A New Kind of Christian: A Tale of Two Friends on a Spiritual Journey. Brian D. McLaren, (2001)San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. ISBN: 0-7879-5599-X
Review by Helen Bone
Brian McLaren sets out in this book to explore three questions:
‘Why am I not the same kind of Christian as I used to be?’,
‘What might a new kind of Christian be like?’
and ‘How might one become a new kind of Christian if one is so inclined?’
In order to explore these questions he creates a fictional character called Dan, who is a pastor, struggling with many things he had always taken for granted about God, faith and the church. Dan meets Neo, who is trying to become a ‘new kind of Christian’. The book follows their conversations and friendship as they discuss such issues as ways of understanding the Bible; the relationship of Christianity to other religions; cultural change from modernity to postmodernity (explained in an extraordinarily accessible way); how we understand mission; spiritual formation in the church and many more.
I was sceptical at first about the use of fictional characters in a book which sets out to explore such ambitious and widely ranging topics. This scepticism soon evaporated as I found myself drawn in to the discussion between Dan and Neo. The debates were given context by the presence of people, albeit fictional ones. The way the book is written both engaged me as a reader and remained consistent with the idea, expressed in the book, that there is no meaning without context. The presence of Dan and Neo removed the ideas being discussed from the realm of the abstract and highlighted their applicability today.
In this book McLaren challenges the status quo and invites the reader to imaginatively and positively embrace the future. I cannot recommend it highly enough - read it, discuss it with people, continue the conversation…
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