Holy Disunity: How What Separates Us Can Save Us

In the introduction, Rev. Williams states the purpose of this book, “This book is an argument for how disunity can be holy, and how we can faithfully coexist without being united, at least in any earthly way.” (3) She describes the difference between a false kind of earthly unity and a holy disunity throughout the book. Earthly unity is a false unity that can easily become an idol for us and “a distraction from the greater unity that comes from God.” (2)

I found Williams's first sentence of the introduction very relatable: “I have spent my entire life deeply loving people with whom I will never agree. We disagree on politics, on faith, and on some of our core values.”

There are twelve chapters:
1. The Gift of Difference
2. The Gift of Doubt
3. The Gift of Argument
4. The Gift of Tension
5. The Gift of Separation
6. The Gift of Vulnerability
7. The Gift of Trouble
8. The Gift of Protest
9. The Gift of Hunger
10. The Gift of Limitations
11. The Gift of Failure
12. The Gift of Uncertainty

Williams cares about unity and believes we are unified in Christ and bound together in God's love.
But she doesn't believe in a false unity that would ask people to leave huge parts of themselves at the door “in exchange for a tenuous and disingenuous belonging,” and neither do I.