The strip originally featured a quiet, humble man named Theophilus searching for truth amongst a cast of more prideful, arrogant, and holier-than-thou characters. Theophilus interacted with neighborhood gossips and narrow-minded scientists, as well as sanctimonious members of the church. Theophilus attended the One True Church, a Christian denomination led by Brother Fairasee. After a number of years, Theophilus was excommunicated from the church over questioning aspects of its dogma. However, Brother Fairasee and other characters belonging to the One True Church continued to appear in the strip, usually commenting on how wrong and misguided humble, simple-minded Theophilus was.