Poems, Piety, and Psyche: Progressive Poems for Rebellious Christians - Paperback

by David John Keighley (Author)

Confronting the crisis facing Christianity, this anthology of post-modern, progressive Christian poems, with a rebellious tone, demythologizes Christian theology. Poems, Piety and Psyche is a brave departure from literal Christian dogma and challenges the outdated ideas of doctrine and Scripture to disclose hidden truths still valid today. This volume is an attempt to revitalize the church and reshape its future for current congregations and the missing generation of young people, scientifically literate, who are exiled from the church through its inability to absorb contemporary teaching of biblical criticism, the reality of evolution, the false idea of a God "up there," and an institutional insistence on an unconvincing supernatural theology. Christianity must be adapted to incorporate these and change, or it will die. David Keighley reclaims the original gospel message and takes us on a turbulent and challenging journey to the heart of what it is to be truly Christian. There is in these poems an emphasis on the teaching of the historical Jesus while rejecting nature miracles, the virgin birth, and bodily resurrection. Jesus's divinity is that we can see God in him in the same way as we see God in the lives of each other, if we look closely enough.

Author Biography

David Keighley is a retired Anglican priest of forty years, and a teacher, psychologist, and poet. He has maintained his professional and lifelong interest in the relationship between psychology and spirituality, and currently works as a psychotherapist. His performance poetry show, also entitled Poems, Piety and Psyche, combines his three main interests: poetry, spirituality, and the human mind. He is the author of a school nativity play based on the Old Testament: Christmas Past, Christmas Present (2006).