In his newest book, public theologian Brian McLaren sets out, in his words, to think “through the question of retaining or shedding Christian identity, with you looking over my shoulder”. And get this: he’s “clear that…he hasn’t written to convince us one way or the other,” The Presbyterian Outlook attests. Publishers Weekly affirms, “This earnest inquiry solidifies McLaren’s place as one of the more thoughtful interrogators of modern Christianity.”
Martin Thielen, in his Doubter’s Parish newsletter, acclaims the effort: “[Y]ou can’t help but admire his courage. Brian openly asks the question many Christians are asking themselves in private, but are afraid to ask in public.” Initially, McLaren tells why the religion should be rejected; then why it should carry on. But the book “hits its stride in the third section,” Britain’s Church Times insists.
It’s here that he “advocates remaining in the Christian form of life,” as Randal Rauser puts it in his blog, The Tentative Apologist, “so as to increase love of neighbour, and the mystery that stands behind it all.” McLaren, Thielen states, “believes Christianity can evolve into something far more beautiful. If we stay, we can participate in that evolutionary movement toward a more enlightened faith.”
Do I Stay Christian: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned
By Brian McLaren
St. Martin’s Essentials, 2022
