Reviews

God 9.0 shows a completely different way to clarity, happiness and true spirituality. Youu will see faith with new eyes.

Richard Rohr, OFM, founder of Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC), Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, bestselling author (latest: "What the Mystics know")

I loved this book! In John´s Gospel Jesus said that he had more to teach us but that his followers were not ready for it then. The writers of God 9.0 provide a superb description of the next step of that more for today´s world. Over half of the pages are their vividly illustrated and thoughtful description of seven previous levels of human evolution, the eighth one that is now emerging, and looking forward to the yet to emerge ninth stage. That is the fullest, most profound, and nuanced explanation of these stages from the Christian perspective that I have seen. Understanding these levels is a crucial part of the cutting edge stage developing now as for the first time we are recognizing these ever evolving stations of human development. Knowing where we have come from, where we are, and where we might be heading is essential if we are to respect, value, and integrate each of these previous levels into a healthy, vital world space. Here is a book deeply informed by the best streams in theology, psychology, and spiritual wisdom available today. Insightful and heartfelt quotes from great mystics and thinkers of the world saturate the pages. Written by  kindred spirits and highly recommended for all wanting to be a part of where Christianity is heading today.

Rev. Paul R. Smith / USA , bestselling author of "Integral Christianity - The Spirits Call to Evolve" 

I´m delighted to see that the evolutionary understanding of consciousness development is translated to spirituality with a focuson christianity!This Spiral Dynamics based integral approach orients the autonomous spiritual seeker and helps the faithful christian to awaken to a universal level of faith and cultivates compassion in the heart.

Bence Ganti, founder of the Hungarian Integral Academy and the Integral European Conference 

The authors of God 9.0 do a wonderful job of reinterpreting Christianity from a whole new level. I grew up atheist, felt repelled by conventional forms of Christianity and was confused when I discovered my affection and admiration for Jesus and his message. At that time I would have sorely needed the insights that God 9.0 offers. This book opens doors for the Christian tradition and seperates the wheat from the chaff.

Dennis Wittrock, philosopher, Integral Europe, co-director Integral European Conference 

A wonderful book, showing the need to integrate developmental psychology when looking at religion and christianity in order to understand what is happening in the world under the label of ´religion´- even from your own viewpoint.

Michael Habecker, co-founder of IF (Integrales Forum) Germany, author of books on Ken Wilbers integral theory, co-author of "Knowledge, Wisdom, Reality. Perspectives of an enlightened spirituality" 

God 9.0 is such an exciting book as I have not read it in years.

Andreas Ebert, Lutheran pastor, song writer, teacher of the prayer of the heart and director of the Spiritual Centre St. Martin, Munich, Germany, author of numerous books, co-author (with Richard Rohr) of "The Enneagram - The Nine Faces of the Soul"

Our normal consciousness cannot grasp the background of our existence. Only if we manage to exceed our personality into mysticism, we receive an explanation. This book shows the way there. I recommend God 9.0 as an excellent book to my scholars.

Willigis Jäger, OSB, Zen master (Kyo-un Roshi, Empty Cloud), mystic, author, founder of the Spiritual Center Benediktushof, Germany, and the contemplation path "Cloud of Unknowing"

To me, the book God 9.0 is often very important when spiritually directing others. Reading it helps consulters to position themselves relating to their spiritual life and – often still more important – to find a position towards the convictions of their own family of origin and of their partners.

Sister Edith Therese Krug CCR, spiritual director and former prior of Casteller Ring Community, Schwanberg, Germany

Our understanding of God and the Divine is ever developing - from an infant faith to a rational philosophic notion of God and further to a transrational consciousness of unity with everything that exists. Growing up human maturity and waking up to our highest identity aren´t opposed but complement and intensify each other. The authors of God 9.0 combine integral awareness with spiritual profundity and theological expertise. The book is an important cultural impulse for an integral renewal of Christianity. Not least, by its comprehensible language and the witty cartoons it wheats the audience´s appetite to set out with others for God 9.0 and beyond. A felicitous input to finally play an up-to-date sound in the concert with the other world religions.

Sonja Student, founder and board member of DIA - The Integral Academy Germany, co-author of "Knowledge, Wisdom, Reality. Perspectives of an enlightened spirituality

This ground-breaking book has got the potential to become cultic – as a wonderful book of a wonderful trinity of authors of elucidated consciousness.

Dietrich Koller, late Lutheran theologian, pastoral psychologist, author and spiritual director of Collegiatstift St. Peter & Paul, an ecumenical community in Erfurt, Germany 

A daring and hopeful Book for people who want to see disused traditions through new eyes. God 9.0 is the update for a spiritual consciousness of tomorrow, a lucky bag full of wisdom and truth.

Friedrich Eras, Lutheran minister emeritus and radio broadcast preacher, Erding, Germany

I love this book. It’s truly a wonderful application of Christianity and other faith traditions, seen through the lense of spiral dynamics integral and the integral theory. And this very perspective opens a field for existential and spiritual  depth and questions that are remarkable. Whoever calls him- or herself a spiritual seeker - I deeply recommend to read this book. Nothing will be the same!

Ingrid Schneider, Center for Human Emergence in the German speaking countries

Whoever thought religion and spirituality dealt with the past and not with the future will completely change his point of view. Wonderful!

Matthias Horx, futurologist and author (latest: "Future Tools"), Vienna, Austria

The variety of this completely undogmatic book is fascinating. God 9.0 is about the sensual, subtle, causal and nondual experience of the reality of God. The authors, provide an immeasurable wealth of inspirational models. Here, theology transforms into theophany. Through the entire book, God is shining through and fills it with diaphanous colorful luminosity.

Roland Ropers, religious philosopher, editor of the books of Bede Griffiths, publicist, Wilzhofen, Germany

FOR CHRISTIANS WHO WANT TO GROW UP SPIRITUALLY: GOD 9.0 by Gerard Bruitzman, Integral strategist, Melbourne/Australia 

God 9.0 is for many, a challenge to their worldview. The authors approach this challenge with playful grace, deep insight, and as courageous pastors.

Jesus says: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all your strength,” and “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” How do we do what Jesus asks us to do in the 21st century?

Many of us live in cities crowded with people. Living conditions are intense. Our neighbours are in many ways different from each other. Bodies differ in proportions like height and weight, in age from child to adolescent to adult to elder, and in strength with varying degrees of vitality. Minds differ in the ways they see their world, in their worldviews; differ in their skills, in their ways of sensing, imagining, thinking and feeling things; differ in what they consider to be real; and differ in why they do what they do. Souls also differ. Religious souls in Christianity tend to be alive with faith, hope and charity. But, for those educated in scientific materialism, souls are unobservable, not measurable, possibly an epi-phenomena of the brain, therefore, not “real”. And, for those motivated with egalitarian concern for all people, regardless of race, colour, sex or creed, souls tend to be “cool” again, not so much in the old ways of faith, hope and charity, but within some “cool” contexts, such as music, literature, psychotherapy, meditation and social justice issues. Yet, for many, notwithstanding various tensions, their souls are a mix of religious, scientific and egalitarian concerns altogether.

And, what about “heart”? Is it just a physical heart inside a body, or an emotional heart in resonance with loved ones, or a spiritual heart in the sense of the teachings of mystics in the world’s wisdom traditions in which one knows the unity of all things in all things, the Divine Spirit of all in all, including everyone’s self, relationships and communities? Besides these differences amongst various people, there are also differences within each person. We all begin life as a child with childish ways of seeing and living. Given growth appropriate living conditions, we can grow into adolescent and then adult ways of seeing and living. Furthermore, some of us want to grow up into wise, compassionate and heartful ways of living in true fulfilment of Jesus’ teachings on loving God, self and neighbours altogether.

In their bold book, God 9.0, Marion Küstenmacher, Tilmann Haberer & Werner Tiki Küstenmacher use a model of human development called Spiral Dynamics. In place of the simple four stage child-adolescent-adult-wise person model given above, they introduce a complex nine stage model, which they unpack in detail. They claim that at each of these nine stages of human growth there is a different understanding of God.

Thankfully, the authors do a good job in making their unusual views accessible. They use cartoons, quotes, stories, and vivid explorations of relevant issues at each stage of development to describe the various human, society, God, Jesus, belief and faith characteristics that emerge at each stage from 1.0 to 9.0. In addition, for those unfamiliar with Spiral Dynamics and Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory, they also provide basic introductions to key concepts in these models.

No doubt, God 9.0 is a very challenging text to read. Although the authors handle their approach to God and human growth with playful grace and deep insight, and as courageous pastors, many readers will not like having their worldview challenged in this unusual way. After all, it is to be expected that each sense of God, people grow into, will defend itself against the strange views of others, especially this collection of strange views framed in a context of human development. For those people with a God 7.0 o later sense of God, however, they will feel good about this text because it offers them growth appropriate challenges that truly resonate with their level of growth.

Fortunately, the number of people with an integral sense of God is growing. For some, premodern has given way to modern, which in turn has given way to postmodern, which in turn has given way for a while to a post-truth world without true leadership. G. K. Chesterson said a century ago, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” Now we are seeing Jesus’ teachings on loving God, self and neighbours altogether being renewed and coming to fruition in new ways in many lives.