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Copyright © 2007 Jean and Alexander Heard Library, Vanderbilt University


When I was a young teenager or even a year younger, I used to think about the Bible and Christianity in ways that I did not have languages, arguments, and words to explain. I recall our father once in conversation with a professor from Atlanta Christian College who preached for some time at First Christian Church in Forest Park. I guess that time was between the Paul Gibson scandal and the coming of Aubrey Jackson. I don’t know how old I was. I do recall our father describing the Chicago School, which was the object of attack in fundamentalist and independent Christian Church circles at the time.

I did not know what that phrase meant at the time. It referred to the Divinity School at the University of Chicago, especially for the most part during the teens and twenties of the last century. Anyway, dad described what he took to be their outlook. I recall thinking that is exactly what I think and believe. I think that I was what was known as a modernist until I went to Georgia Tech. though I had the good sense never to shave my opinions with our father or anyone else for that matter.

In high school, from I guess about the tenth grade, I tried hard to reconcile our fundamentalist church outlook with modernism, Youth for Christ with Disciples CYF notions. Later at Tech, I became to read Neo-Orthodox theology and began a decades longs journey with naturalistic religion on one side of my brain and some form or other of Christian theology or religion on the other side.

I don’t hate fundamentalism. I think that I understand it pretty well from growing up as I did and where I did. I don’t think that our father ever really quite bought the fundamentalists ideology he taught. From time to time, he would say things that indicated he had counter opinions that he never fully explored at least with me or any other people I know.

Now in old age, I am letting go of a lot of stuff. I am a Christian, at least, in my mind I am, more a Christian than ever before, but there is a lot of stuff that I don’t need.