I would think that my parents and the writers of Scripture are my biggest influences. I’m from a Roman Catholic background, but I became an evangelical Christian when I was 18. It felt a little like I was abandoning the religion of my parents. But when I think about it, it was them that taught me all about Jesus.
When I got to my teens, I began to think for myself. I didn’t just want to automatically follow my parents’ religion or that of Irish society at large. I did wonder about other religions, but I soon concluded that Jesus himself was the one to follow. And the people who seemed most enthusiastic about him and about the Bible were the evangelical Christians that I used to meet around Cork.
When I left the Roman Catholic Church, it did initially cause some tension at home. I’m sure that my parents wondered if I was joining some strange cult. But things soon settled down. One of my happiest memories was getting married in Cork Baptist Church, eight years later. All my family and Christian friends attended together. Both my parents have passed away now, but I do cherish my upbringing. Despite my disagreements with Roman Catholic teaching, I did learn much about Jesus and the New Testament at home and in school, along with some specifically Roman Catholic teaching that I later rejected. Nowadays, with some many anti-Christian forces at work in Ireland, I’m much more sympathetic to the mainstream denominations though I’d always be more likely to attend churches that put more emphasis on the Bible.
Hibernia Gospel 