Ed Grifenhagen was a devout Jew who was about 13 years into his marriage when he told his wife he had a plan — one he said at the time “shouldn’t be too hard” to accomplish.
His endeavour was to disprove Scripture by reading through the Old and New Testaments.
That led him to become a devout Christian.
Ed told CBN News his pompous pronouncement that his attempt at falsifying the Bible would be a simple task was “the most arrogant thing I think I’ve ever said.”
“I WAS OBSESSED WITH READING THE BIBLE”
“I thought, if I’m not going to believe it, I need to read what I profess to not believe,” he explained of his reasoning for cracking open the pages of Scripture.
“I was obsessed with reading the entire Bible.”
From January to September of 2000, he pored over the pages of the Old Testament.
When he finished it, his curiosity got the better of him.
Fearful of his father’s upbraiding, the Christian-curious Jew ran a clandestine errand to a faith-based bookstore, where he picked up a copy of the New Testament.
HE HAD NEVER HEARD THE GOSPEL GROWING UP IN AMERICA’S BIBLE BELT
Ed resorted to his own devices to get a copy of the full Bible because — despite growing up in the buckle of the Bible Belt — not a single Christian in Columbus, Georgia, had bothered to share the Gospel with him in his first 35 years of life.
From September to November of that year, he read the pages of the New Testament, as well as a handful of books by Christian apologist Josh McDowell and atheist-turned-believer Lee Strobel.
Exactly one year from the start of his journey to disprove the God of the Bible, on Jan. 17, 2001, Ed Grifenhagen arrived at a conclusion altogether different from what he believed just a short 12 months prior.
“i BELIEVED EVERY SINGLE WORD IN THE BIBLE”
“I realised that I believed every single word in that book, and I was just blown away,” he reflected.
“The book that I professed to not believe in, I ended up believing every word was true and infallible and inerrant, and … I just cried out to the Lord to save me.”
“I was wrecked and He rescued me,” he testified.
UNDERSTANDING THE HEBREW ORIGINS OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
As his faith evolved and his understanding of Scripture deepened, the now evangelical pastor found yet another curiosity to pursue: understanding the Hebrew origins of the Christian faith.
“From the first verse of Genesis, it all points to Jesus.”
The preacher and evangelist, began studying the etymology of the Bible, which led him to compile a devotional titled: “365 Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know.”
Studying the original Hebrew words of Scripture has enriched his faith by revealing the depth of meaning behind the passages of the Old and New Testaments.
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