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instruction of God, to g ive man the
explanation of what he is, and why
he is here, and where he is going,
and how he ought to live, and how
he can be happy, and prosperous
and enjoy life more.
Somehow "religion" was for
Sunday morn ing-except that 1
had been taught that its prohibi–
tions !asted all day Sunday. l t was
sin to go to the theater on Sunday,
and it was a sin to dance, or smoke,
or swear, or drink at any time- and
even theatergoing was "worldly"
and probably a sin at any time.
Playi ng cards was
s in too. Aside from a
few such things, 1
had no idea what my
churc h
believed.
all that was. Anyway, it was "up
yonder" and when they called the
roll, I took it for granted 1 was
going to be there.
And what was my idea of Goo–
and of Chr ist-and of the devil?
Well, God was One to fear and be
appeased, in a way- a nd yet, if we
pleased Him, He cou ld make things
break our way for us. lf we faced a
fri·ghtful tragedy and possible
death, crying out to Him might
save us. But generally, 1 think 1
rather took it for granted that God
didn't want us to be happy or enjoy
had no relation to or connection
with the rest of life as a whole- my
school, fun , play, hobbies, and, as 1
grew older, business, philosophies
and beliefs.
What a " Bible Christian" ls Like
But when 1 was 34 years of age, my
religious nonchalance was rudely
jolted. My wife and
1
were visitirtg
my parents in Salem, Oregon. Mrs.
Armst rong returned from a visit
with one of my mother's friends- a
neighbor. This woman seemed to
be a sort of "Bible Christian. " She
had handed her Bi–
ble to my wife and
asked her to read a
certain pas sage
aloud. Then, without
any comment what–
ever, she asked my
wife to turn to
another passage and
read it aloud-then
another and another.
All these passages
seemed to connect in
an ord er ly sc–
quence.
"Why!"
ex-
Except for a few
such church teach–
ings, "religion" was
for Sunday morning
and had no connec–
tion whatever with
my life othe rwise.
Of course c hurch
members hip often
supplies a portian of
one's social life, and
many men attend to
make valuable busi–
ness contacts.
Rcligion? Well ,
vaguely 1 had heard
that Adam was the
first man, and that
h e s i nned , and
"fell " - wh atever
th a t meant. As a
rcsult 1 vaguely con–
ceivcd that life was
like a one-way tr ip
on a train. Because
" I vaguely conceived that life was like a
one-way trip on a train. Because
cla imed my wife in
astonishment, "th is
i s not what 1've
always been taught!
Have 1 always been
led to believe
just
the opposite
of what
of Adam, the switch in the track at the
end of the line is thrown to
thc Bible teaches?"
"Well , don't ask
me," smiled my
mother's neighbor.
" 1 didn't teach you a
word. You just read
shoot us all down to hell. So I supposed
we needed to 'get saved' . . "
of Adam, the switch in the track at
the end of the line is thrown to
shoot us all down to hell. So 1 sup–
posed we needed to "get saved,"
although 1 had been taught that 1
had a "bir thright membership" in
the ch urch, so 1 guessed 1 probably
was a lready "saved"- at least 1
don ' t remember that l ever worried
about it. When one is ' 'saved," the
switch in the track at the end of
life's journey is then thrown so
that , when he gets to the end of the
line he will be shot instantly up to
heaven, "to be with the Lord" in
mansions above, "over the river,"
or "on thc other shore," wherever
8
life-He certainly frowned on all
worldly pleasures. Christ, however,
was more kind and loving- He was
our Savior. Above all, neither God
nor Christ were
REAL
to me- they
were in reality "far off."
Now these were not definite,
concrete beliefs or deep-rooted con–
victions. They were just ethereal,
vague assumptions. 1 never gave
them deep or specific thought. 1
just took them for granted, suppos–
ing everybody believed these
things. My mind was focused on
the material inte rests of the
moment-things closer to hand . As
1 said, religion was for Sunday.
It
it yourself out of the
Bible."
Mrs. Armstrong carne running
to tell me what she had discovered .
Suddenly her religious belief had
been changed. To me, she had
become a religious fanatic. What
she had read out of the Bible was
diametrically contrary to the gener–
al teachings of the churches. I was
angered, furious. Argument did no
good. She had all the answers-and
r ight out of the Bible. This was the
i ncident that challenged and
angered me into the first real study
of the Bible of all my life.
1 said: " You can' t tell me that all
these churches are wrong. 1 know
The
PLAIN TRUTH