Larry Sanger, who co-founded Wikipedia in 2001, and who for decades has declared himself an agnostic and skeptic philosopher, recently announced his conversion to Christianity.
Writing on his blog, the 56-year-old said, “I spent over 35 years as a nonbeliever, I will not try to portray myself as a converted ‘enemy of the faith.’ I never was; I was merely a skeptic. I especially hope to reach those who are as I once was: rational thinkers who are perhaps open to the idea, but simply not convinced.”
Sanger once described Wikipedia, the user-edit online encyclopedia, as “part anarchy, part mob rule.” He acknowledged, “The people with the most influence in the community are the ones who have the most time on their hands – not necessarily the most knowledgeable – and who manipulate Wikipedia’s eminently gameable system.”
The internet project developer stepped away from the site way back in 2002 over conflicting philosophies, specifically his desire for a fair and open forum that wouldn’t engage in viewpoint discrimination.
Over the years, Sanger has suggested the site primarily consists of “establishment mouthpieces” and deliberately blocks alternative viewpoints.
“There’s a lot of Nobel prize winners and distinguished doctors whose views are not only not welcome on Wikipedia — they’re literally censored on YouTube and sometimes Facebook and Twitter [X} because they contradict the narrative,” he told the New York Post.
“There’s a global enforcement of a certain point of view on issues like COVID,” he insisted, calling it “amazing to me as a libertarian, or a liberty-loving conservative.”
Writing last week about his evolution from skeptic to believer, Larry shared details about his upbringing, details that can be instructive for mothers and fathers.
“I was confirmed at age 12 in the Lutheran Church, but soon after, my family stopped going to church,” he said. Sanger’s father began dabbling in New Age religions and invited skeptics of the faith and philosophers to engage Larry in conversation. By the time he was 14 or 15, he said his belief began slipping away.
Fiercely curious and inquisitive, Larry said he had all kinds of questions but was discouraged from asking them. He even called a pastor, an individual he suggested was less than helpful and even dismissive of his skepticism. In short, he wasn’t taken seriously – so he began chasing after groups and individuals who would give him attention and make him feel like his agnosticism was well placed.
He chose Reed College, a liberal arts school in Portland, Oregon, that he said “was full of liberal unbelievers.” At the time Sanger was a student there, he said their unofficial motto was “Communism, Atheism, Free Love.”
After separating from Wikipedia, Sanger taught philosophy at Ohio State for a few years, priding himself on his ability to conceal his true beliefs from students. “I wanted them, too, to seek the truth for themselves,” he wrote.
It’s clear he was on a spiritual journey, impressed with the many brilliant people who believed the Bible to be God’s Word – but still considering it to be “not much more than primitive Bronze Age myth and wisdom literature, with the miraculous bits probably based on rich imagination, misunderstood emotions, and other natural psychological experiences.”
Interestingly, around 2011, Sanger found his sympathies inching towards Christians whenever he saw believers attacked for having the temerity to publicly share their faith. He spoke out against what he considered bullying. He also began speaking out against the New Atheist arguments being popularized and propagandized online.
“I scanned books produced by New Atheists such as Dawkins and Harris and could never bring myself to actually buy one: they were just so transparently mediocre.”
For Larry Sanger, the penny has seemed to drop slowly, but he’s at last felt the freedom to acknowledge that he believes the Bible is true, there is one God in three persons, and Jesus is the Savior of the world.
For the past five years, Sanger has been writing a book that he’s titled, God Exists: A Philosophical Case for the Christian God. Perhaps it’s the philosopher in him, but at 203,484 words (and counting!) he has a penchant for being quite wordy.
While Sanger might not be expecting people to read his book, he is clear and direct when he states, “Everybody should read the Bible daily.”
Larry’s long and winding road demonstrates the power and influence of good and bad parenting, the importance of welcoming questions from skeptics, the need for humility and patience when encountering nonbelievers, and the long-suffering and merciful patience of a Heavenly Father who will never stop pursuing us even when we might stop chasing after Him.
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