Black Sheep and Prodigals An Antidote to Black and White Religion

by Tomlinson, Dave

• ISBN13: 9781473611023
• ISBN10: 1473611024
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2017-06-27
• Publisher: Hodder Faith

Summary

'Very interesting, it's all about not alienating people before they even think about crossing the threshold of where you worship.' Chris Evans, BBC Radio 2

Do you feel more at home on the edges of faith than at the centre? Would you call yourself a bit of a black sheep?

Too often Christian spirituality has been associated with conformity, or a subculture where people don't feel able to ask questions. But Dave Tomlinson, author of How to be a bad Christian, doesn't think it has to be like this; instead, our spiritual communities can be 'laboratories of the Spirit' - places where we can explore issues of faith and spirit with openness, imagination and creativity.

Welcome to black sheep spirituality - where doubts and questions are an essential part of faith; where difference of opinion is a sign of a secure community; where divine revelation is embraced wherever it is found - in the arts, science and the natural world as well as religious tradition; and where faith is something that is lived and practised rather than embalmed in beliefs or ritual.

'Theology for anyone and everyone' BBC Radio 2

Author Biography

Dave Tomlinson was a house church leader for many years and is now an Anglican priest. Unable to accept the narrow restrictions of his tradition, he founded the legendary Holy Joe's, a church in a pub in Clapham for disaffected church drop-outs. He is now Vicar of St Luke's, Holloway, a thriving parish church in north London. He is the author of the seminal The Post-Evangelical, I Shall Not Want and Re-enchanting Christianity, and most recently How to Be a Bad Christian and The Bad Christian's Manifesto.