"In an article published by the faith site Patheos on Wednesday, one of the original co-founders of the popular Christian band Newsboys revealed that he has since renounced Christianity and now identifies as an atheist.
“I always felt uncomfortable with the strict rules imposed by Christianity,” George Perdikis, who co-founded the group in 1985, wrote in the guest post. “All I wanted to do was create and play rock and roll … and yet
most of the attention I received was focused on how well I maintained the impossible standards of religion. I wanted my life to be measured by my music, not by my ability to resist temptation.”
He provided a synopsis of his life story and how the became involved with the group that is now one of the largest in the history of contemporary Christian music. Perdikis said that after he was kicked out of a secular high school in 1981, his parents placed him into a Christian school, but he “only lasted six months there.”
It was during this time that he met two youth who had an interest in drumming. And since one of them, Peter Furler, “had a bigger drum kit than the other guy,” Perdikis decided to hang around Furler. The two began to play music together.
“The choice to become a ‘Christian rock band’ was heavily influenced by Peter’s parents, Bill and Rosalie Furler,” he explained. “As fundamentalist Christians, the only acceptable form of music was the kind that worshiped God. Bill and Rosalie were like second parents to me and, for that reason, I never questioned their advice.”
The band later became known as the Newsboys, and after traveling with Whiteheart, went on to record their first album. Perdikis said that he co-wrote songs on the first two albums and toured with the Newsboys until he decided to quit in 1990 because he was more interested in music than spirituality.
“As I carved out a life for myself away from the church, I began my own voyage of inquiry into what I believed. My perceptions started to transform when I became interested in cosmology in 1992,” he outlined. “I learned so much and was blown away by all the amazing scientific discoveries and facts. When my marriage dissolved in 2003, I turned my attention to human psychology.”
It was just years after his divorce that Perdikis didn’t want to have anything to do with God at all.
“By 2007, I renounced Christianity once and for all and declared myself an atheist,” he said.
None of the original members of the Newsboys are currently with the band, but all except Perdikis still profess Christianity." ChristianNewsNetwork
“I always felt uncomfortable with the strict rules imposed by Christianity,” George Perdikis, who co-founded the group in 1985, wrote in the guest post. “All I wanted to do was create and play rock and roll … and yet
He provided a synopsis of his life story and how the became involved with the group that is now one of the largest in the history of contemporary Christian music. Perdikis said that after he was kicked out of a secular high school in 1981, his parents placed him into a Christian school, but he “only lasted six months there.”
It was during this time that he met two youth who had an interest in drumming. And since one of them, Peter Furler, “had a bigger drum kit than the other guy,” Perdikis decided to hang around Furler. The two began to play music together.
“The choice to become a ‘Christian rock band’ was heavily influenced by Peter’s parents, Bill and Rosalie Furler,” he explained. “As fundamentalist Christians, the only acceptable form of music was the kind that worshiped God. Bill and Rosalie were like second parents to me and, for that reason, I never questioned their advice.”
The band later became known as the Newsboys, and after traveling with Whiteheart, went on to record their first album. Perdikis said that he co-wrote songs on the first two albums and toured with the Newsboys until he decided to quit in 1990 because he was more interested in music than spirituality.
“As I carved out a life for myself away from the church, I began my own voyage of inquiry into what I believed. My perceptions started to transform when I became interested in cosmology in 1992,” he outlined. “I learned so much and was blown away by all the amazing scientific discoveries and facts. When my marriage dissolved in 2003, I turned my attention to human psychology.”
It was just years after his divorce that Perdikis didn’t want to have anything to do with God at all.
“By 2007, I renounced Christianity once and for all and declared myself an atheist,” he said.
None of the original members of the Newsboys are currently with the band, but all except Perdikis still profess Christianity." ChristianNewsNetwork
And the light shineth in darkness;
and the darkness comprehended it not.
John 1:5