Indigenous Theology and the Western Worldview: A Decolonized Approach to Christian Doctrine (Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology)

This volume by a Cherokee teacher, former pastor, missiologist, and historian brings Indigenous theology into conversation with Western approaches to history and theology.

Written in an accessible, conversational style that incorporates numerous stories and questions, this book exposes the weaknesses of a Western worldview through a personal engagement with Indigenous theology. Randy Woodley critiques the worldview that undergirds the North American church by dismantling assumptions regarding early North American histories and civilizations, offering a comparative analysis of worldviews, and demonstrating a decolonized approach to Christian theology.

Woodley explains that Western theology has settled for a particular view of God and has perpetuated that basic view for hundreds of years, but Indigenous theology originates from a completely different DNA. Instead of beginning with God-created humanity, it begins with God-created place. Instead of emphasizing individualism, it emphasizes a corporateness that encompasses the whole community of creation. And instead of being about the next world, it is about the tangibility of our lived experiences in this present world. The book encourages readers to reject the many problematic aspects of the Western worldview and to convert to a worldview that is closer to that of both Indigenous traditions and Jesus.

Randy S. Woodley (PhD, Asbury Theological Seminary) is a Cherokee teacher, poet, activist, former pastor, missiologist, and historian who serves as distinguished professor of faith and culture and director of Intercultural and Indigenous Studies at Portland Seminary in Portland, Oregon. He cohosts the Peacing It All Together podcast with Bo Sanders and is the author of several books, including Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision, Decolonizing Evangelicalism, and Living in Color. Woodley and his wife, Edith, are co-sustainers of Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice and Eloheh Farm and Seeds.