My Fundamentalist supervisor

Part Four, Selected beliefs

If there ever was a Bible-believing couple, it was Ernest and his wife. During the year I attended church with them, I observed how heavily they relied on the Bible, and how often they quoted favorite passages.

As I read the Bible myself, and also became attracted to the early Friends, Ernest and his wife’s constant Scripture quoting bothered me. But I couldn't put my finger on it until many years later.

They were “Bible-believers,” all right: They relied on about 10 passages, no more; all from the New Testament and, of these, not one from any of the four gospel accounts of Jesus’ life. I still don’t know whether they were ignorant of the Old Testament and large chunks of the New, or just didn’t feel they were important.