A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith
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- ISBN13: 9780061853982
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
“Wherever the willingness to rethink has been squelched, wherever that sense of quest has been buried under convention and complacency, the Christian faith in all its forms is in distress. But even there, something is trying to be born. Even now, right here, among us, inside you, inside me. You may feel it as a curiosity, a desire for better answers than you inherited so far. You may experience it as frustration, knowing that there must be more to faith than you currently know. You may know it as hope, hope that God is seeking humble people whose hearts and lives can be the womb of a better future. . . . In you, your family tree, your faith community, and circles of friends, among people of peace and faith everywhere, something is trying to be born.”
—from A New Kind of Christianity
We are in the midst of a paradigm shift in the church. Not since the Reformation five centuries ago have so many Christians come together to question whether the church is in sync with their deepest beliefs and commitments. These believers range from evangelicals to road Protestants to Catholics, and the person who best represents them is leader and pastor Brian McLaren.
In this much anticipated book, McLaren examines ten questions facing today’s church—questions about how to articulate the faith itself, the scenery of its power, who God is, whether we have to know Jesus through only an very ancient Greco-Roman lens, what exactly the excellent news is that the gospel proclaims, how we know the church and all its varieties, why we are so distant with sex, how we should reflect of the future and people from additional faiths, and the most intimidating question of all: what do we do next? Here you will find a provocative and inviting introduction to the Christian faith of tomorrow.
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The title of the book should be a warning.
I got 5 pages in and could feel the Holy Spirit guiding me away from this book. This is a money building book and not a book to win souls. This is a devious tool of Satan to warp the Truth about the Bible and Christianity. Mclaren himself knows that Christians will not like this book but he does not care. pg 159 he says “..Others are outraged and what your adage about this book and its leader probably should not be made public ( although it probably will be)” You better judge it buddy because when you start to change the Bible to get what you want from the world you will be exposed.
Proof that he does it his way.. pg 9..”Something is not effective in the way WE’RE doing Christianity anymore”
Wow! This is proof enough that he does not beleive in original sin because he and his friends were and still are doing Christianity THEIR WAY. Christianity and the Bible should shape you and not the additional way around.
Stick with the real food or eat what feels excellent to your flesh and never be satisfied with Turkish Delights.
You don’t fool us dude.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
I have not read the new book yet, but, I have read most of Brian McLaren books and have heard him speak on a few occassions. My copy of the book should be in the post box anytime now. I really feel that I have to make comments even before I read the book. Reading the book will not change the content of this comment. Most of the questions raised by Brian in the book have been a theme in most of his talks and internet conversations. I do have a problem with Brian’s detractors honesty in dealing with the conversation. Some accuse Brian of using the Bible selectively. Who does not use the Bible selectively, in all honesty? We all do, and there is a reason for that. The Bible is certainly a human product. It is a product of two very ancient communities; very ancient Israel and the early Christian movement. It tells us about their life with God – about how they saw things and how they told their tales. This is a conversation stopper. Many traditional Christians really disagree with this viewpoint. If we reflect of the Bible as a divine product, then the laws of the Bible are God’s laws. Let us take one hot current topic; homosexuality. The law of God in the Bible commands a death penalty for this. How do traditional Christians justify setting aside one of the “laws of God?”
On the question of Paul and Jesus Christ; I have regularly questioned my traditional faith friends which of the utterances of Paul are God’s word and which are Paul’s words? How has the evolution of time and space affected Paul’s instructions, concerning women and slaves, for example? I am convinced the only approach that will help us all is to set aside out stereotypes, prejudices, paradigms, etc and question if God who is known to do new things is not doing a new thing in our time. Just like God did a new thing in Martin Luther’s time, is it not about time for a New Kind of Christianity?
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
This book basically preaches to the choir, with another of the millions of personal interpretations of scripture. The problem is, even in the bible itself, it says personal interpretation is inappropriate:
2 Peter 1:20-21:
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in ancient time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake [as they were] stirred by the Holy Ghost.
If your head seems like it’s going to explode, welcome to the club.
McLaren discusses ten key questions in this book:
The book appears to answer the following questions, but it does so within the narrow confines of the traditional Christian paradigm. A more useful book might expand into the realm of science and history:
* What is the overarching storyline of the Bible?
The bible is a collection of disparate scrolls spanning thousands of years, in multiple languages, from multiple cultures, translated and re-translated, derived from earlier mythology, ultimately assembled by a Roman political committee 700+ years ago. Suggesting there is a singularly-meaningful “overarching storyline” is presumptuous at best.
* How should the Bible be understood?
There are two disparate camps on this front. The leader takes the traditional role of evaluating the bible from the “inside” with a plethora of defined notions that can only be accepted on faith and not actual evidence. Everything from the historicity of Jesus to the details of various miracles are presuppositions. Another perspective might be to examine all the available evidence in its context, which this book does not do.
* Is God violent?
There mere act of asking such a question either belies ignorance of scripture, or the entre into an elaborate stream of rationalization. The ancient tribute is anything but ambiguous about the violent wrath of God. To suggest this is up for debate is intellectually disingenuous.
* Who is Jesus and why is he vital?
This is undoubtedly the most vital question, but the book does a disservice by building a number of presuppositions that are critical to understanding the scenery of Jesus. Most notably, there are no contemporaneous reports of Jesus the man. Neither Josephus nor Tacitus were contemporaries. Any thoughtful examination which omits this vital item is worthy of note.
* What is the Gospel?
One thing the leader does not mention is that the Gospels are not eye-witness accounts.
* What do we do about the church?
With more than 30,000 sects of Christianity, this is a Pandora’s box.
* Can we find a way to take up human sexuality lacking fighting about it?
There is a better way to take up human sexuality that has nothing to do with religion. If history has taught humanity anything, it’s that religion’s regulation of sexuality has not produced more moral and ethical sexual behavior. This is one of the many elephants in the room ignored by McLauren.
* Can we find a better way of viewing the future?
Again, another elephant which is ignored, is the value of secular philosophy in contrast with dogmatic thinking that has only changed slightly in the last thousand years. The leader would be better-suited by comparing how Christianity has evolved in the last 1200 years, and note its nonstop progression towards less superstition and supernatural fundamentals.
* How should followers of Jesus tell to people of additional religions?
This point of contention follows a strict pattern that corresponds with the variety of Christian sects and churches. Like every additional theologian, from Mother Theresa to Fred Phelps, McLauren has his own, particular interpretation of scripture and God’s will. So now there are one-zillion-and-one thoughts on what “real christians(tm)” are supposed to do.
* How can we translate our quest into action?
In additional words, in a world where science continues to push dogmatic philosophies into ever-shrinking corners, how can these shadows be cast into ever-enlightened areas?
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
Despite the attractive take in (I like celtic crosses and historically-rooted imagery), McLaren is at best–an practiced marketer of books to trend loving emerging evangelicals–permanently on the stalk for a new version of Gospel. We have iPods, iPhones, iPads, iTouches, blue tooths and Blackberry’s. So it stands to reason that the Gospel must wear prettier clothes too. Right? Since we permanently must have something really ‘new’ (a ‘new kind of…[fill in the blank]–gadget, car, marriage, hairdo, gizmo, and message), what shall we do with that ancient, dated Gospel to spruce it up a bit? Should we get rid of the doctrines the masses really like (like, grace, harmony, unity, community) or get rid of the pesky doctrines [you know the ones Gen-Xers like me] don’t like (judgement, wrath, hell, elect/non-elect, power etc). If rural, rapture-oriented fundies made the mistake of camping quickly on the latter ‘hard’ doctrines, we’ll right them by only tolerating the ex- ’soft’ doctrines. The result. A Jesus who no longer feels at home at Bison Breath Bible College in Alabama; A Jesus who now feels at home on the Oprah Winfrey Show, and sipping Pina Coladas in San Francisco Gay Dance Clubs. So what’s McClaren reap from all this “New Kind of…” books and theological cogitations? What’s in this for McLaren?
Lots of media attention (he’s a ‘gotta read’ guy for trendenistas, book $$$, new sermon thoughts for latte-sipping, goatee-wearing uber-pastors, and the fantastic, smug feeling [the backward ancients called it hubris/pride) that we are the correctors of every period of church history. McLaren’s a money-building genius. And if I were looking for a way to make a small cash at the expense of the truth, I’d buy his stock today! But since the Bible calls us to warn people who flirt with heresy, and call-out people who purvey heresy, let’s call a spade a spade–McLaren is just a new kind of heretic.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
This book is not worth the time and energy it takes to read. Whether one agrees with McLaren’s positions is beside the point agreed the horrific misinformation contained in this book. Perhaps college sophomores and persons who lack any knowledge of history, philosophy, culture, theology, and biblical studies will find this book enlightened and thought-provoking. Persons who have spent any time studying in any of these areas will quickly determine that McLaren is either ignorant or guilty of the most egregious misrepresentations possible. In fact, virtually every page on this book includes at least one factual error, misrepresentation, or additional rhetorical fallacy. Such writing is simply sloppy, disrespectful, and wearisome.
One should also note that the 10 questions McLaren proposes are neither new nor novel, and the same is right for the responses he proposes. This is especially sad agreed the company which McLaren claims to keep in theological circles. For example, McLaren has frequently hitched his wagon to the late Stan Grenz (a fantastic historian whose works I judge should be read by every serious student of theology), but if McLaren had read any of Grenz’s works, he would know that the Church has struggled with these questions throughout its history and various facts have proposed McLaren’s thoughts in the past – even in the past century – to disastrous results. In the end, McLaren seems to be too enamored with his own arrogance and ignorance – a most treacherous combination – to realize that he has lost the small credibility he had and will most likely be largely ignored by leaders on both sides of the (waning) emerging/emergent discussion.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5