Customer Reviews for Zondervan Youth Specialties A Generous Orthodoxy
Zondervan Youth Specialties A Generous Orthodoxy
A confession and a manifesto from a senior leader in the emerging church movement who calls for a radical, Christ-centered orthodoxy of faith and practice that is strong on mission yet generous in spirit. Moves the reader beyond "us/them" stereotyping to a more ancient embrace of "we." 297 pages, softcover. Zondervan.
Average Customer Rating:
(10 Reviews) 10
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0 out of 20%customers would recommend this product to a friend.
Customer Reviews for A Generous Orthodoxy
Review 1 for A Generous Orthodoxy
Overall Rating:
This Is the New-and-Improved Church??
Date:August 20, 2012
Quality:
1
out of
5
Value:
1
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
1
out of
5
When you want to make big $$ with a book, pitch it to the largest audience possible. Certainly the author of this toxic book had that in mind, positioning himself (and the potential buyer) as the cool, enlightened thinker who is “beyond categories,” neither liberal nor conservative, etc. This passes for wisdom in what is called the “emergent” church. I’ll propose a better name: “submergent post-Christian poppycock,” for it certainly submerges Christianity (as in drowning). The author claims he accepts the historic creeds of the church (Apostles’ and Nicene) and believes in the Bible (sort of). What his religion is based on is (surprise!) “love for all creation,” which, as in any religious book written post-1960, is the only thing required of Christians. He is correct: the Bible says a lot about love—but also a lot about living morally, which requires self-control and self-discipline—in short, saying “No” to oneself, something that Christian authors over the centuries took for granted. “Love is all you need” is the sentiment of Lennon and McCartney, not of the Bible—you DO need more than just love. Singing Kum Ba Yah is nice, but the Christian life is a little more demanding than that, and all our individual and global problems will not be solved by a group hug. (When your wife catches you with another woman, see if she’ll buy your “love is all you need” excuse.)
Any book like this is bound to make a few valid points about the failings of Christianity. Granted, there is much to criticize. But I hardly think this author’s vision of spirituality as “smile a lot and be tolerant” is any closer to Christianity than what you could find in any church.
I was, frankly, horrified that Zondervan, which used to be reliably Christian, published this load of poisonous poppycock. To quote Jesus (a good source, in my opinion), “You cannot love God and money.” The book is making money for them now, but wait a few years and watch how evangelicals go the way of the mainlines, i.e., losing members by the thousands, since there just isn’t much excitement in getting up on Sunday morning to hear the preacher say “Smile, be tolerant, and recycle.” That, in a nutshell, is what the “emergent” church is, an attempt by so-called Christians at getting the approval (or at least the attention) of unbelievers by saying, “Hey, we’re not hung up on doctrine or morals—it’s all about love and not leaving a big carbon footprint!” Whatever this is, it isn’t exactly a life-enriching, soul-stirring faith. It bears a disturbing resemblance to the watery faith people have when they call themselves “spiritual but not religious.”
When I read this sort of tripe, I can’t help but wonder: Don’t people realize that Bibles are very inexpensive, and that the time you wasted on this sort of post-Christian drivel could be spent reading through one of the Gospels, say, Matthew or Luke, where you would get a VERY clear idea of what Christians are supposed to think or do. Of course, Jesus wasn’t as entertaining or clever as our post-Christian “spiritual” authors, since he wasn’t trying to make a buck, and he took his message seriously. That certainly isn’t true of Brian MacLaren.
Any book like this is bound to make a few valid points about the failings of Christianity. Granted, there is much to criticize. But I hardly think this author’s vision of spirituality as “smile a lot and be tolerant” is any closer to Christianity than what you could find in any church.
I was, frankly, horrified that Zondervan, which used to be reliably Christian, published this load of poisonous poppycock. To quote Jesus (a good source, in my opinion), “You cannot love God and money.” The book is making money for them now, but wait a few years and watch how evangelicals go the way of the mainlines, i.e., losing members by the thousands, since there just isn’t much excitement in getting up on Sunday morning to hear the preacher say “Smile, be tolerant, and recycle.” That, in a nutshell, is what the “emergent” church is, an attempt by so-called Christians at getting the approval (or at least the attention) of unbelievers by saying, “Hey, we’re not hung up on doctrine or morals—it’s all about love and not leaving a big carbon footprint!” Whatever this is, it isn’t exactly a life-enriching, soul-stirring faith. It bears a disturbing resemblance to the watery faith people have when they call themselves “spiritual but not religious.”
When I read this sort of tripe, I can’t help but wonder: Don’t people realize that Bibles are very inexpensive, and that the time you wasted on this sort of post-Christian drivel could be spent reading through one of the Gospels, say, Matthew or Luke, where you would get a VERY clear idea of what Christians are supposed to think or do. Of course, Jesus wasn’t as entertaining or clever as our post-Christian “spiritual” authors, since he wasn’t trying to make a buck, and he took his message seriously. That certainly isn’t true of Brian MacLaren.
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Review 2 for A Generous Orthodoxy
Overall Rating:
This is not a Christian book.
Date:May 13, 2011
Lois
Location:New Berlin, WI
Age:55-65
Gender:female
Quality:
3
out of
5
Value:
3
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
4
out of
5
The Emerging Church is not Christian. It's a 1970 comeback of Eastern Mysticism. This is New Age. Do not be deceived.
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Review 3 for A Generous Orthodoxy
This review is fromA Generous Orthodoxy.
Overall Rating:
Date:December 20, 2009
Roberta
Garbage! I would not waste my money on this book. It doesn't take too long for one who is grounded in the Word to realize that it is absolute apostasy!
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Review 4 for A Generous Orthodoxy
This review is fromA Generous Orthodoxy.
Overall Rating:
Date:July 4, 2008
Steve D.
Brian McLaren is obviously a person of leadership savvy who is speaking to the concerns of many (especially younger persons)within the church. While I welcome the general concept behind this book's title (highlighting the contributions of various expressions of Christianity), I am concerned by its philosophical sloppiness. Frankly, it is frustrating to hear McLaren and others saying essentially that one can be a child of Descartes and the Enlightenment or adopt a post-foundationalist approach to Christian thought. One wonders why the more nuanced epistemological considerations of thinkers like Robert Audi, William Alston, and David Clark (see his To Know and Love God) seem to be left untouched. In addition to these epistemological questions, I find that McLaren is not particularly good at framing the issues he wishes to discuss. For example, while he does not advocate universalism, it sounds like he (unnecessarily) places in tension the answering of certain soteriological questions and the engagement of the church's mission. Yet, as he says, he intends to be a bit mischievious in his presentation. However, I am not convinced that this is a virtue when discussing such important matters. I recommend this book because it is influencing many people, not because it is particularly compelling.
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Review 5 for A Generous Orthodoxy
This review is fromA Generous Orthodoxy.
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Date:March 12, 2008
Timothy Sander
Do not waste your money or your time with this book. It contains more heresy than orthodoxy. In fact, the title itself is an oxymoron --- by its very nature, orthodoxy is not "generous"; it draws the line in the sand. The only line McClaren draws is against true orthodoxy. He claims to believe the Truth, but by the time he's through twisting things around, the Truth has gotten lost in his post-modern fog. I read this book at the request of a friend, but I can't think of one good thing to say about it.
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Review 6 for A Generous Orthodoxy
This review is fromA Generous Orthodoxy.
Overall Rating:
Date:November 22, 2007
David
McLaren's "A Generous Orthodoxy" is neither "generous", nor "orthodox". The book begins with an experiential description of seven different Christian traditions and of how McLaren discovered the particular emphases of each group against the (primarily) negative experiences of the formation of his faith. Unfortunately he treats each Christian tradition from the perspective of his own experiences rather than from solid scholarly research. The end result is that he labels the "Jesus" of each tradition is an extremely reductionist manner. As the book is then developed from this analysis, the whole of the book is tainted with a very poor examination of traditions that deserve far better. In addition, the author refuses to be clear on major points of theological enterprise (e.g. the place of hell in a "generous orthodoxy"), and leaves the reader with the experience of extreme frustration, followed by deep sadness that this author is described as being on "the cutting edge" of post-modernity, and a "must-read" for students of the emerging church. McLaren then defines how people who are "generous" fit within a framework that he describes as "emerging". In the process, through invective, pushes out of this circle those who do not hold to his view of what constitutes "Orthodoxy". The only reason to read this book is to understand McLaren's thinking when confronted by those who uphold him as an influence leader of a new wave in the emerging church. Post-modernity deserves much better than this.
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Review 7 for A Generous Orthodoxy
This review is fromA Generous Orthodoxy.
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Date:August 22, 2007
Tim
This book is a clear exposition of what kind of influence postmodernism and oeucumenism can mean in the church. It is a direct threat to biblical doctrine and to sound scriptural exegesis. I would not, at any rate, recommand this book to someone who isn't strongly rooted in the scriptures and the truth revealed in them.
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Review 8 for A Generous Orthodoxy
This review is fromA Generous Orthodoxy.
Overall Rating:
Date:July 26, 2007
Brian
For the record, McLaren states in this book, "The generous orthodoxy of this book . . . consistently, unequivocally, and unapologetically upholds and affirms the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds." McLaren goes on to say "Let me go on record as saying that I believe sound doctrine is very, very, VERY important (Titus 2:1-3:11), and that bad doctrine, while not the root of all evil, is a despicable accomplice to a good bit of evil in the world." I hope these two quotes offer a bit of clarity as some think this book distorts the Christian faith. I would say that this thoughtful book does quite the opposite. I found it to be a very eye opening and intriguing book. Any Christian would do their faith a great service by opening these pages and reading them fresh.
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Review 9 for A Generous Orthodoxy
Overall Rating:
Date:June 8, 2006
Kymberleigh
A friend of mine heartily recommended this book to me, and I am very glad that I followed his advice. It was encouraging to read a book that has a Christ-centric focus and delves into the similarities between various Christian denominations, rather than the differences. I found it to be an enlightening book, both spiritually and academically, and was encouraged by the loving challenge to move beyond the artificial barriers of denominations and walk the path where the focus of my faith is Jesus and His call to love one another, rather than the dogma of any particular church.
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Review 10 for A Generous Orthodoxy
This review is fromA Generous Orthodoxy.
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Date:May 29, 2005
Roger N. Overton
Brian McLaren has some good points on occassion, but most of the book twists and abuses Christianity. He doesn't like traditional Fundamentalism, Protestantism, Calvinism, etc., so he changes what they mean so he can still use the labels. Some how he even blames Calvinism for slavery, Manifest Destiny, and the south African aparthied. I would recommend this only to those who have strong Biblical discernment who are studying postmodernism in the church.
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