James is a Saskatchewan born, father, husband, and researcher who has worked as a Firefighter since 1993. He lives in Saskatoon with his wife and two sons. James has found out first hand the fallout that comes from studying topics that are thought of as untouchables for certain churches and religious organizations.

Growing up in Saskatoon, James was part of a family of 6 that was very committed to their faith and church. After the teen years he began to consider things of faith more deeply and was married in his early twenties. James’ journey took him into a large Pentecostal church where he led numerous programs. He worked on several community-focused, evangelical initiatives, and sat on the board of Deacons for six years. Through these experiences, questions and contradictions were raised between what the church taught and what James saw the Bible saying. He soon embraced the opportunity to study Scripture from a more scholarly perspective and to glean from the available resources on many topics. In the late 1990’s James began to see doctrines in Christianity that were based more on tradition, preference, and emotion than on Scripture. Seeing an ever growing list of inconsistencies in organized religious doctrine spurred him on to ask more questions.

While researching these inconsistencies and exploring the facts and history, James brought his findings forward and soon was asked to leave the church. So many things didn’t add up and soon James realized his belief in a Satan was not his own, rather he had inherited a second-hand belief that was untested by logic and serious scrutiny. Simply adopting the mainstream belief that Christianity served up was not acceptable, so James pursued a deeper understanding. Early research about the topic of Satan revealed so many convoluted concepts that it was worth exploring further. Being very familiar with the typical Christian belief in Satan was one part of the puzzle but James began to explore other theories in this puzzling idea of Satan. Evidence for a mythical origin of this cosmic, god-like being mounted, and evidence for a pure monotheism surfaced. James’ findings earned him further ostracizing from certain groups but he continued to pursue the topic and began to truly embrace the claim that there is only One God (called Yahweh in the Hebrew Scriptures).

James worked to reconcile how a Satan who can do things like God and not be a God. Was it possible for God to be lying when He said there is none like Him…anywhere? After years of asking questions and seeking answers, James  shares what he’s learned with those who are open minded enough to explore this exciting possibility. As far as Satan goes, it seems that the idea Satan is real is a lie told long enough that it has become the truth. With this work James asks if it is possible that a 3000 year old myth could actually have migrated into faith and culture to become an unalterable truth for so many? As for where James is today in his journey, he has long ago left the faith of his childhood. Now James enjoys the freedom to ask questions, think, and learn outside of a religious sect that suggests one must be part of an organized religious institution to find truth.