teens he began to ask difficult questions. One of them, for example, was how the spirit, soul, and mind are connected, or what the differences between them are.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t find anyone to explain it to him or who wanted to discuss his deeper, philosophical questions about faith. Sanger deduced that “only dogmatic people, who lack curiosity and are unable to answer hard questions, believe in God”—and he wasn’t one of them. So he rejected faith.
After studying philosophy, he taught philosophy at a university for several years. During his studies, of course, he read a great deal of philosophical literature. He never considered himself a true atheist, he says, but rather an agnostic. “I neither believed nor disbelieved in the existence of God,” he explains. “I was always willing to consider seriously the possibility that God exists. They [i.e. atheists] were not.”
In fact, he found most of the arguments put forward by outspoken atheists to be inadequate, and often downright “obnoxious” in their rudeness and superficiality.
Discovering theology and God
A major turning point in his system of disbelief came after two major life events: first his marriage and then the birth of his first child. It was then that he first felt unconditional love for another person, for whom he was willing to give his life.
This meant a crack in his self-sufficient philosophical system. He was shaken to realize that his thinking was beginning to diverge from that of his agnostic and atheist colleagues, whom he had followed during his studies. Then, he discovered theology.
Although he read the Bible to his children, he didn’t have a special relationship with it. For him, it was just a book that was culturally significant and that children should therefore know about. But eventually, for various reasons, he decided he wanted to study the entire Bible, to understand it as believers do, without actually wanting to believe.
Realizing he needed guidance in penetrating the biblical texts, he adopted a 90-day study plan and started using a variety of bibles and reference books. He found that there was much more depth and substance in the sacred text and in its interpretations than he had previously allowed. “It slowly dawned on me that I was acquainting myself with the two-thousand-year-old tradition of theology,” he writes.
And slowly, he started “talking to God,” his first attempt at prayer since his childhood.
Conversion
He began to write and publish essays on the subject. He was convinced by theological arguments that were consistent with his worldview. Of course, God's grace played a big role in this, which he himself is well aware of.
Larry Sanger published a lengthy thesis on his blog entitled How a Skeptical Philosopher Became a Christian. (If you prefer listening to reading, he reads the blog post out loud on his YouTube channel.) At the end, he professes his personal belief in the Triune God. Among other things, he writes that he is “thankful to God for adopting me into his family and forgiving my many sins.” He adds, “I thank [God] for the gift of faith that, for most of my life, I never imagined I would have.”
He’s also writing a book about God and his journey from unbelief to faith. He explains in his blog that he has not yet joined a specific church or denomination, but that his journey is ongoing. Let’s pray that God continues to enlighten his intellect and strengthen his faith, that he may continue on the path towards the fullness of the truth in Christ and his Church.
