Generous Orthodoxy thus far

So as most of my two or three readers know, I am reading a book by Brian McLaren entitled A Generous Orthodoxy, which I know concerns those readers. McLaren is a bit of a hot topic of late (last 3-5 years) because he is a leader in this thing called the Emergent movement. I am about 7 chapters into this book and I must confess that I am enjoying the book. He raises some good points and critiques about the conservative wing of Christianity/ Evangelicalism. For instance, McLaren makes the point that conservatives focus on “personal salvation,” to the neglect of being a blessing to others. To strengthen this vein of thought, he poses the question of, “How beneficial is Christianity to its non-adherents?” This is a great question. Hypothetically if the majority of the world’s population is Christian, then the world should be a better place to live, right? Not necessarily because of the majority only, but because the majority should be seeking the minority’s best interest as well. And by this I do not mean aggressive fire and brimstone preaching/evangelism, but rather something along the lines of addressing poverty, social injustices, caring for widows, feeding the hungry, etc. It is the Abrahamic covenant thing—I will bless you and you will be a blessing to others.

On the downside, I do not think McLaren addresses ultimate ends very well at all. The end of missions/the gospel, for instance, is other people and their betterment. Maybe I haven’t read far enough into the book yet, but I don’t think it will matter. The problem with this is that if people and their good is the ultimate end, then they become gods because the ultimate end has to be the most valuable. I also do not like the fact that McLaren does not even try to answer the question of hell and its dangers. He unapologetically says he has no answer. And then he makes the statement that this will upset his conservative readers. Of course it will! Not because we want people to burn in a literal place called hell. I would much rather believe in universalism, total annihilation, or separationist theories, but I cannot deny, revise, or edit what the Bible (and particularly Jesus) has to say about the subject.

Over all, I am enjoying the book. It makes me think and even rethink some things. I am appreciating the fact that my eyes are being opened to some downfalls in fundamentalism. I am also appreciating being a fundamental.