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During my childhood, my family attended a few Charismatic churches before moving to a different region. We then attended a series of Southern Baptist congregations before settling in to an unlabeled “Reformed Baptist” theological framework. I became passionate about Apologetics as a teenager, but unfortunately the Christian monoculture in my region yielded no opponents for my burgeoning debate skills! I carried that passion onto college, where FINALLY I met and engaged with people who lightly disagreed with me.
In my mid 20’s, I was happily attending a wonderful church in a different part of the country serving as a volunteer Community Group leader…my old passion for study and Apologetics started burning anew during this period. [Edit 6/4/26: I remembered what spurred my renewed interest; I went to hear one of my pastors give a talk at another church, in which he said that portions of the early Hebrew Bible should be approached as ancient poetry, NOT history. That was the first time I had heard someone I trusted cast doubt on the historicity of any part of the Bible. I did not believe him, felt a sense of broken trust, and began research to re-affirm my beliefs.] I began devoting time to better understand the cultures, processes, and peoples that produced the Bible, and almost immediately began to have my dogmas challenged. It should not surprise the reader to know that what I learned over the span of 2 years changed my life forever, and not in a positive way at first. What I personally found persuasive and important on my journey I have collated into my paper, Deconstructing Biblical Literalism and Belief: A Rational Inquiry.
This site exists to make that work and more freely available to the public. I desire my writing to be both accessible and rigorous…grounded in scholarship, yet approachable for anyone. The content of Iron Chariot is about opening space for honest inquiry, intellectual freedom, and a deeper appreciation of truth, wherever it leads.
Thanks for reading,
-HU
Contact me at hisoka.uchiyama@gmail.com