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The Four Vision Quests of Jesus
The Four Vision Quests of Jesus | Steven Charleston
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A unique look at Christian biblical interpretation and theology from the perspective of Native American tradition. This book focuses on four specific experiences of Jesus as portrayed in the synoptic gospels. It examines each story as a vision quest, a universal spiritual phenomenon, but one of particular importance within North American indigenous communities. Jesus experience in the wilderness is the first quest. It speaks to a foundational Native American value: the need to enter into the we rather than the I. The Transfiguration is the second quest, describing the Native theology of transcendent spirituality that impacts reality and shapes mission. Gethsemane is the third quest. It embodies the Native tradition of the holy men or women, who find their freedom through discipline and concerns for justice, compassion, and human dignity. Golgotha is the final quest. It represents the Native sacrament of sacrifice (e.g., the Sun Dance). The chapter on Golgotha is a discussion of kinship, balance, and harmony: all primary to Native tradition and integral to Christian thought.
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BarbaraJean
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SUCH a powerful book. Steven Charleston is a (now retired) Episcopal bishop and a citizen of the Choctaw Nation. This book tells a bit of his journey to integrate and faithfully follow both paths of his spiritual heritage. The first half of the book gives background for the second half, as Charleston orients the reader in his faith and Native heritage, contextualizing Christianity in terms of Native American perspectives and traditions. ⤵️

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) Then the second half interprets four different experiences from the life of Christ through the lens of Native tradition. I found a lot of the second half challenging to wrap my head around, but also deeply illuminating. And the history and context, while not wholly unknown to me, was even more heartbreaking to absorb, coming as it does through a lens of Christianity‘s role in colonialism. 6d
Tamra I‘m likely to hoard this one once I get it because I think I‘m going to love it! I‘m weird that way. 🤪 6d
BarbaraJean @Tamra It is excellent and accessible but also challenging—both emotionally and on a perspective-shifting level! 5d
Tamra @BarbaraJean oops, I meant that comment for Stoneyard Devotional, but honestly this one is intriguing too. Stacking! 5d
BarbaraJean @Tamra 😂 😂 They're BOTH excellent, for very different reasons! 5d
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BarbaraJean
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“…it was not until 1978 that Native Americans were allowed to practice their religious beliefs, in spite of what the First Amendment to the Constitution had guaranteed to Americans for over 200 years.
In 1978 Congress passed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act… for the first time in the 400-year history between Europeans and Native Americans, the religious practices of Native nations were not banned.”

BarbaraJean So much for “freedom of religion.” Just for the colonizers, apparently. Much like “all men are created equal” just meant white men. 😡 3w
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