Kissing Fish: Christianity for People Who Don’t Like Christianity Kindle Edition
by Roger Wolsey (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 out of 5 stars 140 ratings
Christianity receives a lot of attention in the media, but the most frequently discussed version represents a type of Christianity that sometimes turns people away from the Church. Kissing Fish presents a postmodern systematic theology of progressive Christianity, a growing movement that reclaims the radical message of the Gospel. This informative, contemplative, and entertaining book will guide you through the beliefs that inspire us to love one another in the transformative way that Jesus proclaimed, including practices that will take your faith to a new level.
Kissing Fish is a scholarly yet thoroughly accessible introduction to progressive Christianity. While the intended target audience for this work would seem to be those who have either left the Christian faith or never adopted it at all; the work is filled with pearls of wisdom for all of us, whether associated with Christianity or not. Kissing Fish is a truly remarkable work, serving both as a reminder of the beauty and grace that form the central tenets of the faith, while offering a graceful yet prophetic rebuttal to its more exclusionary tendencies.
Kissing Fish is part theological text and part tell-all personal spiritual journey. Imagine a down-to-earth combination of the works of Marcus Borg, Anne Lamott, Jim Wallis, Rob Bell, Shane Claiborne, Diana Butler-Bass, Brian McLaren, Walter Wink, Wes Howard-Brook, and Donald Miller. A profound romp that informs and inspires.
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About the Author
Roger Wayne Wolsey is a free-spirited GenX-er who thinks and feels a lot about God and Jesus. He's a Christian, yet he identifies with people who consider themselves as being "Spiritual, but not Religious." He grew up during the "Minneapolis sound" era and enjoyed seeing The Replacements, The Jayhawks, Husker Du, The Wallets, Trip Shakespeare, Prince, and Soul Asylum in concert - leading to strong musical influences in his theology. Roger double majored in philosophy and political science and graduated magna cum laude from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. He was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honorary society. He earned his Masters of Divinity degree at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, CO. Roger is an ordained pastor in the United Methodist Church. He currently serves as the director of the Wesley Foundation campus ministry at C.U. in Boulder, CO. He was married for ten years, divorced in 2005, and co-parents a delightful little boy. Roger loves live music, dancing, rock-climbing, trail-running with his dog Kingdom, yoga, camping, hosting house concerts, riding his motorcycle, and playing his trumpet. Roger currently serves on the Board of Directors for Her Many Voices and the Boulder International Fringe Festival. Roger also blogs for Elephant Journal - an online magazine for the Buddhist and Yoga communities. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Product details
ASIN : B0793S51DR
Print length : 445 pages
Customer Reviews: 4.6 out of 5 stars 140 ratings
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Biography
Roger Wayne Wolsey is a free spirit who thinks and feels a lot about God and Jesus. He’s a progressive Christian who identifies with people who consider themselves “spiritual, but not religious.” A trumpeter, Roger grew up during the “Minneapolis Sound” era of the 1980s and ‘90s. These experiences contribute to a musical approach to his theology. Roger studied philosophy and political science, graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, and earned a Master of Divinity degree at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, CO. Roger is an ordained pastor in the United Methodist Church. He has taught Introduction to Religion classes as an adjunct instructor at Graceland University in Lamoni, IA. He has served as a pastor for churches in Minnesota, Iowa and Colorado. He currently serves as the Director of the Wesley Foundation campus ministry at the University of Colorado in Boulder, CO. Roger was married for ten years, divorced, and co-parents a delightful child. He loves music, yoga, dancing, rock-climbing, motorcycling, trail running with his dog Kingdom, and hosting house concerts. Roger on the board of directors of the Boulder International Fringe Festival and blogs for Patheos, Elephant Journal, and Huffington Post.
A word from the author:
A big part of why many are leaving the Church is because they aren't aware of progressive Christianity or progressive Christian congregations. Granted, this isn't the only reason - but it's tragic that so many folks aren't aware that there is a form of the faith that many of them would actually like a lot.
Whether or not there is a literal heaven, we are Christians not for the sake of some future reward/glory, but rather for the sake of living faithfully to Jesus and his Way here and now -- for the sake of experiencing and partaking in salvation/wholeness and the Kingdom of God here and now. Faith isn't fire insurance to avoid going to "hell." We seek to follow the religion *of* Jesus not the religion *about* him.
Progressive Christians believe that Jesus *is* "the way, the truth, and the life," and we believe that all who follow Jesus' teaching, Way, and example, by whatever name, and even if they've never even heard of Jesus, are fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and his Way.
That said, we're rather enamored by the uniqueness of the Jesus story and we invite others to join us in sharing that specific journey -- even if we feel no dire need to convert them.
It is this non-exclusive approach to our faith that many young adults find compelling. So we're evangelistic even as we're not. ; )
Ultimately, let's just be as faithful as we can and not worry about "the Church dying." We have no fear of death for we follow a savior who gave it all up for the sake of others. Indeed, if we do anything to "attract" people out of desperation on our part, it'll be fruitless. It's like dating someone who is insecure and anxious -- not attractive. Let's just boldly be who were are -- and maybe even more so -- yes, more so.
blessings,
Roger Wolsey, author, "Kissing Fish: christianity for people who don't like christianity"
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4.6 out of 5 stars
Top reviews from the United States
Sacul Adams
5.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining, insightful and educational read that I highly recommend.
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2016
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Being of wavering faith, and often at times agnostic, I sometimes come into any religious book looking for reasons to disagree or dislike it. There were a few times in this book when I felt briefly as if the author was repackaging the same old Christianity. He uses parts of the Bible that I do not consider credible but he uses them to support love, acceptance, social justice and peace among other noble ideas. Most often he uses personal stories and excerpts from the gospels to achieve this. After reading the book I cannot say I have been converted to the faith but I do feel better about the state of Christianity and have hope that many people believe it in this way deep down. You can be a Christian and a decent human being. You can accept Christ and accept LGBTQA individuals. This approach is not about being progressive in spite of faith in scripture, but rather because of it. An entertaining, insightful and educational read that I highly recommend.
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Wendell Bosworth
5.0 out of 5 stars So good I bought the hard copy after reading it in Kindle
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2020
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Questions about being "Christian?" or whether you even like Christians? This is your book.
Pluses: Roger Wolsey does a great job providing an objective comparison between conservative and progressive Christianities. He keeps it very positive. Having seen many "Christian" practices as offensive, distasteful, or merely unappealing, I came to wonder whether I've got it right. Wolsey provides a detailed description and discussion of two kinds of Christianity, conservative and progressive. It's not a matter of right and wrong. It's a matter of different perspectives and/or interpretations. I found myself wanting to reread it so that I could write an outline for easier reference. I had the Kindle version. I bought a hardbound version and found that Wolsey had already provided tables in the appendices for ready reference. Wolsey uses his own journey of faith as a device to introduce the reader to various aspects of Christianity. That's good as it makes it easier to read.
Minuses: It could have been shorter. The Kindle version botches the format in the appendices making them much less useful.
Bottom line: I recommend it to my friends and am glad I have the Kindle copy in case I lend out the hardcopy and it never gets back to me.
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parjda
5.0 out of 5 stars Expanding on Christianity
Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2015
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I would give this book 5 stars for content, but only 4 stars for format. I bought it the kindle edition, and I have to change the font to read some of the excerpts.
I am fairly new to progressive Christianity, but I am not new to the ideas in this book. I have never felt convertible trying to understand some of the bible the way that literalists do. I feel that the author addresses many concerns others like myself have with religion that is more concerned with orthodoxy. Christianity and the bible is not all black and white. I see the bible as a tool, and I worship God not the bible. There is more depth than just a literal interpretation of a bible. The bible has been translated and written in contexts one can't imagine. With this is mind this book is a good starting point for people who know in their hearts there is more. It is a lifetime quest.
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George
5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Introduction to Christian Progressive Thinking
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2021
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When I started reading this book, I had no specific expectations about it. I was in an attitude of open-mindedness and ready to be surprised. And I must say that I was surprised in a very positive way. The author establishes his position from the very beginning, and even though I don't agree with everything he says, I never felt attacked or that he was making fun of my convictions. Reading this book is an excellent exercise in practicing love, specially for those who think different than the author. Overall, it was an exciting and educational experience. I totally recommend it.
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Mark Isham
5.0 out of 5 stars I'm a progressive Christian and didn't know it until I read "Kissing Fish"!
Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2013
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I have been a Christian all of my life, regularly participating in church communities no matter where I've lived and seeking to grow my relationship with God through faith in Christ. As I've grown older and matured in my social and spiritual outlook, though, my mind has broadened to encompass issues of social justice and environmental sustainability, i.e. love for others and love for the earth. On my own I came to many of the same conclusions that progressive Christian theologians and thinkers arrived at long before me, so it has been a great comfort to know that I am not alone in many of my thoughts and opinions on God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God's kingdom here with us.
Roger Wolsey has done a fine job of explaining progressive Christianity's tenets and foundations in language that is clear and easy to understand, whether the reader is a long-time Christ-follower like me, a newcomer to the faith, or a seeker with no background at all in Christianity. His language is not "churchy," but rather common and conversational. The footnotes are helpful and informative, although if I hadn't been reading on Kindle with the ability to easily jump from text to footnote and back again, I might have simply skipped over the footnotes, thereby losing out on much valuable information. Personally I feel that many of the footnotes could have been worked into the text, adding to the richness of his commentary.
While I appreciate and respect Wolsey's efforts to refer to God in alternately masculine and feminine pronouns, I personally found it to be a bit distracting and would prefer to have read simply "God" and "God's" even though that usage can, too, be distracting and cumbersome. To me, though, it seems sort of disrespectful to replace "God" with any pronoun anyway, but we are stuck with the conventions of the English language, and Wolsey made a valid usage choice.
I highly recommend this book to any seeker wanting to expand their faith in Christ, or perhaps find it in the first place.
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Big A
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 7, 2013
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If you can get over the introduction and the very American style of writing this is a great book. It goes off towards the end on a bit of a political/public personality crusade but overall there is a lot in this book that if you relate to liberal theology you will find Roger Wolsey puts into a simple straightforward way what needs to be said.
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CanadiensFam
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on October 20, 2014
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Amazing book full of great points and new information
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