It didn’t happen overnight.

It didn’t happen in a year.

It, in fact, took several years for me to come to a place where I no longer call myself a Christian (in the strictest sense).

This absolutely does not mean that I’m anti-Christian. Or that I think people who are Christians are foolish or in some way bad. Quite the opposite.

Some of the smartest, finest, most sincere, and loving people I’ve ever known, and am honored to know today, are Christians.

Truth told, the faith and spiritual practices I do have are powerfully influenced by the roots of the faith my parents passed on to me.

The person of Christ remains a central figure in my striving to understand what/who I perceive God to be. The Bible is still a source of spiritual inspiration. Prayer is my most important spiritual practice.

I simply can no longer see the Bible as the literal word of the creator of the universe, the one and only text written to humanity by the God of the Cosmos.

I’ve come to see the Bible in a very different way.

Still with appreciation, and even a kind of reverence. But not as infallible. Not as having “fallen from heaven.” Not as “the only way to God.”

I don’t say any of this to upset or anger anyone. I know some would be alarmed by this admission or feel compelled to worry or pray for my eternal soul. I know such reactions from family and friends would come from love; from strangers, such reactions might come from more of a place of duty, like “this poor guy needs to get right with God again or he’s on his way to hell.”

I would ask you not to despair for my soul. It feels freer than it has in a very long time. It would be insincere of me to “fake” a belief to make others feel comfortable. Certainly, it wouldn’t fool God, would it? I can’t lie to myself, and I won’t lie to the world.

So, if this is how I feel, why am I going to churches and writing about “what I learned?”

For a few reasons.

I believe that sacred texts have a lot to teach everyone. We don’t need to take them literally to see the truths they offer.

I’m interested in the different ways religious teachings are being presented in the postmodern world. Since Christianity is my faith tradition, I am visiting a variety of Christian-based churches, trying to take their pulse, feel them out. How are they “packaging” these very ancient teachings to offer them to people living in the age of Google, smartphones, and Artificial Intelligence?

The most important reason, though, is that I still believe in God, and I see this very much as a spiritual quest. I pray before each visit, to have an open heart and mind, to be ready to hear what God (as I see God) may be saying to me.

I want to feel God’s presence. I want to learn to see God in everyone and everything.

There are social, intellectual, and journalistic reasons for my current pilgrimage as well—but they are least important.

In future posts, I’m going to talk about the phases of my untethering from the faith of my youth, the various “steps” that lead me to a different perspective on the Bible, faith, and God.

Comments are welcome, but I’m really not interested in debating anyone. Discussing, yes. Debating, no.