David Stewart
Awful, preachy, over-the-top....could NOT finish this....for someone who was an English major and taught English atvtge collegiate level, this book is the worst piece of writing I've ever read. Downgrade from three stars to one. ORIGINAL: While he makes some valid points and criticisms, such as over seemingly over emphasis on salvation at the expense of exhibiting justice and mercy, at 1/2 way through, I really wondered at times if we actually read the same Bible. The whole Greco-Roman Theos versus Hebrew Elohim line first got rather old and smug after a while, especially when he would say, "I'm sure you'll agree...." The problem is that he comes across as the stereotypical hypocrit convert....criticize and make generalizations about my former party. Most churches believe in doing some sort of service to help the poor and needy in their respective communities, treating people with respect and dignity (though we may fail at times), etc., yet this guy's writing comes across as if, if you believe in tradition, orthodox Christianity, then you don't. Furthermore, this same old garbage about OT God vs. NT Jesus, demonstrates a thorough lack of a balanced understanding of the nature and character of a holy, righteous, and just, yet compassionate and merciful God. The list of examples at times came across as trying to brow beat the reader into his pointbof view. This is especially off-putting to those of us who are skeptical about the philosophical underpinnings of emergent church leaders and want to learn more about their beliefs rather than what people say about their beliefs. The same old tropes about, "Well, this term is not used in the Bible, so let's throw the term and (by implication) this concept about core doctrine out", sounds exactly like what the so-called progressive Christians say in justifying and excusing certain types of sinful behavior and actions these days. Truthfully, a lot of what he says almost cones across as the same old Gnostic and Liberal heresies, repackaged for a new century, and which have been around since the dawn of Christianity. I don't know if McLaren has done this yet, but at the time this book was written, he might as well have disavowed calling himself both big, cultural "E", Evangelical and little, theological (as in the Reformers) "e", evangelical. Aside from doing good works, which even most cults that espouse being Christian claim, he is clearly no longer in either camp. If he hasn't already done this, then he needs to have a sit-down with Rachel Held Evans, who at least had the gumption to admit what we all already saw coming. 11/25 - Circled back and finally finished; however, McLaren at times tetters on the edge of universalism, which is contrary to clear reading of scripture. In other spots, he almost seems a borderline neo-pagan. While certain of his criticisms of the modern church is most certainly valid, he seems to have a beef against the church in general.
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