I also added more in post #193. Here it is again.
The Bible teaches that a man is persuaded from the scriptures, or from hearing the scriptures preached. Belief is not imposed on a man.
Rom 4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:
20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification
Persuaded never means that belief is imposed on a man, it means to be convinced, or to win one over through argument.
I know for myself personally, that there was a time of questioning the scriptures. I mean, you hear in the story of Adam and Eve that the serpent spoke to them. Now, that was a fantastic thing to believe for me, I have never witnessed an animal that could speak. And I heard the criticisms of non-believers who said the Bible was myth. I considered these things. And there were many other fantastic stories such as Moses parting the Red Sea, and Jonah being swallowed by a whale and being alive after 3 days. There were the stories of healing, such as blind men receiving sight, and the dead being raised. To this day, I have never witnessed anything like this. So I had to ask myself if fantastic stories like these could possibly be true, or were just myths written by ancient and superstitious peoples. There are many fantastic myths that I know to be false like the Grecian gods for example.
So, I did not just believe. There were doubts. But when I read the scriptures they had the ring of truth to me, especially when God spoke of the heart of man. The scriptures revealed the sinfulness of man, and I could see my own sinfulness in these scriptures. I knew this was all true, because I knew I had sinned, and I had these sinful lusts and desires in my own heart. And I was not all that bad when I was 11 years old, I laugh when I think about it now. I have commited much worse sins since then. I was relatively innocent as a boy.
The more I read the scriptures, they more I was convinced and persuaded they were true, even if some of the stories were very fantastic and difficult to believe. But I decided the Bible was true and all those stories quite real. Now, it is very easy for me to believe them, and I do not doubt them whatsoever.
But this faith was not imposed or forced on me against my will.