Overview

2018 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award Finalists - Multicultural Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove grew up in the Bible Belt in the American South as a faithful church-going Christian. But he gradually came to realize that the gospel his Christianity proclaimed was not good news for everybody. The same Christianity that sang, ""Amazing grace, how sweet the sound"" also perpetuated racial injustice and white supremacy in the name of Jesus. His Christianity, he discovered, was the religion of the slaveholder. Just as Reconstruction after the Civil War worked to repair a desperately broken society, our compromised Christianity requires a spiritual reconstruction that undoes the injustices of the past. Wilson-Hartgrove traces his journey from the religion of the slaveholder to the Christianity of Christ. Reconstructing the gospel requires facing the pain of the past and present, from racial blindness to systemic abuses of power. Grappling seriously with troubling history and theology, Wilson-Hartgrove recovers the subversiveness of the gospel that sustained the church through centuries of slavery and oppression, from the civil rights era to the Black Lives Matter movement and beyond. When the gospel is reconstructed, freedom rings for both individuals and society as a whole. Discover how Jesus continues to save us from ourselves and each other, to repair the breach and heal our land.

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9780830847976

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"""So what happened to Christianity in America? This is the question my brother Jonathan faces head-on in this book. He follows this question to the heart of America's original sin, and he invites all of us to join him there and face another question: Is our God greater than America's racism? This is a question we must answer, no matter the color of our skin. Slaveholder religion has infected every corner of the church in America--including the black church. We must never forget that there were enslaved people who accepted the theology fed to them on plantations."" From the foreword by the Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II ""A must-read for Christians interested in how race-infused politics and religion undermine the American democratic dream."" ★ Publishers Weekly starred review, January 8, 2018 ""Reconstructing the Gospel is an honest reckoning with the mangled, slaveholding religion that continues to pass for the gospel in the United States. It is not self-righteous or accusatory. Instead, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove vulnerably grapples with his own ongoing repentance of white supremacy's powerful grip. Ultimately, this book is an invitation into the river that has been flowing for centuries in this land, providing a past and present counterwitness to the vandalization of Jesus' name. A necessary and timely gift to the church!"" Drew Hart, assistant professor of theology at Messiah College, author of Trouble I've Seen ""I hope every Christian in America will read this book. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove exorcizes the demons of racism and white supremacy that have plagued the body of Christ for far too long. He points the way toward a Christianity that looks like Jesus again."" Shane Claiborne, author, speaker, activist ""A poignant, compelling, and eye-opening journey that recognizes the racism in us, Christian churches today, and the implicit bias of the dominant culture. The blinders come off through stories, history, and creative biblical insight. We are left amazingly hopeful for ourselves and the church, with Jesus' invitation to follow him to a whole new world."" Mary Nelson, Executive Director Emeritus, Parliament of the World's Religions ""It has become obvious to any who seriously study our sources that much of what we call Christianity in the West today is in radical discontinuity with our faith in its early centuries. Our spiritual healing now depends on corporately facing our past with hope, just as any individual must do in our personal journey to wholeness. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove is an honest, courageous, and compelling guide on this path of radical conversion."" Richard Rohr, Center for Action and Contemplation, Albuquerque, New Mexico ""Jonathan is a moral prophet and spiritual physician for our time. In this timely book, with the precision of a heart surgeon, he exposes the sickness that has long plagued American Christianity and infected our society and politics, revealing that none of us is untouched by the disease. With the credibility of his life lived in solidarity with systemically oppressed people, he resounds a clarion call to reform the way in which we live the gospel. This is a must-read for all Christians in America. You will be humbled, enlightened, and motivated to heal the ailing heart of our country and recover its soul."" Phileena Heuertz, founding partner, Gravity, a Center for Contemplative Activism"

A must-read for Christians interested in how race-infused politics and religion undermine the American democratic dream. -- Publishers Weekly starred review, January 8, 2018

So what happened to Christianity in America? This is the question my brother Jonathan faces head-on in this book. He follows this question to the heart of America's original sin, and he invites all of us to join him there and face another question: Is our God greater than America's racism? This is a question we must answer, no matter the color of our skin. Slaveholder religion has infected every corner of the church in America--including the black church. We must never forget that there were enslaved people who accepted the theology fed to them on plantations. From the foreword by the Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II A must-read for Christians interested in how race-infused politics and religion undermine the American democratic dream. Publishers Weekly starred review, January 8, 2018 Reconstructing the Gospel is an honest reckoning with the mangled, slaveholding religion that continues to pass for the gospel in the United States. It is not self-righteous or accusatory. Instead, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove vulnerably grapples with his own ongoing repentance of white supremacy's powerful grip. Ultimately, this book is an invitation into the river that has been flowing for centuries in this land, providing a past and present counterwitness to the vandalization of Jesus' name. A necessary and timely gift to the church! Drew Hart, assistant professor of theology at Messiah College, author of Trouble I've Seen I hope every Christian in America will read this book. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove exorcizes the demons of racism and white supremacy that have plagued the body of Christ for far too long. He points the way toward a Christianity that looks like Jesus again. Shane Claiborne, author, speaker, activist A poignant, compelling, and eye-opening journey that recognizes the racism in us, Christian churches today, and the implicit bias of the dominant culture. The blinders come off through stories, history, and creative biblical insight. We are left amazingly hopeful for ourselves and the church, with Jesus' invitation to follow him to a whole new world. Mary Nelson, Executive Director Emeritus, Parliament of the World's Religions It has become obvious to any who seriously study our sources that much of what we call Christianity in the West today is in radical discontinuity with our faith in its early centuries. Our spiritual healing now depends on corporately facing our past with hope, just as any individual must do in our personal journey to wholeness. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove is an honest, courageous, and compelling guide on this path of radical conversion. Richard Rohr, Center for Action and Contemplation, Albuquerque, New Mexico Jonathan is a moral prophet and spiritual physician for our time. In this timely book, with the precision of a heart surgeon, he exposes the sickness that has long plagued American Christianity and infected our society and politics, revealing that none of us is untouched by the disease. With the credibility of his life lived in solidarity with systemically oppressed people, he resounds a clarion call to reform the way in which we live the gospel. This is a must-read for all Christians in America. You will be humbled, enlightened, and motivated to heal the ailing heart of our country and recover its soul. Phileena Heuertz, founding partner, Gravity, a Center for Contemplative Activism

Reconstructing the Gospel is an honest reckoning with the mangled, slaveholding religion that continues to pass for the gospel in the United States. It is not self-righteous or accusatory. Instead, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove vulnerably grapples with his own ongoing repentance of white supremacy's powerful grip. Ultimately, this book is an invitation into the river that has been flowing for centuries in this land, providing a past and present counterwitness to the vandalization of Jesus' name. A necessary and timely gift to the church! --Drew Hart, assistant professor of theology at Messiah College, author of Trouble I've Seen A must-read for Christians interested in how race-infused politics and religion undermine the American democratic dream. -- Publishers Weekly starred review, January 8, 2018

Author Information

The Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II is a Protestant minister and political leader in North Carolina. He is a member of the national board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the chair of their Legislative Political Action Committee. Barber has served as pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), in Goldsboro, North Carolina since 1993. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove (MDiv, Duke Divinity School) is a writer, speaker, and activist. He and his wife, Leah, founded the Rutba House, a house of hospitality where the formerly homeless are welcomed into a community that eats, prays, and shares life together. Jonathan directs the School for Conversion, a nonprofit that pursues beloved community with kids in the neighborhood, through classes in North Carolina prisons, and in community-based education around the country. Jonathan is also an associate minister at the historically black St. John's Missionary Baptist Church.Jonathan is the coauthor of Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers, a coeditor of Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, and the author of Strangers at My Door, The Awakening of Hope, The Wisdom of Stability, and The New Monasticism. He is also the coauthor, with Rev. Dr. William Barber II, of The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays, Fusion Politics, and the Rise of a New Justice Movement.

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