"I found that it was a fact that I found that the Church, and Christianity, etc. was a much bigger thing then what my former (Protestant Evangelical) understanding said about it."


Here a little example of that. I once was a member of a church that was Syriac. It's Apostolic line of succession, and holy language was Aramaic (The language of Jesus and the disciples.) Anyway, I found sometimes the background and tradition around the text of the scriptures can often be just as important as what the text literally says.

here's an example from
www.theooze.com/forums/discussions.cfm?forumid=10&topicid=35646&bookmark=1&kw=Aramaic

(I am quoting from the work of an early translator of the Aramaic new testament)

"On one ocassion Lamsa was asked to speak in the Locust Valley Church in Long Island, New York. The Congregation was mostly Wall Street People. The minister asked Lamsa what his topic was going to be. Lamsa told him that he was going to speak on the passage from the Bible, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven." The minister became alarmed and said "oh No!" You must not speak on that. Some of the wealthiest people in The World are in this church. Lamsa told the minister that the true passage should read rope not camel.

He explained that this is one of the errors in the Western translations. He pointed out that some of the strands of the rope could pass through the eye of a needle, but some of it would have to be sacrificed. "It means that a rich man certainly can go to Heaven, but he will have to give up something." The ARAMAIC characters for camel and rope are identical and only a native who was born to to the language can tell the difference.