Cries from the Wilderness

David Pocta

doi:10.5771/9781666944013

Summary

One of the most prevalent challenges in contemporary Christianity is navigating the relationship between the individual and their faith community when the Christian enters spiritually challenging times: periods of aridity, misunderstanding, suffering, or darkness. This problem is amplified because of the growing angst that many feel with organized religion. When loyalty to the church gets tested during a personal faith crisis or honest intellectual query, many leave disenchanted, claiming a desire to be spiritual but not religious.

Cries from the Wilderness: Reimagining Church Culture in an Age of Uncertainty explores the memoirs of three contemporary sojourners (Rachel Held Evans, David Gushee, and Macy Halford) asking: What postures were common in his or her journey that helped them navigate their spiritual wilderness? David Pocta then argues that a primary problem is that many faith communities rarely see themselves in the spiritual wilderness. The author’s contention is that spiritual communities are often ill-equipped to nurture the spiritual life of disoriented or questioning Christians. By acknowledging their own spiritual journey and drawing lessons from healthy wilderness postures they would be better positioned to transform and mature their community while creating a nurturing environment for individual sojourners.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2023
ISBN-Print: 978-1-66694-400-6
ISBN-Online: 978-1-6669-4401-3
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 202
Product type: Book Titles

1. Acknowledgments No access
2. 1. Context, Lens, and Shifting Tone No access
  2. Christians in Wilderness No access
  3. 1. The Lost at Sea Metaphor No access
    2. The Wilderness Metaphor No access
  4. Evangelical Protestants No access
  5. A Look at the Data No access
  6. The Christian and Their Faith Community No access
  7. The Need for a Reimagined Church Culture No access
  8. Notes No access
1. Memoirs as Pacers No access
2. Beyond These Stories No access
3. A Further Look at the “Lost at Sea” Metaphor No access
4. The Approach of This Study No access
5. Unpacking the Stories No access
6. Notes No access
1. Faith Foundation No access
2. Spiritual Wilderness No access
3. Faith Reimagined No access
4. Notes No access
1. Faith Foundation No access
2. Spiritual Wilderness No access
3. Faith Reimagined No access
4. Notes No access
1. Faith Foundation No access
2. Spiritual Wilderness No access
3. 1. 1. Theology No access
4. Notes No access
1. Wilderness as a Hermeneutical Key No access
2. 1. 1. Macy Halford No access
    2. Rachel Held Evans No access
    3. David Gushee No access
  2. 1. Macy Halford No access
    2. Rachel Held Evans No access
    3. David Gushee No access
  3. 1. Macy Halford No access
    2. Rachel Held Evans No access
    3. David Gushee No access
  4. 1. Macy Halford No access
    2. Rachel Held Evans No access
    3. David Gushee No access
  5. 1. Macy Halford No access
    2. Rachel Held Evans No access
    3. David Gushee No access
  6. 1. Macy Halford No access
    2. Rachel Held Evans No access
    3. David Gushee No access
  7. 1. Macy Halford No access
  8. 1. Rachel Held Evans No access
    2. David Gushee No access
  9. 1. Macy Halford No access
    2. Rachel Held Evans No access
    3. David Gushee No access
  10. 1. Macy Halford No access
    2. Rachel Held Evans No access
    3. David Gushee No access
  11. The Faith to Accept the Journey’s Outcome No access
  12. 1. Rachel Held Evans No access
    2. David Gushee No access
3. Notes No access
1. Macy Halford No access
2. Rachel Held Evans No access
3. David Gushee No access
4. Observations Thus Far No access
5. Notes No access
1. 1. Wilderness as a Geographic Place No access
  2. 1. Wilderness as a Creation Typology No access
    2. Wilderness as an Exodus Typology No access
2. 1. Wilderness as Darkness No access
  2. Wilderness as a Dark Night of the Soul No access
  3. Wilderness as a Wrestling Match No access
3. Notes No access
1. Ricœur’s Basic Transformation Framework No access
2. A Model that Incorporates the Faith Community No access
3. Notes No access
1. Evangelicals’ Relationship to “The World” No access
2. Charles Taylor’s Framework No access
3. 1. From Cosmos to Universe No access
  2. The Loss of God in the Public Sphere No access
  3. The Disenchantment No access
4. The Addition Story: Exclusive Humanism No access
5. Notes No access
1. Making Room for a Humble Anthropology No access
2. Making Room to Hear God’s Voice No access
3. Making Room for Doubt No access
4. Making Room for Critical Thinking No access
5. Making Room to Follow the Spirit into Uncharted Waters No access
6. Making Room to Wrestle No access
7. Making Room for a Dynamic Hermeneutic No access
8. Making Room for a Broader Mission Than Church Growth No access
9. Making Room for the Great Cloud of Witnesses No access
10. Making Room for Journey and Wilderness No access
11. Notes No access
1. What I Want to Say to Fellow Evangelical Protestants No access
2. What I Want to Say to the Rest of the Church No access
3. A Few Final Remarks No access
4. A Final Doxology No access
5. Notes No access
Bibliography No access Pages 189 - 196
Index No access Pages 197 - 200
About the Author No access Pages 201 - 202