The God of Wild Places

Rediscovering the Divine in the Untamed Outdoors

By: Tony Jones

Narrated by: Tony Jones

Bloomsbury presents The God of Wild Places written and read by Tony Jones.

A pastor walks out of the church and into the woods, in pursuit of the God he's lost.

Millions of Americans, disillusioned with organized religion, yearn for meaning and transcendence in their lives, and many of them are finding that in nature. When pastor and theologian Tony Jones, Ph.D., had his crisis of faith, brought on by personal trauma and broken relationships, he sought solace in the outdoors - paddling a canoe, hunting with his dog, butchering deer.

When he walked out of the church and into the woods, he left the orderly pews and numbered hymns for chaotic spaces and untamed wilderness. And he re-discovered God — a God who brings peace in the midst of storms, a God who lives in the community of our fellow creatures, a God who's acquainted with death. This is the God of wild places.

In The God of Wild Places, Tony mines his own experiences, recent research in evolutionary psychology, and ancient wisdom from various spiritual and philosophical traditions to fashion lessons about solitude, the predator-prey relationship, the importance of place, risk, failure, and death, and the chaotic presence of God.

Tony's guidance in The God of Wild Places promises to introduce a generation of Americans to the transcendence available only in untamed spaces; his writing draws on wisdom from Christianity to Buddhism, Kant to Cioran, Jim Harrison to Annie Dillard. This is a journey of loss and discovery through forests and fields, lakes and streams, from knowing to unknowing, from finding to losing — from life to death, and then back to life.

©2024 Tony Jones (P)2024 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Critic reviews

I have read a lot of books in my life, but never one like this. Wherever you are on the food chain--a passionate hunter like Tony or a cauliflower steak eater like me--this captivating memoir will take you places you might never have gone on your own: into the elemental mysteries of life, death, creatureliness, and divinity with someone who has turned from the orderliness of religion to find salvation in the God of the Wild. I'm glad I went. (Barbara Brown Taylor, Author of Leaving Church and Learning to Walk in the Dark)

Decades ago, a wise man told me that the best writing is honest writing. The God of Wild Places is exactly that, honest writing—beautifully honest. So pure, so true—reading it was like breathing the fresh, crisp air of Tony Jones’s cherished wildlands. It is at once a theological history lesson and an autobiography, a rare work that inspires, teaches, and entertains. I loved it! (Jim Shockey, host of Jim Shockey's Uncharted and author of Call Me Hunter)

Tony Jones speaks into the harsh reality of an increasingly churchless world and how the Creator can be found in unexpected ways in the glorious, wild creation. By giving us a glimpse of his own journey toward a more holistic and deeper faith, Jones is sharing his own experience of seeing God as bigger than our encultured expectations. As one who has also found peace and connection with the Divine among the wild places, I resonate with Tony’s contemplations in this beautifully written memoir. I love this book as I am sure many others will. (Pete Enns, author of Curveball: When Your Faith Takes Turns You Never Saw Coming)

I love this book. I love its honesty, its tenderness, its craft, its settings, its quests and questions, and the profound mysteries toward which it bows. It takes you places you need to go. (Brian McLaren, author and fly fisherman)

Tony Jones walked away from church and out into the woods, and his thoughtful reflections on that soulful transition are compelling, engaging, and full of the kind of transcendent faith that this world needs now, more than ever. (Phil Zuckerman Ph.D.)

Although Tony’s belief is still deep, his new point of view is making clearer his faith—his belief in family, in nature, and in himself. Never have I read a book that goes so deeply and personally into the act of hunting and meat as a healing and profound revelation. As a backpacker and canoeist, I very much connected with Tony’s new point of view of celebrating reverence in the wilds. (Sean "Shug" Emery, Backpacker, Hammocker, Canoeist, YouTube Content Maker)

Kept my attention the whole way through!

What a great story! Life's hard time, Life's Great Times!

Thanks Shug for the recommendation! Great Author!

Many hunting anecdotes (too many)!!

This was a less than average memoir because of its focus on hunting anecdotes. Using glimpses into life through anecdotes is fine (in the manner of Pasternak) but there seems to be very little criteria or importance as to which ones! He also completely avoids (except through an occasional remark) the important story of his ministry which fell apart (did they ask him to leave ? Did he decide to leave??) how has he dealt with his narcissism and emotional detachment… by the end of the story it seems that he has become a preacher of a new sort, with a new theology, platform, books, conferences, teaching, etc. (His desire for importance and admiration arising out of rejection continues to propel him). There is a superficial vibe that he has not really gone deeper to deal with these issues. Hunting is fun, it is healthy but is also sport and diversion. We no longer need to hunt to live. It is a sport filled with exhilarating moments and trophies and very posh hunting resorts. He seems to constantly seeking stimulation; perhaps what he needs is to spend real time in the desert (like the desert fathers he quotes). He wants to appear deep without any depth. It is as if he became a Darwinian naturalist and tries to connect this with God in the most tenuous way. It is clear that our enlightenment Evangelical and Protestant Christianity bear much of the responsibility, especially in formation of pastors through academic training. The system creates the thirst for degrees, books, competition, etc which fed right into his rejection. And now many of these seminaries teach “online,” where there is even less human formation. Until these structures are abolished in favor of places of true formation (which is done in Catholic monasteries and religious orders and Orthodox seminaries) we will continue to suffer the same outcomes. It is unfortunate that he did not take advantage of the places which are spiritually healthy, rather than simply suggest hunting as the solution.

Description needs to be more clear. It's all about hunting and dogs.

No hate, just a poor description of the subject matter. Probably would be fine if I wanted to read about hunting and dogs, but that's not what I was looking for. The description wasn't clear on the main subject. To be fair I only got to chapter 5 so it might eventually swing back around to "The God of the Wild Places", but I expected more God less dogs.

Outstanding

I'm going to confess up front this is my first ever audio book. I loved reading the book(twice) so decided that I'd listen to the audio especially because it was narrated by the author. Much like the book it tr not only deeply moving, but as a reader/listener something to be experienced. and like the hardcover I'll listen to again.

A journey to peace

Tony shares an intimate glimpse into the life of a man destined to serve. Like all of us it’s met with challenges. Heart break and disruptions. At its core we find peace in that which we surround ourselves.