I am not going to give a review of Brian McLaren's new book, A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions that are Reforming the Faith. The problem is not that these ten questions are actually reforming the faith, but that Brian McLaren is doing his darndest to transform the faith into the faith he has concocted in his own mind. The reason I will not be giving a review is that I have enough books to read already.
Anyway, Kevin DeYoung has started a multi-part review of the book with a blog post called Christianity and McLarenism. DeYoung writes:
"So what I will not do is pretend that the issues McLaren raises are non-essential issues or that his mistakes are little mistakes. I will not refrain from serious critique because this is only a “quest” or merely an attempt to raise questions. Moreover, I will not attempt to find a middle ground with teaching that I believe to be heterodox. I will not look for a third way when I see Christianity going down one path and McLarenism going down another. I will state my disagreements with this book strongly and warn other Christians strenuously. I am not ashamed for having convictions, and I am not afraid to write as if I understand (truly though not exhaustively) what the Bible teaches and understand that what it teaches is incompatible with A New Kind of Christianity."
The prolific reader and writer, Tim Challies also wrote about McLaren's new book:
"It wasn’t too long ago that I wrote about Brian McLaren and got in trouble. Reflecting on seeing him speak at a nearby church, I suggested that he appears to love Jesus but hate God. Based on immediate and furious reaction, I quickly retracted that statement. I should not have done so. I believed it then and I believe it now. And if it was true then, how much more true is it upon the release of his latest tome A New Kind of Christianity. In this book we finally see where McLaren’s journey has taken him; it has taken him into outright, rank, unapologetic apostasy. He hates God. Period."
You can read Tim's blog post here.
HT: Martin Downes
Update:
Trevin Wax, author of Holy Subversion has weighed in on McLaren's book at his blog with Why Brian McLaren’s New Book is Good for the Emerging Church. Trevin writes:"This book will hopefully lead to soul-searching (and maybe even Scripture-searching!) for those who still claim the Emerging label. McLaren’s proposal makes people decide whether they view Christianity the way he does, or whether they stand with Nicea, Chalcedon, and the Reformation. You are either with him or against him."Kevin DeYoung has written his second post in his review of McLaren's thesis of humble heresy.
