A Reasonable Doubt

This is the trial of the millennium. Inside, you will find a serious yet humorous fiction based upon the gospels. It contains a little of what you already know, some of what you thought you knew, and a lot of what you wanted to know but were afraid to ask or were told not to. This book is not an attempt to convert you. It is written to revert you back to the state of the first man, Adam. In what state (or condition) was Adam? Adam was free. Free to think; free to choose right from wrong, good from evil, truth from falsehood; and free to question. Have your presumptions about religion been absorbed without questioning? Have you been searching for the truth? If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, then this book would be a great starting point. I must inform you that searching for truth is more than a matter of faith. In a nutshell, it requires a unique blend of genuine tolerance with cogent reasoning and intellectual honesty. In order to accept an idea as true, one needs to have convincing evidence that it is true. That’s the reason for this court case: in the court of law, the line is ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’.

Travis Manning is a paraprofessional librarian at Wake Forest University where he earned a B.A. Degree in Religion ('93), received the Jill Tiefenthaler Employee of the Year for the Z. Smith Reynolds Library (May 2013) and the Wake Forest University Employee of the Year (November 2013) in recognition of his commitment to integrity, inclusion, excellence and Pro Humanitate. He was a licensed minister for two years ('97-'98) serving as a motivational speaker in Shelby and Winston-Salem, NC, on Biblical Scriptures. After three years probation, extensive prayer and intensive studies, Mr. Manning was received by the Cleveland, OH, Beth Din as a convert. It is unusual if not unique for a Baptist minister to forsake Christianity and convert to Judaism. He maps out his thought processes that led to a reasonable doubt in this book. He currently resides in Winston-Salem, NC, with his three daughters.