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The Four Vision Quests of Jesus
A unique look at Christian biblical interpretation and theology from the perspective of Native American tradition. This book focuses on four specific experiences of Jesus as portrayed in the synoptic gospels. It examines each story as a “vision quest,” a universal spiritual phenomenon, but one of particular importance within North American indigenous communities. Jesus’ experience in the wilderness is the first quest. It speaks to a foundational Native American the need to enter into the “we” rather than the “I.” The Transfiguration is the second quest, describing the Native theology of transcendent spirituality that impacts reality and shapes mission. Gethsemane is the third quest. It embodies the Native tradition of the holy men or women, who find their freedom through discipline and concerns for justice, compassion, and human dignity. Golgotha is the final quest. It represents the Native sacrament of sacrifice (e.g., the Sun Dance). The chapter on Golgotha is a discussion of kinship, balance, and all primary to Native tradition and integral to Christian thought.
201 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2015
166 people are currently reading
603 people want to read
About the author
Steven Charleston
20 books112 followersSteven Charleston is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the first of the Five Tribes from the southeastern part of the United States to be removed on the "Trail of Tears". He is a bishop in the Episcopal Church with forty years of service in the ordained ministry. He has been the director of Native American ministries for his church, the first Native Bishop of Alaska, the President and Dean of a seminary in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a seminary professor. Currently he teaches at the Saint Paul School of Theology.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
June 30, 2021
This book is a masterpiece in cultural and theological reflection.
The author, an indigenous person (Choctaw) as well as a Christian bishop, tells of how in seminary he had a faith crisis reading the book, God is Red, where the author argues Christianity is incompatible with indigenous peoples: its white man's religion and its oppressive. The author, feeling this contradiction, embarks on his own vision quest to contend with this question. In the process he rediscovers Jesus through his indigenous spirituality. In doing so, he uses the concept of the vision quest as a way of thinking about the life of Christ.
The book moves from moments from the Gospel of Matthew: the baptism, the temptation in the wilderness, the transfiguration, the garden of Gethsemane, and finally the cross. Each moment is read along with a retelling of different indigenous histories, their religious convictions and practices, and how these point to one another. He argues that the indigenous peoples very much had a relationship with God before the settlers came as the God of the Bible is a covenant God, who has a relationship with every person, peoples, and place. Jesus does not destroy indigenous spirituality but embodies and fulfills it. Jesus is not just a Jewish Messiah, but the Native Messiah as well. He ability to weave historical and personal narrative with biblical reflection, and to have both converge in powerful reflection on Christ using indigenous symbols and convictions is really remarkable.
Not only that, the character of the writing is noteworthy. The book exudes wisdom and grace page after page. At the beginning, the author notes that this book will probably be read by non-ingenious peoples out of curiosity (like myself), and he does something quite moving. He uses the introduction to welcome his non-indigenous readers to his family, his circle. This hospitality sets the tone for a book that could have easily (and rightly) been angry and condemning, instead tells stories of terrible injustice and pain with love and healing. It stuck me that a person like this can only write about stories like these in the way he did only if he has a profound sense of peace in his heart.
People with that kind of character are always worth listening to, and to have him speak on a subject that has exposed such atrocities at the hands of Christians, that makes this book even more of a gift.
The author, an indigenous person (Choctaw) as well as a Christian bishop, tells of how in seminary he had a faith crisis reading the book, God is Red, where the author argues Christianity is incompatible with indigenous peoples: its white man's religion and its oppressive. The author, feeling this contradiction, embarks on his own vision quest to contend with this question. In the process he rediscovers Jesus through his indigenous spirituality. In doing so, he uses the concept of the vision quest as a way of thinking about the life of Christ.
The book moves from moments from the Gospel of Matthew: the baptism, the temptation in the wilderness, the transfiguration, the garden of Gethsemane, and finally the cross. Each moment is read along with a retelling of different indigenous histories, their religious convictions and practices, and how these point to one another. He argues that the indigenous peoples very much had a relationship with God before the settlers came as the God of the Bible is a covenant God, who has a relationship with every person, peoples, and place. Jesus does not destroy indigenous spirituality but embodies and fulfills it. Jesus is not just a Jewish Messiah, but the Native Messiah as well. He ability to weave historical and personal narrative with biblical reflection, and to have both converge in powerful reflection on Christ using indigenous symbols and convictions is really remarkable.
Not only that, the character of the writing is noteworthy. The book exudes wisdom and grace page after page. At the beginning, the author notes that this book will probably be read by non-ingenious peoples out of curiosity (like myself), and he does something quite moving. He uses the introduction to welcome his non-indigenous readers to his family, his circle. This hospitality sets the tone for a book that could have easily (and rightly) been angry and condemning, instead tells stories of terrible injustice and pain with love and healing. It stuck me that a person like this can only write about stories like these in the way he did only if he has a profound sense of peace in his heart.
People with that kind of character are always worth listening to, and to have him speak on a subject that has exposed such atrocities at the hands of Christians, that makes this book even more of a gift.
October 22, 2025
“I was searching for an authentic way to be both a Native American and a Christian.”
Ambitious effort to meld Christian and Native American spiritual beliefs without compromising either. Ends twisting Christianity like a pretzel. (“What do they teach in [seminaries] these days?") Native Americans may feel the same. Tempted to condemn the book, I also would like to have rated it higher, if only because Charleston seems sincere.
“The Native American quest was pragmatic, designed to produce transformation.”
Noteworthy for Charleston’s apparent sincerity. His motive is also good; God does reveal himself to all people in all cultures, if nothing else that through the created world. (see Romans 1:19-20) His idea of Native tradition as “Native America’s Old Testament” is a useful concept. The four vision quests discussed may be useful to Native understanding of the gospels. However, a plain text reading of those passages of Matthew cited reveals how far Charleston strayed from scripture.
“Neither Jewish nor Traditional Native religion accepts the idea that Jesus is the ‘messiah.’ My purpose is not to expropriate their covenant traditions to suit my own needs as a Christian. However, because I am a Christian, I respect their covenant theologies as deeply formative for my faith in Jesus.”
Marred by myopic history perspective. Charleston commits the common vice of mistaking his worldview for the only worldview, even as he is trying to achieve a synchronicity which incorporates all. It’s been tried before with no greater success.
“What sets Jesus apart is that he brought the elements of the vision quest together in a way no one else had ever done. Unlike Black Elk or Wovoka, Jesus became his vision.”
It is hard to maintain an open mind in the face of so much ill-informed, illogical philosophizing, but readers who stick with it will be rewarded. Despite that, I don’t recommend this book to the faint-hearted, other than as comic relief.
“Native American theology suggests that we are catholic because we have a universal respect for the many testaments of world communities. Conversion to a particular tradition, therefore, is a denial of catholicity. It turns universal gospel into parochial piety.” “Native tradition is very similar to Buddhism in this regard …” “Like Hinduism, Hopi tradition ….”
Numerous historical errors: Pocahontas did not interpose herself to save the man she loved; that is Disney’s version. The Hotchkiss gun employed at Wounded Knee in 1890 was not a machine gun, but an M1875 breech-loading artillery piece, which in no way diminishes the horror of its use.
“The gospel of the Native Jesus is held within the embrace of Native American spiritual tradition.”
The text is also marred by numerous pop culture expressions which jar the reader out of the contemplative mode of the argument: shock and awe, spiritual Chernobyl, plethora, core concept, spiritual DNA. His two-natures doctrines, of course, is a transparent attempt to hijack Native theology on behalf of other agendas.
“The tradition of the ‘good day to die’ is part of the Native Covenant. In Gethsemane, Jesus, like the Dakota warriors of 1862, realized it was his day to die so others might live.” “He is not dying for their sins. He is dying for their blessing.”
Finally, Charleston, like most seminary-trained Christians, misunderstands or misrepresents Atonement. God the Father did not condemn and force God the Son to die for our sins; God the Son volunteered. He was a knowing, willing sacrifice--unlike the innocent, but dumb lamb—to remove the impediment we placed between ourselves and God (in all three persons).
“The Native Messiah shows us the way. The Two-Spirit God calls us with a voice that speaks every language. We need to be awake now. We need to be preparing ourselves. We need to gather our friends and our teachers. It is time to go to a high place, to a sacred place, where we can see more clearly. Something holy is about to happen. Something that will change our name.”
(I sympathize. My ancestry includes a Cherokee great-great-grandmother as well as numerous non-Anglo European cultures.)
Ambitious effort to meld Christian and Native American spiritual beliefs without compromising either. Ends twisting Christianity like a pretzel. (“What do they teach in [seminaries] these days?") Native Americans may feel the same. Tempted to condemn the book, I also would like to have rated it higher, if only because Charleston seems sincere.
“The Native American quest was pragmatic, designed to produce transformation.”
Noteworthy for Charleston’s apparent sincerity. His motive is also good; God does reveal himself to all people in all cultures, if nothing else that through the created world. (see Romans 1:19-20) His idea of Native tradition as “Native America’s Old Testament” is a useful concept. The four vision quests discussed may be useful to Native understanding of the gospels. However, a plain text reading of those passages of Matthew cited reveals how far Charleston strayed from scripture.
“Neither Jewish nor Traditional Native religion accepts the idea that Jesus is the ‘messiah.’ My purpose is not to expropriate their covenant traditions to suit my own needs as a Christian. However, because I am a Christian, I respect their covenant theologies as deeply formative for my faith in Jesus.”
Marred by myopic history perspective. Charleston commits the common vice of mistaking his worldview for the only worldview, even as he is trying to achieve a synchronicity which incorporates all. It’s been tried before with no greater success.
“What sets Jesus apart is that he brought the elements of the vision quest together in a way no one else had ever done. Unlike Black Elk or Wovoka, Jesus became his vision.”
It is hard to maintain an open mind in the face of so much ill-informed, illogical philosophizing, but readers who stick with it will be rewarded. Despite that, I don’t recommend this book to the faint-hearted, other than as comic relief.
“Native American theology suggests that we are catholic because we have a universal respect for the many testaments of world communities. Conversion to a particular tradition, therefore, is a denial of catholicity. It turns universal gospel into parochial piety.” “Native tradition is very similar to Buddhism in this regard …” “Like Hinduism, Hopi tradition ….”
Numerous historical errors: Pocahontas did not interpose herself to save the man she loved; that is Disney’s version. The Hotchkiss gun employed at Wounded Knee in 1890 was not a machine gun, but an M1875 breech-loading artillery piece, which in no way diminishes the horror of its use.
“The gospel of the Native Jesus is held within the embrace of Native American spiritual tradition.”
The text is also marred by numerous pop culture expressions which jar the reader out of the contemplative mode of the argument: shock and awe, spiritual Chernobyl, plethora, core concept, spiritual DNA. His two-natures doctrines, of course, is a transparent attempt to hijack Native theology on behalf of other agendas.
“The tradition of the ‘good day to die’ is part of the Native Covenant. In Gethsemane, Jesus, like the Dakota warriors of 1862, realized it was his day to die so others might live.” “He is not dying for their sins. He is dying for their blessing.”
Finally, Charleston, like most seminary-trained Christians, misunderstands or misrepresents Atonement. God the Father did not condemn and force God the Son to die for our sins; God the Son volunteered. He was a knowing, willing sacrifice--unlike the innocent, but dumb lamb—to remove the impediment we placed between ourselves and God (in all three persons).
“The Native Messiah shows us the way. The Two-Spirit God calls us with a voice that speaks every language. We need to be awake now. We need to be preparing ourselves. We need to gather our friends and our teachers. It is time to go to a high place, to a sacred place, where we can see more clearly. Something holy is about to happen. Something that will change our name.”
(I sympathize. My ancestry includes a Cherokee great-great-grandmother as well as numerous non-Anglo European cultures.)
April 5, 2021
I've never read anything like this, and, as a Christian, I find this book to be both compelling and challenging to equal degrees. There is much here that will likely cause me to re-read it in the future. There is also a lot here that is going to drive my personal research. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to wrestle with transcultural readings and interpretations - of both the biblical text and broader western and indigenous Christian cultures.
October 19, 2015
Deeper things, deeper places led by the Christ of God
Being both Lakota and Irish, this offering by Choctaw Brother Steven Charleston resonates with me. If your faith in Christ is sure, this book will expand understanding. If you are not a Christian or even an atheist, you may still find solace and encouragement here. Mitakuye oyasin, beannacht De ort.
Being both Lakota and Irish, this offering by Choctaw Brother Steven Charleston resonates with me. If your faith in Christ is sure, this book will expand understanding. If you are not a Christian or even an atheist, you may still find solace and encouragement here. Mitakuye oyasin, beannacht De ort.
May 29, 2019
I am so happy this book came in to my life, by way of a study group at First Mennonite Church of San Francisco.
I was surprised by the many twists that Mr Charleston, an Episcopal priest, gave to familiar scriptures and how he integrated it all with his life and longings and first nations history. I think I could quote something astonishing from every page. I am struck by his re-framing of the Ghost Dance and, for me, an introduction to the visionary, Wovoka, behind the dance.
I am thankful for the new-to-me understanding of Vision. We are all called to undertake vision quests as did Jesus, following certain disciplines in doing so. ..."The visions we receive are as many and varied as we are, but they share one thing in common: they are not for our benefit alone, but for the healing, nurture and enlightenment of our people." p 59 Charleston portrays individualism in leadership as a stumbling block to harmony...if someone is at the top someone has to be at the bottom.
I love that the 4th vision quest brings in the women, both biblical and native, and Mr Charleston is able to see how the women "complete the circle of sacred vision, infusing the vision with the holiness of their being, with the archetype of the female that is essential to the order and harmony of all creation.
I love that Mr Charleston helps us find the importance of lament as integral to our visions and to our understandings as ourselves as humans. He does not avoid any of the deceit, trauma and trails of tears that native people experienced and inherit. We understand it all better, and we are encouraged to begin our days with a view and prayer that involves "All my relations."
"In the four vision quests of Jesus we clearly see the Good Medicine that can heal our world. If we honor the one God of all of our covenants, if we have no exiles from the tribe of the human beings, if we live in harmony with all our relatives throughout creation, and if we sacrifice for the sake of justice, then we will live. We will walk in the blessing way, surrounded by our ancestors, journeying with the spirits from all four sacred directions, toward a tradition that will become our future. The Native Messiah shows us the way. The Two-Spirit God call us with a voice that speaks every language. WE need to be awake now. We need to be preparing ourselves. We need to gather our friends and our teachers. It is time to go to a high place, to a sacred place, where we can see more clearly. Something holy is about to happen. Something that will change our name." p 162
I was surprised by the many twists that Mr Charleston, an Episcopal priest, gave to familiar scriptures and how he integrated it all with his life and longings and first nations history. I think I could quote something astonishing from every page. I am struck by his re-framing of the Ghost Dance and, for me, an introduction to the visionary, Wovoka, behind the dance.
I am thankful for the new-to-me understanding of Vision. We are all called to undertake vision quests as did Jesus, following certain disciplines in doing so. ..."The visions we receive are as many and varied as we are, but they share one thing in common: they are not for our benefit alone, but for the healing, nurture and enlightenment of our people." p 59 Charleston portrays individualism in leadership as a stumbling block to harmony...if someone is at the top someone has to be at the bottom.
I love that the 4th vision quest brings in the women, both biblical and native, and Mr Charleston is able to see how the women "complete the circle of sacred vision, infusing the vision with the holiness of their being, with the archetype of the female that is essential to the order and harmony of all creation.
I love that Mr Charleston helps us find the importance of lament as integral to our visions and to our understandings as ourselves as humans. He does not avoid any of the deceit, trauma and trails of tears that native people experienced and inherit. We understand it all better, and we are encouraged to begin our days with a view and prayer that involves "All my relations."
"In the four vision quests of Jesus we clearly see the Good Medicine that can heal our world. If we honor the one God of all of our covenants, if we have no exiles from the tribe of the human beings, if we live in harmony with all our relatives throughout creation, and if we sacrifice for the sake of justice, then we will live. We will walk in the blessing way, surrounded by our ancestors, journeying with the spirits from all four sacred directions, toward a tradition that will become our future. The Native Messiah shows us the way. The Two-Spirit God call us with a voice that speaks every language. WE need to be awake now. We need to be preparing ourselves. We need to gather our friends and our teachers. It is time to go to a high place, to a sacred place, where we can see more clearly. Something holy is about to happen. Something that will change our name." p 162
December 17, 2021
This is a biographical piece sharing Bishop Charleston's path to becoming an Anglican priest. His approach and his resistance to becoming a priest revealed an inner struggle for authenticity and integration of his indigenous faith the Christian faith. Can they be integrated into a wholistic theology and worldview. I am a Christian minister and have had a similar struggle with making the European explanation of Jesus words, work and mission; the ancient roots of Jesus words and self understanding; and the contemporary scientific understanding of the unity of all things come together in one theology that makes sense in the modern world. The emphasis on the individual in our culture has led to a perversion of the gospel: it is all about me and it is all about heaven. The indigenous perspective is: it is all about us living in community on this planet. Jesus' had an iconoclastic way of telling parables and performing miracles that does not support the individualist salvation emphasis of a large segment of the Christian church. The four vision quests show how an evolutionary understanding of human development fits much better with the spiritual path that Jesus' taught and lived. The four vision quests reveal the indigenous emphasis on getting beyond ego (the wilderness experience after Jesus' baptism); understanding our calling as serving the community (transfiguration); the importance of sacrifice on behalf of the community (the garden); and the cross (Jesus' death was to honour the sacredness of everyone and unify the community). This is an evolutionary perspective showing how Jesus' understanding of his life purpose developed over time to the final vision quest of the cross. This is a story about mystery, calling, faithfulness and the intervention of the divine to speak to eveyone who will listen.
I found this book very affirming and exciting that we all have a place in the healing of our planet, and our human race.
I found this book very affirming and exciting that we all have a place in the healing of our planet, and our human race.
December 8, 2021
One of the most significant parts of studying Christianity's history is seeing how much of its expression relies on Mediterranean metaphors, and how much of the practice is rooted in a feudal economy. If it were born elsewhere such as on the Great Plains the metaphors would be different. This was acknowledged through most of the history as teachings spread and adopted the dominant metaphors of Persia, N. Africa and the Frankish kingdom. The idea that practices and terms are somehow written in stone are ideas that are relatively novel. So it's refreshing to see the idea of what it means to seek relationship both with creator and community, and what the Incarnation means when it comes to living here on earth, how it is represented through a different set of images. Charleston's words effectively help us question what is tired tradition (without vision) and what is essential to our walk - which often requires expressing it in a different context. Worth reading and re-reading.
March 9, 2017
Significant and relevant theology
This book offers an original theological translation of the life of Jesus in relation to four events in his life (four vision quests) that adds to the depth of soteriology and atonement theology. This book adds to the library of marginalized persons a view from the Native American perspective and challenges the traditional ways of understanding his life and mission. Christ is still Christ but seen in a new (yet ancient) light. This volume shows the kinship of humanity in a surprising way.
This book offers an original theological translation of the life of Jesus in relation to four events in his life (four vision quests) that adds to the depth of soteriology and atonement theology. This book adds to the library of marginalized persons a view from the Native American perspective and challenges the traditional ways of understanding his life and mission. Christ is still Christ but seen in a new (yet ancient) light. This volume shows the kinship of humanity in a surprising way.
August 23, 2016
Steven Charleston is a native American and a bishop in the Episcopal Church. In this book he tells about his own struggle to integrate his faith with his heritage, and uses Biblical scripture to bring the two together.
November 8, 2020
Thought Provoking narrative
This book not only provides an insight into Native American culture but also shows how the cultures can inform each other. It gives the term universal Christ a more complete definition.
I highly recommend this book.
This book not only provides an insight into Native American culture but also shows how the cultures can inform each other. It gives the term universal Christ a more complete definition.
I highly recommend this book.
May 8, 2025
SUCH a powerful book. Steven Charleston is a (now retired) Episcopal bishop and a citizen of the Choctaw Nation. This book tells a bit of his journey to integrate and faithfully follow both paths of his spiritual heritage. The first half of the book gives background for the second half, as Charleston orients the reader in his faith and Native heritage, contextualizing Christianity in terms of Native American perspectives and traditions. Then the second half interprets four different experiences from the life of Christ through the lens of Native tradition. I found a lot of the second half challenging to wrap my head around, but also deeply illuminating. And the history and context, while not wholly unknown to me, was even more heartbreaking to absorb, coming as it does through a lens of Christianity’s role in colonialism.
February 26, 2023
The author and I have a bit of "history" as acquaintances. I first met him at a conference in Rochester, MN where he was the key speaker, some time before he became the Episcopal Bishop of Alaska, and I was very impressed. Later, after one of the Episcopal General Conventions & while he was Bishop of Alaska, we ended up together in the same shuttle taking us to the airport, and were able to converse a bit. A few years after that we met again at a regional Episcopal provincial conference in Las Vegas. For some years now I've been one of his faithful followers on Facebook.
A few quotes from his introduction give a good summary of the book:
"...My goal in writing this book is to make a contribution toward the continuing development of a Native American Christian theology based on the Native Covenant, the tradition given to our people by God over 30,000 years, of our spiritual evolution on this continent..."
"...This book is a personal theology. It arises from my experience as both a Native American and a Christian. It is about my struggle to reconcile these two halves of who I am..."
"...In the first four chapters I consider what it means to be a spiritual seeker from the Native American viewpoint..."
"...The last four chapters of my book discuss the four vision quests of Jesus...."
A few quotes from his introduction give a good summary of the book:
"...My goal in writing this book is to make a contribution toward the continuing development of a Native American Christian theology based on the Native Covenant, the tradition given to our people by God over 30,000 years, of our spiritual evolution on this continent..."
"...This book is a personal theology. It arises from my experience as both a Native American and a Christian. It is about my struggle to reconcile these two halves of who I am..."
"...In the first four chapters I consider what it means to be a spiritual seeker from the Native American viewpoint..."
"...The last four chapters of my book discuss the four vision quests of Jesus...."
October 24, 2017
One true God
Confirmed my belief that native American spirituality is not pagan. They worship the same Triune God as I do. They use a different method of worship. It was a slow read for me because I had to stop and think about Bishop Charleston was saying.
Confirmed my belief that native American spirituality is not pagan. They worship the same Triune God as I do. They use a different method of worship. It was a slow read for me because I had to stop and think about Bishop Charleston was saying.
May 24, 2020
Really in-depth analyzation of Native American religions and how Jesus integrates and fulfills them all. I would love to discuss this one.
March 29, 2025
Bishop Charleston begins his book of personal theology with his own crisis of faith. In 1973 he was a student in divinity school. He had just finished reading the book God is Red: A Native View of Religion by Vine Deloria, junior, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota and the son of an Episcopal clergyman. Charleston, a member of the Choctaw nation, and whose grandfather and great-grandfather were both Presbyterian ministers, took Deloria’s message to be that since Christianity was a tool of imperialism, he urged his fellow indigenous readers to, “choose Christianity and adopt the religion of the oppressor or choose Native tradition and stand with the oppressed.”
His solution to the dilemma he found himself in, was to go to the highest place he could, which was the rooftop of his apartment building in Cambridge, Massachusetts, sprinkle cornmeal around him in a circle and start a vision quest just as his Choctaw ancestors would have done before converting to Christianity. And eventually he receives an answer on the rooftop.
He goes on to explain what the process of a traditional indigenous vision quest would be using information from Hopi, Oglala Lacota (Sioux) and his own ancestral sources. He notes that a vision quest begins with knowledgeable help from elders who will guide the seeker undergoing the quest. Then the quester goes through a cleansing ceremony, followed by a period of penitential meditation and sacrifice. Charleston notes that “the quest is not about transcendence, but transformation” of the seeker who is then expected to return to his or her community with knowledge to share that was acquired as a result of the vision quest.
Then using the text of Mark’s Gospel, he explains Jesus’s quests that parallel the traditional quests of Native Americans, a surrender of self for a greater good, an inclusive openness to others including letting others be themselves without being forced to conform, and generosity. Also included are people like John the Baptist, the apostles, the women present at the crucifixion and the tomb as the first witnesses to the resurrection, and Pocahontas.
His solution to the dilemma he found himself in, was to go to the highest place he could, which was the rooftop of his apartment building in Cambridge, Massachusetts, sprinkle cornmeal around him in a circle and start a vision quest just as his Choctaw ancestors would have done before converting to Christianity. And eventually he receives an answer on the rooftop.
He goes on to explain what the process of a traditional indigenous vision quest would be using information from Hopi, Oglala Lacota (Sioux) and his own ancestral sources. He notes that a vision quest begins with knowledgeable help from elders who will guide the seeker undergoing the quest. Then the quester goes through a cleansing ceremony, followed by a period of penitential meditation and sacrifice. Charleston notes that “the quest is not about transcendence, but transformation” of the seeker who is then expected to return to his or her community with knowledge to share that was acquired as a result of the vision quest.
Then using the text of Mark’s Gospel, he explains Jesus’s quests that parallel the traditional quests of Native Americans, a surrender of self for a greater good, an inclusive openness to others including letting others be themselves without being forced to conform, and generosity. Also included are people like John the Baptist, the apostles, the women present at the crucifixion and the tomb as the first witnesses to the resurrection, and Pocahontas.
October 10, 2022
I agree in part. Charleston does a strong job of demonstrating the value of native theology vs. european classical penal atonement theology, but he fails to include other atonement theories (christus victor, ransom theory) and shows a clear lack of knowledge. UNLESS, he is hoping to make a clear point between highly reformed theology, he did not address mainstream evangelical theology which does embody christus victor. Christus victor might not relate to Charleston’s atonement theory of complete balance (my title) but I think it would relate more than he would be willing to admit.
The book is fantastic though. My favorite book of 2022. It inspires me to seek Jesus in my vision quest and gives me a healthy revitalization of personal devotion in suffering. Beyond my individual needs, it creates room for practical christian ethics in communities that are biblically rooted. Charleston’s exegesis of John, the wilderness, the transfiguration, the garden, and the cross create profound methods of how churches ought to address economic injustice, environmental degradation, passivity in males, and justice for the marginalized.
For discipleship, everyone should read sections of this book to grow in personal intimacy with God. This book creates a clear, well nuanced, but highly formative path on how Christians can deeply encounter God through preparation, friendship, challenge, and mourning the human brokenness in the world and in them. Whereas most lifestyle books offer practical tips that don’t mesh with reality, this offers reality that will change the world and bring better balance.
The book is fantastic though. My favorite book of 2022. It inspires me to seek Jesus in my vision quest and gives me a healthy revitalization of personal devotion in suffering. Beyond my individual needs, it creates room for practical christian ethics in communities that are biblically rooted. Charleston’s exegesis of John, the wilderness, the transfiguration, the garden, and the cross create profound methods of how churches ought to address economic injustice, environmental degradation, passivity in males, and justice for the marginalized.
For discipleship, everyone should read sections of this book to grow in personal intimacy with God. This book creates a clear, well nuanced, but highly formative path on how Christians can deeply encounter God through preparation, friendship, challenge, and mourning the human brokenness in the world and in them. Whereas most lifestyle books offer practical tips that don’t mesh with reality, this offers reality that will change the world and bring better balance.
January 21, 2022
I became a fan of Bishop Steven Charleston's writing some years ago, through his then-daily meditations on Facebook. He still publishes on that forum frequently, though no longer daily, and I always find his thoughts touching, inspiring, and pertinent. The first book of his which I read was "Hope as Old as Fire," one of several collections of those short social media pieces.
I was delighted to find this book likewise touching, inspiring, and pertinent. Through his own lifestory and through stories of other Indigenous/Native Americans, he opens up for a general audience the many harmonies between Native religion and Christianity, as well as the points of dissonance between Native religion and Christianity as it is often practiced today. As a person with fractional Native heritage, this is a subject that has always fascinated me and Charleston compares the two with clear eyes and a full heart.
There are stories here that may shock readers who have only read the Euro-American version of the "settling" of North America. But Charleston goes to great lengths to show how he learned to separate the deep truths of Christ's teaching from the doctrine of conquest preached by some leaders of the Church. There are important lessons of U.S. history to be learned in this book.
There is also deep spirituality and theology here. I would especially hold up Charleston's understanding of the Atonement, the work of Jesus on the cross, as being a powerful and positive model for our time, far removed from the Penal Substitutionary theory that so plagues most American churches.
Highly recommended.
I was delighted to find this book likewise touching, inspiring, and pertinent. Through his own lifestory and through stories of other Indigenous/Native Americans, he opens up for a general audience the many harmonies between Native religion and Christianity, as well as the points of dissonance between Native religion and Christianity as it is often practiced today. As a person with fractional Native heritage, this is a subject that has always fascinated me and Charleston compares the two with clear eyes and a full heart.
There are stories here that may shock readers who have only read the Euro-American version of the "settling" of North America. But Charleston goes to great lengths to show how he learned to separate the deep truths of Christ's teaching from the doctrine of conquest preached by some leaders of the Church. There are important lessons of U.S. history to be learned in this book.
There is also deep spirituality and theology here. I would especially hold up Charleston's understanding of the Atonement, the work of Jesus on the cross, as being a powerful and positive model for our time, far removed from the Penal Substitutionary theory that so plagues most American churches.
Highly recommended.
July 27, 2025
This book was recommended by a friend. I had some trouble getting into the book and am not sure I completely understand the concept of the Native American vision quests. I decided that this rainy afternoon was a good time to dive further into the book and found his explanations of Native American Christian theology as compared to European/American Christianity fascinating. I also found myself agreeing and identifying with a number of his thoughts on sacrifice and worship in terms of the crucifixion of Jesus and the role of women in his life.
His telling of the history of the Trail of Tears and the relocation and attempts to enculturate the Native American nations was a great reminder that politics and religion make strange bedfellows.
Charleston is a citizen of the Choctaw nation and an Episcopal bishop. He packs a lot into this little volume. I took notes.
His telling of the history of the Trail of Tears and the relocation and attempts to enculturate the Native American nations was a great reminder that politics and religion make strange bedfellows.
Charleston is a citizen of the Choctaw nation and an Episcopal bishop. He packs a lot into this little volume. I took notes.
October 3, 2022
A Worthy Listening Exercise
Charleston challenges the Western influence on Christianity as practiced in much of the modern world today, which is good, but rather than use scripture as his authority he uses his own traditions and his own interpretations of his traditions to form what he calls Native Theology. It’s a worthy read as it illuminates some of the blind spots and sins of Western tradition (which he at the same time denies the existence of theologically), and sheds light on some of the beauty of Native spirituality. Nonetheless, Charleston proposes a theology which is not rooted in scripture. For this reason I cannot accept it as a theological work, but more a autobiographical work.
Charleston challenges the Western influence on Christianity as practiced in much of the modern world today, which is good, but rather than use scripture as his authority he uses his own traditions and his own interpretations of his traditions to form what he calls Native Theology. It’s a worthy read as it illuminates some of the blind spots and sins of Western tradition (which he at the same time denies the existence of theologically), and sheds light on some of the beauty of Native spirituality. Nonetheless, Charleston proposes a theology which is not rooted in scripture. For this reason I cannot accept it as a theological work, but more a autobiographical work.
March 9, 2020
I was initially very disappointed and feel the title of the book misleading. the book has very little to do with the vision quest of Jesus until the very end. It is more a revisiting of the life of indigenous peoples in relationship to European domination. Having said that, I found the book well worth reading from the understanding of the indigenous point of view. My mother was Native American and my father Irish but neither spoke of heritage or even their family life. I found this book helpful as I try to discover my own heritage that I might understand myself better and pass it along to my children and grand children.
April 15, 2025
This is a very interesting book and I enjoyed it. The author is a Choctaw Native American who became an Episcopal priest and he gives a very morning discussion about the Vision Quests of Jesus with a background of Native American spirituality and the tragic history of Native Americans integration with Europeans. This book was assigned as part of the Education for Ministry program administered by the Seminary of the Southeast.
This is a good book , very thoughtful and I recommend reading for all Christians.
This is a good book , very thoughtful and I recommend reading for all Christians.
November 3, 2020
While this book was not my normal read, it did have value. I saw a man who was attempting to connect the faith of his anscestors with his christian faith. He went about it in a traditional way (with a vision quest) and connected the vision quests of Jesus in the process. He made a bridge connecting the two faiths beautifully and made me reconsider a new way of looking at these biblical stories that I grew up with.
March 31, 2022
beautiful
I am so appreciative to this author and this book. Reading scripture it seems so obvious to me that the ancient Hebrews who had written most of scripture and the Jews of Jesus’ day, ways of life are so much closer to indigenous way of life. This book opens such possibilities for people to wake up and view and read scripture through the eyes of a different culture, a culture much closer to how scripture was originated
I am so appreciative to this author and this book. Reading scripture it seems so obvious to me that the ancient Hebrews who had written most of scripture and the Jews of Jesus’ day, ways of life are so much closer to indigenous way of life. This book opens such possibilities for people to wake up and view and read scripture through the eyes of a different culture, a culture much closer to how scripture was originated
March 15, 2023
Steven Charleston is a bishop in the Episcopal church and writes a daily meditation on Facebook. In this short book he finds parallels between the vision quest tradition found in Native American tribes, and four times in the Gospels when Jesus experiences the presence of God. If you've ever wondered how Native American spirituality can be harmonized with Christianity, especially after the injustices that have been done to Native Americans in the name of Christianity, this is a good place to begin.
October 15, 2024
It was enlightening to read more about Native American culture and spirituality, yet very disturbing to learn more of the American Holocaust. (Hitler must have gone to school on the white colonialists and the early American government’s horrific policies; truly unimaginable.)
I struggled through the vision quest stories, however. It’s challenging for me to equate Native beliefs of community and respect for nature with their near-total annihilation by white Christians.
Heartbreaking.
I struggled through the vision quest stories, however. It’s challenging for me to equate Native beliefs of community and respect for nature with their near-total annihilation by white Christians.
Heartbreaking.
April 5, 2025
This comparison of Christian theology and Native American theology does not have a moment of feeling forced or out-of-bounds. It is honest and informative from theological and historical perspectives. I learned a lot about Native American history and culture that is not properly presented by white historians and educators. I have added it to my list of books that have deeply changed and influenced me.
May 7, 2025
I can't give this book a 5, because my self-imposed definition of that level means it is a book that everyone should read. This is a book for anyone who is ready to go beyond the baby food of spiritual life. It is for anyone who has discovered the box their God lives in is too small. It is for anyone who has started pushing the boundaries of their theology and welcomes confirmation that their new "rules" have validity. It is for those who believe in a God of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
September 5, 2025
A bit more in the vein of a personal story of the author's reconciliation of his Native American spiritual beliefs with his Christian faith at times than I was expecting, but when it delves into the applicability of four aspects of Christ's life and mission to Native history (the Trail of Tears, Pocahontas's sacrifice to save John Smith, etc.) and spiritual practices (e.g. the Crucifixion vs. the Sun Dance), it's very interesting.
October 21, 2025
Interesting theological perspective
Christian theology through a native lens - discussed by using four parts of the ministry of Jesus: Baptism, out to the wilderness, the transfiguration and crucifixion - all envisioned as native vision quests. Worth while reading. Found the intro a bit slow but it picks up speed in chapter 2. Footnotes have some good links to additional cultural
And historical info.
Christian theology through a native lens - discussed by using four parts of the ministry of Jesus: Baptism, out to the wilderness, the transfiguration and crucifixion - all envisioned as native vision quests. Worth while reading. Found the intro a bit slow but it picks up speed in chapter 2. Footnotes have some good links to additional cultural
And historical info.
July 24, 2018
An outstanding personal look from an Episcopal Bishop who happens also to be from the Choctow people. Bishop Charleston brings his personal struggles to understand the harmony between his two religious backgrounds as he finds his own path through ordination and to hearing God's call. It is a powerful book.
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