Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 5.4

CHAPTER 5.4

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO BRIAN MCLAREN

Soteriology (continued)

The second question raised regarding inclusion regards hell and eternal punishment of which McLaren has written much.  McLaren holds that hell and eternity are primarily issues about God.  The most comprehensive treatment of hell from McLaren comes from The Last Word and the Word After That.  Greg Gilbert[1] argues that McLaren is uncomfortable “with the traditional doctrine of hell” for a number of reasons.  First, “it implies a capricious, vindictive, and almost sadistic God.”  Even McLaren dedicates his book to those “seeking for a God to love but have been repulsed by the ugly, unworthy images of a cruel, capricious, merciless, tyrannical deity.”[2]  At stake here is God’s love.  God is so loving, McLaren argues, that if persons were in hell, Jesus “would go down there and get them out.”[3]
       
Additionally, Gilbert points out that McLaren is uncomfortable with the traditional doctrine of hell because of the negative affects it has on Christian behavior.  Emphasizing the afterlife, as it has been shown, leads to ignoring injustice and committing atrocities.  Furthermore, the wrong people are prescribed to be in hell.  In McLaren’s view, hell is not reserved for those who do not accept a prescribed set of beliefs, but it is rather for those who do not love their neighbors as Jesus commanded:
       
With no apologies to Martin Luther, John Calvin, or modern evangelicalism, Jesus (in Luke 16:19) does not prescribe hell to those who refuse to accept the message of justification by grace through faith, or to those who are predestined for perdition, or to those who don’t express faith in a favored atonment theory by accepting Jesus as their “personal Savior.”  Rather, hell - literal or figurative - is for the rich and comfortable who proceed on their way without concern for their poor neighbor day after day.  As Jesus also makes clear in the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), they fail to love their neighbors as themselves and fail to follow “what is written in the Law,” and therefore will not inherit eternal life.[4]

McLaren’s view of hell is described as “predicamentalism.”[5]  Universalism, traditionalism, and annihilationism are all invalid.  “What happens to the wicked in eternity,” is the wrong question.  The right question is how does the idea of hell function in our lives?  Does it lead to hate or make us realize that God wants no one to be cast from His kingdom.[6]
       
In the Emergent doctrine of hell, two key components of McLaren’s understanding of the gospel are apparent: the gospel is inclusive and about here and now.  In regards to inclusion, McLaren believes that Jesus used “hell-rhetoric” in order to teach His followers about the evil of exclusion and ostracizing others.  The Christian should rather show compassion and mercy for the downtrodden and needy.[7]


[1]  What follows comes from Greg D. Gilbert, “Saved From the Wrath of God: An Examination of Brian McLaren’s Approach to the Doctrine of Hell,” 247.
[2]  McLaren, The Last Word and the Word After That, iii.
[3]  Ibid., 32.
[4]  McLaren, Everything Must Change, 208.
[5]  McLaren, A New Kind of Christian, 126.
[6]  Gilbert, “Saved From the Wrath of God,” 248.  Neo argues, “It’s none of your business who does and does not go to hell . . . Now stop speculating about hell and start living for heaven!” McLaren, The Last Word and the Word After That, 126.
[7]  Gilbert, “Saved From the Wrath of God,” 251.


Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology:  From Cultural Accomodation to the Kindgom of God - Chapter 1
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology:  From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 2.1
Thesis| Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology:  From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 2.2
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology:  From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 2.3
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology:  From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 3.1
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology:  From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 3.2
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology:  From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 4.1a
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology:  From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 4.2
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology:  From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 5.1
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology:  From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 5.2 
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology:  From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 5.3 

  

For more:
Theology - The Clarity of Ambiguity: The Erosion of the Perspicuity of Scripture in the Emergent Church - Part 1
Theology -  The Clarity of Ambiguity:  The Erosion of the Perspicuity of Scripture in the Emergent Church - Part 2
Theology - The Clarity of Ambiguity:  The Erosion of the Perspicuity of Scripture in the Emergent Church - Part 3
Theology - The Clarity of Ambiguity:  The Erosion of the Perspicuity of Scripture in the Emergent Church - Part 4
Theology -  The Clarity of Ambiguity:  The Erosion of the Perspicuity of Scripture in the emergent Church - Part 5
Theology/Reviews - "A New Kind of Christianity" - A 11 part review and critique of McLaren's book
Reviews - McLaren - A Generous Orthodoxy
Reviews - McLaren - A New Kind of Christian 
Reviews -McLaren - A Search For What Makes Sense: Finding Faith 
Reviews -McLaren - Adventures In Missing The Point 
Reviews - McLaren - Church On The Other Side 
Reviews -McLaren - Everything Must Change 
Reviews -McLaren - Finding Faith 
Reviews -McLaren - More Ready Than You Realize 
Reviews - McLaren - The Justice Project 
Reviews - McLaren - The Secret Message of Jesus 
Reviews -McLaren - The Voice of Luke  
Theology - Revelation and the Ambiguity of Justification: McLaren Adds to the Confusion 
Theology -  Does McLaren Reject Penal Substitution?: A Review of the Evidence
Blogizomai - Where is He Now?  McLaren on the Question of bin Laden's Final Destination  
Theology -   Hamilton: McLaren and Whole Foods Stores
Theology -   SBTS and McLaren: A Response to SBTS Panel Discussion
Theology -   The Evolving God: McKnight's Critique of McLaren
Theology -   The Future of the Emergent Church: McLaren Weighs In
Theology -   The Immutability of God: Its Truth and Relevancy - Introduction
Theology -   The Postmodern Social Gospel: Brian McLaren Proves My Point
Theology -   Where to Begin?: 10 Emergent Must Reads
Theology -   Who Isn't One?: Brian McLaren and Social Christians
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 
Theology -  A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: Where Do We Go From Here - Part 10
Theology -  A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: Some Final Thoughts - Part 11