A lot of my religious exposure as a child and adolescent would be to those who would be classed under the various flavors of "creationists".
South Africa's government at that stage was deeply entrenched in Calvinism and evolution was not really taught in much detail at government schools. Much of my exposure to evolution at that stage was from teachers (who should have known better)preaching against it.
That said, I have always had an open mind and can hold multiple seemingly contradictory sets of ideas around while I gather more evidence.
Another favorite subject at school was geography, especially the parts on geology and geomorphology. I was and still am an avid rock hound and love to read the stories written in the rocks. With that background and knowledge it would not be long before I could confirm the evidence for myself in the field. I did however entertain alternate and test variations of hypotheses for myself. They were many and varied but I have on my own gravitated back to the general consensus views prevalent today since that is where all the evidence points.
One set of hypotheses I entertained for many years was that of a major or major catastrophes making rapid changes to the surface of the earth. It was difficult in the field to try to reinterpret the field evidence to match this hypotheses. There just wasn't enough to back this king of thing up.
What really swung it for me was my first reading of "Fairweather Eden"
It was my first reading of a very accessible and detailed book on an archaeological dig.
It gave me insights into the processes involved when discovering documenting and interpreting the evidence that lies preserved in some very special places on the earth. It rekindled my interest in stone implements and sent me on an archaeological quest of my own.
Since then my thinking has swayed to evaluating the many and varied "creationist" and "catastrophist" hypotheses.
The journey has been wonderful and fruitful. I am now very comfortable with an all powerful Creator utilizing simple natural processes like evolution to bring about His marvelous ends.
