Book Review: A Generous Orthodoxy Part 3 of ??
The Introduction
McLaren starts his introduction by guessing at the various reasons why people may be reading his book. Of his guesses my reason is probably closest to "You may be a Christian leader who has heard terms like postmodern and missional," except that I'm not particularly a leader.
The most interesting reason (to me) that McLaren gives is that, "You may not yet be a Christian, and you're thinking of being one, but you're worried that if you do you'll become a worse person." I don't think I've ever thought of it exactly that way, but I can certainly see why that could be a concern. I remember arguing with someone that those who aren't Christians aren't necessarily people who have rejected the Christian message because they're immoral, and that there are in fact honest non-Christian seekers.
Some Christians might not understand how people could fear becoming a worse person if they were to become a Christian, but I think I can understand how. I have a theory about ethics - that recently there have been two predominate systems of ethics which could be labeled as liberal and conservative. The liberal ethical system I would classify as more "active" and stresses things like helping the poor, social justice, tolerance, and peace. Whereas the conservative ethical system is more "passive" and stresses things like not lying, not stealing, not committing adultery, etc. Even those these two systems are by no means mutually exclusive, sometimes people have acted like they are.
Anyways, given the current dominance of the conservative wing of the church in the American mindset, I could see how those from a liberal ethical background could be concerned about being a worse person if they became a Christian. As McLaren points out fear about having to become more judgmental and narrow-minded (or even having to become a Republican!) to become a follower of Christ are valid concerns given how many Christians act.
In the introduction, McLaren also informs the reader of the purpose of his writings, which is to help align religion and lives with Christ. He also admits to, in this book, sometimes going out of the way to be "provocative, mischievous, and unclear" since that often stimulates more thought than being clear. I'd have to go with a big maybe for that idea.
McLaren starts his introduction by guessing at the various reasons why people may be reading his book. Of his guesses my reason is probably closest to "You may be a Christian leader who has heard terms like postmodern and missional," except that I'm not particularly a leader.
The most interesting reason (to me) that McLaren gives is that, "You may not yet be a Christian, and you're thinking of being one, but you're worried that if you do you'll become a worse person." I don't think I've ever thought of it exactly that way, but I can certainly see why that could be a concern. I remember arguing with someone that those who aren't Christians aren't necessarily people who have rejected the Christian message because they're immoral, and that there are in fact honest non-Christian seekers.
Some Christians might not understand how people could fear becoming a worse person if they were to become a Christian, but I think I can understand how. I have a theory about ethics - that recently there have been two predominate systems of ethics which could be labeled as liberal and conservative. The liberal ethical system I would classify as more "active" and stresses things like helping the poor, social justice, tolerance, and peace. Whereas the conservative ethical system is more "passive" and stresses things like not lying, not stealing, not committing adultery, etc. Even those these two systems are by no means mutually exclusive, sometimes people have acted like they are.
Anyways, given the current dominance of the conservative wing of the church in the American mindset, I could see how those from a liberal ethical background could be concerned about being a worse person if they became a Christian. As McLaren points out fear about having to become more judgmental and narrow-minded (or even having to become a Republican!) to become a follower of Christ are valid concerns given how many Christians act.
In the introduction, McLaren also informs the reader of the purpose of his writings, which is to help align religion and lives with Christ. He also admits to, in this book, sometimes going out of the way to be "provocative, mischievous, and unclear" since that often stimulates more thought than being clear. I'd have to go with a big maybe for that idea.
posted by Freethinker at 12:08:00 PM
4 Comments:
What really does this mean, "given the current dominance of the conservative wing of the church in the American mindset"?
Is the conservative wing of the church dominant?
What I meant was that in America, especially amongst non-Christians and people who may just be cultural Christians, if you were to ask them to name Christian public figures they know they would probably pick conservative ones (like Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robinson, James Dobson, etc). I don't think there's a liberal Christian with that kind of national recognition (well maybe Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton).
And I think, if you were to ask them to describe what Christians were like in general, I think you would get a description that would fit the most negative stereotypical image of Southern Baptist type conservatives. But maybe living in Texas skews my view a bit.
Did that clear anything up?
This is most interesting. I might have to read this book.....after I read about fifty others I've promised myself I'll read.
*sigh*
Seriously, I might read it. Say, did you know that there are some "conservatives" who wouldn't think Billy Graham a "conservative?"
Interesting posts.
I do know that there are those conservatives would not consider Billy Graham one of their number. In fact, there's an Independent Baptist Fellowship church like that about 1,374 feet from my front door.
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