Jeremy L. Berg

McLaren’s latest and largest full frontal assault on evangelicalism and historic orthodoxy is now available in stores: “A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith”.  I cannot think of anyone better to offer a fair and balanced review of this book than Dr. Scot McKnight.  The review is found in Christianity Today and can be viewed below.

Let me say that I have enjoyed some of McLaren’s challenges over the past decade of my own. There is much we evangelicals need to hear from Brian, but the slippery slope is just that – slippery.  And McLaren has continued to slip further and further toward the same old liberal theology that characterized similar schools of thought made popular in 19th century Germany, and carried forth today.

Well, while I can honestly still promote and encourage you read and soak up McLaren’s book The Secret Message of Jesus, I encourage you read McKnight’s review before you approach his latest work.  Here’s McKnight’s conclusion and link to the entire review:

“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.”