The 3-Word Question that Banned Me from Bible Class.
For 20+ years I had a great relationship with my church. I was very active in it and developed many great friendships.
As the years passed, however, I began questioning things to the point where I decided I was no longer willing to follow blind faith. I wanted fact-based answers to my faith-related questions.
The church had a group called “Bagels & Bibles” designed to allow group members to ask any Bible and faith-related questions in a casual, relaxed atmosphere. It was run by one of the church ministers and met weekly after Sunday service. But, I had no interest in it. Over the years I’d attended multiple Bible groups and felt no need to attend another. I was also skeptical about how open any minister would really be to any questions that questioned biblical Scripture.
As I was leaving service one Sunday I was stopped by an acquaintance who invited me to join him in the group. Though I declined, he persisted, “Oh, come on, it's a great group. You have to check it out. Come on, it's starting now.” He was insistent and, with much reluctance, I finally acquiesced.
Moments later I found myself surrounded by smiling, friendly people munching on bagels and enjoying coffee. “Well, maybe this won't be so bad”, I thought to myself. Then the minister asked folks to be seated and opened with a prayer and Scripture reading. Since it was Christmas his reading referenced the passage where the shepherd was visited by a heavenly angel to announce the coming birth of Christ.
Coincidently, that week I’d just watched a History Channel special discussing the birth of Jesus as told in Scripture. It included perspectives from Bible scholars, anthropologists, and historians who all questioned the factual validity of the related scripture including the one the Bagels & Bibles minister had just read to us. The History Channel experts all agreed it was more myth than fact.
After his reading the Bagels & Bibles minister invited questions, but no one raised a hand. After a moment he asked again … “Really? No one has a question?”
Again, not one hand which seemed odd considering the whole point of the group. Since the minister seemed disappointed I raised my hand and was quickly called on …
“Regarding the scripture you just read .. about the shepherd and the angel. Is it true?”
What happened next was almost comical. The minister froze with a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face. It was almost as if someone had suddenly kicked him in the nuts.
Realizing that my question had apparently caused some short circuit in the minister’s brain I attempted to quickly remedy the situation by explaining my question: “I was wondering about that because I just watched a History Channel show and … yada, yada, yada”, at which point the minister was finally able to breath again and muster a response...
“Well, to answer that I guess you just have to ask yourself… ‘What is truth?’”
“Huh? What-the-F does that mean?” I thought to myself. Now, I was the one who was tongue-tied. Not knowing how to respond, I didn't. The minister said nothing further and no one in the group uttered a word. For the next 30-seconds you could hear a pin drop.
I truly had no idea what he meant and, in retrospect, wish I’d asked him. Had I, it probably would have opened the door for the kind of thought-provoking discussion the group was promoted as.
I can't recall much of what happened after that, but what I do recall is that the people who seemed so friendly at the start of the meeting, didn't seem quite as friendly at the end of it. I left the group regretting that I had allowed myself to be convinced to attend.
A month later I received a surprising letter from the church, on church letterhead, written by a senior minister. After telling me what a valued member of the church I was it then requested that I not attend any more Bagels & Bibles. The minister justified the request by informing me that the group was intended only for the church ‘Young Adults’ under 40. (I was 47.)
Despite my initial shock, the letter struck me as laughable on multiple levels. First was the idea that the church would have an age restriction on a Bible discussion group. Then to be formally told not to attend a group that I had absolutely no desire to attend. That was very laughable. What wasn't laughable was that they sent a letter, presuming to know my age, to use as justification to exclude me from a Bible group.
With that said, I was well aware of what triggered the letter and I knew it had nothing to do with my age. For that reason it only further exposed the faults (hypocrisy, intolerance, etc) that I was seeing in my church and, more broadly, in religion. Whether triggered by my age or my question, the letter certainly didn’t support the church’s repeated claims of being inclusive, open-minded, and non-judgmental.
I soon learned that what I experienced is not unique and it’s a reason why church attendance in America has dropped so dramatically. If you're curious to know more about it, this award-winning documentary does a good job explaining it: https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/leaving-god
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John Follis is an award-winning writer whose writing has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today, TIME, and “Mirror on America” a pop-culture anthology including essays from Stephen King and Dave Barry. https://linktr.ee/johnfollis
