# Rachel Kessler **Summary.** Author of *Nerd Faith*, a progressive book that frames faith through wonder, humility, and the limits of human knowing. The text reads geek culture (Dungeons & Dragons alignment, *Indiana Jones*) alongside theology. Biographical details are not yet confirmed. (Source: [[readwise-nerd-faith-kessler|Nerd Faith (Rachel Kessler)]]) > [!question] Biography unconfirmed > The book's use of the Book of Common Prayer baptismal liturgy ("an inquiring and discerning heart... the gift of joy and wonder") points to an Anglican or Episcopal background, but her tradition, ordination status, and credentials are not established from the highlights alone. Confirm before asserting any of this. ## Theological Posture (from *Nerd Faith*) - **Apophatic emphasis.** God is "wholly other" and finally unknowable; faith leans into that unknowability rather than trying to resolve it. - **Certainty as the danger.** Treats absolute certainty — "grounded in a sense of our own rightness and righteousness" — as the spiritual hazard, where high-control traditions name doubt. See [[Faith and Doubt]]. - **Faith beyond assent.** Faith is "far more than the intellectual assent to a series of beliefs"; embodied and intellectual knowing are distinct. - **Values over rules.** Borrows the "chaotic good" alignment to ground ethics in love and compassion rather than rule-keeping. ## Wiki Placement Sits with the wiki's wonder-and-humility deconstruction voices — Sarah Bessey, Brian McLaren, Pete Enns, Rachel Held Evans — under [[Progressive Christianity]] and [[Deconstruction]]. Distinctive contribution: the clearest plain-language statement of the *via negativa* in the wiki so far. ## Sources in Wiki - [[readwise-nerd-faith-kessler|Nerd Faith (Rachel Kessler)]] — *Nerd Faith*; 13 highlights (new 2026-06-17)