I suppose the reason I wanted to talk to Dr. D was because of his pleasant personality and the fact that he was socially accessible. He was soft-spoken, cheerful and eager to listen. I was told by others that he had struggled in the father role, but I would see similarities later in my own life, where my church behavior would be far preferable to my home demeanor. I went to his house, explained my dilemma and was encouraged by him to pack up the family and return to Orlando. Lois's folks were again gracious enough to let us stay there, and Dr. D arranged for us to store our stuff in an unused Sunday school room at the Chapel (the Plymouth Brethren church).
Then things began to come together. My old boss at the Akerman law firm agreed to take me back on third shift (to Lois's disappointment), and a Chapel family allowed us to rent their house because they had taken a job in Atlanta. It was in this house that we would witness our first real snowfall (with accumulation) in Orlando. Actually, enough piled up on the hood of the car to make a snowball.
It was at this point in my life that I would again turn my mind to spiritual matters. In 1973 the New York Bible Society released the New International Version (NIV) New Testament portion of the Bible; the Old Testament was published in 1978. The project intrigued me. I read everything I could about the team of international Biblical scholars and the almost-ten year project they underwent, how they studied thousands of ancient Greek and Aramaic texts that only became available around 1947 and later (the King James translators only had 11).
Up until that point I had only read the Authorized King James Version (KJV) and some of the Revised Standard Version (that the Methodists use). I had also looked at the Living Bible, a paraphrased rendition created by Kenneth Taylor in 1971. The NIV was refreshing and, in my mind, remained close to the KJV, leaving out the annoying begats, thees, thous and ests (like livest and lovest).
The NIV was a bold move and immediately ruffled the tail-feathers of many Christian fundamentalists, who claimed that the KJV was the only authoritative scripture, and that "if it was good enough for the Apostle Paul, it's good enough for me." It was also my first break from the tradition of my elders, but not from fundamentalism, since a large number of them grew to love and accept the NIV. There are still quite a few that hold onto the KJV and declare that any other translation or paraphrase is an abomination.
This would be a good place to address (if I haven't already done so) what I think is Christian fundamentalism. The root word is fundamental, which, in and of itself, is quite harmless; it means a root system or strong base to support and uphold valued principles or laws. When you add ism to the word, you lock in basic tenets of the faith held by a very large number of self-professed Christians. These include the ideas of: inerrancy of the Bible, that it's God's word, free from historic, scientific or teaching error; God exists as one being, manifested mysteriously in three persons (himself, Jesus and the Holy Spirit); the virgin birth of Christ; and belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (who died for our sins) as the atoning sacrifice and the only accepted plan of salvation, the decision of which will reward us with eternal life if accepted, or permanent torture in hell if rejected.
For at least 20 more years I would not only hold fast to these teachings, but defend them in debate and teach them regularly to those who need to repeatedly hear it from someone who they think knows the truth.
But I didn't have a clue.
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