McKnight on McLaren

Scot McKnight reviews Brian McLaren's new book. Scot is professor of religion at North Park University in Chicago.  And he's been a friend of McLaren's for two decades, following McLaren's work with a friendly and critical eye.

Unfortunately, this book lacks the "generosity" of genuine orthodoxy and, frankly, I find little space in it for orthodoxy itself. Orthodoxy for too many today means little more than the absence of denying what's in the creeds. But a robust orthodoxy means that orthodoxy itself is the lens through which we see theology. One thing about this book is clear: Orthodoxy is not central.

Alas, A New Kind of Christianity shows us that Brian, though he is now thinking more systemically, has fallen for an old school of thought. I read this book carefully, and I found nothing new. It may be new for Brian, but it's a rehash of ideas that grew into fruition with Adolf von Harnack and now find iterations in folks like Harvey Cox and Marcus Borg. For me, Brian's new kind of Christianity is quite old. And the problem is that it's not old enough.

Comments

[Francis Beckwith]

One thing that stood out to me when I was going through McLaren's book last night is this: while he decries the influence of Greek philosophy on Christian theology, his whole method seems Gnostic (and thus, neo-Platonic) in the sense that he seems to think he has direct spiritual acquaintance with a pure Christianity untouched by history or flesh and blood. McLaren presents his "insights" as if they were a special sort of hidden knowledge that he alone has the appropriate motives and personal history from which he may deign to share them with us. In this way, his Protestant fundamentalist roots betray him, for he offers a sort of Religious Left version of the Trail of Blood. Moreover, by pitting the "Old Testament God of Wrath" against the "New Testament God of Love," McLaren is reviving a version of the ancient Marcionite heresy.

While reading this book I began to think that while McLaren was writing this tome he was channeling J. M. Carroll, Richard Rorty, Adolph Harnack, and Walter Rauschenbusch all at the same time!

(For more on the question of Greek philosophy and the development of Christian theology, see my article, "Mormon Theism, the Traditional Christian Concept of God, and Greek Philosophy: A Critical Analysis." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 44.4 [December 2001]. You can find under "articles" on my website http://francisbeckwith.com)

[Louis Kuhelj]

"McLaren presents his "insights" as if they were a special sort of hidden knowledge that he alone has the appropriate motives and personal history from which he may deign to share them with us"

Actually this is a very interesting phenomenon that I observe quite frequently. I wonder if it is in any way tied to the invincibility of youth syndrome taking on another form or perhaps it has simply morphs into that as one grows older. Instead of feeling invincible, the sufferer feels uniquely infallible.

[David Hawkins]

Louis,

>>"...Instead of feeling invincible, the sufferer feels uniquely infallible."

The more people that show up to fill his "campground tent" (i.e. book sales, packed auditoriums et al) , the more that delusion is likely never to let go. If he doesn't fade away, it's not going to end well. Cults have a way of perpetuating there own demise. (I just regret the perceptual scar it leaves behind on genuine Bible-based Christian theology.)

Appreciate your comments, F & L.

(We who occasionally contribute to these blogs don't say it often enough, but much thanks to STR for bringing these kinds of issues to light, monitoring misinformation, and pulling back the curtain on spiritual misdirection.)

[Tene]

The need for love sometimes becomes bent and twisted into a chest-thumping bellow of pride: "Look at me! Listen to me! My way is best!" McLaren is following an old path, trod by people who were just as incorrect, but much more creative; Neitzche comes to mind.