Healing the Divide: Recovering Christianity’s Mystic Roots
Healing the Divide is a bold call to understand Jesus according to the earliest lineage of Christian Mystics--a call to transform our dualistic minds and heal a divided Church. This book is a must-read if you find yourself -frustrated by the fundamentalist and new age polarization of twenty-first-century Christianity; -bewildered by religious pluralism; -searching for Christianity's elusive mystic core. Twenty-first century Christianity is in crisis, careening toward fundamentalism on the one hand and a rootless new age Christianity on the other. Twenty-first century Christianity is also reeling from the maze of religious pluralism. Smith addresses and tempers these extremes by passionately and succinctly revealing Jesus as understood by the Alexandrian mystics. The Alexandrian mystics are the most long standing lineage of early Christian mystics. Their perspective on Jesus celebrates creative tensions, tempers extremes, and reveals Christian mysticism's definitive core.
Top Highlights
“Now the pendulum has swung from the tyranny of group-think to the tyranny of individualism. Rampant individualism threatens the underlying fabric of relationships and communities across the industrialized world. When individualism is our starting point we become married singles, not married couples. When individualism is our starting point we become individuals in community, not the beloved community that Jesus envisioned.” (source)
"In Healing the Divide, Amos Smith's fresh perspective
preserves the integrity of the Christian mystical epicenter from
contamination from both the Christian hard right and the sometimes
rudderless new age."
--Cynthia Bourgeault, author of The Wisdom Jesus
"This is a foundational work written in a style that will be
respected by scholars--yet easily accessible to ordinary Christians
and would-be seekers. The Jesus Paradox revealed in Healing the
Divide is needed for the foundational reform and reformulation
of the Christian message."
--From the Afterword by Richard Rohr
"Read Healing the Divide and eat the mystery. It's a
check-up call to your identity and mission."
--From the Foreword by Leonard Sweet, author of I Am a
Follower
"This is the most balanced treatment of Jesus I have ever seen.
Maybe this book can alleviate the polarizing madness afflicting
Western Christianity today."
--Ken Barnes, UCC Pastor
"Amos Smith writes about the incarnation with great enthusiasm. His
work is commendable!"
--William Meninger, Benedictine Monk and author of Julian of
Norwich
"This is the clearest and most accessible treatment of Oriental
Orthodox Christology I have seen by a Western author."
--Abba Yohannes, Ethiopian Orthodox Monk
"This book is written by a Contemplative Mainline Protestant,
foreworded by an Evangelical, with an afterword by a Progressive
Catholic. And it's about Oriental Orthodox Mysticism! That's a new
breed of ecumenism!"
--Sandra Casey-Martus, Episcopal Priest
"In Healing the Divide, Amos Smith's fresh perspective
preserves the integrity of the Christian mystical epicenter from
contamination from both the Christian hard right and the sometimes
rudderless new age."
--Cynthia Bourgeault, author of The Wisdom Jesus
"This is a foundational work written in a style that will be
respected by scholars--yet easily accessible to ordinary Christians
and would-be seekers. The Jesus Paradox revealed in Healing the
Divide is needed for the foundational reform and reformulation
of the Christian message."
--From the Afterword by Richard Rohr
"Read Healing the Divide and eat the mystery. It's a
check-up call to your identity and mission."
--From the Foreword by Leonard Sweet, author of I Am a
Follower
"This is the most balanced treatment of Jesus I have ever seen.
Maybe this book can alleviate the polarizing madness afflicting
Western Christianity today."
--Ken Barnes, UCC Pastor
"Amos Smith writes about the incarnation with great enthusiasm. His
work is commendable!"
--William Meninger, Benedictine Monk and author of Julian of
Norwich
"This is the clearest and most accessible treatment of Oriental
Orthodox Christology I have seen by a Western author."
--Abba Yohannes, Ethiopian Orthodox Monk
"This book is written by a Contemplative Mainline Protestant,
foreworded by an Evangelical, with an afterword by a Progressive
Catholic. And it's about Oriental Orthodox Mysticism! That's a new
breed of ecumenism!"
--Sandra Casey-Martus, Episcopal Priest
Product Details
- Title : Healing the Divide: Recovering Christianity’s Mystic Roots
- Authors:
- Smith, Amos
- Sweet, Leonard
- Publisher: Resource Publications
- Publication Date: 2013
- ISBN: 9781621896944
Amos Smith lived his first ten years overseas and finished his growing up years in Virginia. He has lived in Indonesia, Bolivia, Uganda, India, and has traveled the world since. Smith earned a BA in Comparative Religion from The University of California at Santa Cruz in 1993, an MDiv from Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley in 1998, and a DMin from Chicago Theological Seminary in 2008. He is a lifelong student of three streams: Progressive Christianity, Contemplative Christianity, and Quaker Mysticism. Smith began his interest in religion when serving as an acolyte and crucifer at Saint George's Episcopal Church in Arlington, VA. During college days, Smith became a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Friends' silent meetings for worship were Smith's introduction to Centering Prayer and Christian Mysticism. In 1999, Amos began his career as an ordained minister in Montana at the base of The Beartooth Mountains. Smith has since served as an ordained minister for eighteen years in Washington, Oregon, and Arizona. Smith is a family man, hiker, amateur musician, seasoned Centering Prayer practitioner, retreat leader, and Contemplative Christian writer. His writing has been published in various newspapers and magazines including The Billings Gazette, The Spokesman Review, Friends Journal: Quaker Thought and Life Today, Chicago Seminary Press, Wipf & Stock Publishers, and Paraclete Press. Amos and his family live in Tucson, AZ.
