As you say, I don't think you can have true fellowship if it does not have its basis in the truth. I know of someone who was studying neuroscience in England,

As you say, I don't think you can have true fellowship if it does not have its basis in the truth. I know of someone who was studying neuroscience in England, and when he thought through the ramifications of his atheist beliefs he was depressed at where it was leading for his life. He wondered if perhaps there was not something of the truth which he might have missed and I think it made him less hostile to considering the points of views of others. Fellowship means loyalty, faithfulness, partnership, a sense of belonging, love for one another, very much like Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring. And fellowship in Christ's church can't be had outside of fellowship with the eye witness historical accounts of Jesus. John Zebedee writing from the 1st century puts it like this: "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched - this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete." If we believe that people like John, who suffered tremendously for what they considered to be the truth, were actually telling the truth about historical events, then we can have fellowship with the apostles, and we can have fellowship with God himself.