A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: Where Do We Go From Here? - Part 10

Well, we have reached the end.  We have discussed and critiqued Brian McLaren's nine major questions in his new book, A New Kind of Christianity, and we are on to the final question:  the Where Do We Go From Here Question.  The problem with critiquing this question is that there isn't an argument being made here.  As a result, perhaps it is best to critique some of the things mentioned in the final chapters.

McLaren suggests that there are different stages of theology right now.  To keep from boring with those stages, there are primarily two stages that are most important for you to know.  First there is the stage of fundamentalism that encourages division over unity, hatred over love and peace, definitive answers over mystery, and conversion over conversation.  The other stage is the stage that McLaren has sought to lead his readers to.  Perhaps we could call this stage the New Kind of Christianity Stage.

The point of these stages is to illustrate the evolution of theology and how those who continue to hold to more traditional "orthodoxy" theology are still stuck in past ages whereas those in the New Kind of Christianity stage have embraced the future.  I find such an argument to be sickening and, I might add, not a new one.  This is the sort of argument that liberals throughout the ages have made.

McLaren believes that this New Kind of Christianity will sow peace among the nations and bring about the Utopian Kingdom of God.  McLaren is a fool.  He can live in his dream world all he wants to, but he will never live in reality.  The world is dark and fallen and it has been fed a sissified message of love for centuries now and the world is still not getting better.  What we need instead is the gospel, pure and simple.  Not the message of the social gospel for postmodern generations, but for the gospel once for all delivered to the saints.

McLaren wants evolution, but what we need is the gospel.  McLaren says he has offered a new way of thinking, not new answers because he wants to open us up to dialogue.  Though that may be his intention, he fails to accomplish it.  It is clear that he soundly rejects orthodoxy and has embraced a postmodern form of liberalism making the conversation limited.  He may say that he is open to all forms of conversation, but it is clear that persons like myself are not welcome into the dialogue until I change my theology.

So at the end of the day, those who have followed McLaren will find nothing new here.  He has been saying these things for years now and the Emerging Church has been following him.  But what he does in this book is offer more clarity than mystery, answers instead of conversation.  This is a book about questions, but unlike any other book he has written, McLaren has tried to provide the reader with answers.  And it is those answers that concern me.

Again, I must repeat what was said at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary panel discussion:  McLaren isn't offering a New Kind of Christianity, he is offering us an Old Kind of Heresy.  We rejected the heresy of the past and we must reject the heresy of the present.




For more:
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: The Narrative Question - Part 1
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed:  The Authority Question - Part 2 
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed:  The God Question - Part 3
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed:  The Jesus Question - Part 4
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed:  The Gospel Question - Part 5 
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed:  The Church Question - Part 6
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed:  The Sex Question - Part 7
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed:  The Future Question - Part 8   
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed:  The Pluralism Question - Part 9