Categories: uncategorized
Date: 07 August 2008 15:19:04
So I've got to the end of Brian McLaren's New Kind of Christian trilogy and have to say overall I can think of worse ways I could have spent my time.
A couple of days ago I talked about the constant references to Neo were winding me up in books one and two. I guess I wasn't alone because in book three the character is referred to by his proper name, Neil, because of the Matrix link.
Book three looks, primarily, at hell in the way that book one looks at evolution and again clearly comes from an American religious context. It also briefly touches on the sexuality thing and also at abuse within marriage (although it steps back from this one and steers the plot away from it).
What is more interesting in these books though tends to be the sub-themes which underlie the main theological discussions. For example what pressure do we put church leaders and their families under in our own attempts to "keep it real" or "theologically sound"? How much does the committee mentality, where nobody wants to speak out against dominant figures within congregations if they feel uncomfortable about what's happening, impact what happens in churches? In what ways does friendship facilitate community and in turn church? (this is kind of explicitly dealt with over a few pages in book three but is a wider theme throughout the series).
The books also look at inclusion, to different levels and the way in which your mix of social characteristics will inform your experiences and reading of scripture.
As a series I think they are important to read and raise some good questions, but there should be a health warning given with the books.
Firstly: The book is primarily set in America and the religious culture of that country. Whilst many of the discussions are equally relevent to discussions that take place in the UK there is not the same depth of feeling about some of the issues in this country. If we seek to just transpose the story to our culture it acts to further undermine the distinctiveness of British forms of evangelicalism which exist.
Secondly: They are challenging books in places but at the same time they are aimed at a specific audience and McLaren is careful not to take the reader too far out of their comfort zone and so leaves some issues that he raises undiscussed.
Thirdly: It is easy to be lulled in to believing you are reading where McLaren is coming from when in fact he acts as devils advocate in places to provoke thought. As his introductions make clear the books are a creative kind of non-fiction meets fiction and the character of Dan is not him, although one suspects aspects of McLaren creep into this character.
All in all a good set of books though, particularly book two which I believe is by far the strongest of the three.