For me, it all began in my early adolescence, when I progressed from junior Sunday School and up into the Young People’s Fellowship in the Chapel opposite my parent’s bungalow. We were a strong and closely knit group that filled two rows of pews when we attended the Chapel’s Sunday services, and we annually holidayed together at various UK Christian holiday camps. Each of us professed to having experienced a ‘Road to Damascus’ conversion although, looking back, I have to admit to somewhat ‘shamming it up’ since I had never enjoyed such an experience.
In hindsight I must admit to the major attraction of the part played by the presence in the group of my ‘childhood sweetheart’ since the age of 10. By the age of 14 I had made my move on my sweetheart and two years later we were baptised together by immersion in a joint ritual. From thereon I committed myself to the Chapel’s teachings and, as a result of their majoring on pacifist deference, I followed their exhortations to resist conscription into combative military service, and registered as a conscientious objector. I thereby broadened my religious horizons by being housed in a billet set aside for other “conchies” from every imaginable denomination of Christianity.
When I was demobilised after two year’s non combative duties, and after several more years of career and family diversions; I returned to the Chapel, only to find that, contrary to its claims to ‘pacifist deference’, the chapel had imploded into three warring groups regarding which, of its assistant Pastors, should succeed the ageing senior Pastor. Two of the groups had left and joined other chapels and, after likewise trying various other chapels only to find similar controversy, I became so disillusioned that I abandoned my search in order to devote myself to a long examination of the history of Christianity to see if I could find a plausible explanation for the great divide that I had come to recognise.
That was 60 years ago and, to this day, I have been unable to reconcile the conclusions that arose as a result of my ‘examination’. Whether or not any of them have relevance that would merit a mention would be a very subjective matter. Collectively they certainly paint a very negative picture. Those with better academic qualification than myself would probably disagree with my conclusions, as would most of those with deep religious conviction.
Those with adverse religious experiences might well agree, as might those with atheist or agnostic inclinations. In my favour I claim allegiance to no denomination whatsoever, and I hope to have benefited from my more mature efforts at further historic self education at libraries and relevant museums, and visits to ‘The Holy Land’.
However history from the dark ages and beyond is said to lean in favour of the ‘victors’; the losers from long ago having not survived to tell their side of the story. Add to this my conclusion that, whereas I could well come up with plausible explanations based on my researched knowledge of the UK’s progression throughout the relevant ages, I have little idea of the comparable progression of Mediterranean Christianity, or of the religious progression of countries in which Christianity is not their dominant faith. But, in my opinion, there just has to be a ‘bigger picture’ than that narrowly held by western evangelical fundamentalists who hold to the plenary verbal inerrancy of the bible, yet insist that their interpretations are sufficiently different to warrant the formation of over 30,000 different sects, cults, and denominations.
I guess I must just leave it to God as to how He will “bring in the sheep that are of other folds”.
In hindsight I must admit to the major attraction of the part played by the presence in the group of my ‘childhood sweetheart’ since the age of 10. By the age of 14 I had made my move on my sweetheart and two years later we were baptised together by immersion in a joint ritual. From thereon I committed myself to the Chapel’s teachings and, as a result of their majoring on pacifist deference, I followed their exhortations to resist conscription into combative military service, and registered as a conscientious objector. I thereby broadened my religious horizons by being housed in a billet set aside for other “conchies” from every imaginable denomination of Christianity.
When I was demobilised after two year’s non combative duties, and after several more years of career and family diversions; I returned to the Chapel, only to find that, contrary to its claims to ‘pacifist deference’, the chapel had imploded into three warring groups regarding which, of its assistant Pastors, should succeed the ageing senior Pastor. Two of the groups had left and joined other chapels and, after likewise trying various other chapels only to find similar controversy, I became so disillusioned that I abandoned my search in order to devote myself to a long examination of the history of Christianity to see if I could find a plausible explanation for the great divide that I had come to recognise.
That was 60 years ago and, to this day, I have been unable to reconcile the conclusions that arose as a result of my ‘examination’. Whether or not any of them have relevance that would merit a mention would be a very subjective matter. Collectively they certainly paint a very negative picture. Those with better academic qualification than myself would probably disagree with my conclusions, as would most of those with deep religious conviction.
Those with adverse religious experiences might well agree, as might those with atheist or agnostic inclinations. In my favour I claim allegiance to no denomination whatsoever, and I hope to have benefited from my more mature efforts at further historic self education at libraries and relevant museums, and visits to ‘The Holy Land’.
However history from the dark ages and beyond is said to lean in favour of the ‘victors’; the losers from long ago having not survived to tell their side of the story. Add to this my conclusion that, whereas I could well come up with plausible explanations based on my researched knowledge of the UK’s progression throughout the relevant ages, I have little idea of the comparable progression of Mediterranean Christianity, or of the religious progression of countries in which Christianity is not their dominant faith. But, in my opinion, there just has to be a ‘bigger picture’ than that narrowly held by western evangelical fundamentalists who hold to the plenary verbal inerrancy of the bible, yet insist that their interpretations are sufficiently different to warrant the formation of over 30,000 different sects, cults, and denominations.
I guess I must just leave it to God as to how He will “bring in the sheep that are of other folds”.
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