An Atheist Goes to the Adoration Chapel – John Knutsen

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.