Unbinding Christianity
Choosing the Values of Jesus over the Beliefs of the Church
by Jan G. Linn
Number of Pages: 146
ISBN-10: 1627342923
ISBN-13: 9781627342926
Publisher: Universal-Publishers
Year: 2019

Unbinding Christianity is a book that will be good news for some readers while stretching others in uncomfortable ways. It begins with the premise that traditional Christian teaching is focused on right beliefs while the life and teachings of Jesus was all about right living. The book represents a fresh voice for Christians who struggle to accept traditional beliefs by assuring them that Jesus himself said much more about right values than he did right beliefs.

The goal of this book is to unbind Christianity from the wrappings of creeds, doctrines, dogma, and beliefs in order to make room for an understanding of what it means to be Christian defined by values that invites unity among Christians without the need for conformity of beliefs.

One of the important by-products of a values-based Christianity is that it paves the way for Christians with different beliefs to find common ground with one another while also freeing them to build bridges of understanding with non-Christian.

Praise for Unbinding Christianity

If you have found it impossible to continue believing in some of the doctrines
the church has taught to be essential and don’t know if you can continue being
a Christian, Jan Linn offers some much needed guidance. He invites readers to
think along with him as he makes distinctions between believing in doctrines and
having value-enlivened belief, between being a Christian and being Christian. His
message is that just because your integrity demands you give up on some traditional
Christian ideas doesn’t mean you need to become a Christian dropout.— The Rev. Craig Watts, D.Min, author of Bowing Toward Babylon

Unbinding Christianity is a thought-provoking argument for expansion of Christianity’s often employed litmus tests of inclusion and rejection. Jan Linn addresses this complex issue in a clear, concise, and easily accessible manner. A great read! — Joshua Santana, Attorney-at-Law

This book is a wake-up call to all of us who choose to follow Jesus, a challenge for
us to rethink what it truly means to be Christian. Jan Linn’s thesis is simple, yet
profound—it is what we do on a daily basis, not what we believe, that is the core of
a Christian life. — Heather Cargill, Psy.D., Licensed Clinical Psychologist

In a biblically well-informed and a life-experience challenging way, Unbinding
Christianity explores a central question: Are we called to follow the values of the
life Jesus lived or are we merely following a set of beliefs the Church has offered?
This book offers hope to those who have felt excluded by the latter and want help
with following the culturally-challenging way that Jesus lived.— Kevin Campbell, Director, US Long Term Disaster Recovery, Habitat For Humanity

Being Christian, it seems to me, is less a set of beliefs and more a way of life. While I have believed that for many years, Jan Linn’s clear, concise, and compelling book clarifies why this is so, and how the very future of the faith depends on its recognition. This book will benefit everyone concerned about the future of Christianity and the future of the church.— The Rev. Nathan Wilson, Director of Communications, Christian Theological Seminary

Jan Linn argues that the Christian faith has become distorted by a focus on beliefs rather than the values Jesus taught. For many Christians his message will be welcomed with relief, even joy, as they struggle between their resistance to certain required Christian beliefs and their love for their church.— Judy Foster, Ph.D., Professor of English, St. Cloud State University, Retired

Jan Linn offers a much-needed challenge to those who claim to follow Jesus: move
beyond easy “believe-ism” to embrace the demands the gospel places on us. Linn
argues Jesus asks us to live like him, not merely to believe like him. This is a crucial
insight at this pivotal moment in our history.— The Rev. Derek Penwell, Ph.D., author of Outlandish: An Unlikely Messiah, A Messy Ministry, and the Call to Mobilize

Visit the author’s website here.

Jan is a writer who lives with his wife, Joy, in Minnesota. In addition to writing this Blog, he is the author of fifteen books. His latest, Evangelicalism and the Decline of American Politics. Jan has taught at the college and seminary level, the latter as a tenured senior faculty member at Lexington Theological Seminary until he chose to leave his position to join his wife, Joy, in moving to Minnesota where they started a new church. They retired from the new congregation after 14 years as co-pastors, allowing Jan to write full-time. Jan is also known for his preaching, having been the preacher of the week at the Chautauqua Institution and a guest lecturer across the country.