Aaron Rodgers says his ‘questions’ about Christianity ‘changed’ family relationships

Aaron Rodgers says he and his family’s differing opinions on religion have been one of the biggest issues in their relationship over the years.

Rodgers, 41, points to the moment he began to “question” his Christian upbringing when he and his family began to grow apart, the NFL quarterback reveals in a new Netflix project about his life.

the documentaries, Aaron Rodgers: Enigmabegan streaming Tuesday on Netflix. PEOPLE had an advanced look at the three episodes, which examine the New York Jets star’s career and recent controversies — including his conspiratorial criticism of vaccines and the ongoing public fallout with his immediate family.

In the series’ second episode, Rodgers considers his relationships with his parents Ed and Darla and his brothers Jordan and Luke, and comes to the conclusion that their differing opinions on religion have played a major factor in their estrangement over the years.

Rodgers began reflecting on religion and leaning more into spirituality after coming across lectures by religious author and self-described spiritual teacher Rob Bell, he explains in the documentary.

“I got into Rob Bell’s work with his NOOMA videos after 2011 and kind of culminated in 2014, and he kind of retold the stories from the Bible that I grew up with in a new and interesting way,” says Rodgers and adding that he “made sure he went” to a lecture Bell gave in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

“He loved everybody and he didn’t judge people,” Rodgers says. “The culture I grew up in is black and white. Black and white is either you are this or you are that. There is no gray area. He was a great help to me in completely unraveling the religion of my youth.”

Since then, Rodgers says in the documentary, he “began to explore other ways of thinking and spirituality,” and began “reading a lot of different types of books, philosophy books, self-help books,” which helped him find the “courage” to talk about my feelings better.”

“I started standing up against institutions in my youth,” says Rodgers. “And it was everything from organized religion, my parents, dogma, ideology, and it definitely changed the dynamic of my family because I just questioned it all.”

Rodgers, who says he grew up going to church every Sunday with his family, criticized organized religion in a 2020 podcast episode with his then-girlfriend Danica Patrick, saying it can be used as a “crutch” and “can be something that people need to make themselves feel better,” specifically “about themselves.”

“I don’t know how you can believe in a God who wants to condemn most of the planet to a burning hell,” Rodgers said at the time. “What type of loving, sensitive, omnipresent, omnipotent being would want to condemn his beautiful creation to a fiery hell at the end of all this?”

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The comments left his immediate family “appalled,” an insider told PEOPLE at the time.

“To them, his comments are basically a slap in the face to the fundamentals of who they are,” the source said. “He’s basically turning his back on everything they’ve taught him.”

The new Netflix project focuses heavily on Rodgers’ spiritual beliefs and practices, including his use of “plant-based” medicine like ayahuasca and holistic spiritual trips, such as a dark retreat in 2023 where he spent some time reflecting on his relationship with his family.

“People ask me, is there hope for a reconciliation? I say, ‘Yes, of course, of course,'” Rodgers says of his family elsewhere in the doc. “I don’t want them to fail, fight, have any strife or problems. I wish them no ill will at all. It’s more like this: We’re just different steps on the timeline of our own journeys.”

All episodes of Aaron Rodgers: Enigma now streaming on Netflix.