“Filled
with memorable, insightful and revealing stories. I
recommend it.”
- Marcus Borg, author of
The First Christmas
“Philip Gulley separates wheat from chaff, experience from
explanation and purpose from function in this book. He calls
the Jesus message into a new vision - one that has both
power and integrity.” - John
Shelby Spong, author of Eternal Life:
A New Vision
“Gulley
puts the Christ back in Christian. This manifesto is a call
not just to worship Jesus, but to follow him. It asks the
daring question, "What if Christians actually began to take
their Christ seriously?" The answer to that question could
change the world.” - Shane Claiborne, bestselling
author of
The Irresistible Revolution
"His vision of Christianity is
grounded, gripping, and filled with uncommon sense."
-Father Richard Rohr
"If the church were as Philip Gulley envisions here,
people would be knocking down our doors to experience God's
love." -Diana Butler Bass,
author of Christianity for the
Rest of Us
At a recent
speech, the woman introducing me used the word iconoclast. It had
been awhile since I'd heard that word, so when I got home I looked
it up in my dictionary to discover what the woman thought of me. Iconoclast:
1.) one who destroys
religious images or opposes their veneration 2.) one who attacks
settled beliefs or institutions.
I don't recall ever
destroying a religious image, so I'm assuming she was referring to
the second description. I do enjoy dismantling settled
beliefs, not for the sake of wanton destruction, but for the sake of
building something more helpful and beautiful in their place.
For too long, American
Christianity has been poisoned by a narrowness of mind and spirit,
demanding we believe the implausible, affirm the absurd, and despise
the different. Thoughtful people are leaving the Church in
droves, unwilling to diminish their lives or the lives of others for
the sake of faith.
This website is my
ongoing effort to build a Christianity we can live with - a
Christianity that brings out the best in us, not the worst; a
Christianity at home with people of other faiths; a Christianity
grateful for scientific knowledge; a Christianity rooted in God's
grace, and informed by the example of Jesus. It is the
Christianity many of us have longed for, but haven't found.
Perhaps it's time we looked somewhere else. GraceTalks might
be just the place to start.
The focus of
GraceTalks will be wide-ranging, from peace to politics, to Biblical
interpretation, to the role of Christianity in the wider world.
If you're an iconoclast, or leaning that way, I invite you to join
me in building a new kind of Christianity, where love counts more
than rules, and reason more than fear. Enjoy this website,
read and spread its message, change yourself, then change our world.
~Philip
"Flat-out hilarious"
-BOOKLIST
"A wonderful account of the treasures, trials and plain old wackiness of growing up in small town Indiana. Gulley tells his stories with a bright intelligence, a wry wink and warm-hearted good humor, which are at the same time tender, thought provoking and downright hilarious." -Carrie Newcomer, singer and songwriter
"Humor
beats nostalgia and drama; this stuff is a laugh-out-loud funny tweaking of a not terribly misspent youth." –Publisher’s Weekly
"Philip Gulley's memoir is
sweet and funny - funny enough that you're tempted to read
parts aloud just to amuse yourself further."
- Jay Allison, host and curator, NPR's "This I
Believe"
"Philip Gulley gives us the
good laugh, the good cry and a good read of a world still in reach through faith
and family."
- Thomas Lynch, author of The
Undertaking
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If the Church Were Christian. Join
the discussion.
UPCOMING EVENTS
March 12-14, 2010
First-Plymouth Congregational Church
2000 "D" St.
Lincoln, NE 68502
March 17, 2010 6:30 p.m.
First Christian Church
1789 Mandarin Rd.
Naples, FL 34102
March 18, 2010 3:30 p.m.,
6:30 p.m. Naples United Church of Christ
5200 Crayton Rd.
Naples, FL 34103
