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The abstract of a 2018 academic study performed at the University of South Carolina entitled ''Toward Faith: A Qualitative Study of How [[Atheism|Atheists]] Convert to [[Christianity]]'' published by Joseph Langston indicates:

The abstract of a 2018 academic study performed at the University of South Carolina entitled ''Toward Faith: A Qualitative Study of How [[Atheism|Atheists]] Convert to [[Christianity]]'' published by Joseph Langston indicates:

{{Cquote|The study of religious conversion has historically neglected how nonbelievers (i.e. atheists) come to adopt a belief in a god or gods, and thus cannot address whether findings and theories from previous research apply to atheists. In order to assess how atheists converted to Christianity, we performed a thematic analysis of 111 biographical narratives obtained from the open Internet. Our analysis yielded 10 recurring thematic elements, which we termed as hardship; authentic example; unfamiliarity/pseudo-familiarity (with Christianity or Christians); “contra atheism”; religious study; intellectualism; numinous experiences; openness to experience; ritual behaviors; and social ties. We draw logical connections between these themes and connect them to previous research. Our results impress the need for a more flexible, and therefore less sequential or stage-based, theoretical approach to conversion<ref>[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327078804_Toward_Faith_A_Qualitative_Study_of_How_Atheists_Convert_to_Christianity ''Toward Faith: A Qualitative Study of How Atheists Convert to Christianity''] by Joseph Langston, Researchgate, 2018</ref>}}

{{Cquote|The study of religious conversion has historically neglected how nonbelievers (i.e. atheists) come to adopt a belief in a god or gods, and thus cannot address whether findings and theories from previous research apply to atheists. In order to assess how atheists converted to Christianity, we performed a thematic analysis of 111 biographical narratives obtained from the open Internet. Our analysis yielded 10 recurring thematic elements, which we termed as hardship; authentic example; unfamiliarity/pseudo-familiarity (with Christianity or Christians); “contra atheism”; religious study; intellectualism; numinous experiences; openness to experience; ritual behaviors; and social ties. We draw logical connections between these themes and connect them to previous research. Our results impress the need for a more flexible, and therefore less sequential or stage-based, theoretical approach to conversion<ref>[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327078804_Toward_Faith_A_Qualitative_Study_of_How_Atheists_Convert_to_Christianity ''Toward Faith: A Qualitative Study of How Atheists Convert to Christianity''] by Joseph Langston, Researchgate, 2018</ref>}}