Sunday, May 23, 2010

What I am reading


Dear Lucy,



Prompted by a facebook entry I read "A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions that are transforming the Faith," by Brian McLaren. Here's Amazon.com's synopsis:





McLaren, one of the most visible faces of the emergent movement, examines
10 questions the church must answer as it heads toward a new way of believing.
McLaren deconstructs the Greco-Roman narrative of the Bible and addresses how
the Bible should be understood as an inspired library, not a constitution. He
moves into questions regarding God, Jesus, and the Gospel, urging us to trade up
our image of God and realize that Jesus came to launch a new Genesis. The
Church, sexuality, the future, and pluralism merit chapters, as does McLaren's
final call for a robust spiritual life. Followers will rejoice as McLaren
articulates his thoughts with logic and eloquence; detractors will point out his
artful avoidance of firm answers on salvation, hell, and a final
judgment.




Having become an "Unchurched Christian" over the years for many reasons, this book was a breath of fresh air to me as it grappled with many of the problems of the church that become more and more glaring as time goes by.


The church's refusal to deal with the world's problems but rather, to fatalistically look at it as "God's Will", the poverty of the world, the greed and ecological problems has frustrated me to no end.

This author feels the same way and has a new way of reading the Bible that finally gives the Christian the understanding necessary to live in the modern world.

Yea for this book!

I can't say that it will bring me back to church, but it is a relief to see some progress being made in the world to bring the real message of love that Jesus left.


--Kathy




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