Southworld (Part 3 of 7)

Sunlight oozed and tumbled through the ancient windows sleeping six feet over Richard’s head.  Enveloped in a cocoon of warmth and light, Richard sat entranced in a carefully structured “lecture as poetry”.  He could feel his heart in his throat.  For his entire life, for as long as he could remember, the authority of the Bible was not something to be questioned.  But now, in his sophomore year at college, Richard had his eyes opened.  Never before had a teacher so opened up the world of literature and textual criticism.  Error upon error, fallacy after fallacy, and contradiction after contradiction were revealed to his blossoming mind.  Professor Landry Browning had held the philosophy chair at Corning/Owens University for the past 27 years.  His combination of textual criticism and artistic license had changed the worldview of his students from the beginning, and Richard was no exception.  

Richard tore his gaze from the creative genius of Professor Browning and looked around the room, wondering at the wide variety of expressions upon his fellow students.  Some sat in dirges of boredom, others, by far the majority, sat wide-eyed, all ears, on the edge of their seats, taking in the lecture.  One older student, leaned back in his seat, a smug expression upon his face, caught Richard’s eye and winked at him, a knowing smirk across his lips.  After class, this same student approached Richard.  “Quite the lecture, eh?” he said.  Professor Browning has a real knack for exposing the lie.”  Richard started.  “What do you mean, “the lie?””  “Oh, come on, dude,” he shot back, “all this Christianity stuff.  You know, virgin birth, ex nihilo creation, resurrection from the dead.”  The guy leaned back on his heels with the same smug expression as in class.  Richard knew exactly what he was talking about.  Professor Browning had seemingly deflated all the foundational tenets of the Christian faith.  And Richard knew it.  “Tell you what, dude.  My name is Alex.  A few of my friends and I are getting together tonight for a deeper discussion of Professor Browning’s points.  I’d like you to come over.”  Richard took the step.