I was raised Evangelical from ages 6 to 18. The Non-Denominational churches I attended promoted Salvation by Dead Faith, Easy Believe-ism, The Faith Of Demons, whatever your term is. Jesus’ statement in the Gospels that “it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom Of God” was interpreted as “proof” that no good, righteous deed could ever contribute to our salvation.

I accepted this idea for a while, but as I grew older it seemed quite unfair and lacking in sense. I abandoned it entirely while in college. I knew that Catholics for instance didn’t believe the same thing about salvation, so I wasn’t tempted to give up on Christianity itself.