Kissing Fish: Christianity for People Who Don't Like Christianity [Paperback]

Roger Wolsey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 10, 2011

Christianity receives a lot of attention in the media, but the most frequently discussed version represents a type of Christianity that sometimes turns people away from the Church. Kissing Fish presents a postmodern systematic theology of progressive Christianity, a growing movement that reclaims the radical message of the Gospel. This informative, contemplative, and entertaining book will guide you through the beliefs that inspire us to love one another in the transformative way that Jesus proclaimed, including practices that will take your faith to a new level.

Kissing Fish is a scholarly yet thoroughly accessible introduction to progressive Christianity. While the intended target audience for this work would seem to be those who have either left the Christian faith or never adopted it at all; the work is filled with pearls of wisdom for all of us, whether associated with Christianity or not. Kissing Fish is a truly remarkable work, serving both as a reminder of the beauty and grace that form the central tenets of the faith, while offering a graceful yet prophetic rebuttal to its more exclusionary tendencies.

Kissing Fish is part theological text and part tell-all personal spiritual journey. Imagine a down-to-earth combination of the works of Marcus Borg, Anne Lamott, Jim Wallis, Rob Bell, Shane Claiborne, Diana Butler-Bass, Brian McLaren, Walter Wink, Wes Howard-Brook, and Donald Miller. A profound romp that informs and inspires.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Roger Wayne Wolsey is a free-spirited GenX-er who thinks and feels a lot about God and Jesus. He's a Christian, yet he identifies with people who consider themselves as being "Spiritual, but not Religious." He grew up during the "Minneapolis sound" era and enjoyed seeing The Replacements, The Jayhawks, Husker Du, The Wallets, Trip Shakespeare, Prince, and Soul Asylum in concert - leading to strong musical influences in his theology. Roger double majored in philosophy and political science and graduated magna cum laude from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. He was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honorary society. He earned his Masters of Divinity degree at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, CO. Roger is an ordained pastor in the United Methodist Church. He currently serves as the director of the Wesley Foundation campus ministry at C.U. in Boulder, CO. He was married for ten years, divorced in 2005, and co-parents a delightful little boy. Roger loves live music, dancing, rock-climbing, trail-running with his dog Kingdom, yoga, camping, hosting house concerts, riding his motorcycle, and playing his trumpet. Roger currently serves on the Board of Directors for Her Many Voices and the Boulder International Fringe Festival. Roger also blogs for Elephant Journal - an online magazine for the Buddhist and Yoga communities.

Product Details

• Paperback: 397 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris, Corp. (January 10, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1456839403
• ISBN-13: 978-1456839406
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.9 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #164,216 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Progressive Christianity in Book Form June 15, 2011

By S. Nunnally

I just finished a really interesting book yesterday. It's by Roger Wolsey and it's called Kissing Fish. The book is somewhat of a spiritual manifesto on a movement that is taking shape in America: Progressive Christianity. Notice I didn't say liberal Christianity or modern or postmodern. I said progressive. Roger is an extremely approachable guy. He's ordained Methodist and ministers at the Boulder campus of the University of Colorado - a place not exactly known as a bastion for conservative Christianity. And that's what I like about this book: it gives real and practical thoughts about ministering to a generation where they are, not where we think they should be.

Roger puts it this way in his opening chapter: "I discovered the disappointing gap between idealistic notions of what the Church can and could be - and the decidedly non-ideal, petty, political, conflicted, dysfunctional beautiful messes that most of them are" (45). Hopefully, that doesn't put you off...particularly since Paul Tillich voiced similar sentiments in his History of Christian Thought: "...the gap between its claim and its reality." Anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski has said the same about primitive religions. So, Roger is in good company.

Progressive Christianity seeks to develop a something other than a religion about Jesus. It focuses on the religion of Jesus: "his actual beliefs, practices, and lifestyle" (58). Sanctification is at its core: the slow gradual growth towards Christ-likeness in individual piety and social justice. Not one of the other. Both. Progressive Christianity is more tolerant for the sake of inclusion, reconciliation, and healing. Along with that is a level of inclusivism for other religions and alternative lifestyles and a blending of religious traditions that may make conservative evangelicals nervous. That's okay. The label "progressive" appeals to a different demographic. And as a wise woman told me a few weeks ago, "alternative" is quickly becoming "mainstream" where religious preference is concerned.

For the first half of the book, Roger works his way through a loosely knit systematic theology, tweaking it as he goes. He says gems like "...what Jesus talked about most wasn't himself..."(161) or ""[Progressives] concern is more upon living and loving in God's Kingdom right now and faithfully helping to manifest it all the more" (177). These quotes don't sound progressive to me - they sound like accurate notions of biblical Christianity. Even in the deep South (where I live), people are whispering similar phrases in dark alleys where it's safe.

The second half of the book is a more practical outworking of these ideas. Roger starts off this way:

As the old Swing era hit put it, "`It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing" and brother-sister, love is that swing. You can meditate and pray, go to church, get baptized and take communion, light candles and burn incense, read sacred texts, chant, fast and do yoga, and even help out at soup kitchens, but if you aren't doing them with love, it's all a bunch of vapid, empty horse apples. I know what I'm talking about. I've got a shed full of them (250).

See why I like this guy?! He then spends several chapters unpacking the practical nature of love in action. He covers everything from practical acts of kindness to the spiritual discipline of "centering prayer." Now, what's great about that is usually we lean to one side of the other: we focus on Christianity as meeting the needs of others or meeting our own needs. Roger holds them in tandem...just like God probably designed to begin with.

This is good book. Particularly if you've never read something from this paradigm before. I have one drawback: it could've been shorter and had the same impact. The word "redaction criticism" should've never made it in this work simply because those concerned with hermeneutics won't be reading it. Still, it's a fun, personal and engaging book. I liked it. Roger tells you in the postlude that's he's not saying anything new...and that's true. I would add the names, Richard Rohr, Dallas Willard, Henri Nouwen, John Wesley, and (my theological hero) Horace Bushnell to the list. But what Kissing Fish does represent is a growing ensemble of voices originating in places other than what some would call "left field." There was very little I disagreed with in this book and I consider myself to be a "post-conservative" evangelical. Roger may use the word "progressive" but what he is describing is very quickly becoming the norm. And for that, Kissing Fish is worth the read.

Don't forget to visit [...] for more info about Roger and the book.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read!!! January 21, 2011

By Mark Twain

I cannot recommend this book enough...it is so very good!!! The author is well-versed with biblical scripture and explains how Jesus' message of love in the gospels can be applied to the present day. If you have ever felt marginalized, judged, or criticized, this book will go a long way towards making you feel accepted and loved for who you are. It also offers advice about how to live more purposefully in terms of spiritual practices and helping others in this world. It's very therapeutic. People who will especially be attracted to this book: 1) Those who were raised in a church that made them feel rejected or judged; 2) People who want to read about a broader perspective on Christianity compared to what the media talks about; 3) Non-Christians who would like to learn about how they can work together with open-minded Christians to better the world around them; 4) Young people who struggle to connect with a church but want to grow in their faith. The writing style is very accessible, personal, thoughtful, and entertaining. You will enjoy this book!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A "Must Read" August 9, 2011

By Wayne A. Laws

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Roger Wolsey's "Kissing Fish: christianity for people who don't like christianity" is by far the best book I have read to date that systematically explicates "Progressive Christianity." With his conversational writing style you do not need to be steeped in theology to read and understand this book. Wolsey does an excellent job of explaining in understandable terms the pertinent theological concepts and terms and church history that Progressive Christianity draws from. This book will appeal to both the Christian as well as those who may not call themselves Christian but are interested in how progressives view the Bible, God, Jesus, other religions, and how we try to live and order their lives. As Wolsey leads the reader step-by-step through what progressives believe he compares and contrasts it to what "mainline conservative" (read traditional) Christians believe as well as touching upon process, emergent, openness, and liberation theologies and where they overlap and differ from Progressive Christianity. I have no doubt this book will come under heavy attack from many Conservative and Fundamental Christians and Wolsey himself admits that some will find some of the progressive beliefs in the book heretical. (In that, we stand in good company). My only point of departure (which is very slight to say the least) from Wolsey is the impression that the progressive movement within Christianity is the realm of the young. Many of us, speaking as a 57-year old, have been progressives for a long time we just didn't have the language to express it that now exists thanks to people such as Wolsey, Marcus Borg, Delwin Brown, Brian D. McLaren, Rob Bell, Anne Lamott, and others. The progressive embers have been alight for some time, now, thanks to Wolsey and others, they are fanning the embers into open flame and giving it a voice.