A New Kind of Christian by Brian D. McLaren (2001, Hardcover, Illustrated)

On the positive side of the book, there is the challenge to look outside the box when dealing with God in our Christian circles. Not in the core beliefs of Christianity (though it can be seen that McLaren may be challenging core beliefs), but in the manner in which we demonstrate our worship towards God.

With That said, there was not much meat to the book as a whole. I bought it because the Emergent Church is becoming popular amongst the "post-modern" crowd. It is a book that needs to be read critically, as all books in my opinion do, especially when propagating truth.

Mr. McLaren says in one sense he is orthodox then in the next says Christians should be accepting of things that would run contrary to the Bible and orthodoxy. One example would be incorporating Indian customs, as they pertain to the Spiritual life, into Christianity. The book of 1 Corinthians handles that topic well enough without going into it here.

I am afraid that Brian McLaren is heading towards a unitarian pantheistic view of religion and he does not take a stand on any "hot-button" issues as homosexuality. He has a wait and see attitude, which just means he is waiting to see which way will be the easiest and most acceptable direction to take.

I believe there is a lot of danger in this book, and if read without knowing Christian history or orthodoxy one could become misdirected and end up with a watered down faith.

One needs to read his other book title "Generous Orthodoxy" and you will see where Brian McLaren is heading in the future. His theology is mud puddle deep and his convictions seem to blow in the wind as it pertains to morality. He makes statements and does not back them up with Scripture or Academic publications. He challenges the concept of Hell in the Bible, but gives no indication of what his concept is or why he questions it in the first place. He throws it out and then moves on to the next topic. He does the same thing with homosexuality. I wish he would have taken a stand, even if I did not agree with it. At least this way there would be some clue as to what he is trying to say.

He makes a point of being ambiguous. He uses his English degree well in writing his orthodoxy, which is as he titled it generous. I do not believe the conservative or liberal side of Christianity will find any meat to these writings. I think this book has become a fad in that everyone is reading it because they think everyone is reading it.

All in all I would tell most people not to waist there time with it, but if you do have a desire to read it, then do so with a critical mind. I have read far better works on all sides of post-modernity and Christianity. "Gagging of the God" by Carson is one book with real substance to his arguments whether one agrees with him or not.

It is very thought provoking and causes one to evaluate the mindset that one views Christianity through. I am not completely in agreement with some of the authors assumptions and are not completely sure his viewpoints are biblical, but he would assume that I would have this viewpoint since I look at scripture through a modern mindset burdened down by my culture and upbringing. I think at times he reads more into then needs to be. But I have enjoyed reading it and will read through it again now that I understand his premise.