ABSTRACT
I grew up in the country and in a Christian home. My parents were regular worshippers at our local Anglican parish church and, since I was a well-behaved child, I accompanied them willingly from an early age. No particular provisions were made for children but we had a vicar who was a skillful preacher, able to make biblical passages come alive, and I used to enjoy listening to him. I absorbed Christianity through my pores. Religion was obviously important to mother and father but they were people who did not naturally talk much about it and I received little in the way of formal religious instruction at home. When I was about eight an aunt of mine let me have a little book of private prayers that I had found lying around in her home and I used these regularly and somewhat secretly.
