Hearlson draws widely from Christian history to uncover ways the church has used its traditional practices—preaching, music, sacrament, and art—to sabotage oppressive structures of the world for the sake of the gospel. He tells the stories of particular subversive strategies both past and present, including radical hospitality, genre bending, coded speech, and apocalyptic visions.
Blending history, theory, and practice, The Holy No is both a testament to the courage of Christians who came before and an encouragement to take up their mantle of faithful subversion.