Book Review and Giveaway: Breaking Up With God by Sarah Sentilles

** this giveaway is closed ***

This is one of those books where you read the title and go, "Ok, weird!" and you move on, but the title calls out to you, so you go back and check out the book. I did that TWICE, before I 'said yes to the book'! This book is NOT what you expect from the title either!

Synopsis: "I broke up with God. The breakup was devastating. It was like a divorce when all the friends you had as a couple are forced to choose sides and end up not choosing yours.

Sarah Sentilles's relationship with God was not casual. When it began to unravel she was in the ordination process to become an Episcopal priest, a youth minister at a church, and a doctoral student in theology at Harvard. You might say they were engaged and that the wedding was all planned. Calling it off would be more than a little awkward. But in the studying of the religion she'd been raised on and believed wholeheartedly, one day she woke up and realized . . . it was over.


In this memoir of faith, Sentilles reveals how deep our ties to God can be, and how devastating they can be to break. Without God to mold herself to and without religion as her script, who was she and what was her purpose? Her relationship with God had been connected to everything—her family, her friends, her vocation, the places she frequented, the language she used, and her way of being in the world.

About the Author: Sarah earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale and a master’s of divinity and a doctorate in theology from Harvard, where she was awarded the Billings Preaching Prize and was the managing editor of the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion. At the core of her scholarship, writing, and activism is a commitment to investigating the roles religious language, images, and practices play in oppression, violence, social transformation, and justice movements.  She is an award-winning speaker, and the author of three books.


Review: What made this book very readable was that Sentilles treats it like breaking up like post-divorce/live-in, sharing what had so enwrapped her life and how she had to  reorient herself, after she 'lost the calling', and realized she did want to be where she was (running a church). Making the unfamiliar (hearing the call of God) familiar by equating it to a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, helps to put it in perspective for the reader in a very easy way. Sentilles shows how sometimes what we think of faith can sometimes be the comfort of the familiar- the friends we have at church, the events we attend, the solace we have when among our fellow faithful. 


When Sentilles left her comfortable California Episcopal church for Harvard, she found herself in a new place, both emotionally and intellectually. Without the comfort of her familiar church, she floundered and sought solace in her studies, rather than her faith. Which as she says, should have been a HUGE warning sign, as she was studying to be a priest, and wasn't even attending church services! Now I know alot of you will go "uh-huh, goes to college and the left0wingers got her', but I really don;t think that was the case.


I really think Sarah had never questioned her faith, and the two just juxtaposed at the same time. As a wise priest once told me, you SHOULD question your faith- it's how you leave the faith of your parents and find YOUR way to God- they should never be the same, everyone's relationship with God should be different. AND you should check the tenets of your religion- do you believe in them? If not, then you may need to be at a different church. (Sentille's book, A Church of her Own, calls out tenets that exclude women, in contrast to Jesus' teachings which WERE inclusive, as an example).


While Sentilles' path may not be yours or mine, her book should cause you to rethink some thinks you may not have ever questioned. While definitely not for everyone, it is a worthwhile book to read, to understand why someone would loose their devout faith and to understand why one should question your faith. And one that will help you with YOUR kids when they question your faith/religion!

Giveaway:

Winner will receive this review copy of Breaking Up with God!

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Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book for review purposes on this blog, free of harge, from the Amazon Vine Review program.No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it.