Though raised Catholic, John Knutsen didn’t really believe in God, and when his brother died of AIDS, he decided he was done with religion forever. This family tragedy and a world that seemed emptied of God’s presence caused him to reject Christianity altogether, but a desire for purpose in a supposedly meaningless life continued to bother him. Through reading Merton, Chesterton, Belloc, Augustine and others, he became intellectually converted, but his conversion of heart was a lot slower taking shape. A few years later, during a personal crisis, he found an unexpected friend in a retired priest, who listened patiently to John’s frustrations. And after a rainy night when John found himself weeping in an empty church, that same priest heard John’s first confession in decades.
John has also told his story on The Journey Home.