A New Kind of Christianity - by Brian D McLaren (Paperback)

About the Book

McLaren is advocating a different, perhaps upgraded form of Christianity that takes a more objective view of history and employs a better interpretation of the Bible . . . rendering it more applicable and accessible to a modern, educated people.--Huffington Post.

From the Back Cover

We are in the midst of a paradigm shift in the church. Not since the Reformation five centuries ago have so many Christians come together to ask whether the church is in sync with their deepest beliefs and commitments. These believers range from evangelicals to mainline Protestants to Catholics, and the person who best represents them is author and pastor Brian McLaren.

In this much anticipated book, McLaren examines ten questions facing today's church--questions about how to articulate the faith itself, the nature of its authority, who God is, whether we have to understand Jesus through only an ancient Greco-Roman lens, what exactly the good news is that the gospel proclaims, how we understand the church and all its varieties, why we are so preoccupied with sex, how we should think of the future and people from other faiths, and the most intimidating question of all: what do we do next? Here you will find a provocative and enticing introduction to the Christian faith of tomorrow.

Review Quotes

"McLaren is advocating a different, perhaps upgraded form of Christianity that takes a more objective view of history and employs a better interpretation of the Bible, ... rendering it more applicable and accessible to a modern, educated people." - Huffington Post
"McLaren has become an important and controversial figure in Christian thought.... Structured around 10 basic questions about the faith, the book will provoke debate. And it should-these are important questions worthy of our thought and (loving) discussion." - Relevant Magazine
"...Very thought provoking." - Greater Than Magazine
"For many people, [McLaren] is a panacea for modern Christianity's ills, whereas for others, he is a pariah of Christian orthodoxy. Regardless of one's views about McLaren, he clearly has been asking important questions about Christian witness for decades, stirring needed debate within the world of evangelicalism and beyond. His newest book, A New Kind of Christianity, continues McLaren's project of assessing and reassessing our assumptions concerning the foundations of modern Christian practice by asking ten important questions about the pillars of the Christian faith." - The Other Journal
"McLaren clearly has been asking important questions about Christian witness for decades.... A New Kind of Christianity continues McLaren's project of assessing and reassessing our assumptions concerning the foundations of modern Christian practice by asking ten important questions about the pillars of the Christian faith." - The Other Journal
"...McLaren is considered one of the country's most influential evangelicals, and his new book, A New Kind of Christianity, takes aim at some core doctrinal beliefs. McLaren is rethinking Jesus' mission on Earth, and even the purpose of the crucifixion." - NPR Morning Edition
"...A New Kind of Christianity... has lit the fuses of critics in the Christian press and blogosphere." - Publishers Weekly Religion BookLine
"Over the years, [McLaren's] writing has breathed fresh life and vitality into my faith. ... A New Kind of Christianity is the book that many of us have been wanting McLaren to write for years. ...[T]ranscends unhelpful categories and sparks hopeful conversation. ... What [McLaren] offers here is a beautiful and thoughtful way forward." - Englewood Review of Books
"A New Kind of Christianity is the book that many of us have been wanting McLaren to write for years. ...Sparks hopeful conversation... a beautiful and thoughtful way forward." - Englewood Review of Books
"[McLaren] has been hailed widely as one of the most significant religious leaders of our time, compared by some to the leaders of the Protestant Reformation....In articulating this longing and his disquiet with the status quo, McLaren strikes a chord with many." - The Christian Century
"McLaren is advocating a different, perhaps upgraded form of Christianity that takes a more objective view of history and employs a better interpretation of the Bible. This allows him to take what he finds good and best in that book, rendering it more applicable and accessible to a modern, educated people." - Huffington Post
"...A New Kind of Christianity is incredibly well written, engaging, thoughtful and provoking....one of the most significant conversations that will shape Christianity for years to come." - The Faithful Reader
"...Reading a Brian McLaren book is not for the theologically faint of heart, nor is it for those who wish to stay safely ensconced within their doctrinal comfort zones....In his latest book, Brian McLaren calls the church to a deeper and broader vision of the gospel that makes room for contemporary issues of justice and reconciliation. " - UrbanFaith.com
"...Reading a Brian McLaren book is not for the theologically faint of heart... McLaren calls the church to a deeper and broader vision of the gospel that makes room for contemporary issues of justice and reconciliation" - UrbanFaith.com
"Brian McLaren, considered one of the more articulate leaders in the emergent church, has a lot of questions. And he hopes Christians won't avoid those questions. In his new book, A New Kind of Christianity, McLaren questions conventional truths and calls for a major overhaul of the Christian faith." - The Christian Post
"Christians must be unlocked from'a prison' of long-held assumptions and have the freedom to ask honest questions, Brian McLaren indicates in his newest book, A New Kind of Christianity. He's not advocating for a new set of beliefs, he says, but rather a 'new way of believing.'" - The Christian Post
"Brian McLaren doesn't relish the thought that his words might offend and anger people. But the author, adviser, and ex-pastor realizes that it goes with the territory when one is challenging the status quo. In his latest book, A New Kind of Christianity... McLaren writes that the time has come for a sequel to the 95 theses that Martin Luther nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg Germany, on Oct. 31, 1517." - The Toledo Blade
"Traditional Christian values and modern culture need not clash, according to Rev. Brian McLaren, 53, a nondenominational Maryland pastor who is one of the leading lights of the Emerging Church Movement and a polarizing figure in conservative circles. In his latest and 12th book, A New Kind of Christianity, McLaren outlines 10 questions he believes churches should explore--ranging from how to interpret the Bible to how to address sexuality and interfaith differences." - Religion News Service
"...Brian McLaren's A New Kind of Christianity... proves to be an incisive and provocative contribution to the public conversation on the future of faith. Rather than hunker down in a defensive posture or go on the attack, as our dominant religious metaphors might incline us to do, McLaren proposes Christians reach for a new metaphor, that of the quest. A quest is a search for something worth having, in this case a search for a faith more worthy of Jesus, our Lord." - Sojourners God's Politics Blog
"These are questions that many in the church, and beyond, are asking. His patient explorations will prove helpful to many who value Evangelicalism's piety but worry that it has failed to thoughtfully engage hard but unavoidable questions." - Crosscut.com
"McLaren attempts the impossible, essentially tossing out what you always thought was true, and starting again from scratch. [I] heard a number of people-including pastors-rave about the book. I think it's going to be one of those books in which the fans and critics speak past each other." - Christian Week
"[When reading] Brian McLaren's latest - A New Kind of Christianity...one gets the impression we are at a pivot point, a moment that upsets the whole terrain of theological allegiances having to do with the post evangelical emerging church developments of the last ten-fifteen years." - Englewood Review of Books
"...A New Kind of Christianity is incredibly well written, engaging, thoughtful and provoking. Yes, some people are scared to read Brian McLaren, but those who refuse to do so should be feared even more. Why? Because they're excluding themselves from having a voice in one of the most significant conversations that will shape Christianity for years to come." - The Faithful Reader
"Just a few books capture and articulate the imagination, angst, hopes and aspirations of a generation, as Brian did in A New Kind of Christian. Almost ten years later, in A New Kind of Christianity, Brian lets us listen in to the key questions and conversations catalysed by his work that have taken place around the world since then." - Jason Clark, Deep Church
'I managed to miss train stops twice while reading Brian's book! A sure sign it had me gripped. Brian lays out ten questions that a lot of people are asking about Christianity, on things like the Bible, sexuality, Jesus, the gospel, church and the future, and in his relaxed style probes them in a way that often reframes the question. The most important thing about A New Kind of Christianity is that it lays open a space where asking questions and talking about them is a good thing to do, and not something to be afraid of; it's a book that shows that asking questions is often accompanied by passionate faith.' - Jonny Baker
"Brian McLaren has a talent for asking the kind of questions that take people out of their comfort zones to expand the horizons of faith. In A New Kind of Christianity, taking his inspiration from Martin Luther's 95 theses, Brian sketches out the entire map of Christian thought in ten questions. Using these big brush strokes he re-paints the canvas of Christianity, in an attempt to retain its core truths while throwing off some of the cultural accretions that can dull and deaden the spiritual life. In so doing, he challenges his readers to leave behind a "steady state" Christianity in favour of a faith that engages dynamically with the unfolding culture of the twenty-first century." - Maggi Dawn, author and theologian, University of Cambridge
"Now and then gifted people emerge who see the situation from a higher and more helpful level. Brian McLaren is one of those seers." - Richard Rohr, author of Everything Belongs
"In Brian's new book, just published in time for Lent, he is not merely producing yet-another-book-for-small group-study. He's packaging spiritual dynamite and shipping it to cells of believers nationwide who are so restless with the bondage of 'church life' that they want to blow the roof off and start again." - ReadtheSpirit.com
"Brian McLaren is an author, speaker, pastor, and networker among innovative Christian leaders, thinkers, and activists. He is the author of A New Kind of Christianity...[a] bold and imaginative new work." - Spirituality and Practice
"A New Kind of Christianity is a stellar accomplishment, a combination of hard tack fact and unfettered hope, an overview in delightful narrative of the long way of our coming to this time and of the multiform ways of our arriving. In every way, a dispatch from the front." - Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence
"A new reformation is taking place in Christianity. Brian McLaren is one of its leading voices and A New Kind of Christianity is a roadmap for this reformation. This is a very important book." - Adam Hamilton, author of Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White and Senior Pastor, The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection.
"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.' . . . 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. All sides will flock to this with glee." - Publishers Weekly
"Very rarely a book appears that houses the power to change a generation. A New Kind of Christianity is nothing less than one of those moments."' - Peter Rollins, Ikon
"Brian's writing is brave and honest, vulnerable and courageous, disturbing and unsettling, reassuring and hopeful. Every now and then you come across a book you've been waiting for. A New Kind of Christianity is that book." - Steve Chalke MBE Founder of Oasis Global UN Special Advisor on Human Trafficking Steve Chalke MBE Founder of Oasis Global UN Special Advisor on Human Trafficking --Steve Chalke, MBE, founder of Oasis Global, UN Special Advisor on Human Trafficking
"Some books provide us with information about the world, but every once in a while a book appears that enables us to imagine new, more wonderful worlds. The book you hold in your hand is one of these." - Peter Rollins, Ikon
"McLaren's A New Kind of Christianity is a stellar accomplishment, a combination of hard tack fact and unfettered hope, an overview in delightful narrative of the long way of our coming to this time and of the multiform ways of our arriving. In every way, a dispatch from the front, it is also a love-letter of sorts-a love letter from an affectionate, but seasoned pastor to those who would dare to believe, worship and serve not only now, but also beyond now, into the roiling, churning decades ahead." - Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence