Philip Gulley’s Unlearning God
Description
We all have things that we learned as a child, only to realize as an adult that they weren’t true – and it can be life changing when those previous truths were part of our faith.
Philip Gulley is the author of theological works, essays on life’s every day, a memoir, and two fiction series that follow the life of a small town pastor. In Unlearning God, he shares how his faith has changed over the years, from a young Catholic boy fearful of Hell, to a widely known Quaker pastor who has had to unlearn quite a few things about the God he was introduced to as a child.
Gulley invites readers to unlearn along with him as he leads them through the turths he once knew, how he unlearned them, and what truth he now holds in its place.
Disclosure
I borrowed this book for free from our library system, it was provided for my personal use. There was no agreement with the author, publisher, or any third party that I would publish a review. The following review is unsolicited, unbiased, and all opinions are my own.
Review – Spoiler Free
Unlearning God was a very interesting read for me. There were things I enjoyed and things I didn’t, things I agreed with and things I didn’t; one page I was flagging a quote I thought was perfect and the next page I was flagging a quote I thought was garbage. I had so many flags by the end, it was hard to decide what quote to use in this review and which ones to drop, so bear with me for a long read, as this book review turned into more of a book report.
I liked Philip Gulley’s writing style, it was very easy to read, and at many times was relaxed and conversational. There were quite a few moments where his dry, sarcastic humor shone, especially when he was recounting stories of his childhood in the Catholic church. My friend who recommended Unlearning God, thought it was a much funnier read than I did, so I’m curious if there are some lines that I read as serious yet she read as comical – sarcasm has a way of doing that.
I had never met Bishop Biskup, despite praying for him every week as instructed. But I imagined any man strong enough to beat back the devil and keep me from hell had to be quite a physical specimen, so I was surprised when Bishop Biskup visited St. Mary’s and turned out to be small and mousy, sporting a bad comb-over and thick glasses.
Unlearning God, Philip Gulley, page 30
My favorite things, by far, in Unlearning God are the moments where Gulley is so beautifully transparent, where he admits to his shortcomings, tells where he’s at, and embraces the core of this book: that as you learn and your faith grows, you are going to change your mind about a great many things. I feel like this is a core truth not just of Unlearning God, but of faith and life in general – there are so many moments where one’s beliefs will be questioned in some way, and from those moments our thoughts may shift and truths we once held may now no longer be true to us. It is a natural part of learning and growing, and it should be better embraced in not only religion, but also society.
At one time, I thought I was saved, but I was mistaken, simply affirming a theology I accepted with little thought. Today, I would say I am being saved, that each day presents its spiritual and ethical challenges, some of which I meet, some of which I don’t. Being saved is, without a doubt, the hardest work I have ever undertaken. There are moments in my journey toward salvation that are exquisite and filled with joy, and there are moments of great despair, when I question everything I have taught, and been taught.
Unlearning God, Philip Gulley, page 64
As with Dan Santat’s A First Time for Everything (read my review here), there were so many moments in Gulley’s retelling of his childhood that were relatable. Things like: altar calls when people would rather quietly participate from their seats, attending church classes just because you knew it was the ‘thing to do’ and it would make your family happy, and repeatedly accepting Jesus for fear that your salvation hadn’t worked because you didn’t feel any different like so many people said you should.
While I could feel the awkwardness and challenge of these moments echoed in my own childhood, there were things I couldn’t relate to and was sad to learn about them being part of any childhood. Things like: stories of actual local misfortunes being used to scare children into faith, and adults not giving children real answers to their faith questions but rather empty responses that teach nothing and beg the question of whether the adult can even answer the question. (“How do you know?” I asked. “Because I’m a priest,” he said. [page 5]). Having not been taught about God in the same ways Gulley was, it was interesting to read about some of his faith struggles and the conclusions that he came to through those struggles – specific faith journeys for him that never presented as an issue in my faith and I never had to wrestle through.
I understand their fear at angering a deity they believe has the power to punish them for eternity. If I believed in the God they believe in, I’d be afraid too.
Unlearning God, Philip Gulley, page 22
And that became my main takeaway from Unlearning God: the Christian God I was taught growing up was not the same Christian God that Phillip Gulley was taught growing up. The fact that, within Christianity, the way God is presented varies greatly from community to community and family to family, is something that I didn’t realize until adulthood and I am realizing more every year. The God that I grew up with wasn’t vindictive, or indifferent, or present only in certain sacraments or through certain communication rituals. In fact, the God of my childhood is very similar to my understanding of God now: loving, and concerned for us, and available to us 24/7.
Haven’t you also found this to be true? That God is present not only in the most obvious places – a hospital delivery room, a cathedral of forest trees, the seaside, a house of worship, places of great beauty – but also in the most unlikely times and places, when we least expect to encounter grace – in a moment of loss, in the midst of suffering an pain, when we’re lonely and afraid, among the poverty-stricken?
Unlearning God, Philip Gulley, page 107
As Gulley has learned God and unlearned God, he has come to a lot of conclusions that he shares for readers to mull over. Some of the things he has come to believe I am in total agreement with, while others I’m definitely not. The one that is probably most pertinent to his interpretations and other conclusions (and whether a reader will agree with him or not) is his belief, or rather lack thereof, in the authenticity of the Bible.
He writes about it as a given that many of the Bible stories can’t possibly be true, and that the words in scripture have been altered – altered to increase the power of those writing it, altered to influence the congregational masses, altered to make Jesus look like something he wasn’t. With his opinions, the Bible would not be a credible source but more a theological work of fiction. And as I wonder why he uses Biblical text at all, he answers: “I do not even value the Bible, unless it empowers us to love others more fully.” (Page 12)
It’s unlikely Jesus ever used divine language about himself, so it’s more likely his followers created divine language about him, then attributed it to him.
Unlearning God, Philip Gulley, page 153
My main negative with Unlearning God isn’t with the topics that Gulley brings to the discussion or with his conclusions, as they are all topics pertinent to the Christian faith and therefore should be discussed from any point of view. But my negative is rather with Gulley himself.
Maybe I read his writing voice all wrong, maybe he wrote with a lot more sarcasm than I read, but I kept getting the vibe that if you didn’t agree with him, he would say – in more eloquent words – that you are wrong and stupid. An interesting vibe to be picking up from an author who, in the Preface says: “Don’t think you must agree with me. That isn’t the aim of this book. Read it, engage it, what the heck, write your own book.” (Page xv).
However …
Someone who believes the infallibility of the Bible? He thinks they’re relying “on the wisdom of ancient people who believed the world was flat and seizures were caused by demons. Those who hold with infallibility are upholding a worldview uninformed by science and thousands of years of thought and reason.” (page 142) Someone who has unwavering faith that doesn’t need poking and prodding and the constant seeking of answers? He thinks they have “not exercised a single brain cell to advance our understanding of God and has happily let the moss of tired thought cover his intellect…” (page 176)
Ouch. Which brings us back to my main issue with Unlearning God being Gulley himself.
And the strange thing is, Gulley sort of calls himself out on it at some points. He admits to being “a little too judgmental about the devotion of others.” (page 72), and that “I have noticed my own tendency to dismiss the spiritual experiences of others, and have had to tamp down that temptation when writing this book. We must find a way to value our own insights without simultaneously diminishing the perspectives of others.” (page 112) “Uncertainty and ambiguity have caused me to be more thoughtful, more careful with my language, less inclined to be dismissive and critical of others’ views. … Though I admit I have spent a good bit of this book criticizing those views.” (pages 190-191)
I would think that, especially knowing this about himself and seeing it in his writing, both he and his editor would have put pre-publication effort into curbing parts in the book where those tendencies break through. Or maybe they have, and earlier drafts were more critical than the final print.
Again, if this is all sarcasm that’s another matter, and I’m reading it wrong. But it’s a little backward coming from a man whose doctrine seems to simply be: God wants you to be happy and love others. Tell me how it’s loving others when you criticize another’s beliefs by saying that they are “uninformed by science and thousands of years of thought and reason” (page142).
Do you see the wide freedom God has given all of us, knowing we are happiest when we are free to choose the course of our lives, constrained by only one condition, and that is this: that whatever we do, it is God’s will for us to be happy and whole while being mindful and considerate of others.
Unlearning God, Philip Gulley, page 120
Overall, I thought Philip Gulley’s Unlearning God was OK. I liked a lot of the topics he brought up and his reasonings about how he came to his conclusions regarding them. I also enjoyed reading the pieces about his childhood in Church and seeing how it brought him to where he is today. However, his attitude really crushed it for me; he writes some great sarcastic remarks, but they can get muddled with cutting statements about people whose opinions he doesn’t agree with.
Unlearning God fits a narrow niche, and while I wouldn’t widely recommend it, I would recommend it to people who land in a few specific categories: someone whose opinions are already in step with Gulley’s, someone questioning aspects of their long-held Christian faith, someone looking to make sense of their negatively influential childhood in an American Church, or someone simply seeking spiritually and looking to learn opinions of others. If you fit any of those categories and want to read Unlearning God, but are concerned about how Gulley’s critical voice comes across, pick it up and give it a few chapters, you’ll get a good feel for his voice pretty quickly and can determine from there if you want to continue reading or not.
Quote
My pattern went something like this. First, I would learn something about God, usually something taught me by the church. I would embrace it as a great truth and believe it with all my heart. Then something would happen – a deep sorrow, a great joy, a revealing discussion, an existential crisis, a painful struggle, an out-of-the-blue insight – that would cause me to reconsider what I’d been taught. Sometimes that was exciting and joyful, other times frightening and upsetting. Sometimes a new insight came quickly, filling the void of the insufficient answer, but most times no new answer rushed in to replace the old. Indeed, there are questions whose answers I will never know.
Unlearning God, Philip Gulley, page x
Ratings
- Insightfulness – 2
- Ease of Application – 3
- Quality of Writing – 3
- Ease of Reading – 4
- Overall Enjoyment – 2
- Final Rating – 3 (Actual: 2.8) – Liked It
Want to learn more about the numbers I use for rating, and the qualities I’m thinking about when writing a book review? Check out my post How I Rate and Review.