Book Review: Blessed Are The Undone
Testimonies of the Quiet Deconstruction of Faith in Canada
Recently I picked up the new book Blessed Are the Undone: Testimonies of the Quiet Deconstruction of Faith in Canada by Angela Reistma Bick & Peter Schuurman. This book is packed with information, and I will never do it complete justice in just a quick review.
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Bick and Schuurman split the book into four sections with the theme of portaging weaving it’s way throughout the book. They discuss everything from the current history of the Church including residential schools, to the ancient history of the church, where those who have deconstructed “the conservative congregation - the starting point for every deconstruction we encountered.” They talk about the implications of Christian Nationalism, a phenomenon finding its way up from the US, as well as the impact of purity culture, “pulpit crimes,” young earth, and colonization. It’s really a very interesting look at the church through the eyes of the authors, and those they spoke with.
Just who did they speak with? Over the course of three years the authors spoke directly to 28 individuals who were willing to share their story. In addition to that, they analyzed 42 testimonies from the podcast Slow Train to Heck. The book centers around the 28 stories that were shared with them, with sprinklings of their learnings from research.
The footnotes in this book are amazing! There is a wealth of information from those alone. Their Appendix includes the whole process they undertook to make this project a reality. They share pictures, metaphors, cartoons, suggestions, and anecdotes. It’s really quite remarkable.
What I truly appreciated about this book was their ability to present information in a both/and fashion, understanding that not every liberal Christian will agree, and that conservative Christians would certainly disagree. Did I agree with everything they shared? No, but I could recognize the heart behind it. They are prophetically calling out to the church. I only hope it will have ears to hear.
If you’re a church leader in Canada - this is a must read.
If you’re a Christian in Canada - this is a highly recommend.
If you’re someone who has deconstructed or is deconstructing - this may help you feel less alone no matter where you are your journey.
If you’ve completely left the church - this may give you some satisfaction that someone is sharing loudly that the Church harms, and it must change.
Some of my favourite quotes:
“Think of deconstruction as prophetic critique of traditions and institutions, calling them back to God’s intentions.” p. 13-14
“The medium was the overwhelming message: performance, celebrity, success. Spiritual discernment faltered, and the maturity that comes from facing normal human vulnerability was stunted.” p. 42
“If modern Christian spirituality, with its individualistic bias, its celebrity worship music, its historical amnesia, and its pastor-centered ecclesiology is the source of the deconstructive impulse, then you might be led to pre-modern offerings, which means moving deeper into the heart and soul of ancient Judeo-Christian tradition, and back to creation itself. It may be that faith grows wider when its roots can go deeper.” p. 175
“The deconstructive moment is an opportunity to deliberately dismantle church systems and the misuse if Christendom’s privilege and power. It’s a chance to remove broken theology, sin-riddled structures, corrupt institutions, commodified faith, and unrealistic expectations for Christian community before everything rots or, worse, is set ablaze.”
p. 226
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