{"id":2596018,"date":"2026-04-28T08:54:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T12:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-to-deconstruct-and-rebuild-your-christianity-without-losing-it\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T09:00:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T13:00:19","slug":"how-to-deconstruct-and-rebuild-your-christianity-without-losing-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-to-deconstruct-and-rebuild-your-christianity-without-losing-it\/","title":{"rendered":"How To &#8216;Deconstruct&#8217; And Rebuild Your Faith Without Losing It"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-to-deconstruct-and-rebuild-your-christianity-without-losing-it%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2596018&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Nate Hanson, once the host of the eight-year podcast *Almost Heretical*, described how he \u201cdeconstructed\u201d his faith after burnout in ministry and doubts he couldn\u2019t resolve-eventually losing belief in core claims like Jesus\u2019 resurrection through engagement with skeptical scholarship (such as Bart Ehrman). He says his deconstruction wasn\u2019t driven by anger, but by an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/with-anti-woke-college-trustee-picks-desantis-chips-away-at-the-political-poison-in-education\/\" title=\"With Anti-Woke College Trustee Picks, DeSantis Chips Away At The Political Poison In Education\">honest search<\/a> for understanding, and that even replacing Christianity with a more secular outlook didn\u2019t fully answer his questions.<\/p>\n<p>About a year ago, though, he found that Ehrman\u2019s explanations felt less convincing and he turned to scholarly work that supports Christianity\u2019s past credibility. After studying arguments and evidence presented by scholars like Richard Bauckham, Peter J.Williams, Lydia McGrew, and John Lennox, Hanson concluded that the Christian story-especially Jesus\u2019 death and resurrection-rests on far more cumulative evidence and reasoning than he had previously been taught. He then publicly announced his return to Christianity in a video, explaining that the \u201ccore\u201d of deconstruction led him back rather than away.<\/p>\n<p>He also announced his new podcast, *Faith Lab*, where he plans to talk with experts to develop a view of faith based on trust grounded in evidence rather than blind belief. The author of the piece adds reflection on why people deconstruct-often because Christianity is treated as culturally assumed \u201cfurniture\u201d or because questions are met with platitudes rather than reasons-and argues that Hanson\u2019s journey was a process of rebuilding a stronger foundation for belief.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>For the past eight years, Nate Hanson served as the host of a podcast called <em>Almost Heretical.<\/em> The show generated millions of downloads and rose to become one of the most successful \u201cdeconstructionist\u201d podcasts on the market. On Wikipedia, it<em>\u2019<\/em>s listed among the top three podcasts of the \u201cExvangelical\u201d movement.<\/p>\n<p>According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.barna.com\/trends\/ex-christians-deconstructing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2024 Barna survey<\/a>, a surprising 37 percent of today\u2019s Christians have to some extent \u201cdeconstructed the faith of their youth,\u201d but this process of reassessment doesn\u2019t always translate into a total break from the faith. In Hanson\u2019s case, however, it did. <\/p>\n<p>Before his involvement with the program, Hanson spent several years in ministry, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/securities-and-exchange-commission-issues-multiple-warnings-about-recent-stock-market-volatility\/\" title=\"Securities And Exchange Commission Issues Multiple Warnings About Recent Stock Market Volatility\">working closely<\/a> with Francis Chan to plant churches throughout the San Francisco Bay area. But somewhere along the way, something changed. Burned out, he began having doubts about many of the things he\u2019d grown up believing. He wrestled with the \u201cproblem of evil,\u201d how God is presented in the Old Testament, and, with the help of liberal scholars like Bart Ehrman, he eventually lost faith in Jesus\u2019 resurrection. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI reached a point,\u201d Hanson told me in an email, \u201cwhere I simply could not make myself believe anymore, and it felt like losing my identity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While in ministry, Hanson assumed that serving God full-time would cause him to feel closer to God and more grounded in his faith. His experience, however, was almost the opposite. He felt tired, confused, and unsure of what he even believed. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI still admired Jesus,\u201d he said. \u201cI still valued the ethics and the community. But I no longer believed the central claim that Jesus had actually risen from the dead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though Hanson notes that deconstruction is often framed as \u201crebellion, bitterness, or a desire to just tear everything down,\u201d this was never his story. \u201cFor me, deconstruction was an honest process driven by a desire to understand. It\u2019s what happens when inherited answers stop working for you.\u201d In some ways, <em>Almost Heretical<\/em> became a vehicle for Hanson to publicly process his own experience of deconstruction. But as he later discovered, replacing Christianity with a more secular outlook didn\u2019t end up resolving all his questions. In fact, over time, it only generated more.<\/p>\n<p>A little over a year ago, however, something unexpected happened. Though Ehrman had radically transformed his view of the origins of Christianity, Hanson recently revealed that \u201chis explanations started to feel less compelling.\u201d So he decided to dive headfirst into the best scholarship on the other side of the fence. And when he encountered the work of scholars such as Richard Bauckham, Peter J. Williams, Lydia McGrew, John Lennox, and others, he was shocked by what he discovered. After wrestling with their insights, Hanson concluded: <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>There was far more evidence and reason behind the Christian story, and the life, death, and, yes, resurrection of Jesus, than I had ever been taught or had put together before. It was not one argument that changed everything. It was the cumulative weight of the evidence.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Since I had interviewed all the above scholars on my own podcast, Hanson sent me an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.humbleskeptic.com\/p\/after-deconstruction-what\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">email<\/a> letting me know he had listened to those conversations and that they helped him to \u201crebuild a thoughtful and reasonable confidence in the Christian story.\u201d When it finally sank in that the faith he left behind was grounded in far more evidence than he had ever realized, he decided to release a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Zz0lJN9eTQ0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">video<\/a> to his followers announcing his return to Christianity:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n[T]he more I studied the New Testament historically, the more it read like people doing their best to describe something they believed they had actually witnessed. Not polished myths or abstract theology but accounts rooted in real places, real people, and public events told with the kinds of awkward and inconvenient details you probably wouldn\u2019t invent if you were trying to create a legend. So many details and distances, and elevations, and naming statistics, and so much more that other ancient texts and other religions just don\u2019t have\u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Throughout this process, Hanson continued to explore skeptical explanations as well, but \u201cover time,\u201d he said, they \u201cstopped making the most sense of the data for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Toward the end of his announcement, Hanson explained that, for him, deconstruction \u201cwas always trying to get to the core.\u201d When he began his journey eight years ago, he thought this would end up leading him away from Christianity, but once he began deconstructing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/im-not-giving-up-my-ar-15-thats-mine-not-happening-crenshaw-on-gun-rights\/\" title=\"\u2018I...m Not Giving Up My AR-15.\u00a0That...s Mine,\u00a0Not Happening...: Crenshaw On Gun Rights\">bad arguments<\/a> in support of Christianity as well as bad arguments against it, that\u2019s when the lights came on. In fact, Hanson now confidently asserts that deconstruction \u201cled me back\u201d to Christianity.<\/p>\n<p>Hanson also informed his followers that, moving forward, his show would be called <a href=\"https:\/\/faithlabshow.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Faith Lab<\/em><\/a>. On this new podcast, he<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >\u2019ll spend time talking<\/a> with scholars and experts who will help him to regain \u201ca version of Christianity that understands faith, not as a blind leap, but as a trust grounded in evidence.\u201d Shortly after this, I was honored to join Hanson and his wife, Shelby, for a discussion of \u201cblind faith\u201d on their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.humbleskeptic.com\/p\/faith-isnt-blind\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">first official episode<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo if you\u2019re still deconstructing, and things are still falling apart for you right now, you\u2019re totally welcome here,\u201d Hanson concluded. \u201cIf you\u2019re the person who goes to church every week \u2026 but privately you\u2019re carrying doubts, and you don\u2019t feel safe asking them out loud, I see you. \u2026 I hope this is a helpful place for you to get more confidence in your trust in the Christian story. And if you\u2019ve been in church your whole life, you know, you\u2019re fully committed, but you\u2019re starting to realize that maybe you don\u2019t have the solid foundations for why you believe this \u2026 I\u2019m really glad you\u2019re here, and I\u2019m making this show for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The comments above are worthy of deeper reflection. How can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/an-extended-look-at-candace-owens-like-youve-never-seen-her-before\/\" title=\"An Ext...ed Look At\u00a0Candace Owens Like You...ve Never Seen Her Before\">people spend<\/a> their lives in church without knowing <em>why<\/em> they believe what they believe? In my opinion, this is due in part to the triumph of Christianity in Western culture. Precisely because of its great success, over the centuries, it became part of our collective mental furniture \u2014 something people took for granted. No one needed an argument for Christianity; it was just a religion people were born into.<\/p>\n<p>Tragically, in my own informal polls taken at Christian churches, conferences, and concerts in recent years, too many believers today end up equating faith with their own subjective feelings and personal experiences \u2014 the same criteria used by Mormons and people from many other religious backgrounds. Hanson describes his own church experience in similar terms, saying that for most of his life, he primarily \u201cfocused on trying to live radically for Jesus,\u201d and never really bothered to examine any of the foundational claims at the heart of Christianity.<\/p>\n<p>Over a century ago, Princeton scholar J. Gresham Machen wisely observed, \u201cThere can be no applied Christianity, unless there be \u2018a Christianity to apply.\u2019\u201d In other words, if the good <em>news<\/em> about Jesus (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=1Cor.%2015:1%E2%80%936&#038;version=ESV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1Cor. 15:1\u20136<\/a>) isn\u2019t rooted in something concrete and real, then as Paul says, \u201cour preaching is worthless\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=1Cor.%2015:14&#038;version=ESV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1Cor. 15:14<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Since we now live in a culture that no longer takes the Bible for granted, and in some cases is downright hostile to Christianity, is it any wonder that many people raised in the faith end up deconstructing? When believers are given coffee mug platitudes in response to their important questions, perhaps we should wonder instead why people bother to stay.<\/p>\n<p>After years of deconstruction, Hanson returned to the Christian faith not because of a profound religious experience, a desire to raise positive kids in a negative world, or anything of the sort. No, he regained his faith after becoming convinced that Christianity was and is \u201ca true and reasonable thing\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Acts%2026:25&#038;version=ESV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Acts 26:25<\/a>). In fact, far from demanding blind faith, the world-altering events at the heart of this ancient movement actually invite our investigation and lifelong reflection (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Luke%201:1-4&#038;version=ESV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Luke 1:1-4<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=1%20Thes.%205:21&#038;version=ESV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1 Thes. 5:21<\/a>). <\/p>\n<p>In the end, it appears that Hanson\u2019s eight-year deconstruction project helped him to gain a new appreciation for Christianity\u2019s strong foundation. It wasn\u2019t an end in itself, just the preliminary work that ultimately led to renovation and renewal.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Shane Rosenthal is the founder and host of &#8220;The Humble Skeptic&#8221; podcast and the author of &#8220;Luke\u2019s Key Witness&#8221; (forthcoming). He was one of the creators of the &#8220;White Horse Inn&#8221; radio broadcast, which he produced for several decades and hosted from 2019 to 2021. Shane has written numerous articles for Modern Reformation, Logia, TableTalk, and many other publications. He lives with his family in the greater St. Louis area.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For eight years, Nate Hanson hosted *Almost Heretical*, a leading \u201cdeconstructionist\u201d podcast, listed by Wikipedia among top \u201cExvangelical\u201d shows. A 2024 Barna survey found 37% of Christians have deconstructed their youth faith, but Hanson ultimately returned<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4268,"featured_media":2596019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/nate-hanson.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[78723,55488,78724,55233,78725],"class_list":["post-2596018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-faith-deconstruction","tag-personal-transformation","tag-rebuilding-faith","tag-religious-growth","tag-spiritual-healing"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/nate-hanson.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2596018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2596018"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2596018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2596022,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2596018\/revisions\/2596022"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2596019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2596018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2596018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2596018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}