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When Brian McLaren began offering an alternative vision of Christian faith and life in books such as A New Kind of Christian and A Generous Orthodoxy, he ignited a firestorm of praise and condemnation that continues to spread across the religious landscape. To some religious conservatives, McLaren is a dangerous rebel without a doctrinally-correct cause. Some fundamentalist websites have even claimed he's in league with the devil and have consigned him to flames.
To others though, Brian is a fresh voice, a welcome antidote to the staleness, superficiality, and negativity of the religious status quo. A wide array of people from Evangelical, Catholic, and Mainline Protestant backgrounds claim that through his books they have begun to rediscover the faith they'd lost or rejected. And around the world, many readers say that he has helped them find-for the first time in their lives-a faith that makes sense and rings true. For many, he articulates the promise of what is being called "emerging Christianity."
In The Secret Message of Jesus you'll find what's at the center of Brian's critique of conventional Christianity, and what's at the heart of his expanding vision. In the process, you'll meet a Jesus who may be altogether new to you, a Jesus who is…
McLaren invites you to discover afresh the transforming message of Jesus-an open invitation to radical change, an enlightening revelation that exposes sham and ignites hope, an epic story that is good news for everyone, whatever their gender, race, class, politics, or religion.
"Pastor and best-selling author McLaren revisits the gospel material from a fresh-and at times radical-perspective . . . He does an excellent job of capturing Jesus' quiet, revolutionary style."
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Here McLaren shares his own ferocious journey in pondering the teachings and actions of Jesus. It is McLaren's lack of salesmanship or agenda that creates a refreshing picture of the man from Galilee who changed history."
—Donald Miller, Author of Blue Like Jazz
"In this critical book, Brian challenges us to ask what it would mean to truly live the message of Jesus today, and thus to risk turning everything upside down."
—Jim Wallis, Author of God's Politics and editor of Sojourners
"Compelling, crucial and liberating: a book for those who seek to experience the blessed heat of Christianity at its source."
—Anne Rice, Author of Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt
Anonymous
Posted December 28, 2006
Author McLaren offers a non-traditional look at Jesus' message -- one which might lead to being able to live life more abundantly and radically change the world. While I disagree with some of the concepts that McLaren present from his contextual understanding of Greek, Hebrew and English, they are not necessarily 'improperly uses Greek, Hebrew, and English meanings which cause the misinterpretation of many words' as the previous commentator states. They are, however, a fresh and rethinking of such words using a more historically accurate context in which they where originally written. The Publishers Week and Library Journal's reviews offer a more accurate description of this book than ¿Misleading¿ does. Mainstream Christendom certainly has been in long need of a fresh start or renewal. Worth the read and worth considering -- even if you reject the concepts present in whole or in part.
3 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 20, 2006
Sadly, this book portrays the wrong perception of what a Christian should be and what Jesus' message really was. The author deliberately takes stories and events out of context to prove his perception. McLaren improperly uses Greek, Hebrew, and English meanings which cause the misinterpretation of many words, like repentance, and stories. There are books with the correct interpretation that tell the whole story and use the correct definitons. This book is not worthy of consideration due to its many false and untrue teachings. In his look for a hidden message, McLaren has totally missed it.
3 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 28, 2012
Brian has set the faith community on a journey that will have far and long reaching effect on a body who is open to real growth and maturity. I count his writings as necessary as Richard Rohr and Carl McColeman. Awesome,
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.McLaren presents this discussion out of concern for the current generation of Americans and other Westerners who have dismissed the church and standard Christianity as out of touch, irrelevant and perverted. He discovers that a large percentage of the current population actually are very open to Jesus, even have a quite positive attitude toward Jesus, but not the Christianity as an established religious system.
As McLaren takes a look at teaching of Jesus in the Gospels, he explores the original contexts of the life and times of Jesus. Outlining the social and political setting, he takes a look at Jesus' teachings and finds more of them make sense without the cultural and philosophical blinders that have accrued in the western culture we have inherited.
McLaren makes sense of the radical, revolutionary message of Jesus, and portrays the dangerous role of his message of a new Rule of God that challenged the established Divine Empire of Rome with its Emperor Cult. He lays bare the Good News in this message and the radical possibilities that offers to us today.
Anonymous
Posted January 30, 2007
I heard about this book and had to read it, a new and refreshing view on Jesus' teachings.
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Overview
When Brian McLaren began offering an alternative vision of Christian faith and life in books such as A New Kind of Christian and A Generous Orthodoxy, he ignited a firestorm of praise and condemnation that continues to spread across the religious landscape. To some religious conservatives, McLaren is a dangerous rebel without a doctrinally-correct cause. Some fundamentalist websites have even claimed he's in league with the devil and have consigned him to flames.
To others ...