Gaslighted by God: Reconstructing a Disillusioned Faith
"We have a right to encounter God where we are. We have a sacred responsibility to experience God authentically."
What happens when the God we've been taught to believe in seems powerless to help us in the struggles of life? What do we do when the God we personally encounter no longer resembles the God we've been shown in narrow interpretations of the Bible?
Many of those raised in the world of fundamentalist Christianity have been manipulated into accepting a false reality that runs counter to lived experience. The result is confusion, isolation, fear, shame, and trauma, often carried throughout one's entire life. This book is for the victims of this spiritual abuse--anyone looking to reclaim their faith from legalism, nationalism, sexism, anxiety, intolerance, and other mechanisms of control utilized by God's self-appointed gatekeepers. It's for anyone who has learned that the real God is infinitely complex, that authentic faith is perfectly compatible with doubt, and that our suffering is not something we've earned.
Gaslighted by God is not a book of easy answers--it's a companion for those mourning the loss of a belief system who need their pain recognized and legitimized. Tiffany Yecke Brooks shows--through stories from her own life, conversations with Christians from a variety of backgrounds, historical anecdotes, and messy episodes from Scripture--that there can be faith after disillusionment. But it will be a different faith--bruised, battered, nuanced, and real, rather than one wrapped in tissue-thin platitudes and three-point sermons. It will be a faith empowered to see beyond who God "should" be to who God is.
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Reviews
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"Complemented by discussion questions and a Scripture index, this compelling discourse is both academic and accessible, a strong entry to current discussion on the subject."
Booklist
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"Brooks speaks directly to those who are struggling, but her writing would also benefit pastors or friends seeking to offer spiritual support. Gaslighted by God has many different opinions that could make for excellent conversation in a small group or for individual deliberation. It is, however, a hard read. It covers topics that churches often consider taboo, such as sexual assault and abuse. I highly recommend it for this very reason! It may help the church discover different ways to approach difficult topics and just may help some people along the way."
The Presbyterian Outlook
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"Gaslighted by God is a rich resource for any spiritual caregiver or leader who is looking for a thought partner to help articulate exactly how people are harmed by Christianity and to assist them as they begin to repair the damage. Brooks demonstrates how to construct a new and sturdier structure for a liberative, transformative, and life-giving faith--one that invites us to bring about a world where all of God's creation can experience the healing, wholeness, and abundant life that Jesus promises."
The Christian Century
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"Tiffany Yecke Brooks has written a moving book full of honesty, courage, wisdom, and faith. In always-searching scriptural reflections and sometimes-searing personal ones, Tiffany reveals to her reader what the Gospel writers already know: that the cross of Jesus Christ offers neither a tidy answer nor a magical solution to the problem of human suffering, only a humble, just, and holy human response."
Matthew Ichihashi Potts Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church at Harvard University and Cohost of the Podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text
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"In Gaslighted by God, Tiffany Yecke Brooks eloquently gives a voice to those of us who through seeking God have found ourselves in the midst of deconstruction. Those who don't understand deconstruction may seek to condemn it, but Tiffany shows us that deconstruction is nothing to fear--indeed wrestling with faith is something we see God's people do throughout Scripture. With in-depth biblical study, modern-day narratives of people of faith, and an understanding of cultural evangelical conditioning, those who deconstruct will feel seen and validated. As Tiffany suggests throughout her book, perhaps deconstruction is not the end, but the beginning of living authentically in our relationship with God."
Meghan Tschanz
Author of Women Rising: Learning to Listen, Reclaiming Our Voice and Host of the Podcast Faith and Feminism -
"If you've ever felt you just didn't need another Sunday sermon, or someone saying, 'It'll all be okay, ' and you'd rather receive answers about tough faith questions, then Tiffany's book Gaslighted by God should be on your nightstand. In her often-hard-to-read, raw book, she shows us a picture of a God that cares deeply for us, even through hardship and despair. These are the difficult, never-discussed-in-church-pews conversations that need to happen in a modern world among believers, which aren't happening in the building in which we thought they should happen most. This book may not have all the answers--and it doesn't claim to--but it has the power to show a struggling world that there's more than one way to appropriate ourselves to a God beyond measure."
Jerushah Duford Author, Speaker, LPCA, Granddaughter of the Late Rev. Billy Graham
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