Rediscovering the Goodness of Creation

A Manual for Recovering Gnostics

By: Robin Phillips

Narrated by: Kristina Wenger

Though it’s often too subtle to see, much of modern Christianity has fallen prey to the ancient Gnostic heresy which taught that the material world has no lasting spiritual value. Rediscovering the Goodness of Creation diagnoses the problem, takes us through its history, and helps us discover “the purposefulness of the material world, the goodness of the human body, and the eschatological hope of a transformed universe.”

But this is not just a book about heresy. Rather, through the author’s exploration of his own spiritual biography, you’ll also see how incipient Gnosticism can show up in our lives, and you’ll learn how to recover from your own Gnostic tendencies through the spiritual practices of Orthodox Christianity.

©2023 Robin Phillips (P)2023 Robin Phillips

Reflect on Subconscious Gnosticism

I went into this book thinking I would not need the message of it, saying to myself, "Why listen to this when I can listen to the Bible or Church Fathers?". The message of this book is that while reading the Bible and Church Fathers is always good and fruitful, so is living life in the most prayerful and Christ focused way. I have learned that to be Christian, at least as a lay person, does not mean I have to focus every waking hour to consuming exclusively explicit Christian material but consists of directing even seemingly worldly pursuits towards communion with Jesus Christ.

A Book for Everyone on the Goodness of Creation

I absolutely loved this book. I was raised in an evangelical home and there was a strong aversion to seeing Creation as something that would be redeemed, rather as I was frequently told everything in the world was set to burn. After becoming Orthodox, I have been slowly learning what the Church has actually taught through the centuries on God's creation and our role in it. This book challenged a lot of what I was taught as a protestant and opened up a wonderful vista of what the Orthodox Church teaches regarding the role of matter in God's redemptive purpose. God doesn't just love our souls; He loves our bodies and all of creation and has redeemed it all.

I found Mr. Phillips approach to be very accessible for those with and without a strong theological background. I especially found the chapter summaries and discussion questions to be very useful, especially in an audiobook. I also think Ms. Wenger's narration to be incredible. I enjoyed listening to her and thought she did an exquisite job.

As with all audiobooks, especially non-fiction ones, you worry that you will miss out from important footnotes or other pieces of information. Ancient Faith did an excellent job of incorporating the important footnotes into the narration without them feeling shoehorned or disruptive to the flow of the narration.

I highly recommend this book and the audio edition of that is your cup of tea.

Some necessary wake up calls

Disclaimer: I was given a review copy of this book in audio format.

This book helped me uncover implicit Gnosticism that I had been taught since I was a youth. Phillips isn’t attempting a careful polemic to try and convert everyone over to his side, but instead is giving an introduction to a more holistic non-dualistic form of Christianity to help show what the other side is missing. A good deal of time is spent in this book explaining the idea of how Christ is going to redeem both earth and our bodies in his second coming. This might seem like basic facts to some Christians, but for some like myself, I think that this will come as a bit of a wake up call. Without much thought or acknowledgement I’ve always considered that in the life to come we who are saved will all be magically apparated away from this earth to a more spirit-like/unphysical realm that we can spend eternity with our Savior. This book helped show me that this dualism that separates physical and spiritual can lead to some really problematic behaviors and beliefs that go against the historical teachings of the church. Most notably Philips shows that this Gnosticism can lead to us being bad stewards of earth and more importantly to deny the seriousness of sin and treat it as a passing temporary phenomenon without lasting impact. I also really loved the chapter that talked about marriage and celibacy. Marriage being a form of martyrdom is a really strong thought provoking idea that I think all of us married people should spend time prayerfully thinking on. It’s clear that Phillips’ intended audience leans more towards Protestant believers. Like myself, these Christians are the ones who most need to hear this message. However, this does lead to a couple chapters that seem to dance around Orthodox beliefs and practices perhaps in an attempt to not scare off those outside. This is most strongly felt when Phillips talks about the bodily resurrection to come and then dances clumsily around the dangers of cremation. It’s a small nitpick in an otherwise great book, but it feels like Phillips is at times trying to temper or soften some Orthodox beliefs to try and reach a wider audience which, in all fairness as stated above, Protestants need this book much more than the Orthodox. Philips expertly pulls supporting examples from a wide variety of sources from Wright to Lewis to Irenaeus. Overall I found this book really challenging and thought provoking and with its many quotes and pointers to external sources it was a great jumping off point towards me challenging my own gnostic beliefs.

Excellent Theological Overview

Through an overview of both historical theological trends and modern religious talking points, Phillips lays out an excellent case for a more "creation-informed" Christian life. I appreciated the personal anecdotes regarding his adoption of the historic Christian faith, as well as popular cases in which modern Christianity has failed to address the present and eschatological reality of a renewed creation. In addition to the text itself, I appreciated the inclusion of discussion questions as endnotes for each chapter. Although I did not read this book with a group, the questions posed helped me better conceptualize and consider potential objections from society at large. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for encouragement in embracing the beauty of the created world.

Gnosticism in the Church today?

"Rediscovering the Goodness of Creation: A Manual for Recovering Gnostics," by Robin Phillips, is a must read for every Christian in the Western world. As a graduate from a non-Orthodox seminary, and now a catechumenate in the Orthodox Church, I was intrigued by Phillips' in depth look at how the West has adopted gnostic views without having realized we have done so.

Phillips begins with a short autobiography, sharing his early love of the arts and music, along with his theological journey toward finding means by which to integrate that love with his faith. This lays the groundwork for the remainder of the book, which compares ancient gnostic writings and arguments against gnostic beliefs with the general mindset of the Western world, including Western Christianity, and how many of us may need to adjust our thoughts to be more in line with that of Scripture and the teachings of the early Church.

Phillips speaks of the rupture in relationship between humanity and creation and how this has led to the view of the earth as a supplier of resources to which we humans are entitled, rather than as part of the gift of life granted to us by God, and for which we are to be stewards.

According to Phillips, there were "dynamic processes that [God] set in motion during the Creation week," and "God has coordinated bodies and organisms to flourish according to the telos (final goal) appropriate to the nature of each thing." Then he goes on to expound on humanity's God-given telos of guiding and caring for each of these things, to help each along its own telos.

One can barely scratch the surface of Phillips' work in a review such as this. Suffice it to say that, he not only looks at humanity's role in creation, but also gives practical how-to advice for changing our gnostic-leaning mindset to one of viewing creation as part of our relationship with our Creator, including our views of our day-to-day tasks, our gifts and our abilities.

Part autobiography, part theological treatise, part "how-to" manual, in Rediscovering the Goodness of Creation, Phillips has given us a reference to which we may find ourselves returning again and again.

Excellent

Phillips has done it again. You have distilled significant concepts down and made them attainable to all of us. Very challenging and a great reminder of a Christian’s purpose to join in God’s plans for this world.

wasted money

hard to endure. didn't find it enjoyable. irrelevant. wish I hadn't wasted my time trying to simply get through the boredom.

Only for certain Protestants

Read the comments. If you relate to these ideas about the world being sinful and not being worth investing in because it is passing away, then I imagine this will be a very helpful book. I just was never taught that, so this book doesn’t scratch the itch I have. But for the right person, it is probably very helpful