Rediscovering the Goodness of Creation: A Manual for Recovering Gnostics

Though it's often too subtle to see, much of modern Christianity has fallen prey to the ancient Gnostic heresy which taught that the material world has no lasting spiritual value. Rediscovering the Goodness of Creation diagnoses the problem, takes us through its history, and helps us discover "the purposefulness of the material world, the goodness of the human body, and the eschatological hope of a transformed universe." But this is not just a book about heresy. Rather, through the author's exploration of his own spiritual biography, you'll also see how incipient Gnosticism can show up in our lives, and you'll learn how to recover from your own Gnostic tendencies through the spiritual practices of Orthodox Christianity.

About the Author :
Robin Phillips has a master's degree in historical theology from King's College London and is completing a master's degree in library science through the University of Oklahoma. He is a managing editor and contributor for Touchstone and Salvo. His work has been featured in a variety of publications, including the Colson Center, World magazine, The Symbolic World, Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy, and Mars Hill Audio Journal. He is the author of Saints and Scoundrels: From King Herod to Solzhenitsyn (Canon Press, 2012) and Gratitude in Life's Trenches: How to Experience the Good Life Even When Everything Is Going Wrong (Ancient Faith, 2020), and he is a contributor to Pain, Suffering and Resilience: Orthodox Christian Perspectives (Sebastian Press, 2018) and Finding the Golden Key: Essays Towards a Recovery of the Sacramental Imagination (Eighth Day Press, 2023). He has been featured as a guest on radio and television and has offered presentations and seminars at universities and conferences throughout the world. In addition to his popular writings, Phillips also publishes in peer-reviewed journals, where he has contributed to scholarship on literature and library science. V. Rev. Dr. Stephen De Young is the pastor of Archangel Gabriel Orthodox Church (Antiochian) in Lafayette, Louisiana. He holds a PhD in Biblical Studies from Amridge University and is the host of The Whole Counsel of God podcast and co-host of the Lord of Spirits podcast on Ancient Faith Radio. He is also the author of The Whole Counsel Blog on the Ancient Faith Ministries website. For years Fr. Stephen has been teaching the Bible by taking ideas current in biblical scholarship and explaining them to laypeople to make both those ideas and the Scriptures more accessible.

Review :
In this thoughtful and well-written book, Robin Phillips offers valuable analysis of a serious theological error surprisingly prevalent among many Christians: modern Gnosticism. Phillips reveals how many concepts popular in present-day culture distort and misrepresent the true Christian understanding of creation, the human person, and other critical matters, resulting in spiritual harm and false presumptions. Drawing important distinctions between contemporary Western thought and the actual views found in the Bible, Phillips artfully combines historical explanations with real-world examples while demonstrating that the affirming, holistic, and balanced beliefs of the early Church have been preserved in Orthodox theology and spirituality. -Dr. Jeannie Constantinou, host of Search the Scriptures Live on Ancient Faith Radio and author of Thinking Orthodox and The Crucifixion of the King of Glory, both published by Ancient Faith Publishing. It's likely we are all recovering Gnostics, given the widespread belief that the world of matter is inherently opposed to the things of the spirit. Robin Phillips's book is an excellent guide to extricating oneself from that confusion, and for coming to see that all of creation is charged with God's presence. -Khouria Frederica Mathewes-Green, author Robin Phillips's work makes a valuable and timely contribution to understanding the goodness of God's creation and particularly mankind. He offers a corrector to the modern and ancient misunderstandings of fallen creation and the place of the body in salvation history. Phillips's presentation is clear and accessible to all readers. May this work be blessed by God and may all who use it be edified. -Bishop John, Antiochian Orthodox Bishop of Worcester and New England Robin Phillips's journey from his Gnostic Christianity is such a dramatic portrayal of the attraction of new creation that it puts Dan Brown in the shade. Read it with your family and friends and see how God is calling us to a new view of creation. -William Dyrness, senior professor of theology and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary and author of The Facts on the Ground: A Wisdom Theology of Culture (2022) Gnosticism seems the perennial heresy, one that asks us to think about our relationship with God as something that occurs only in "the spirit," or awaits some final and perfected denouement that is only tacitly realized now and without roots in the present life. The Gnostics of the ancient Church in their various guises preached a secret knowledge that liberated us from the lie that is our bodies and the present world. Consequently, the beauty of the Liturgy, nature around us, and all good things God has given to us to enjoy, had no place in their theology. For many Christians this is still the case, whether it be crass emotionalism in worship, a disdain for the visual in piety (i.e., icons), or a religion that is largely intellectual in nature. Such things are a corruption of the apostolic deposit, ones that Robin Phillips takes head-on, and to which he gives no quarter, in a study sorely needed in today's world. -Cyril Gary Jenkins, Van Gorden Professor of History at Eastern University (retired)