The Existential Mystic: Finding Faith Beyond Belief

Many men today are struggling with a loss of identity, a crisis that frequently leads them back to the pews of traditional churches. They hope a priest or pastor will provide the direction they lack—telling them exactly how to be a man and how to live their lives. Similarly, they jump from one online video to another, tuning into the "manosphere" on platforms like YouTube and Rumble, spaces where conspiracy theories often thrive, while scrolling through TikTok and X in search of a genuine connection with others who feel the same profound isolation. Philip Ryan Deal once stood in those exact shoes, experiencing the same knee-jerk reaction to return to institutional religion. However, the church cannot provide the answers you are looking for; those answers can only be found within yourself. Jesus said, "the Kingdom of God is in you," but the ultimate question remains: how do you actually get there?

This book is a profound exploration of Christian Existentialism and Mysticism, deeply inspired by the great modern philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. It explores how you can uncover a fierce, lived faith that goes far beyond simple, passive belief. Men are not unintelligent; they know there is far more to the Bible and Jesus Christ than what is typically taught in traditional approaches like Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Protestantism—a realization that often leads them to explore outside canonical scriptures into areas like Gnostic texts. However, searching externally will never fill the void of deep despair we experience as human beings, and no external search for God will ever truly satisfy that spiritual hunger. If you are a man desperately trying to find your way in the world right now, this book will guide you to explore your faith outside of social media and traditional churches so you can become one with God. To achieve this, the volume draws rich inspiration from Christian Mysticism, Christian Existentialism, the Historic Black Church, and American Folk Magic traditions like Hoodoo and Rootwork.