Book Review: A New Kind of Christianity

A New Kind of Christianity
By Brian D. McLaren
Harper Collins, New York, 2010


In his book, A New Kind of Christianity, McLaren addresses in a new way many of the questions that postmodern clergy, church people, and congregations have been asking for a generation or more. A little background about McLaren would be appropriate as we put into context his ideas that I believe have some merit and begin to formulate a theological, biblical, and ecclesiastical argument for a new way to understand the Christian faith for a new age.

First, it is important to know that McLaren has not been formally trained in a theological institution that has shaped generations of theologians throughout the ages. This is by no means an evaluation upon McLaren’s work as he has thoughtfully and skillfully put together an argument for change that has some relevance for us today. McLaren was trained as a teacher and out of a quest for spiritual understanding revisited his own evangelical upbringing only to find its theology lacking and meaningless to a new generation of seekers and believers. In this quest, he and his wife began a small house church that continued to grow, but a lingering tension remained for him and his growing congregation, “The tensions between something real and something right in the Christian faith.” After many setbacks and soul-searching, McLaren concluded that it was “the search for something right in the Christian faith” that kept him going and from this tension McLaren skillfully creates a philosophy, a theological system that has found its fruition in his most recent book, A New Kind of Christianity.

McLaren’s book is filled with thought provoking and an energy and excitement that compel the reader to engage in his or her own system of beliefs that have been, for generations, thoughtlessly accepted as orthodox or right thinking. McLaren challenges the understanding of beliefs that have been a part of church life for thousands of years and is courageous enough to write and speak about a new way to embrace the meaning and life of Jesus Christ without the layers of doctrine and dogma that has defined the faith for two thousand years. McLaren raises five critical questions that are worthy of discussion and I will do my best to summarize. Although McLaren takes these six questions and tests them against some of the more controversial and dogmatic issues of our time, I will not address them in this review as they are better discussed in small groups rather than in the context of a review.

The six questions McLaren raises are 1) the Narrative question, 2) the authority questions, 3) the God question, 4) the Jesus question, 5) the Gospel question, and 6) the question of the church. Let’s begin with the first question, the narrative question. What is the overarching story line of the Bible? McLaren makes the point that most people ‘read the Bible as a series of disconnected quotes and episodes yielding maxims, rules, formulas, anecdotes, propositions and wise sayings.’ [McLaren, Page 19] McLaren argues that years of biblical interpretation has been done through a Greco-Roman lens as opposed to the understanding the bible as a Hebrew account of a dynamic God who continues to develop and evolve with God’s creation. This is to say that the Western church has understood that the earth and all its creation was created perfect and it has been the choices of humanity that have corrupted creation and has made the earth imperfect. The Greco-Roman understanding of this is to believe that imperfection is evil and therefore created the notion of Hades as a place where evil would be punished. In the Hebrew understanding of the biblical narrative, the world continues to evolve and develop as both God and human beings mature. McLaren would argue that Hebrew notion of creation is creating towards perfection and was not created perfectly in the beginning. By subscribing to this notion of God and creation, we admit that our The second question relationship to God, to one another, and to all creation continues to evolve to a more perfect union which we may want to understand as the Kingdom of God or God’s heavenly realm. By approaching the Bible in this way, we are clearly co-creators with God and neither the creation of the earth or humanity is complete and perfect – we are still evolving and becoming and so is God.

The second question is the authority question. In this chapter, McLaren makes a distinction between reading the Bible as a legal constitutional document or if we read the bible as a community library. The distinction that is being made is that when we read the Bible as a legal, constitutional document, we are being unfaithful to the Bible. Throughout history the Bible has been used to justify everything from multiple wives, to slavery, and violence to humanity and the earth. When we use the Bible to squelch our differences and cut off debate, we create walls as barriers that divide and destroy. McLaren believes that if we keep our arguments alive and continue to talk about our differences, we will be more faithful to the intent of Bible and stories that have shaped the Christian community. McLaren believes that the Bible as an inspired library preserves, presents, and inspires and ongoing vigorous conversation with and about God, a living and vital civil argument into which we are invited and through which God is revealed. [McLaren, Page 83] Given this notion, one could conclude that Biblical authority comes from the community of the faithful. What has been deemed authoritative by the community is what is accepted. In addition to authority given by the community, McLaren also believes that revelation through personal conversion is also authoritative. He believes that the Bible is an invitation to enter into a conversation with the ages and find God in new ways.

The third question is the God question. He raises this question in the context of history in which nearly all religions of the world have evoked God’s name to justify killing people and each other. The question he raises about God is a question of violence, is God violent and genocidal? McLaren goes back to his earlier argument about the Greco-Roman God Theos who is constraining and violent. McLaren argues for a God who continues to evolve from a God who is largely distant or absent to a God who is not so interested in manipulating us to fulfill his desire but to be a God who is present in the world to guide and empower people to do good. McLaren makes this point about God’s evolving character, “…in some passages God appears violent, retaliatory, given to favoritism, and careless of human life. But over time, the image of God that predominates is gentle rather than cruel, compassionate rather than violent, fair to all rather than biased toward some, forgiving rather than retaliatory. In this more mature view; God is not capricious, bloodthirsty, hateful, or prone to fits of vengeful rage. Rather God loves justice, kindness, reconciliation, and peace; God’s grace gets the final word.” [McLaren, Pp. 101-102]

The fourth question McLaren raises is the Jesus Question. The Jesus presented by most churches today seem to be a version of the Christ that is more of a turn off to new believers than one that draws people into the Christian story. We are faced with the challenge as to which Jesus is more trustworthy, more faithful to the gospels. McLaren believes that Jesus came to announce a new kingdom, a new way of life, a new way of peace that carried good news to people of all religions. McLaren will argue this question by suggesting that Just as the Hebrew people ended the book of Genesis with Joseph’s act of reconciliation with his brothers, Jesus comes to reconcile God with humanity. McLaren uses the story in John where Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him and in this act, reconciled Jesus with his disciples and so Jesus is God’s act of reconciliation with our imperfections and through Jesus gives us “life abundant” or perhaps better translated as “life of the ages.” Jesus is a summons, an invitation to humanity to rethink everything and enter a life of retraining as disciples or learners of a new way of life, an opportunity to be new citizens of a new kingdom.

The fifth question is the gospel question. McLaren uses the Hebrew prophets and Paul’s letter to the Romans to show how the gospel is more prophetic than dogmatic and more inclusive than exclusive. In the context of the prophets, the gospel is not about what will come but what is already at hand. What is at hand had been the cry of the prophets and was inaugurated by Jesus. Jesus talked about how the dream – the kingdom of God is happening in our midst. McLaren then makes a shift, arguing that Paul, in his letter to the Romans made something that the Hebrew people made inaccessible to accessible. Paul does this brilliantly in a series of seven moves. First, he reduces Jews and Gentiles to the same level of need. Second, he announces a new way forward for all – the way of faith. Third, he united all people in a common story with four illustrations, the Adam story, baptism, slavery, and remarriage. Fourth, he unites all people into a common struggle and a common victory. Fifth, Paul addresses Jewish and Gentile problems by showing God as the God of all. Sixth, he gives both the Jews and Gentiles a common life and mission, and ending with the seventh theme of unity.

The sixth and final question McLaren addresses is the question of the church. McLaren, like many new thinkers believe that the hope of the church lies in its diversity. He believes that diversity must be celebrated if we are going to find solutions to common problems facing all the earth’s people and its religions. He believes that the church must exist to form Christ-like people with Christ-like love. Returning to McLaren’s earlier thought of a maturing and evolving God-human-earth relationship, McLaren believes that there will be no maturity without love. Paul says this throughout his letters and McLaren continues to develop this Pauline theology. When our churches misunderstand the meaning of love, we will continue to be immature in our understanding of the meaning of church and the gospel. The church, above all, must train people in the way in love and McLaren, like Paul, believes that love is more important than knowledge.

In summary, McLaren’s book, A New Kind of Christianity, raises for me and for the Church some important questions that need to be addressed by all of us. His book leaves one with the notion that we are on the brink of another reformation – a return to a more faithful understanding of theology, scripture, Christ and the church. For any serious Christian, this book is worth reading and studying. In the spirit of McLaren’s book, I would like to invite you into a discussion, a dialogue into a new understanding of the Christian faith that may just bring a skeptical, spiritual seeker back to the Christian faith.