where are you? I don't see you on secularchat any longer. Oh wait, I am not there myself!

Well somehow the office connection sucks and can't load it, and there is not enough time at home, but yeah, I do look forward to chatting with you and other regulars there.

Nah, I don't what to take the poor man's staff, just purchase one like it.

LogicalSanity,

So long ago, a different me. Bro. Jed was a bit eccentric, fastidious, extremely formal in his manner, emotionally reserved but not cold, with a ironic sense of humor; but he was sincere. His theology was informed by the revivalism of 19th-century evangelistic, abolitionist, and first or second president of Oberlin College Charles G. Finney. A rather austere perfectionist theology. What motivates his style of preaching is that the gospel is only good news to those who are convinced they are miserable sinners deserving of hell; hence, his method of condemning not just the sin but the sinner as well. He is a master of confrontation and handling campus hecklers.

LogicalSanity,

Thanks for asking about my paradigm shift.

After living with Brother Jed, I moved back to Los Angeles (c. 1988) and a couple of years later I got a job at an academic theology bookshop. It was there that I was exposed to different theologies and different philosophies, and in due time I started questioning many of sacred presuppositions. Biblical and historical criticism undermined my faith in the inerrancy of the bible and in its historicity. However, my exodus out of faith was fraught with trauma as my existential bedrock crumbled. With some counselling and much thought I finally broke through and was able to rid myself of the shackles of fundamentalism and start a journey of discovery that continues to this day. There have been many missteps and dead ends, even some brief renewals of faith, but each digression had been an invaluable tutor.

hi! welcome to TA. hope to see you around! :)