Description

"Honest, like down-to-the-core honest, beyond what most people are capable of, especially in public on the topic of faith." —Kelly Corrigan, New York Times bestselling author of The Middle Place

In the tradition of Barbara Brown Taylor and Sue Monk Kidd, Sarah Sentilles offers a poignant, beautifully wrought memoir of her personal crisis of faith.  Sentilles was on the way to becoming a priest when she ultimately faced the truth: she no longer believed. Her moving story examines the question of how you leave the most powerful being in the universe—and, if you do, where do you go? Breaking Up with God is an inspiring reflection no matter where you stand on the matter of faith.


What does it look like to dismantle a life built on belief and build something new in its place?


  • A Crisis of Faith: More than just doubt, this is the raw, down-to-the-core honest story of a woman on the path to becoming a priest who realizes she no longer believes.
  • Feminist Theology: Sentilles confronts the patriarchal God of her upbringing, asking what it means for a feminist theologian to admit she once loved—and needed—a man in the sky.
  • The Deconstruction of Belief: Framed as a love affair gone wrong, this memoir explores the heartbreak of losing a relationship with God, a divorce that costs family, friends, and a future.
  • Leaving the Church: Discover what happens after you walk away from the institution that shaped your life and must learn to feast on your own life instead.

About the author(s)

Sarah Sentilles is the author of A Church of Her Own and Taught by America. She is a scholar of religion and earned a bachelor's degree in literature from Yale and a master's of divinity and a doctorate in theology from Harvard. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Reviews

“This is a beautiful, intimate, and personal spiritual memoir, told as a passionate love story about a relationship that ultimately does not work out between the author and God. Sentilles (A Church of Her Own: What Happens When a Woman Takes the Pulpit), a former candidate for the priesthood in the Episcopal Church, with a master’s of divinity and a doctorate in theology from Harvard, tells her story in a way that is never preachy or pushy. She is not angry or bitter and seems to have no intention of converting readers to her viewpoint. She simply shares her journey with a tenderness and authenticity that is both heartbreaking and hopeful. Her narrative ends with an agnostic but promising vision for humanity. VERDICT Sentilles provides a wonderful model for humbly seeking and inquiring to find meaning. Those who have ever doubted, wrestled, questioned, or struggled to maintain a relationship with an elusive God, whether they are currently believers, nonbelievers, or somewhere in between, will find much that speaks to them in this touching memoir. Highly recommended.” - Library Journal

“[Sentilles] tells her story in a way that is never preachy or pushy. She is not angry or bitter and seems to have no intention of converting readers to her viewpoint. She simply shares her journey with a tenderness and authenticity that is both heartbreaking and hopeful.” - Library Journal

“Provocative, penetrating, honest and real. Sarah Sentilles, in chronicling her own story, chronicles the journey that all of us must take in search of our own humanity. Would that institutional religion were big enough to embrace and affirm her work.” - John Shelby Spong, author of Sins of Scripture

“If everyone looked at faith with the unflinching integrity of Sarah Sentilles, not only would they profit, but so would their religion. Breaking Up With God is a beautiful reminder that truth is found in questions, not answers, in seeking, not finding. From Sarah Sentilles, I have learned my ‘No’ to God can be every bit as helpful as my ‘Yes.’” - Philip Gulley, author of If the Church Were Christian.

“Breaking Up With God is a beautiful reminder that truth is found in questions, not answers, in seeking, not finding. From Sarah Sentilles, I have learned my ‘No’ to God can be every bit as helpful as my ‘Yes.’” - Philip Gulley, author of If the Church Were Christian

“There is so much to love about this book...Her language is always straightforward, and her voice is strong and consistent, but straightforward isn’t just simple. At times the language is exalted, breathtaking, captivating and just stupid f-ing brilliant.” - The Parish

“Sarah Sentilles’ book is a treasure and a triumph of the heart. Wise, funny, and fearless, she dares to take the ultimate questions seriously enough to be outrageously honest. May her journey be a challenge to those whose imperturbable faith may filter out the anguish and fragility of our world.” - Joanna Macy, author of World as Lover, World as Self.

“This is a wonderfully moving book, written with rare elegance, real passion, warm humor, and penetrating insight. Breaking Up With God will comfort those who no longer believe, guide those who are plagued with doubts, and challenge those who wonder how anyone could leave the faith.” - Bart D. Ehrman, author of Misquoting Jesus

“Sarah Sentilles has given us something smart and thorough. But it’s more than that. It’s honest, like down-to-the-core honest, beyond what most people are capable of, especially in public on the topic of faith. I admire her as much for her conviction as for her talent as a writer.” - Kelly Corrigan, author of the New York Times bestsellers The Middle Place and Lift

“Honest, like down-to-the-core honest, beyond what most people are capable of, especially in public on the topic of faith. I admire her as much for her conviction as for her talent as a writer.” - Kelly Corrigan, author of the New York Times bestsellers The Middle Place and Lift

“Sarah Sentilles is a truth teller, a modern-day prophet, a writer with unbelievable depth and guts and brains, an alchemist whose breathtakingly artful prose transforms hard-won insights into a brilliant, beautiful, big-hearted memoir. Breaking up With God is wildly entertaining and fiercely funny as it teaches us how to confront our fears and our faith, how to live authentically in this amazing and difficult world. If you want a memoir that marries a generosity of spirit with the engine of the intellect, read this gem of a book!” - Emily Rapp, author of Poster Child:A Memoir and Dear Mr. Frankenstein: A Memoir

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