The Atheist Diaries
Selling his soul on eBay allowed one man to encounter Christianity in a new way.
Elizabeth Diffin
July 1, 2006
You can buy anything online—including one man's eternal soul. It all began when Hemant Mehta, a 23-year-old graduate student and atheist living in Chicago, wanted to explore Christianity. Raised in Jainism, an Eastern religion, Mehta had never even entered a Christian church. He also wanted to write about his experiences and get feedback. So he auctioned his soul on eBay.
The sale offered the chance to "save" Mehta's soul, with one hour of church attendance for every bid of $10. But then Jim Henderson got involved, and the direction changed radically. Henderson, a former pastor, is director of Off the Map, an organization that aims to "reinvent evangelism for ordinary Christians." Rather than trying convert Mehta, Jim wanted Mehta's take on the church.
With a $504 bid (the money was donated to an atheist organization), Henderson won the auction and the two embarked on a joint venture.
Mehta agreed to visit 12 churches they selected together and write about his experiences on Henderson's website, www.off-the-map.org.
"I went in thinking everyone falls asleep in church, and everything is just a set of rules. Most of the churches I went to were nothing like that," he said. "They were entertaining to go to; they were interesting. I have a lot more respect for them than before."
Since Mehta attended most of the churches incognito, he experienced the services as an outsider. He particularly appreciated the full-service atmosphere of some of the megachurches and understood why they had escalators and cafes.
"Obviously it's a different world than it was 2,000 years ago, and you're going to want to use some of that stuff so that people not just feel comfortable in the church, but they could really spend time in there," he said.
While ...
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