H. Daniel Zacharias

Randy S. Woodley

A Decolonized Approach to Christian Doctrine

Indigenous Theology and the Western Worldview

Erin Darlyn

Dr. Randy Woodley is a Cherokee teacher, historian, farmer and writer who has written several books in which he shows us how Indigenous values holistically relate to place-based ecology, earth stewardship and Christian faiths. Indigenous Theology and the Western Worldview is written as a series of three lectures, each followed by a question and answer style interview. 

This was a particularly timely read for me, as I found that many of the things that have been on my heart for the past few years were things that he brought up throughout the book. His wisdom expanded my paradigm and made me think deeply about this land’s history, the history of the people who live on it, and how Christian faiths can intersect with a more conscious, healing worldview. The history of Christianity on Turtle Island is not pretty. It is messy, filled with blatant disregard for the teachings of its sacred writings, and is deeply linked to a system that is neither sustainable nor holistic. Dr. Randy shows us that there is a better way - a way that can bring healing both to our society and our planet; but it will take intentional work and humility, and that work must involve all of us.

I loved the way Dr. Woodley described his approach to teaching in the preface: “I feel that, when teaching or presenting, it is paramount to hear all the other voices in the room, not just my own.” This is a mark of wisdom. I also really appreciated that when asked questions that would have made it easy for him to broad-brush large groups of people in his answers, he acknowledged that he cannot speak for the whole of the Indigenous peoples, but that he can speak for himself. 

In the third lecture, Dr. Randy shares ten values that comprise what he calls “the harmony way” - a principle rooted in both Indigenous and scriptural values. I enjoyed seeing everything he had been teaching and all of the stories he had shared really come together in this section. 

Here are a handful of the quotes that I underlined or annotated in my copy:

 “North America came to be by means of land theft, armed removal and relocation, forced breakup of families, the outlawing of Indigenous religion, bureaucratic policies of extermination, assimilation and racism, rape of the land - in other words, terrorism. Methods and policies may have changed over time, but intent did not.”

 “If you live in the Americas or another colonized country, you are a direct beneficiary of this genocide and theft. Consider your forebearers, and ask what effect this has or should have on your own spirituality… …Peoples, including the church, live on stolen land. And initial relationships on the land were based on violence, a violence that still distorts those relationships.”

 “All of creation is sacred, and there is a problem with one’s worldview when one is considered sacred and not the other.”

 “The way of life demonstrated by Western peoples leads to alienation from the earth, hostility toward others, and estrangement from all of creation. It creates a false bubble…”

 “…this is how you know you have shalom - how are the least of these doing?”

 “Love includes respect for the other person’s dignity.”

 “My Kiowa mother said it this way: ‘Before the White man came, we knew who God was. We knew God was the Creator. We knew God was powerful. We knew God was loving. We knew God was sacred. We didn’t quite know how much God loved us, because we didn’t know the story of Jesus.’ Then she looked at me and said, ‘But we were this close’ (holding her fingers apart an inch). ‘But when the missionaries came and gave us their theology, that made the gap as wide as the Grand Canyon.’”

 “We need to lament together because that is part of becoming a community.”

The book is thought-provoking, inspiring and beautifully written. It is definitely one that I want to pick up and read again. I highly recommend it. In fact, I think it is absolutely necessary for people who occupy stolen land on Turtle Island and who choose to call themselves Christians to read it. It allows Truth to illuminate a worldview based on a fictional narrative that has been passed down through generations of believers and it is well past time to shine Light on the lies that have made the oppression of Indigenous peoples and the destruction of our planet possible. Truth brings freedom, including the freedom to heal.

Indigenous Theology and the Western Worldview A Decolonized Approach to Christian Doctrine

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