Healing the Divide
Recovering Christianity’s Mystic Roots
by Amos Smith
Foreword by Leonard Sweet
Afterword by Richard Rohr
Imprint: Resource Publications
Amos Smith lived his first ten years overseas and finished his growing up years in Virginia. He has lived in Indonesia, Bolivia, Uganda, India, and has traveled the world since. Smith earned a BA in Comparative Religion from The University of California at Santa Cruz in 1993, an MDiv from Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley in 1998, and a DMin from Chicago Theological Seminary in 2008. He is a lifelong student of three streams: Progressive Christianity, Contemplative Christianity, and Quaker Mysticism. Smith began his interest in religion when serving as an acolyte and crucifer at Saint George's Episcopal Church in Arlington, VA. During college days, Smith became a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Friends' silent meetings for worship were Smith's introduction to Centering Prayer and Christian Mysticism. In 1999, Amos began his career as an ordained minister in Montana at the base of The Beartooth Mountains. Smith has since served as an ordained minister for eighteen years in Washington, Oregon, and Arizona. Smith is a family man, hiker, amateur musician, seasoned Centering Prayer practitioner, retreat leader, and Contemplative Christian writer. His writing has been published in various newspapers and magazines including The Billings Gazette, The Spokesman Review, Friends Journal: Quaker Thought and Life Today, Chicago Seminary Press, Wipf & Stock Publishers, and Paraclete Press. Amos and his family live in Tucson, AZ.
"In Healing the Divide, Amos Smith's fresh perspective preserves the integrity of the Christian mystical epicenter from contamination from both the Christian hard right and the sometimes rudderless new age."
--Cynthia Bourgeault, author of The Wisdom Jesus
"This is a foundational work written in a style that will be respected by scholars--yet easily accessible to ordinary Christians and would-be seekers. The Jesus Paradox revealed in Healing the Divide is needed for the foundational reform and reformulation of the Christian message."
--From the Afterword by Richard Rohr
"Read Healing the Divide and eat the mystery. It's a check-up call to your identity and mission."
--From the Foreword by Leonard Sweet, author of I Am a Follower
"This is the most balanced treatment of Jesus I have ever seen. Maybe this book can alleviate the polarizing madness afflicting Western Christianity today."
--Ken Barnes, UCC Pastor
"Amos Smith writes about the incarnation with great enthusiasm. His work is commendable!"
--William Meninger, Benedictine Monk and author of Julian of Norwich
"This is the clearest and most accessible treatment of Oriental Orthodox Christology I have seen by a Western author."
--Abba Yohannes, Ethiopian Orthodox Monk
"This book is written by a Contemplative Mainline Protestant, foreworded by an Evangelical, with an afterword by a Progressive Catholic. And it's about Oriental Orthodox Mysticism! That's a new breed of ecumenism!"
--Sandra Casey-Martus, Episcopal Priest