How Western Christianity Got It Wrong: Replacing the God of Fear with a Spirituality of Healing
Table of Contents: Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: How I Started My Path to Truth Chapter 2: How Platonic Dualism Ruined Everything Chapter 3: How People Stopped Seeing the Bible as Stories Chapter 4: How the...
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Table of Contents: Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: How I Started My Path to Truth Chapter 2: How Platonic Dualism Ruined Everything Chapter 3: How People Stopped Seeing the Bible as Stories Chapter 4: How the Church Was Overtaken by Doctrine Chapter 5: How the West Won a Monopoly on Sin and Salvation Chapter 6: How Hell Was Born Chapter 7: How Atonement Theories Fall Short Chapter 8: How Destiny Theologies Deceive Us Chapter 9: How to Unearth Jesus's Message Chapter 10: How All Creation Gets Restored Chapter 11: How We Recover from Western Christianity Chapter 12: How to Find Courage for the Days Ahead
Notes Review Quotes: "Randy Woodley is a trustworthy prophetic voice teaching the harmonious wisdom of Indigenous peoples and the way of Jesus. How Western Christianity Got It Wrong gives us a much-needed healing vision for the future by looking honestly at Christianity's past, problems, patterns, and possibilities." --Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation; author of The Tears of Things "Our Chickamauga Cherokee prophet isga gua, who spoke of a need for 'universal brotherhoods-sisterhood, ' nevertheless characterized the 'white man's churches' as desolate places filled with 'spirits of blindness' lying in wait to possess the unwary. Randy Woodley stands, a courageous voice in the wilderness, calling for the casting out of these spirits of blindness and the opening of eyes to see." --uku jisquoquo asequoi (Robert Francis), First Fire Feeder / Peace Chief at the Daksi Gatiyo (Chickamauga Cherokee Ceremonial Grounds) "Honest, vulnerable, respectful, yet fierce. Anyone drawn to this book already knows that Western Christianity got it wrong. Randy Woodley's remarkable book helps us place the reasons why. By the end, you get that following Jesus is a journey largely disconnected from just about everything in Western culture and religion. But it's not all problems. Woodley lovingly affirms what your intuition already knows: that spirituality, even for us Western humans from the Christ tradition, is intimately connected with the aliveness of all creation." --Victoria Loorz, author of Church of the Wild and coauthor of Field Guide to Church of the Wild; founder of Wild Church Network and The Center for Wild Spirituality "I can't think of a book anywhere that does what this book does as powerfully as this book does. It gets to the heart of what's gone wrong in Western Christianity and then gets to the heart of what is needed. Randy Woodley is the right person to write this book, and he accomplishes so much in twelve hard-hitting, no-nonsense, deeply intelligent, clearly written, heartfelt chapters. Every seminarian should read this book, along with every pastor and priest, and every Christian and post-Christian." --Brian D. McLaren, author of Life After Doom and Do I Stay Christian? "Randy Woodley's critique of Western Christianity is so blistering and comprehensive that it would be easy for those of us still committed to some version of it to respond with defensive dismissiveness. Instead, in light of the manifest corruptions of our tradition, in the past and today, it is time to open our minds and hearts even to the most radical critiques. I urge all believers in Jesus to consider seriously both the critique and the winsome constructive account of the way of Jesus that our brother offers here." --Rev. Dr. David P. Gushee, Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics, Mercer University Publisher Marketing: Jesus never intended to start a religion that would justify stealing land, enslaving people, or destroying creation. So how did we get here? In How Western Christianity Got It Wrong, acclaimed author Randy Woodley, of mixed white and Native American heritage, traces how a brown man from Nazareth who never lost his connection to the whole community of creation became the poster child for empire-building and environmental destruction. The faith that bears his name crafted theologies that rationalize greed, violence, and colonization--everything Jesus actually opposed. Woodley exposes the ideas that poisoned Christianity's well, how the Western church won a monopoly on sin and salvation, and how violent atonement theories replaced the healing message Jesus lived. Drawing on Indigenous wisdom that was flourishing on Turtle Island long before missionaries arrived, Woodley reveals what Jesus's liberating message looks like when freed from imperial frameworks. Picture communities where creation is family, not commodity. Where healing happens through relationship, not transaction. Where Creator speaks through many voices and welcomes all who walk in love. This is the Jesus Way as it was meant to be--not a system of control but a path of wholeness. Review Citations:
Contributor Bio:Woodley, Randy Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley is an activist, scholar, author, teacher, and wisdom keeper of mixed white and Native American heritage who speaks on justice, faith, the earth, and Indigenous realities. He is the author of numerous books, including Becoming Rooted, Journey to Eloheh, and How Western Christianity Got It Wrong. He and his wife, Edith, co-sustain Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice and Eloheh Farm & Seeds outside Portland, Oregon. |