Customer Reviews

Reimagining Christianity: Reconnect Your Spirit without Disconnecting Your Mind

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Christianity took a wrong turn somewhere back and is painfully broken. This is not a book of blame but a book about redemption. The world is changing and there is an opportunity to begin again and reimage the story of our faith. This book is confirmation that there is movement in our society towards a maturing faith that lives out of the inclusive love of Jesus, not the exclusive shame of the church. Read it only if you have faith enough to question history, theology and tradition.

Alan Jones, Dead of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco is a refreshing example of a Christian clergyman. He seeks and finds the essence of Christianity buried under centuries of dogmas and creeds. He believes that we must use our heart and imagination to resuscitate the message and meaning of Jesus. Literalism and scientism can be deadly, especially, to the soul.

One of the chapters that I especially like was "The God-Shaped Space in Our Hearts". "The hole in the soul is never fully filled. Even my friends who are skeptics and would call themselves atheists (often out of self-defense) are rather like the Dublin taxi driver, who when asked if he believed in leprechauns, 'Of course not, but they're there just the same!'"

Jones is a traditionalist in that he still loves The Creed, The Eucharist, holy water, angels and the liturgy. They nourish the heart. And it is the heart and love which is at the center of our quest for God.

Jones picks out three aspects of Christianity that he suggests could be the focus of a re-vitalization, a re-imaging of the faith: "Jesus the Broken Man," "Mary, the Pregnant Life," and "Trinity Means Communion."

Jones believes Christianity, if seen rightly and compassionately is a faith for "Everybody". "The coming of Jesus as both Baby and Judge offers access to God for all, including and especially those who have no claim of moral or spiritual privilege --- the unqualified. The God of Jesus is the God who sends rain on the just and the unjust, who loves everybody --- even the desperately wicked."

Oh, I forgot: Jones is an engaging writer possessing humor, a knack for words, fine use of anecdotes and quotes from everywhere.

Alan Jones, dean of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, is a deeply spiritual and incredibly smart man. These great qualities come forward on every page. For Jones, Christianity is not a bunch of rules to follow but instead a love affair, a journey through stories. Jones is critical of both evangelicals and secularists. Drawing on a variety of examples and sources, he says that Christianity needs imagination, a rethinking--it needs to embrace the things that religion too often tries to deny: anxiety, contradiction, diversity, mystery and our own brokenness. We do not need to deny science, but we also need to recognize that there is much more to life than the literal facts. Though we have become aware of other rich religions, we still owe dedication to our own. Jones' compassion is remarkable--his astute criticism paired with strong belief in forgiveness and his ultimate optimism. An extremely important book for our age.

Alan Jones has written a book that invites us to take ownership of the Christian path, which he descibes as a living process rather than a proscribed set of rules. Our minds, our creativity, and our compassion are all tools for encountering Christ, and for a lifelong exploration of what it means to be Christian today, both in our fractured world and within our fractured Church. This is a book for people who are interested in commitment, community, and transformation, both internally and externally.

Bought this book for an after church discussion group. Was not interested to start with and it went downhill after that. No new ideas, merely a set of quotations from other writers. Nothing from this author ever again!!!

Mr. Jones is clearly a heretic who cannot stand the gospel of Jesus Christ, nor the prophecy that announced his arrival. If Mr. Jones's theology is correct, then it doesn't matter what we believe. On the other hand, if he's wrong, there will be hell to pay. This is a risk i'm not willing to take his word for.