The Temple at the End of the Universe: A Search for Spirituality in the Anthropocene

by Josiah Neufeld

A journalistic memoir by a lapsed evangelical Christian that examines how the ecological crisis is shifting the ground of religious faith.


Our species is leaving scars on the earth that will last for millennia. How has religious ideology helped bring humanity to the brink of catastrophe? What new expressions of faith might help us respond with grace, self-sacrifice, and love? What will spark our compassion, transcend our divisions, and spur us to action? 


Josiah Neufeld explores how the interlocking crises of climate change have shifted the ground of religious faith on a quest that is both philosophical and deeply personal. As the son of Christian missionaries based in Burkina Faso, Neufeld grew up aware of his privilege in an unjust world. His faith gave way to skepticism as he realized the fundamental injustice underpinning evangelical only a minority would be saved, and the rest would be damned. 


He was left, though, with an understanding of how people’s actions are influenced by spiritual motives and religious convictions, and of how a framework of faith can counter one’s sense of personal powerlessness. The Temple at the End of the Universe is the rallying cry for a new spiritual paradigm for the Anthropocene.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Audiobook

226 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 6, 2023

Reviews

[Kyle Penner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn’t put this book down, and chapter 9 had me sobbing. While the book is about the authors journey with faith and climate activism, I think maybe it’s maybe a guidebook for all of us.

Thanks for writing it.

[Marnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a stunning book- so gracious and kind and generous - and yet at the same time, so fierce and bold and courageous.

This book is for anyone who wrestles with spirituality in the face of climate disaster. Or, more accurately, anyone whose spirituality has been bound up in colonial religious institutions and would like to liberate their love for the earth from such a system.

This book is also for those Christians trying to understand their deconstructed/ing friends, or for those outside of religion who would like to understand how spirituality can be a liberating force in the face of climate emergency.

Thank you, Josiah, for this gift.

[Zoe Matties · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this book. Josiah Neufeld's compelling and compassionate writing drew me in and spoke to my soul in a way I was not expecting, but that felt so welcome. I resonated with his journey in so many ways. He is a marvellous storyteller, and I appreciated his vulnerability as he wrestled with the faith of his childhood and searched for a different story for an age of ecological breakdown and grief.

[Megan Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josiah Neufeld and I were raised in different threads of Christianity, but our experiences were similar. Both of us were raised in faith communities espousing social views that would eventually conflict painfully with what was within us. And both of us felt inextricably connected to the land, and often paralyzed by hopelessness as the most powerful forces on our planet drag us full tilt toward climate disaster after climate disaster.

This is a book for people who feel spiritually orphaned by major religions and sects, particularly those that perpetuate grave injustices, encourage rampant individualism, and are committed to positing humanity as utterly divorced from the land. For those of us who know that our fates are irrevocably intertwined with our beautiful and fragile planet, this book is at once heartbreaking and hopeful.

[Nadya Langelotz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. What a beautiful combination of activism history, quotes from earth-bound healers and teachers and the story of Josiah himself, with all the emotions in between. I have many similar feelings as the author and at the end I was left with a big desire for the desert - or maybe just a need to bend down and touch the earth more.

[Teevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not sure how to begin to review "The Temple at the End of the Universe." It's not for everyone. But I greatly enjoyed it and I find myself inspired to explore where my own spirituality is at these days and how I can be more involved in my community.

This book is for anyone feeling existential dread in an era of climate change. Who are spiritually ungrounded or lost or seeking. Who are looking for inspiration by hearing (reading) what other people have experienced and tried.

As Neufield says at the outset, this book has no answers, but it can inspire, and it will "lead you on a strange and wonderful road."

And that is the slightly jumbled collection of thoughts I can say soon after finishing the final page.

[Oz Horger · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing exploration into spiritual and/or religious influences on current activism and activist movements, this book explores a kind of argument within the author trying to determine the critical value of spirituality as a factor within political action and a way of mitigating personal burden in the face of globally overwhelming climate and economic crisis. To be frank, I think this book is mostly valuable for the formerly-Christian or culturally-Christian struggling with the absence of faith in their lives. Losing one's faith can be like any other form of loss, and result in a grieving process compounded by the grief we feel for the injustices around us. This book is excellent at identifying that feeling and exploring the author's (somewhat) autobiographical journey of spiritual discovery. I found it both relatable and un-relatable in this aspect, and I think for those who are staunchly anti-religion, this book will certainly fall a bit short. In my review based on my personal experiences, beliefs, history, and education, I found that for a book about religion and religious activism which actually includes the phrase "repair the world" in a religious context, the author has limited understanding of Judaism and the Jewish history of religiously-focused or religiously-influenced activism. This is certainly a valuable contribution to the greater body of works tackling this topic, especially for those coming from a culturally Christian context. I would love to see more works following this vein of thought and spiritual interest, grounded in climate and social justice activism!

[Margo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josiah Neufeld's earnest, yearning journalistic memoir documenting his spiritual quest in an age of climate grief is both heart-wrenching and hopeful. Tracing his journey from Christian evangelist to environmental activist, with stops on the way at the Springs Church, the Wild Church, the camp of the Wet'suwet'en land defenders, and the Animas Valley Institute, Canadian writer Neufeld speaks with a compelling voice--anguished, honest, and refreshingly vulnerable--that leaves me pondering more deeply the answer to the central question of our time.

[Geoff Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found myself reading this book late into the night over the course of a week. I found a like-traveler in Neufeld's discomfort with evangelicalism and his search for spiritual grounding amid the onslaught of climate crises. Neufeld writes with a clear and expressive journalistic voice that is also, simultaneously, deeply personal and vulnerable. I'm so thankful this book exists in the world. It pushes me to greater honesty and more radical commitments.

[Susan Plett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written and often painfully honest, this book is a deft weaving of spiritual exploration against the backdrop of an often frightening future. I don't think it's necessary to arrive at the same destination in one's own spiritual journey to appreciate Josiah's journey and the eloquence with which he relays it.

[Melany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this book in one afternoon. Reading Mr Neufeld’s words felt like finding my long lost twin. I related to almost everything he wrote. Everyone needs to read this. This book changed my life.

[Janet A Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written, powerful memoir that will stay with me probably forever. I couldn't put it down.

[Barrette Plett · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book. Very well-written, compelling, humble, and so relevant.

[Michael]

My interview with Neufeld discussing the book is here:
https://umfm.com/programming/broadcas...

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A powerful account of the authors journey with climate activism and spiritual beliefs. I am now having an existential crisis..
Very relevant and relatable in many ways.