To be clear I was not raised Christian but rather by critics of Christianity (couple of psychology majors actually). I am and always have been a scientist first. I just happened to see some value in the Bible and Christianity despite of all of this. I sometimes describe myself as an agnostic theist because I don’t believe that objective knowledge of the existence of God is possible. Nevertheless, I am a 1.5 theist on the Dawkins scale because although I believe doubt is required by mental health I think living your life as if something were true is the only substantial meaning of the word “knowledge.”
My reasons for believing are found here.
I do not think there was ever a time when the members of the homo sapiens species or the organisms of any species never experienced death or suffering. Life and death, happiness and suffering are two sides of the same coin. Without death and suffering life would not exist. But I don’t think humanity should be reduced to that of a biological species. We are memetic organisms as well as genetic – children of both God and the apes with an inheritance from both.