by Will Small
Last week I shared 6 tips for surviving your deconstruction. I don’t think this is a journey that ought to be done alone. But sometimes you don’t have too many people around you who are willing to engage in a lengthy, philosophical conversation about whether or not God is actually as violent as the Old Testament appears to suggest. Below are a range of resources, broken into topics that really helped me.
Like I mentioned in last week’s post, I don’t think it necessarily matters so much where you ‘land’ on different issues. But what a wonderful thing that people look at complex issues in a variety of different ways! And if one perspective on one aspect of faith seems completely unviable to you….you certainly don’t have to flush your whole faith! In fact, if your whole faith hinges on how you interpret one particular aspect of theology…that faith is pretty vulnerable to crumbling at some point! On the other hand if you can understand that different perspectives exist, I think you can maintain the good and beautiful essence of your faith while allowing a healthy flexibility and curiosity on a number of things people come to different views on.
THE LIST BELOW…is obviously limited. And will always be evolving. It’s not a definitive list. But these were all helpful resources for me. And I hope some of them may be for you too.
Is there a book/podcast/resource that has helped you in your evolving faith journey? Share it in the comments; it might be just what someone else needs to engage with.
Model’s for thinking about faith development:
Fowler’s Stages of Faith.
Just Google this. If you haven’t ever thought of faith in developmental stages this is seriously helpful stuff.
There’s plenty of good stuff out there, but here is a helpful starting place: https://oregonhospice.org/media/PPEDanielStagesofFaith.pdf
Richard Rohr’s ‘order, disorder, reorder’
Similar to the above, Rohr gives a great overview of different stages of faith that we move through. If you’re on this website, there’s a good chance you’ve experienced or are experiencing some level of ‘disorder.’ It’s not the end of the road. It’s one part of an ongoing cycle. Read more through this link.
Books:
On evolving faith, doubt and rediscovering faith
The Sin of Certainty, Peter Enns
Out of Sorts, Sarah Bessie
The Most Beautiful thing I’ve Seen, Lisa Gungor
On the Bible and how we should engage with it
Inspired, Rachel Held Evans
The Bible Tells Me So, Peter Enns
How the Bible Actually Works, Peter Enns
What is the Bible?, Rob Bell
On atonement theory/wrath/angry Dad God
Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, Brian Zahnd
A more Christlike God, a More Beautiful Gospel, Bradley Jersak
The Day the Revolution Began, N.T.Wright
On sexuality/queer inclusion
The Gospel of Inclusion, Brandan Robertson
On hell and salvation
Her Gates Will Never Be Shut, Bradley Jersak
That All Shall Be Saved, David Bentley Hart
On the Church
Everywhere you Look, Tim Soerens
Pastrix, Nadia Bolz Weber
A Generous Orthodoxy, Brian McLaren
The Church as Movement, JR Woodward & Dan White Jr.
On faith in practice
The Deeply Formed Life, Rich Villas
The Spirit of the Disciplines, Dallas Willard
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, John Mark Comer
Podcasts:
Some stand-out episodes that have helped me:
- To Change Your Mind (Healing Prayer) — Thomas J Oord
- To Think Seriously about (Biblical) Patriarchy — Carolyn Custis James
- To Be Gay Affirming
- To Question the Canaanite Conquest & Divine Violence
- The Argument for Universal Salvation
- The Cosmic/Universal Christ
Other:
This website from Sarey Martin Concepcion and Dan Koch is absolutely fantastic. And has far lengthier lists of helpful resources. It is absolutely worth your time, perhaps more than anything else in this list: