The Psychosis of God: An Exploration of Mental Illness
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
Psychosis has taken over. God’s brain is gone. There is no cure. There is only God. There is only us. The Psychosis of God is about exploring the divine through the mentally ill amongst us. The image of our creator is the only tool we have for liberating God. The prison of our normative expectations steals our capacity for divine connection. Wake up! The mentally ill God is here to set the captives free. Think right! Perfection is now found in defection. Look out! Crazy is the only way out of this world alive.
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”Jeff Hood is one of the great theological writers of our time.
In teaching me what it means to be crazy, Jeff has taught me how to
follow God."
--Christian Parks, Queer Anabaptist Pilgrim
“God is nuts! Dr. Hood’s theology proves it."
--Rhonda Love, Professor of Public Health, University of Toronto
(retired)
“Some of the things you read in this book will make you
mad. Keep reading. Some of the things you read will
challenge what you have been taught about God. Keep
reading. Some of the things you read will make you think and
think hard. Start thinking. It is past time to think of
God made in our image and begin to explore the reality of who God
is."
--Michelle Stafford, Transgender Southern Baptist Minister
"Jeff Hood is crazy as shit. This book is crazy as shit. I have no
doubt you’ll enjoy every word."
--Dan Kiniry, Prophetic Mover at Pilgrims in the Park
"Shock is Jeff Hood’s most formidable tool. In these pages of
theological exploration, even God gets shocked."
--Fred Clarkson, Activist Priest, Episcopal Diocese of Texas
"Just when I thought his writing couldn’t get any better, Jeff Hood
took me on a magical and painful journey to the mind of God. I’m
changed."
--Jason Redick, United Methodist Rabble Rouser
"Is the human brain created in the image of God, including the
parts impacted by mental illness? Jeff Hood argues for a theology
that takes seriously God’s intimate knowledge of mental illness,
inviting us to see God suffering with us and saving us. At times
disturbing and ultimately hopeful, this book is a welcomed addition
to the conversation of the intersection of mental health and
Christianity. Hood testifies to the expansive reach of God’s love,
even into the most diseased and disordered parts of the
brain."
--Sarah Griffith Lund, Author of Blessed are the Crazy: Breaking
the Silence About Mental Illness, Family and Church
"The Reverend Dr. Jeff Hood has penned yet another uncomfortable
book. For some, The Psychosis of God will prove unnerving
because of the topic; for others, because of the writing itself,
which borders on the manic; and for those of us who are
non-theists, because of the unrelentingly theological approach. And
yet, this is a worthwhile read, perhaps even a necessary one. Right
and wrong, beauty and ugliness, angels and demons --all dualities
are mere appearances, conceptual constructs arising, enduring
briefly, and subsiding in the empty luminosity of the unborn mind.
Dr. Hood invites us to visit this luminous perfection, this
emptiness where all is possible, the good and the bad."
--Tashi Nyima, New Jonang Buddhist Community
"Rev. Jeff Hood is the truth. I don’t know anyone else better able
to explain how intensely spiritual mental illness is. This book is
a bridge of hope and understanding for those who are
suffering."
--Olinka Green, Ambassador of Soul Justice
"While most of Christianity is stuck in an ableist theology of
Platonic ideals, Rev. Hood seeks to provide liberation: liberation
from thinking that our minds and bodies must be normalized, by
showing us that even God has struggled. This book shows why it is
vital to have theologies from marginalized and non-normative
voices. May we all be challenged to see God’s image in
ourselves."
--Ember Kelley, Transgender Faith Activist
"In his newest book, Dr. Jeff Hood continues fulfilling his call to
queer prophetic troublemaking. In the true spirit of liberation
theology, Dr. Hood reminds us that God is with us, whether we’re
perceived to be perfect or defective. God joins us in our psychosis
because God is one of us."
--Mike Wright-Chapman, Funeral Director
"Dr. Jeff Hood has done it again. He has both challenged and
inspired while offering imagery that gives us a rare glimpse
of the face of God. This book, as Hood describes it, is an
exploration. While I agree that it is an exploration of God in the
marginalization of the mentally ill, I also believe it is an
exploration of the reader’s own soul. This text beckons us within,
demands that we question our preconceived notions of the Divine,
and takes us on a journey to discover the face of God in ways we
have not; namely in those who experience mental illness. It is
a telling and intimate look into a life and experience many have
never seen. Hood bears his own vulnerability and should be
applauded for kicking down the door of stigma. There is indeed
a balm in Gilead...and for many, it will be found in this
book."
--Ray Jordan, United Church of Christ Pastor
"At once a broken laughing lament and a complex midrash for
creation, The Psychosis of God embraces all the thrills and
horrors of our craziness. Hood continues to press us into an
every-expanding gallery of inclusive images of God and
ourselves."
--Imam La Trina Jackson, Islamic Thinker and Activist
"A raw and powerful account of suffering that passionately
dismantles a construction of a rational God inherited from
Judeo-Christian tradition."
--Terry Barrett, Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State
University
"I am most aware of my own spiritual growth in the moments when I
realize my personal relationship with God, and that of my neighbor,
is far more personal than I could have ever imagined. Rev. Jeff
Hood’s work to unveil the psychosis of God both illuminated another
way in which God walks with us stride for stride, and reflects Rev.
Hood’s dedication to the holy mission of creating space for heaven
on earth."
--Joe Swanson, American Civil Liberties Union
"Jeff Hood dares us to affirm the radical implications of our
belief in both the Imago Dei and the Incarnation. If people with
mental disorders are made in God’s likeness, then what, exactly, is
the divine image being reflected? If God in Christ identifies with
humanity, does God identify with us all the way down?"
--Matt Johnson, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Pastor
"This book is of work of courage and honesty and it is an important
contribution to the task of re-membering the human family. The
stigma, shame, and isolation directed towards so many has also
eaten away at our capacity to come nearer to the incomprehensible
person of God."
--Lucas Johnson, International Pastor and Thinker
"Dr. Jeff Hood is pushing us to new enlightenment. He detangles
what we tangle, and challenges us to be better lovers of one
another.”
--Celeste Holbrook, Sex Therapist
"Jeff Hood always finds a way to make the deeply prophetic meet the
deeply personal. In The Psychosis of God, his words
offer comfort, challenge, and most of all, hope. He calls us
to care and to believe that we are all the created, beloved
ones of God."
--Leah Grundset Davis, Communications Specialist, Alliance of
Baptists
"The way Jeff Hood uses words will push you. It may anger you.
However, if you can get past your anger and discomfort and allow
the prophetic beauty of his words to resonate in your soul, you
will be changed. Let Jeff take you beyond language to the mind of
God."
--Andrew Robinson, Recovering Pastor and Activist
"As the Father of a schizophrenic adult son, I’ve had many
conversations with Jeff Hood on mental illness, and I have never
left a conversation with him in which I didn’t learn something or
question something. The same is true with this book. There are no
solutions here. There are lots of questions. Questions that made me
think."
--Mike Renquist, President/Owner, OnSite Training and
Consultation
"‘God is sick.’ So begins Jeff Hood’s challenging The Psychosis
of God. It is a much-needed look at God through the lens of
mental illness--both Jeff’s and God’s. Grounded in liberation
theologies, which explore God through the lens of oppression and
marginalization, and in queer theology, which maintains that God is
found in those who are strange or non-normative, it will be
especially helpful for those who are mentally ill. It will also be
welcome for those who cherish hope-providing inventiveness in
theology. This is an intensely personal volume which no one but
Jeff could have written--desperate, off-the-chain, encouraging, and
brave. A masterpiece."
--Ellin Jimmerson, Radical Baptist Prophet
"For anyone who is tired of normative theology, which continues to
rehash propositional statements from people in power, this book by
Jeff Hood will be an eye-opener. It will challenge you and broaden
the way you think about God and faith. At times it will feel like
heresy. But at times you will experience liberation. Hood continues
to take a risk in the way he thinks about God in order to free the
prophetic imagination."
--Danny Cortez, Southern Baptist Exile
"I have come to depend on Jeff Hood to help me think about matters
of theology in a fresh, imaginative, and insightful way. I am
exceedingly grateful for his passion."
--Lee Ann Bryce, Queer United Church of Christ Pastor
"The Psychosis of God invites us all into the
holy discomfort of an imperfectly perfect God through the lens
of mental illness. Dr. Hood so vulnerably and candidly gives sight
to how ill-equipped the church universal is in getting over
its own stigmatization of mental illness. Hood shares with us the
good news that no mental instability of any kind can ever
separate us from our innate divinity, we always remain God’s holy
creation, simultaneously imperfect and perfect. This is what it
means to be human."
--Kyndra Frazier, Queer Licensed Social Worker
"Once again, Jeff explores a new way of exploring the depths of the
Divine. What I enjoy the most about reading Jeff’s work is how he
pushes boundaries and challenges me to examine my faith in
refreshing ways. Because of this book, I’m thinking and rethinking
the who, what, when, where, how, and why of God once again."
--Kyle Tubbs, Peace of Christ Church
"Jeff has the unique ability to place God across the kitchen table
from us through his writing, which creates the intimacy necessary
to discuss such topics. Nothing is off limits while all is still
held sacred. I admire his ability to witness to mental illness with
honesty, humor and compassion."
--Bojangles Blanchard, Queer Baptist Prophet
"My father, also a pastor, always said that those we labeled
‘crazy’ among us were actually the closest to God. Jeff Hood breaks
down that assertion in The Psychosis of God and takes it one
step further, claiming God’s self is mentally ill. In a country
where over a quarter of the population has a diagnosable mental
disorder in any given year, Hood’s provocative book will challenge
you to wrestle with the reality of mental illness and the Imago
Dei, providing a path of liberation for us all."
--Kristin Stoneking, Executive Director, Fellowship of
Reconciliation
Product Details
- Title : The Psychosis of God: An Exploration of Mental Illness
- Authors:
- Hood, Jeff
- Hood, Emily
- Publisher: Wipf and Stock
- Publication Date: 2016
- ISBN: 9781498298995
Jeff Hood is a mentally ill chicken farmer, activist, and theologian. A graduate of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Emory University, amongst other institutions, Hood earned his doctorate in Queer Theology at Brite Divinity School. Hood has consistently been arrested seeking liberation for the marginalized and oppressed. In addition to authoring twelve previous books and blogging regularly for the The Huffington Post, Hood writes daily at revjeffhood.com.