Holy Heretics: Losing Religion and Finding Jesus · The Sophia Society

ReWilding Christianity w/Gary Alan Taylor

·32 min·2 clips

Roger Tempest is planting a quarter of a million trees and reintroducing beavers at Broughton Hall.

1. Holy Heretics: Losing Religion and Finding Jesus centers this episode on Gary Allen Taylor’s idea of “rewilding Christianity.” 2. Gary Allen Taylor hosts the show, and he speaks alone here because he wants to shift the format away from the usual interview style. 3. The episode asks whether deconstruction should stop at “reconstructing” beliefs or move toward an embodied spirituality rooted in creation. 4. Taylor says language like “deconstruct,” “dismantle,” “tear down,” and “rebuild” can leave people swapping one set of harmful beliefs for another. 5. He argues that Christianity is not just about “believing the right thing” and describes it as a way of life rooted in “divine intimacy with our creator.” 6. Taylor cites Karl Rahner’s 1960s line that future Christians “would either be mystics or they would not be Christian at all.” 7. He pairs that with Richard Rohr’s warning that without a contemplative mind there is “no broad seeing” and “no new kind of people.” 8. Brian McLaren’s critique of “avid indoorsmen” and “square roofs” becomes Taylor’s image for theology trapped inside human-made spaces. 9. Taylor then turns to nature, naming the eagle, mountains, rivers, seasons, John the Baptist, and Jesus’ references to “the lilies of the field” and “the birds of the air.” 10. He contrasts the openness of the natural world with city temples and man-made religious structures that he says can be controlled. 11. Taylor introduces Roger Tempest, the custodian of Broughton Hall, a 3,000-acre estate in Yorkshire, England. 12. He describes Broughton Hall’s 16th-century manor, gardens, fountains, and walkways, then says the land had lost biodiversity after centuries of domestication. 13. Tempest’s Broughton Sanctuary Nature Recovery Program includes planting a quarter of a million trees, reducing sheep grazing, reintroducing beavers, and restoring habitats. 14. Taylor uses Tempest’s line that “to obtain peace within our outer nature, we must also obtain peace with our inner nature.” 15. He defines rewilding as a conservation strategy that restores wilderness areas and reconnects species and habitats. 16. Taylor then applies that idea to faith, saying too much control, domestication, and constraint leaves people cut off from God and from wonder. 17. He argues for “original blessing” over Augustinian original sin and says Genesis presents creation as “good” and “very good.” 18. Taylor defines creation-centered spirituality through themes of a feminine, nurturing creator, cosmic salvation, panentheism, and the claim that God is already here. 19. The episode sounds like a stream-of-consciousness monologue with a reflective, personal tone, and it ends with practical invitations such as walking meditation, hiking, gardening, and learning the original inhabitants of the land. 20. Listeners who like post-evangelical theology, mysticism, and nature-based spirituality will get the most from it, while people wanting a tight interview or short argument may skip it.

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