The Spirited Book Club discusses Unlearning God: How Unbelieving Helped Me Believe by America's favorite Quaker storyteller, Philip Gulley. The online club is FREE, scroll down to register.
Book Overview
America’s favorite Quaker storyteller explores the terrain of faith and doubt as shaped by family, church, and young love, finding his way to a less convenient but fully formed adult spirituality.
In his most recently published work of non-fiction, Unlearning God: How Unbelieving Helped Me Believe, Gulley describes the process of spiritual growth, especially the re-interpretation of the earliest principles we learned about God. Gulley teaches the reader to let go, or unlearn these burdensome obstacles in their faith so that they can forge a more authentic relationship with God.
Most of us grow up taking in whole belief systems with our mother’s milk, only to discover later that what we received as being certain is actually nothing like it. And then we’re faced with a choice — retreat to spiritual security and the community that comes with it, or strike out into the unknown. With his trademark humor and down-home wisdom, Philip Gulley serves as just the spiritual director a wayward pilgrim could warm to, inviting readers into his own sometimes rollicking, sometimes daunting journey of spiritual discovery.
He writes about being raised by a Catholic mother and a Baptist father across the street from a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses — all three camps convinced the others are doomed. To nearly everyone’s consternation, Philip grows up to be a Quaker and a pastor. In Unlearning God, Gulley showcases his well-loved gift as a storyteller and his acute sensibilities as a public theologian in conversations that will charm, provoke, encourage, and inspire.
Reviews for Unlearning God
“Phil Gulley is one of the greatest theological minds ever, in my opinion. I’ve read most of his books & this one is definitely at the top of his BEST EVER books! Open your mind & step into Phil’s world. I guarantee you won’t be sorry!” — Caleb’s Granny
“This book will challenge you to examine every aspect of your Christian beliefs. Gully is an advocate for pushing beyond our childhood faith to meet life as it is in everyday life. It is an easy read that demands critical thinking.” — Mitch Carnell
“The author has a flare for examining the profound with practical wisdom and humor. I read through his account of his personal faith journey in about three sittings. He helps us understand how his faith matured from learned dogma to a more challenging and more fulfilling life of faith and practice. He introduces us to the people and everyday events that compelled this journey. It is profound theology without a lot of abstract, scholarly language and footnotes.” — Trailwulf
“I feel it is a book I can recommend to people who never struggle with their faith, to help them understand those who do; recommend it to people who struggle with faith issues and still want to believe; and recommend it to those who have given up on faith, not to persuade them that they are wrong, but to help them put their issues into words when explaining why they have given up, and to help them know they are not alone.” — RL in Kentucky
Want a Teaser?
Take 5 minutes to watch the author talk about his own Unlearning. https://youtu.be/nc3bewkCmPQ
++Book discussion facilitated by Sheri Brown.
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Philip Gulley is a Quaker pastor, writer, and speaker from Danville, Indiana. Gulley has written 22 books, including the Harmony series recounting life in the eccentric Quaker community of Harmony, Indiana and the best-selling Porch Talk essay series. Gulley’s memoir, I Love You, Miss Huddleston: And Other Inappropriate Longings of My Indiana Childhood, was a finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor.
In Living the Quaker Way: Timeless Wisdom For a Better Life Today, Gulley offers the opportunity to participate in a world where the values of the Quaker way bring equity, peace, healing, and hope.
Gulley’s latest fictional series continues the exploits of Sam Gardner, first introduced in the Harmony series. The new Hope series includes A Place Called Hope, A Lesson in Hope, and A Gathering in Hope, his most recent fictional release.
You can also read Gulley’s essays in every issue of Indianapolis Monthly and The Saturday Evening Post.