Freedom from God: Restoring the Sense of Wonder [Paperback]

Harry Willson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2001

Thinking Aloud Allowed! Thinking about God went into a black hole in the 60's with "God Is Dead." Fundamentalism doesn't count, because there's no thinking there. Here's a book that goes all the way into that black hole and comes out the far end — into liberation. This challenge is for persons who can read and like to think, and can still sense wonder. The fresh air is wonderful!

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Former pastor Willson has written an engaging and unusual account of his own release from the traps of false ideas about God and the self. His theology amounts to no less than a revival of a kind of monism, the assertion that all reality, the whole universe, is one substance. His journey will seem familiar to many agnostics and independent minds, but his account is told with zest and supported by experience and deep feeling. Highly recommended.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Harry Willson is a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, '58, where was declared "Master of Divinity." He served as missionary-pastor in New Mexico for eight years, and then demitted. He taught high school for ten years, and then entered what he calls "the real world." He has worked as mythologist, lecturer, essayist, dream counselor, columnist, playwright, gardener, beekeeper, bookkeeper, basketmaker and businessman. He is author of several books of fiction, including "A World for the Meek" [an apocalyptic "upper"], "Vermin: Humanity as an Endangered Species" [cautionary tales and essays], and "This'll Kill Ya" [the last word on censorship]. Can a book be dangerous? In FREEDOM FROM GOD, he finds the word "God" too contaminated to be useful, but he still experiences wonder, more than ever. His other published books, have prepared the way for this clear and liberating statement.

He lives in Albuquerque.

Product Details

• Paperback: 214 pages
• Publisher: Amador Pub (December 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0938513338
• ISBN-13: 978-0938513339
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,968,553 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Troubled by Religion, November 17, 2006

By 

F. March "The Humanist Critic" (Albuquerque, New Mexico United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Freedom from God: Restoring the Sense of Wonder (Paperback)

"Freedom from God" is a very personal case study in the psychology of self-fulfillment. Willson writes from a highly emotional space that makes his book come alive with the joys and pains of living. At the same time Willson brims with the wisdom of one who has integrated a sophisticated understanding of history, science, theology and human nature, with his personal struggle to make sense of his experience. He reveals his intellectual power in his cogent assessment of how religion can work on the human mind to support or suppress our innate sense of wonder, fairness, and love of just being alive. Yet his writing style is colloquial, lively and virtually free of academic jargon.

Willson reveals that his entire world outlook was formed within the fold of an authoritarian patriarchal family and a mainstream religious community, the Presbyterian Church. He pursued the vocation of Minister to the faithful. He earned a Master of Divinity from the prestigious Princeton Theological Seminary, and served as a missionary-pastor in New Mexico for eight years. And then his life took a radical turn.

"Freedom from God" is Willson's personal narrative of his transformation from a controlled agent of a religious community to a liberated free thinker. For Willson this was not an intellectual conversion (although his powerful intellect was clearly involved), but a deep-seated reaction to what he experienced. He rails against his religious community's reduction of its flock to passive, unquestioning acceptance of absurd beliefs. He focuses his laser vision on the hypocrisy of a church leadership that teaches obedience to clerical authority that actually suppresses the personal spiritual experience that the faith community preaches. For example he writes:

Religions may not be much help in the wonder department even though that's what they pretend to be all about...Religions for the most part...harness, channel, control...stultify, mediocritize and asphyxiate that sense of wonder or mystery...Religions channel ecstasy into pageantry. They trade conviction for tradition... Religious organizations prefer to control people, rather than turn them on to wonder, which will turn them loose or make them free... The sense of wonder, and our wonder organ could make our lives so exciting, so vibrant, that it would become unthinkable that we would permit the life-hating forces and powers of religion to spoil everything. So the wonder organ is an evolutionary advantage.

I highly recommend this short and lively book to anyone who feels unfulfilled in their faith community. While Willson does not prescribe, he simply "bears witness" (to use a religious term) to his encounter with ideals that are higher than those conveyed by his former church. Even persons who were always atheists and agnostics will benefit from this book because of the intimate insights provided into the mind of an author who struggled with the ethical contradictions of his religious denomination.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Springs from abiding hope, love, and trust, January 12, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Freedom from God: Restoring the Sense of Wonder (Paperback)

Written by former missionary, pastor, and high school teacher Harry Wilson, Freedom From God: Restoring The Sense Of Wonder is not a rejection of faith, but rather a sharp and highly recommended critique of how the word "God" has been overly contaminated and degraded through everyday secular and politically oriented usage. Emphasizing the importance of restoring a sense of reverence and wonder, Freedom From God springs from abiding hope, love, and trust in ourselves and in a greater power.