No.3 Referenced from ~ Part1 - Chapter 2 - Episode

"The Narrow Gate" and "The Double Gate"

Jesus taught, "Enter through the narrow gate," but for me the gate of faith was not "narrow" but "double." Believing in Jesus is one gate. But before that, there is another gate, and that is the gate where one must believe that the Bible, especially the events about Jesus in the Gospels, are true. I went to the baptism ceremony without an answer to this first gate, and at the confirmation of faith, when I was asked the question, "Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior?" and I confessed my faith by saying, "I believe in Jesus Christ on the premise that the historical accounts written in the Bible are true. This was done with the approval of the pastor, but this confession of faith by a young man of unknown origin displeased the strict elders of the church, who had their roots in the pre-World War II "Mori" sect known for its "Sabbath observance," and foreshadowed the difficulties I would face in my later church life.