The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum Emerging Church

Kalled2Preach you made the statement, “How many orthodox writers are writing things on the level of the common man or the common college student or the common anyone?” Apparently, McLaren is not communicating too well, if you believe he is putting forth a true Christ? We need to ask ourselves what kind of Christian McLaren’s 7 Jesus’ produce? McLaren gives us his answer in A New Kind of Christian.

The book follows McLaren’s fictional character, Neo. McLaren develops Neo’s view of Christianity in the book. So what does this new kind of Christian look like?

Neo resolutely holds to a doctrine of Evolution, and rejects any literal interpretation of Genesis. Neo says, "For me, Carol, we can't be faithful to God unless we're faithful to the facts, faithful to the data, if you will. And so instead of hiding from evolution, I think we'd be more faithful to God to look it right in the eye and learn from it" (p. 98). Neo also calls evolution "one of God's best creations" (p. 184). Moreover, Neo embraces a strict view of human freedom. He rejects any form of real sovereignty or predestination. According to him, "God really is much more a companion, a conversation partner with the people, guiding them, but not manipulating them, not robbing them of that gift of freedom" (p. 83). When discussing death Neo contrasts being controlled with being free (p. 150).

Of course, then we can look at McLaren’s book, The Last Word and the Word After That, and note what this new Christian believes concerning “hell.” McLaren asks, if Jesus uses the language of hell, we have to ask, ‘for what purpose does he use the language? What’s his point in working with the construction?’ (p. 71). Essentially, he can make use of it as a metaphor or model for God’s judgment on the oppressors without necessarily endorsing it as a ‘literal’ account of what happens to people when they die. This is an example of ‘rhetorical hermeneutics’ – ‘an approach to Scripture that among other things tells us that we normally pay too much attention to what the writers are saying and not enough to what they’re doing’ (p. 81). As the intersexual poet Pat says of hell: ‘Its purpose, not its substance, is the point’ (p. 26). McLaren sums up his position in his own words saying,

So this is the new kind of Christian McLaren is seeking to make? McLaren endorses heresy and those that endorse him are heretics that have or are departing from the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 3)! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/flee.gif" alt="" />

The Holy Spirit when He sovereignly regenerates a person according to God's elective purpose gives His people a mind and heart for truth. If as you claim, individuals cannot see certain basic elementary truths without this new modernism, which is just old heresy, then one must wonder if they have ever been regenerated!

PS: there are a good number of Reformed books on every area of ministry imaginable. I am not sure where you have gathered your sources saying there are no books easy enough to read for today's modern reader, but Barna Research claims,

The majority of Christian books are written on the 6th-8th grade reading level. So I find it very curious when you state,

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