Fire in the Whole: Embracing Our Righteous Anger with White Christianity and Reclaiming Our Wholeness

by Robert G. Callahan II

Fire in the Whole explores the anger of Black Christians who feel betrayed by white Christianity’s complicity of perpetuating racism. In this transformative work, author Robert Callahan not only empathizes with this pain, giving words to strong and powerful emotions, but also provides guidance for healing church-related wounds.

How can all Christians claim to love and serve the same God and yet see and act in the world so differently? Texas attorney and writer Robert Callahan makes the case that white American Christians have failed to embody both their civic commitment to liberty and justice for all and their biblical call to love every neighbor as Christ loves us. In Fire in the Whole, Callahan explores the poignant journey of Christians who grapple with their sense of belonging within a faith tainted by toxic political ideologies—seeking healing for their souls. Boldly questioning the authenticity of individuals within the white Christian community who adhere to Christian nationalism or claim color-blind ignorance of racial injustice through cultural conflicts, this book navigates the complex modern Christian landscape, illuminating deep-rooted racial and religious rifts exacerbated by recent political figures and toxic theology.

Through compelling storytelling and analysis, Callahan provides meticulous research and heartfelt insights, drawing a roadmap for healing. Whether you are a Christian minority who is hurt and angry, a progressive white ally seeking understanding of what went wrong, or a conservative white Christian willing to engage in constructive dialogue to rebuild a fractured community, this book is a powerful guide to navigating the flames of righteous anger and emerging whole again.

Genres: Religion, Christianity, Politics

256 pages, Paperback

Published September 24, 2024

Reviews

[Mollie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I admit that I’m not an objective reader, considering I’m married to the author. However, I’ve read a lot of books, and I can say without hesitation that Robert Callahan’s book is powerful, engaging, and absolutely well written. Be encouraged! Be challenged. Be healed.

[Readnponder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Attorney Robert Callahan is full of righteous anger; anger over the way white evangelical Christianity is misrepresenting the mission and values of Jesus Christ. He sets forth persuasive arguments and ample evidence to support his contention. Black church members are discouraged from discussing issues of concern because it may make white male conservatives uncomfortable and we can’t have that in the church. (Hmmm, why is the white male demographic the standard for sensitivity?)

As a white female Christian, I have witnessed a similar, but lesser, marginalization in male headship congregations. I found many of Callahan’s points transferable. For example, how abusive does a church environment have to be before you head for the exit? 50% of the time? Or 25%? How do you know whether to leave or to stay? If it is time to leave, how do you continue to grow spiritually and find fellowship?

While the author and his family have experienced church hurt, his underlying commitment to his faith is strong. This book is a call for repentance, borne out of genuine love for the American evangelical church which has lost its way.

[Rohadi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read especially for white churchgoers.

[Jeanette Durkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An honest and straightforward book regarding white Christianity. The author lays it all out there to open the eyes and hearts to the hypocrisies infiltrating the American church. As per the book description, I relate as a progressive white ally seeking understanding of what went wrong. This is a book that everyone who desires to see a change not just for our generation but for the next should read.

I was provided a complimentary copy of the book from Westminster John Knox Press via Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Christopher Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Callahan delivers a spot-on analysis and how-to of surviving church hurt and spiritual trauma/abuse. If you've ever deconstructed, or ever wondered if you should take up the title "evangelical," then this book is a must-read. Alternatively, if you want to see an inside look at what your loved one who has deconstructed may be thinking of going through, this book can be instrumental for that endeavor. His writing is raw, while at the same time providing an accessibly learned analysis of many of the ills of the American evangelical church.

[Alicia Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Callahan’s book is must read for seeing what damage White, Christian Evangelicalism has done. The book is great insight into the writer’s personal experience in an Evangelical church. The book clearly conveys how the white , Evangelical church continues to fail at addressing racism and injustice. Unfortunately, the MAGA movement has only perpetuated the problems with white Evangelicalism.

[Rose Glazener · Rating 5 out of 5]

STUNNING

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

If all Christians felt the anger conveyed in this book, the world would be a better palce. Ironically, this gives me hope that the whole of Christianity may not need to be burned down, and it validates my anger towards the evangelical church and the damage that it's done to me, my loved ones, and the world around me.

[Justin Tapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fire in the Whole: Embracing Our Righteous Anger with White Christianity and Reclaiming Our Wholeness by Robert G. Callahan II

Lawyer and civil rights activist Robert Callahan adds his unique voice to other Church members who have become frustrated by their churches’ ignoring biblical principles and pervasive racism among its members while aiming instead for political power, compromising the gospel for earthly glory. This book is for those who feel they need permission to feel angry, or to leave a congregation where they feel unheeded and marginalized. Robert’s testimony should be heeded by pastors seeking to understand why their non-white church members may feel that integration into the church too often means compromise.

Note: I met Robert almost 20 years ago when he and his wife first came to the church in Waco, TX that became the basis of his critique in the book. We lost touch after I moved away shortly thereafter, but I have followed him on Twitter. NetGalley provided an advanced copy of this to me to review at my request and without the requirement that I publish a review. The opinions are my own.

Robert writes in an entertaining style that only a Gen Y could write, deeply steeped in 1980s television reruns, science fiction, and music. But there are plenty of moments where the author bares his soul with raw emotion. He writes a brief memoir of his childhood as a young Black man growing up in a military family, his parents giving him a middle-class upbringing in the deep South where he was frequently the only Black person in his school or neighborhood. Robert’s parents made a point of repeatedly bucking the de facto segregation by taking the family to malls and restaurants where they knew they’d be discriminated against.

“My parents worked tirelessly to ensure we had quality education, opportunities, and safety—a by-product of previously having been run out of a white neighborhood when a cross was burned in our front yard” (p. 106).

His experiences instilled in him a desire to be an attorney at an early age, despite other strong interests and talents. As such, Robert is often in a position to defend the vulnerable and abused while seeing police brutality and overt racism firsthand in central Texas. Robert applies legal logic to his argument that his church (and others like it) is culpable for its sins of omission that perpetuates injuries against minorities, particularly Blacks. Christians remaining silent in the wake of Charlottesville, the lynching of George Floyd, and countless other incidents where they could stand up and perhaps make a difference locally and nationally make them just as responsible as those who commit the crimes (see p. 129). While church members may think they don't harbor racism in their hearts and have good intentions in their attempts to discourage minorities’ anger and discourse for the sake of unity, their inaction is perpetuating an evil.

“The trouble is that certain brands of Christianity are guided by philosophies that conflict with any orthopraxy that dignifies Black and Brown bodies. It's not that they don't understand why addressing race is important; they disagree with the premise of saying so publicly. In their minds, there is no need to address race in church” (p. 126).

Callhan finds instead that too many church members in his former predominantly white megachurch want to avoid discussing uncomfortable topics and too often engage in a “but what about…?” and introduce red herrings (ie: “but all lives matter”). Too many of his white brothers in Christ are quick to dismiss Robert’s personal experiences with racism in his city, telling him he must be mistaken or inventing other reasons for behavior, or basically gaslighting him (ignoring hundreds of years of precedent in that city).

Robert provides an excellent and concise history of American court cases showing the history of legalized racism via “Jim Crow laws” in America in order to educate those who may say “Isn’t racism a thing of the past?” Having spent part of his childhood in Tulsa where the city’s own deadly racist history wasn’t taught in school, he is correct that such a basic education is needed. From Page 74:

“This is the point that I need to drive home to all my friends in white Christianity: Throughout our nation's legal history we have witnessed millions of microadjustments in the law because the idea of equality for minorities has been, and continues to be, confounding for majority culture. And in real time, each development was met with opposition. Yet each of these pitched battles was necessary just to enforce a core idea of Christianity that too many Christians have failed to live up to: love your neighbor.

Considering how crucial the ideals of Christianity purportedly are to those who imagine that God has ordained the United States to be a ‘city on a hill,’ it's mystifying that Christianity didn't hold greater sway over the long arc of our nation's jurisprudence. Thus the proposition that our efforts toward equality should be focused on the perspective that ‘all lives matter’ is exceedingly dubious. If all flesh was created equal and ‘all lives’ mattered to God's people, America should never have needed more than 2 Corinthians 5.”

Robert walks the reader through his deeply personal awakening and eventual exodus from the church he calls “Toxic Fellowship International” beginning with events in 2016 as he was disappointed in the church’s and American evangelicals’ support of and response to Donald Trump’s nomination as a presidential candidate. This is not a story to take lightly as it’s not easy to leave a church or denomination in which you’ve invested decades and have deep personal friendships, and Robert lays out his faith journey from being unable to worship to eventually being able to read the Bible with completely fresh eyes. His story echoes parts of my own faith journey and that of others I have spoken to who have become disenchanted with their church or denomination, primarily Southern Baptists, of which “TFI” was affiliated with, at least during my time in Waco.

He was right to be angry; it’s okay to be angry. A healthy relationship has some conflict. Unfortunately, conflict is not well-received in certain institutions. “Minorities quickly recognize ‘angry’ is in the same category of adjective as ‘divisive,’ and both are just around the corner from ‘uppity’” (p. 53). Callahan led a collective effort to speak to church leadership one by one that ultimately did not lead to the change they wanted to see. Details are murky on what exactly would have satisfied them, but I think the problems of institutional bureaucracy and religious nationalism were already baked into the mindset, like many Baptist congregations in the South.

This brings me to the problem I have with using “white Christianity” as the descriptive term for the particular part of the greater Church he is talking about as I feel it detracts from his book. His term is meant to capture “toxic white American capitalistic patriarchal heteronormative Christian nationalism,” which is not easy to condense (p. 13). He further details it as “Those whose orthodoxy and orthopraxy are dictated by an unshakable, yet misguided tangle of a faith and right-bridled political and social conviction that are antithetical to everything Christ represents” (ibid). I just think a term like “white Christianity” becomes a catch phrase that misses the author’s target. I wish he’d gone more with “Christian nationalist” instead of “white.”

Just prior to reading Fire, I reviewed Craig Evans’ Jesus and His World about how much we’ve learned from recent archaeological findings about the first century A.D. prior to the destruction of the second temple– ie: the time of Jesus and the very early Church. What struck me was how much the orthodoxy and orthopraxy of Jewish Pharisees was also “dictated by an unshakable, yet misguided tangle of a faith and right-bridled political and social conviction that are antithetical to everything Christ represents,” ie: the exact same problem among non-Americans, non-whites in the first century A.D. As such, I found I could substitute “Pharisee” wherever I found “white Christianity” and it largely fit. Another uncomfortable truth for all Christians is that the early Church also struggled with racism and social justice– even from apostles (Acts 6:1, Galatians 2:11-12, Titus 1:12-13a, etc.). What we’re seeing with the American evangelical church isn’t new or unique to America, therefore I really hesitate to use a blanket term like “white Christianity.”

Callahan challenged me with his differentiation of “multiethnic” and “multicultural” churches. He describes his former church as “multiethnic”– many church members and some staff from minorities. But not “multicultural,” which he describes as a church that fully embraces language and worship from the cultures represented including Spanish language in worship, incorporating Black spiritual hymns, etc. He rightly points out that the multicultural one looks more like heaven, but in my observation it’s very rare on earth– in fact, America may be the only place that I’ve seen it. (I’ve lived in many other countries and one constant in all of them has been ethnic segregation within the Church, particularly amongst languages, especially in larger cities, and not easily explainable by either whites or colonization.)

On his blog, Callahan writes:

"White evangelicalism (in the broadest interpretation of the evangelical label) has captured the hearts of many minorities with the lure of diversity. But, when it comes to applying its theological interpretations of the gospel into the practicalities of how we love our neighbors - especially in areas of justice - we learn that the functionality of diversity was merely window dressing. A bait & switch. There is a tremendous amount of confusion & pain that result from leaving (or being ejected from) such congregations which appropriately results in deconstruction.”

I recently listened to Russell Moore’s podcast interview with Nancy French, where she describes the frustration with how several evangelical baptists with whom she used to interact, who once argued that Mitt Romney was not morally or spiritually fit for higher office, were later caught in affairs and so many fully embraced Donald Trump. She details the awful way that ostensibly conservative Christians attacked her and her husband online, wrote awful things about their adopted Black child, and how they eventually joined a majority Black congregation where they feel more comfortable. French, Russell Moore, Beth Moore, and plenty of other white people have experienced this ostracism since 2016 but don’t use “white Christianity” to describe the problem.

Similarly, phrases like “deconstruction” and “decolonize your faith,” require unpacking. LeCrae, a Black rapper who also went through an intense period where he examined the faith he received from his church versus what the Bible tells us about Jesus, cautions against using a term like “deconstruction” for this process as the word nowadays means exchanging faith for something humanistic and discarding Jesus or Scripture altogether.

Fire in the Whole reminded me most of Michael Eric Dyson’s Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America. That book was recommended to me from the pulpit of an even more white megachurch in Tennessee than the “TFI” that the author attended. As such, I don’t think the distinguishing mark of an unhealthy church is whether a church or its worship is overwhelmingly white, it’s whether it’s a Gospel-centered church with a plurality of elders and pastors to hold one another accountable, takes church discipline seriously (including holding members accountable for what they post on Facebook), and – perhaps most importantly– begins any discussion into politics with the exhortation that “Jesus is our only King” and works from there.

Racism was undoubtedly an issue in individual hearts in "TFI." But the red flag for me about “TFI” was at the beginning of the book when the entire congregation was on the edge of their seats waiting for the pastor to say something about who to vote for on the Sunday prior to the election in November 2016. This would be seen as absurd by churches in most countries. We don’t elect kings, our president doesn’t pass laws, and America will rise and fall according to God’s will just like every nation and civilization before it. The Church will always survive and thrive under God’s guidance and we don’t need elected leaders to protect it. As Philip Yancey reminds us in The Jesus I Never Knew, Jesus’ disciples didn’t sit around wondering who was God’s next man to lead the Roman Empire–they didn’t have a choice, other than to submit and pray. We're blessed with being able to choose our leaders, but the Church is given a completely different mandate on earth. The Church should be the Church no matter who is elected President. This is why I think Christian nationalism and a lack of Gospel focus is a more accurate descriptor of the real problem. If you find yourself wondering whether you’re worshiping Jesus or an institution, you’re not in a healthy, Gospel-centered church.

If any of the above issues speak to you, then I highly recommend this book. It is written in the author’s own distinct voice and personality. I greatly look forward to his next book.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a time, a couple of decades ago, in which White Evangelicalism seemed to put forth some effort to try to become more multi-ethnic and multi-cultural.

In the past decade, a lot of those efforts were exposed as a form of window dressing. There was more a desire to look multi-cultural and multi-ethnic rather than actually being multi-cultural and multi-ethnic. Robert G. Callahan, II got caught up in that moment. He tells his story and provides encouragement to people of color in similar situations in Fire in the Whole: Embracing Our Righteous Anger With White Christianity and Reclaiming Our Wholeness (galley received as part of early review program, but full book read).

If even the construction of this review offends you, then this book is certainly not for you. The author does not presume to write for anyone or everyone; he is trying to reach those who, like him, experienced a predominantly white congregation and found their distinctiveness as people of color erased or suppressed.

He explores what has gone on in White Evangelicalism through his own experiences with a church he humorously renames Toxic Fellowship, Inc. He would give voice to the bitter pain and suffering many have experienced in those contexts, and why it may prove necessary to leave them when they will not actually address the issues at hand or prove more willing to retreat into an easy colorblindness posture.

The author affirms the power of righteous anger if properly channeled and harnessed. I have James 1:20 concerns about such a posture, but am in no place to judge. The work does well to give voice to many of the frustrations many Christians of color have experienced in White Christian spaces, and can be instructive in that regard.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Racism has no place in the Church. The more I research, the more I learn about the racist culture of our country and the church's complicity. Even so, I wouldn't have guessed a young man his age would have a childhood that included a burning cross in his front yard or a transfer for his Dad because his military commander refused to promote any Black man. I thought we were better. The first chapters were difficult to read, but they helped me understand the intensity of his anger.

As he worked his way through hurt and toward healing, he exposes something important. We have leaned toward setting up our churches as corporations, instead of promoting a lifestyle. I think the process of living out scripture is what the Bible means when it says work out your own salvation. It's more allowing God to work on your heart, so your reactions reflect God's spirit and less signing up for a committee.

We need to know about the hurts the church has inflicted and respond in a way that reflects God's nature in order to love our brothers and sisters well.

Robert writes with wit and humor, and is an excellent storyteller. I am glad he has worked his way through the deconstruction process to the other side of devoting himself to following the Lord.

[Mark S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Professor Callahan draws the reader into his own experience in the white evangelical church. It’s a riveting account, and he makes it easy for one to step into his shoes, especially for those who were there. My family was one of those that left the church that particular Sunday he describes early in the book, and it happened exactly as he described. I do wish he had touched more on the role that disinformation and misinformation has played, but he explains that the issues have been there all along, so one can determine that social media exacerbated the problem but didn’t create it. It should be required reading for anyone in a leadership position in the church. I can’t wait for the follow-up, assuming we’re all still here and able to freely express ourselves, which is no longer a safe assumption unfortunately. One of the best I’ve read on the subject of spiritual abuse.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where do I start? As an individual who has been deeply wounded by the theology, demands, and efforts of white Christianity. This book; this embrace, is a huge breath of fresh air, that so many people need as they are navigating leaving these systems. The validation that you’re not alone, that you’re not overreacting or thinking irrationally. The understanding of why these systems work the way they do, and the encouragement to move forward with hope.

Thank-you, Robert G. Callahan, II. A must-read for any marginalized individuals who are navigating deconstruction.

[Kaleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn’t an easy read—but it’s an important one.

Robert Callahan writes with clarity, honesty, and righteous anger, offering both critique and the possibility of healing. I felt challenged, convicted, inspired, and angry—often all at once. Fire in the Whole is unflinching, hopeful, and deeply real.

If you’ve ever looked around your church and wondered how we got here—or read the words of Jesus and noticed how many go unspoken from the pulpit—this book is for you.

[Cardoso · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book shook me, in the best way. Fire in the Whole gave words to pain, anger, confusion, and hope that so many people carry but rarely feel safe saying out loud. Robert Callahan doesn’t write to impress; he writes to tell the truth and to heal.

This isn’t a comfortable read, but it’s an honest one. And it reminded me that faith, at its best, should challenge us before it comforts us. I’m truly grateful for this book.

[Audrey Stars in Her Eye · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book looks at White Christianity and their churches. There is still major racism and horrible behavior aimed at African Americans, especially in the South. This book hopes to ignite righteous anger and have people step up and leave organizations that continue to degrade those of color. I like that he mentioned his white allies because it shows that some of us have walked away from churches that have discriminated against minorities. Hopefully, black and white pastors will read this book. There is a lot to learn.
The author is a lawyer by trade so the book looks through a law lens. Not actual laws but the way cases are set up. I wasn't fond of this but I appreciate he played to his strength.

I received an ARC for review; all opinions are my own.

[Bethany S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is phenomenal. It’s well written and insightful and a must read for anyone who wants to address the insidious racism inherent in American Christianity or for anyone who left the Evangelical church when they sold their souls. I found healing in these words.

[Zach Lambert · Rating 5 out of 5]

So grateful for this work from Robert. At times like these, we need tangible ways to reclaim our wholeness and that's exactly what this book provides!

[Justin Coaxum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Especially good for churches that desire to be multicultural. Best read in community.

[Michelle Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would recommend this book to anyone. But especially for those who don’t even recognize the “church” anymore. This book offers a lot of wisdom for those searching for insight to what can be done.

[Jen Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a thoughtful and carefully researched look at the problem of racism in the American White Evangelical church.

[C.E. Thornton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Time and relevant book. Anyone who has survived a brush with white evangelicalism and its inveitable mutation into Trumpism will find themselves reflected in these pages. And for those who haven’t, reading this book is essential, for education and for action. Please read this book and be ready to turn your righteous anger into the refining fire our society so desperately needs.

[Aubrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who has been deconstructing for a hot minute and grew up in a conservative faith environment, this book was so affirming and practical for where I am at in my faith currently. If you feel alone in your righteous anger, read this book. If you feel stuck and are trying to figure out if you need a change or the encouragement to leave a church, read this book. Robert did such an excellent job of handling a heavy topic often neglected in faith communities where it was easy to read, practical, and humorous and theologically rich. I would highly recommend. I think everyone should read this book.

[Voracious Lee Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

After the presidential election, this is a timely book for 2025. Fire in The Whole is for anyone who’s been hurt by the Church but particularly marginalized groups like women, LGBTQ, and racial minorities. Callahan’s words hit hard but they’re presented with humor, pop-culture nerdom, & poise. Must read if racism &/or spiritual abuse is important to you.