Time transcripts of Audio

[00:00:00:00]	Okay...so, my first experience, I guess, was going to...a...small Bible study in a house...

[00:00:20:00]	And I didn't really know, like,what that really was, er, I guess I had a hostile attitude towards it, especially since I wasn't brought up in any sort of religious background, I wasn't...

[00:00:36:00]	Didn't have any religious affiliation,really opinions on it, other than it was just kinda weird and pointless, and...just not very logically based.

[00:00:52:00]	So it was cool that this...study was an interact, it was like an interactive teaching. So there were like- the teacher would ask discussion questions about...the God of the Bible and...what people thought about his character or what their notions or preconceptions about Christianity were, where they came from and things like that. 

[00:01:24:00]	And, it was interesting to be able to...discuss those things, even as...like, a non-religious person, just to be in the audience and be able to, like, participate in the conversation.

[00:01:36:00]	And it was really interesting, too, thatI could ask like really...controversial questions, or really...not like I was trying to be
offensive, but kind of...questions that usually it seems like religious people avoid, more like logic based questions, or like, scientific things, what kind of- like why they believe what they believe.

[00:02:08:00]	And it was interesting 'cause, like, all of my questions were answered, like, no one shied away from that, and it wasn't just...like
an emotional, feelings based response.

[00:02:20:00]	 Everyone had...really good answers that were backed up by studies that were done, and by literature that they've read that...maybe archaeological studies, or like philosophical arguments.

[00:02:48:00]	And it was interesting to learn...that...specifically Christianity wasn't just like another religion that had some set rules.

[00:03:04:00]	And I didn't really understand that before and kinda thought that all religions were the same, and very restrictive, very suppressive-not at all realistic.

[00:03:20:00]	And...it was interesting to find that...it was about God initiating a relationship with people and that relationship is not at all
based on how we perform, whether we do good or bad things.

[00:03:44:00]	So, I guess finding out about that during the teaching and having people...explain things in a...cohesive way kinda changed my view on...[Oh, did you,like, read more from the Bible after that experience?]

[00:04:04:00]	Yeah, I did go out to some more of the Bible studies and I mean, they- all the studies focus on, like, some chapter of the Bible. It was actually really hard for me to get into it because it- it's just, like, a really daunting book.

[00:04:24:00]	It was hard for me to understand why something that was written so long ago, and applied to the culture of that time would apply now to me in this culture and this time; why it was relevant.

[00:04:40:00]	So that was kind of difficult for me to understand, and I wouldn't really like...I would read it with someone at the teaching,like, they would have a Bible out, and I would just be sitting with them.

[00:04:52:00]	...But it was cool because they explainedÉhow to properly apply hermeneutics to any piece of literature, and not just The Bible.

[00:05:08:00]	So it was cool to go through it, like, verse by verse, and be able to see, like, here is the context, here is what is being said,here is how it applied back then, and here is how it applies now.

[00:05:24:00]	And I think I just got more...acquainted with reading The Bible, and I dunno, I guess it was kinda weird because before, I wouldn't've- wouldn't've looked at it, wouldn't've really cared, but after having the more...

[00:05:44:00]	More conversations about why it's a legitimate piece of literature, why it is...historical in nature, why it's not just, like, y'know...just like, I guess, a set of irrelevant stories, but that do apply- it was more interesting to look at.

[00:06:12:00]	[ Good. ]