Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Seizure of land. Trail of Tears. Forced removal of children to boarding schools. Pipelines through ancient burial grounds. The list of wrongs goes on and on.
In The Land Is Not Empty, Sarah Augustine and Dan Peplow call the church to reckon with the devastating legacy of a white settlers' faith to indigenous peoples around the globe. Together they uncover the harm of the Doctrine of Discovery, rooted in the fifteenth century, which gave Christian governments the moral and legal right to seize lands in which indigenous people were living. Legitimized by the church and justified by a misreading of Scripture, the doctrine says a land can be considered "empty" and therefore free for the taking if inhabited by "heathens, pagans, and infidels." Together, as a Pueblo woman and the descendant of settlers, Augustine and Peplow investigate the ways that the Doctrine of Discovery still devastates indigenous cultures, and even the planet itself, as it justifies exploitation of both natural resources and people.
What was done in the name of Christ must be undone in the name of Christ, the authors claim. The good news of Jesus means there is still hope for the righting of wrongs. Right relationship with God, others, and the earth requires no less.
Synopsis
White settlers saw land for the taking. They failed to consider the perspective of the people already here.
In The Land Is Not Empty, author Sarah Augustine unpacks the harm of the Doctrine of Discovery--a set of laws rooted in the fifteenth century that gave Christian governments the moral and legal right to seize lands they discovered despite those lands already being populated by indigenous peoples. Legitimized by the church and justified by a misreading of Scripture, the Doctrine of Discovery says a land can be considered empty and therefore free for the taking if inhabited by heathens, pagans, and infidels.
In this prophetic book, Augustine, a Pueblo woman, reframes the colonization of North America as she investigates ways that the Doctrine of Discovery continues to devastate indigenous cultures, and even the planet itself, as it justifies exploitation of both natural resources and people. This is a powerful call to reckon with the root causes of a legacy that continues to have devastating effects on indigenous peoples around the globe and a call to recognize how all of our lives and our choices are interwoven.
What was done in the name of Christ must be undone in the name of Christ, the author claims. The good news of Jesus means there is still hope for the righting of wrongs. Right relationship with God, others, and the earth requires no less.