How Western Christianity Got It Wrong: Replacing the God of Fear with a Spirituality of Healing

Jesus never intended to start a religion that would justify stealing land, enslaving people, or destroying creation. So how did we get here?

In How Western Christianity Got It Wrong, acclaimed author Randy Woodley, of mixed white and Native American heritage, traces how a brown man from Nazareth who never lost his connection to the whole community of creation became the poster child for empire-building and environmental destruction. The faith that bears his name crafted theologies that rationalize greed, violence, and colonization--everything Jesus actually opposed.

Woodley exposes the ideas that poisoned Christianity's well, how the Western church won a monopoly on sin and salvation, and how violent atonement theories replaced the healing message Jesus lived. Drawing on Indigenous wisdom that was flourishing on Turtle Island long before missionaries arrived, Woodley reveals what Jesus's liberating message looks like when freed from imperial frameworks.

Picture communities where creation is family, not commodity. Where healing happens through relationship, not transaction. Where Creator speaks through many voices and welcomes all who walk in love. This is the Jesus Way as it was meant to be--not a system of control but a path of wholeness.

Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley is an activist, scholar, author, teacher, and wisdom keeper of mixed white and Native American heritage who speaks on justice, faith, the earth, and Indigenous realities. He is the author of numerous books, including Becoming Rooted, Journey to Eloheh, and How Western Christianity Got It Wrong. He and his wife, Edith, co-sustain Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice and Eloheh Farm & Seeds outside Portland, Oregon.