Former Pastor Ryan Bell Permanently Gives Up God After Year-Long 'Experiment'

A California-based pastor who announced that he would become an atheist for a year in 2013 has since decided to permanently give up God.

Ryan Bell, a former Seventh Day Adventist pastor in Los Angeles, announced in a recent interview with NPR that he has permanately stopped believing in God. Bell made waves in December 2013 when he said he would embark on an "intellectual experiment" for one year, following his divorce, by giving up his belief in God.

Bell had announced earlier this month that as his experimental year came to a close, he was unsure if he would continue being an atheist or turn back to God.

The former pastor now tells NPR in a recent interview that he has, in fact, given up God completely.

"I've looked at the majority of the arguments that I've been able to find for the existence of God and on the question of God's existence or not, I have to say I don't find there to be a convincing case in my view," Bell explained. "I don't think that God exists. I think that makes the most sense of the evidence that I have and my experience."

Bell added in the NPR interview that although he doesn't believe in God, he doesn't like to describe himself as an atheist.

"I think I've adjusted or sort of acclimatized a little bit to the atheist community. I've spent more time in settings with atheists," he explained. " But there are still elements of it that are a bit more confident than I find myself to be in some aspects, so still an awkward fit."