Ruth or anyone - What scripture would you use to "prove" that Jesus knew WHY he had to die?? The only thing that pops into my mind is Luke 24:44 "He said to them 'This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." How on earth can one read the Bible and hear Jesus say that he is there in fulfillment of prophecy but not know why?? And this kind of thinking (as I quoted a bit from the book above) denies an omniscient God doesn't it?? One criticism I read on this book commented on this part and he claimed this proved that McLaren and his brother are open theists. I think he may be right.

Like I said in my other post, this is from Brian McLaren's book above. I finally did speak with our assoc. pastor and I even brought up this troubling part from the book with him that I quoted a bit above and he didn't seem to have a problem with McLaren's brothers mis-interpretation. And this right there is a perfect example of this whole emergent/postmodern movement thing going on out there - that pragmatic interpretation within the community is as valid as J.I. Packer or James Boice (this is according to the author). This is why I am so upset with this stuff and want to leave our church. I read to my husband excerpts from this book and he is FINALLY seeing what I see. He has a problem with our assoc. using this book with the youth too. Our associate was very cordial and did listen to me, but doesn't understand he's in error. I gave him some articles of reviews of McLaren and John Eldredge. Our associate really likes John Eldredge too and even went to one of his "Wild At Heart" conferences. He shared with me how this author and conference was very helpful for him personally! While I recognize his sincerity and even his genuine concern for our youth (obviously he wouldn't be a pastor otherwise), it is so frustrating to see this plain ignorance.