How do I make my main character react realistically to the discovery of a Christian Bible, in a world where it is highly illegal?
So; I am working on a story that is inspired by my Christian faith to an extent, and I would like the main character to become a "redemptive hero" who becomes a hero by simply helping people to see the truth among the lies in a society that is heavily controlled by an "evil corporation/government dictatorship", and thus has strict laws against a huge amount of different things, including but not limited to "Theistic mal-activity" (which basically just means "believing in God or anything of the sort").
He becomes this hero because he is inspired by the life of "one specific character in the story named <PERSON>" after briefly reading a tattered copy of the Bible at his book-burning job. He has no way to actually know that its a bible because the title has worn off and the first few pages are missing, which is why he starts reading it in the first place to figure out if its one of the books he is supposed to dispose of.
the issue I'm having is that in my current iteration of the story, he basically reads one sentence that "speaks to him" (specifically, "those who have will be given more, and those who do not have, what they do have will be taken from them") and is immediately convinced he needs to keep the book secret and keep reading and stuff- this feels unrealistic to me though, and seems cringingly bad. I highly doubt that somebody who has lived in a dystopian dictatorship and has literally never heard of God would suddenly and powerfully be convinced every word of the Bible is true from a single reading of one line.
I'm looking to rewrite this idea so that he is more realistic in how he reacts to the discovery of the scripture at first and doesn't end up like one of those characters in a super cheesy "Christian Christmas special family movie" who is magically converted to be a wholehearted devotee for little reason at all.
It is still important for me that his actions land him in prison and stuff (that's how he meets the other 2 main characters)
And it is equally important to me that he is inspired enough by it that he continues sharing the truth about things he has realized on his own, despite having no access to the scripture at all after his initial illegal reading of it.
So, to be clear what I'm asking: How do I realistically show a character's first introduction to the concept of <PERSON>? or in other words, introduction to a person who wants to "set the captives free" so to speak?
Redemption is the story's #1 priority and focus; and the main character's own redemption should be where it starts. i dont know how to do that in a way that people wont cringe really really hard at. 248