A Faith of Many Rooms, Debie Thomas
A Faith of Many Rooms, Debie Thomas
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A Faith of Many Rooms
Inhabiting a More Spacious Christianity

Author: Debie Thomas

Narrator: Jeed Saddy

Unabridged: 6 hr 21 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/19/2024


Synopsis

Disillusioned by narrow theologies, church dysfunction, and constricted readings of Scripture, people are leaving Christianity in droves. But Jesus describes the reign of God as a house with many rooms, writes Debie Thomas, one of the most auspicious voices in religious writing today. In this work of sprawling spiritual and literary imagination, Thomas claims that wherever God dwells, there is expansiveness and belonging.

Thomas knows what a cramped faith feels like, what it's like to wrestle your way out of fundamentalism and toward a more capacious faith. From the diasporic church in which she grew up, to the disorientations of a deconstructing faith, to an ample yet orthodox Christianity that makes room for all her identities, Thomas takes listeners on a deeply personal and profoundly theological odyssey. In A Faith of Many Rooms, she talks back to jaundiced versions of faith and finds evidence that the gospel insists on its own roominess.

The kind of God who decided to experience the world as a guest likely feels constrained by our pinched theologies too. What sorts of ruptures and revisions would it take to find a more spacious faith—and then to inhabit it with authenticity and joy? Fans of Christian Wiman, Cole Arthur Riley, and Barbara Brown Taylor will find in this book an ardent, lyrical take on a faith transfigured.

About Debie Thomas

Debie Thomas is a sought-after speaker on Scripture, faith, writing, and spiritual practice. She holds a master's degree in English literature from Brown University and an MFA in creative writing from the Ohio State University. She serves as a minister at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Palo Alto, California. A columnist and contributing editor for the Christian Century and author of Into the Mess and Other Jesus Stories, Thomas has also been published in the Kenyon Review and River Teeth. She and her husband have two grown children and live in Northern California.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Robert

Too often Christians have lived in narrow/exclusive dwellings. We fail to truly understand God's gracious and welcoming nature. So we need reminders that Jesus was and is a welcoming person. We see this in his eating habits and messages of love and mercy. Thus, it is appropriate that our theologies......more

Goodreads review by Alyssa

An incredible read from Debie Thomas. Her writing is so lush and unexpected— her metaphors for faith are truly outstanding. I was expecting a lot after reading “Into the Mess” and this did not disappoint!......more

I really enjoyed this book. As Christian who has been in church my whole life, it was refreshing to hear about someone else’s experiences who mirror my own. Building faith is a never ending journey and I’m thankful to know a God who loves us enough to ask the all the questions.......more

Goodreads review by Josh

The one thing that has kept me in the faith is deconstructing from the brand of Christianity in which I was raised and trained and, amid the smoke and ashes, finding it but one cramped and cluttered room in a very spacious house. The same is true for Episcopal minister Debie Thomas and A Faith of Ma......more