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The Story We Find Ourselves In: Further Adventures of a New Kind of Christian
After many years as a successful pastor, Brian McLaren has found, as more and more Christians are finding, that none of the current strains of Christianity fully describes his own faith. In The Story We Find Ourselves In -- the much anticipated sequel to his award-winning book A New Kind of Christian-- McLaren captures a new spirit of a relevant Christianity, where traditional divisions and doctrinal differences give way to a focus on God and the story of God's love for this world. If you are searching for a deeper life with God-- one that moves beyond the rhetoric of denominational and theological categories-- this delightful and inspiring fictional tale will provide a picture of what it could mean to recapture a joyful spiritual life.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published February 21, 2003
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554 people want to read
About the author
Brian D. McLaren
129 books555 followersBrian D. McLaren is an internationally known speaker and the author of over ten highly acclaimed books on contemporary Christianity, including A New Kind of Christian, A Generous Orthodoxy, and The Secret Message of Jesus.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
June 4, 2019
I liked this one even more than its predecessor. It's less hokey and more insightful in a lot of ways, at least in my opinion. Even after leaving the faith officially, I'm always a sucker for any attempts to boil down the core themes and story of the Bible. McLaren nails it pretty well here: for all its faults, it's a pretty cohesive ancient narrative calling for revolutionary change about the way things are done on this planet of ours. It's hard not to be inspired by its message (and forget all the nasty parts) as McLaren relays them here. For questioning Christians, this book will probably give you a more workable paradigm than what a lot of fundamentalists have handed down. For nonbelievers, I'd take a look just to get a glimpse of why that sixty-six-book compilation still has such a hold on the human psyche and heart.
May 14, 2023
The five-star rating is purely personal. I know it won’t be a lot of people’s cup of tea. But for my faith journey, this was just the book I needed.
It puts forth a story of Christianity, not a history, not a justification for the Bible, a story. One that resonates with me, with the idea that God started this world and hoped that His (I am using the single masculine pronoun but I don’t mean it as single masculine, nor does, I believe, McLaren) children, human beings, as the most intelligent of the creations, would take good care of it. Would love one another. The story is told mainly by a Jamaican minister, Neo, mainly in the backdrop of the Galápagos Islands, to an Australian biologist who is dying of cancer.
The setting moves to Washington, to the house of a preacher in a semi-fictional Washington church who also takes on Neo’s story of Creation.
As I said, if you’re not interested in religious books, I doubt you’d like this one. Equally, if you are hard-core Bible Belt, I doubt you’d like it either. But if you need a spiritual pick-me-up and you are a seeker, I think you would like this one.
I didn’t actually read the book, although I am thinking of getting a copy, I listened to the Audible version. I actually found the narrator’s putting on of a Jamaican accent a little overdone and sometimes I found that distracting. Otherwise, however, I enjoyed listening to it on my morning walks and on board a plane.
It puts forth a story of Christianity, not a history, not a justification for the Bible, a story. One that resonates with me, with the idea that God started this world and hoped that His (I am using the single masculine pronoun but I don’t mean it as single masculine, nor does, I believe, McLaren) children, human beings, as the most intelligent of the creations, would take good care of it. Would love one another. The story is told mainly by a Jamaican minister, Neo, mainly in the backdrop of the Galápagos Islands, to an Australian biologist who is dying of cancer.
The setting moves to Washington, to the house of a preacher in a semi-fictional Washington church who also takes on Neo’s story of Creation.
As I said, if you’re not interested in religious books, I doubt you’d like this one. Equally, if you are hard-core Bible Belt, I doubt you’d like it either. But if you need a spiritual pick-me-up and you are a seeker, I think you would like this one.
I didn’t actually read the book, although I am thinking of getting a copy, I listened to the Audible version. I actually found the narrator’s putting on of a Jamaican accent a little overdone and sometimes I found that distracting. Otherwise, however, I enjoyed listening to it on my morning walks and on board a plane.
January 3, 2023
Overall, I very much appreciate this book for it's unapologetic presentation of some very tough questions that plague me. I related to several of the characters except that I am not so easily convinced at this point in my life. I was disappointed that the concept of Heaven/Hell was not further conjectured, but on the other hand, I appreciate that it wasn't speculated about too much. Much of the conversation between the main characters seemed a little hokey, but I also can't think of a better way to present the material. I tend to recoil from the idea of one person being a sage that has ALL the knowledge (like Neo did), but I could overlook that for the overall message of the book. Thank you for being brave enough to tackle these questions so boldly, Brian McLaren.
February 23, 2024
I didn't realise what I was getting when I got this audiobook, just figuring that if it was Brian McLaren it would be good. And it was. Through a story, McLaren reframes Christianity--indeed, creation itself--as a story in which we are not only all participants, but active co-creators with God, given his spirit and the responsibility to move creation forward. For people whom generations of doom and gloom preaching has made the idea of God or Jesus unappealing, McLaren offers a total reworking of the narrative which remains true to the real story, and dispenses with layer upon layer of human-added detritus that has obscured the reality of the Good News for many people (in Western society especially).
January 14, 2018
Although some readers may be annoyed by the writing style (not quite a novel but not quite a "normal" theological book), Mclaren's "creative-non-fiction" is a valuable vehicle for telling "the Story We Find Ourselves In." Whether you agree with everything or not (I didn't) you will be challenged and benefit from reading Mclaren's narrative theology. I prefered the first installment "a New Kind of Christian" but also enjoyed this book. Maybe one day I'll get around to the 3rd installment of the trilogy.
February 19, 2008
McLaren makes his case for a metaphorical understanding of the poetic and mythical passages of Genesis.
Neo is in the Galapagos Islands, in conversation with a biologist. He uses a metaphor of invasive species to talk about misreading the Bible. The early Christians “had to adopt Greek terminology, and terms can be kind of like Trojan horses, bringing in foreign ways of thinking that aren’t native to the story.” For the Greeks there was an ideal world (spiritual & superior, complete) and there was a real world (physical & inferior, subject to change and decay). The writer of Genesis didn’t have a concept of natural v. supernatural or real v. ideal. For him, there was one world, not two—one universe with matter, life, and God. Matter and spirit are integrated. He speaks of God walking in the garden with Adam and Eve. To insert Plato’s dichotomies is to bring an invasive species to the text. In the same way, the “fall” wasn’t from perfection, as the Greeks understood it, it was from “goodness”.
Adam and Eve were in a garden—they were hunters/gatherers, living in dependence on the world, to find fruits and nuts and leaves. They lived in harmony. It’s not a perfect world in Greek terms, it’s “good” and it’s emerging, evolving. It’s a real story, not an imposed story.
He says it’s obvious that the Genesis writer depended on local myths. There were similar myths with gardens, snakes, floods, etc. What’s interesting is how the Genesis version of the story differs from all the other versions. Namely, matter doesn’t come from pre-existing matter, but from the mind of God—it is spoken into existence, given meaning, being, and purpose by God. Also, monotheism.
The first creation account is from God’s perspective. The second is from man’s. Man’s account affirms that he was not meant to be alone. God engineered him to be incomplete—literally missing a rib. God wants Adam to feel incomplete on purpose. “We feel an ache in our side, like some part of us is missing, so that we’ll always be looking outside ourselves for belonging and connection, for it is not good for a person to be alone. Eve completes Adam. Men and women need each other. People need each other. Man has a network of relationships with all of creation, naming it and enjoying it. God is not enough—God had in mind that we would be in relationship with creation.
There are two dangers—one that says all we need is God. The other which says all we need is each other. Neither of these options is good enough.
Humans are made in the image of God. We are co-creators. We’re capable of giving being to new things, babies, ideas, language, poems, songs, homes, cities, civilizations, religions. Other religions are part of this story because they are “creations created by creative creatures.”
The secular evolution story says we are at the top of the food chain with no one God, no one to challenge our claim as supreme beings. We can do whatever we want with creation. This story explains much, but it leaves out “human experience—the joy, sorrow, outrage, grief, hope, ongoing, wonder, love—the awareness that you’re alive and that you’re going to die and that both of those facts matter to you and mean something to you.”
Adam and Eve are hunters/gatherers. Their brain capacity is increasing. They develop language, then technology, and technology develops faster than morality. It’s not just one crisis, one fall from supernatural to natural. It’s a series of crises. Adam and Eve go beyond the limits of creatures, they want to be independent. Taking the fruit is symbolic of disrupting this balance, tasting evil, losing trust, feeling shame, fear. Cain and Able fight over religion. Abel brings an animal, he’s a pastoralist, a herder of sheep. He’s still dependant, nomadic. Cain brings crops, he’s a sophisticated agriculturalist, with no need to keep moving, you’re independent. “when you settle down, you can accumulate stuff. You don’t have to travel light. So ownership becomes a big deal. And when you can own and accumulate, you have stuff to protect, because others might steal it. And not only that, but other people might want to steal your land.” Or you want neighbours’ land…Cain killed Able in a field. So agriculturalists kill pastoralists and then build cities, then the Tower of Babel. Babel was possible because of technology—brick. This is telling a larger story about how mankind developed and moved away from dependence on God to prideful independence.
Neo says that miracles are overrated because there is a mechanism; we just don’t understand it. This is another division between natural and supernatural. Jesus turned water into wine. Grape vines turn water and soil into juice everyday, and we don’t call this a miracle. If we understand the world as being ruled by natural laws—like a really big cosmic pool table, where somebody racked up the balls and took the first shot, and everything is still happening, balls rolling over here and there and everywhere—if God interferes and redirects a ball, we call it supernatural. But if God is just as real as nature, then it’s “natural” for him to become a player now and then.
Neo is in the Galapagos Islands, in conversation with a biologist. He uses a metaphor of invasive species to talk about misreading the Bible. The early Christians “had to adopt Greek terminology, and terms can be kind of like Trojan horses, bringing in foreign ways of thinking that aren’t native to the story.” For the Greeks there was an ideal world (spiritual & superior, complete) and there was a real world (physical & inferior, subject to change and decay). The writer of Genesis didn’t have a concept of natural v. supernatural or real v. ideal. For him, there was one world, not two—one universe with matter, life, and God. Matter and spirit are integrated. He speaks of God walking in the garden with Adam and Eve. To insert Plato’s dichotomies is to bring an invasive species to the text. In the same way, the “fall” wasn’t from perfection, as the Greeks understood it, it was from “goodness”.
Adam and Eve were in a garden—they were hunters/gatherers, living in dependence on the world, to find fruits and nuts and leaves. They lived in harmony. It’s not a perfect world in Greek terms, it’s “good” and it’s emerging, evolving. It’s a real story, not an imposed story.
He says it’s obvious that the Genesis writer depended on local myths. There were similar myths with gardens, snakes, floods, etc. What’s interesting is how the Genesis version of the story differs from all the other versions. Namely, matter doesn’t come from pre-existing matter, but from the mind of God—it is spoken into existence, given meaning, being, and purpose by God. Also, monotheism.
The first creation account is from God’s perspective. The second is from man’s. Man’s account affirms that he was not meant to be alone. God engineered him to be incomplete—literally missing a rib. God wants Adam to feel incomplete on purpose. “We feel an ache in our side, like some part of us is missing, so that we’ll always be looking outside ourselves for belonging and connection, for it is not good for a person to be alone. Eve completes Adam. Men and women need each other. People need each other. Man has a network of relationships with all of creation, naming it and enjoying it. God is not enough—God had in mind that we would be in relationship with creation.
There are two dangers—one that says all we need is God. The other which says all we need is each other. Neither of these options is good enough.
Humans are made in the image of God. We are co-creators. We’re capable of giving being to new things, babies, ideas, language, poems, songs, homes, cities, civilizations, religions. Other religions are part of this story because they are “creations created by creative creatures.”
The secular evolution story says we are at the top of the food chain with no one God, no one to challenge our claim as supreme beings. We can do whatever we want with creation. This story explains much, but it leaves out “human experience—the joy, sorrow, outrage, grief, hope, ongoing, wonder, love—the awareness that you’re alive and that you’re going to die and that both of those facts matter to you and mean something to you.”
Adam and Eve are hunters/gatherers. Their brain capacity is increasing. They develop language, then technology, and technology develops faster than morality. It’s not just one crisis, one fall from supernatural to natural. It’s a series of crises. Adam and Eve go beyond the limits of creatures, they want to be independent. Taking the fruit is symbolic of disrupting this balance, tasting evil, losing trust, feeling shame, fear. Cain and Able fight over religion. Abel brings an animal, he’s a pastoralist, a herder of sheep. He’s still dependant, nomadic. Cain brings crops, he’s a sophisticated agriculturalist, with no need to keep moving, you’re independent. “when you settle down, you can accumulate stuff. You don’t have to travel light. So ownership becomes a big deal. And when you can own and accumulate, you have stuff to protect, because others might steal it. And not only that, but other people might want to steal your land.” Or you want neighbours’ land…Cain killed Able in a field. So agriculturalists kill pastoralists and then build cities, then the Tower of Babel. Babel was possible because of technology—brick. This is telling a larger story about how mankind developed and moved away from dependence on God to prideful independence.
Neo says that miracles are overrated because there is a mechanism; we just don’t understand it. This is another division between natural and supernatural. Jesus turned water into wine. Grape vines turn water and soil into juice everyday, and we don’t call this a miracle. If we understand the world as being ruled by natural laws—like a really big cosmic pool table, where somebody racked up the balls and took the first shot, and everything is still happening, balls rolling over here and there and everywhere—if God interferes and redirects a ball, we call it supernatural. But if God is just as real as nature, then it’s “natural” for him to become a player now and then.
March 2, 2019
Anything McLaren writes never fails to inspire me, and helps me envision a new way of being Christian. Brian's story, actually God's story, is made compelling and convicting. McLaren outlines a narrative theology that sometimes raises more questions than answers, but is always thought-provoking.
August 6, 2023
Poses some great questions. Interesting way of doing that through a story of how a group of people interact. For me the story doesn’t really work & is a bit forced. Good questions section at end of book. Could work well for a group read.
April 9, 2024
Probably two main parts in the book I’d recommend but lots was random plot details and fictitious writing.
Still really enjoy his approach to life and critical lens that he applies to modern religion
Still really enjoy his approach to life and critical lens that he applies to modern religion
January 22, 2020
Accidentally came across this book and found it preachy and divisive.
February 4, 2021
Quite complicated. Interesting though.
July 4, 2024
3.5: I liked how the author used the fiction format in this book, which is much the same content as the other nonfiction book I read by this same author.
January 14, 2023
"Creative nonfiction or dialogical essay" exploring theological issues through a cheesy storyline of a dying woman meeting an inspired believer. Reviews the "6 Cs" in a conversational format. Although I understand the impetus for writing in a story format, I ended up skipping most of the "story" and just reading the basic theological writings. A lot of focus on evolution/creation
6 C's: Creation: ="This story that begins and ends with creation is all about creation in between its beginning and end, this story we find ourselves in" Crisis, Calling, Conversation, Church, Consummation: Instead of history being driven by the past, what if history is constantly being invited to receive the gift of the future.
Interesting take on the fall: good is better than “perfect” as in creation was made to continually grow/change. There was no dualism in the Jewish thought of the fall. Curious how the author manages satan. An archetype maybe?
Ponderings:
If you get a feel for this story we find ourselves in, I think you’ll come to realize that it has room for all the other stories too. It doesn’t exclude them or mock them, or despise them. I believe it’s the story in which all other stories can find themselves too
It’s like a lot of things in science. Language is the best tool we have, but it keeps getting in the east. So in science, we revert to mathematics. And in theology, we revert to poetry.
Creation story:
For me, it is a story that gives us in-formation..a story that forms us inwardly with truth and meaning-something we moderns seem to value far less highly than our ancestors did
6 C's: Creation: ="This story that begins and ends with creation is all about creation in between its beginning and end, this story we find ourselves in" Crisis, Calling, Conversation, Church, Consummation: Instead of history being driven by the past, what if history is constantly being invited to receive the gift of the future.
Interesting take on the fall: good is better than “perfect” as in creation was made to continually grow/change. There was no dualism in the Jewish thought of the fall. Curious how the author manages satan. An archetype maybe?
Ponderings:
If you get a feel for this story we find ourselves in, I think you’ll come to realize that it has room for all the other stories too. It doesn’t exclude them or mock them, or despise them. I believe it’s the story in which all other stories can find themselves too
It’s like a lot of things in science. Language is the best tool we have, but it keeps getting in the east. So in science, we revert to mathematics. And in theology, we revert to poetry.
Creation story:
For me, it is a story that gives us in-formation..a story that forms us inwardly with truth and meaning-something we moderns seem to value far less highly than our ancestors did
November 26, 2015
I will try to give a very brief review of this book as I'm busy writing a more comprehensive blog, interacting with some of the concepts - or in the metaphor of the book - interacting with the "story we find ourselves in".
Brian McClaren basically tells the story of two scientists, one believing and the other an atheist, and how "God and Faith" is re-told in a new way; in a way to be understood as "the story we find ourselves in". The story is told using 6 C's, capturing the whole Biblical story in a possible new understanding, with new metaphors, realising that we interpret the Biblical texts from our current paradigm which may be quite different than the Hebrew or even the Greek paradigm - the paradigm in which these stories were told from generation to generation.
Overall: Recommended for a fresh understanding of being a Christian in THIS world NOW; and not being a Christian as 'n "pie-in-the-sky-when-I-die", unrelated to our daily living. I enjoyed this book and didn't find it so "revolutionary" as the writer suggests in the Foreword; actually pretty much the way I read theology and doctrine as a Reformed minister.
The 6 C's:
Creation: is described as God creating everything with "in the beginning", and ends with "I make all things new". "This story that begins and ends with creation is all about creation in between its beginning and end, this story we find ourselves in" (Kindle Locations 501-503). What I particularly liked was the explanation of going back to "before the creation". Before everything, at the time of "nothingness". At that time, there was already a "Someone" - God. Difficult for us to even comprehend because when we thing about "nothing", we're already making that "nothing" "something" because we're thinking about it - does it make sense? We need a bit philosophical thinking here.
Crisis: This metaphor re-tells how human advancement caused a crisis, beautifully imagined through Cain & Abel. This "C" is not all doom, but actually a good understanding of our fall but also our ability to stand-up and continue with our purpose of being "junior partners" in emerging this creation to its possibilities.
Calling: tells about Abraham's calling, but importantly not a calling to be a blessing for yourself, but to be a blessing for ALL. Again, the vision is God's vision for a creation of reconciled, hope, love humans.
Conversation: tells the story of humans going through cycles of rebellion, repenting, re-uniting with God and then, rebellion again. It focuses on God's patience and faithfulness, despite humans missing the point through history. We are part of an ongoing conversation with and about God.
Christ: This "C" is introduced by different metaphors of understanding Jesus' earthly life and mission. It ends with the fact that we are called to be followers who joins Him in his "revolution", his mission of saving and reconciling creation.
Church: This part starts with the notion that Christianity has become a system of beliefs instead of being a way of living. The role of the Church is; being a community of imperfect but growing people learning to live in a new way and joining together in the ongoing mission of Jesus - love, joy, service, peacemaking and hope. A community participating in God's mission of love, hope and reconciliation.
Consummation: The last "C" ends by trying to explain the "end", "eternal life", using a very valuable image/metaphor. Instead of history being driven by the past, what if history is constantly being invited to receive the gift of the future. Like 2 parents at 2 ends, letting their toddler trying to walk from the one to the other - the "other" being the future who invites us. In this story, we are a community who are learning to live in the present the way we live in the future.
Just one critique: to me the book could actually end after the last "C" - what followed didn't really kept the "suspense" to read to the end - the only reason why I did, was: I hate leaving books at 80%; its as if it keeps on nagging at me as an unfinished project - yes, that's me being ADHD (and maybe a bit OCD in there).
Brian McClaren basically tells the story of two scientists, one believing and the other an atheist, and how "God and Faith" is re-told in a new way; in a way to be understood as "the story we find ourselves in". The story is told using 6 C's, capturing the whole Biblical story in a possible new understanding, with new metaphors, realising that we interpret the Biblical texts from our current paradigm which may be quite different than the Hebrew or even the Greek paradigm - the paradigm in which these stories were told from generation to generation.
Overall: Recommended for a fresh understanding of being a Christian in THIS world NOW; and not being a Christian as 'n "pie-in-the-sky-when-I-die", unrelated to our daily living. I enjoyed this book and didn't find it so "revolutionary" as the writer suggests in the Foreword; actually pretty much the way I read theology and doctrine as a Reformed minister.
The 6 C's:
Creation: is described as God creating everything with "in the beginning", and ends with "I make all things new". "This story that begins and ends with creation is all about creation in between its beginning and end, this story we find ourselves in" (Kindle Locations 501-503). What I particularly liked was the explanation of going back to "before the creation". Before everything, at the time of "nothingness". At that time, there was already a "Someone" - God. Difficult for us to even comprehend because when we thing about "nothing", we're already making that "nothing" "something" because we're thinking about it - does it make sense? We need a bit philosophical thinking here.
Crisis: This metaphor re-tells how human advancement caused a crisis, beautifully imagined through Cain & Abel. This "C" is not all doom, but actually a good understanding of our fall but also our ability to stand-up and continue with our purpose of being "junior partners" in emerging this creation to its possibilities.
Calling: tells about Abraham's calling, but importantly not a calling to be a blessing for yourself, but to be a blessing for ALL. Again, the vision is God's vision for a creation of reconciled, hope, love humans.
Conversation: tells the story of humans going through cycles of rebellion, repenting, re-uniting with God and then, rebellion again. It focuses on God's patience and faithfulness, despite humans missing the point through history. We are part of an ongoing conversation with and about God.
Christ: This "C" is introduced by different metaphors of understanding Jesus' earthly life and mission. It ends with the fact that we are called to be followers who joins Him in his "revolution", his mission of saving and reconciling creation.
Church: This part starts with the notion that Christianity has become a system of beliefs instead of being a way of living. The role of the Church is; being a community of imperfect but growing people learning to live in a new way and joining together in the ongoing mission of Jesus - love, joy, service, peacemaking and hope. A community participating in God's mission of love, hope and reconciliation.
Consummation: The last "C" ends by trying to explain the "end", "eternal life", using a very valuable image/metaphor. Instead of history being driven by the past, what if history is constantly being invited to receive the gift of the future. Like 2 parents at 2 ends, letting their toddler trying to walk from the one to the other - the "other" being the future who invites us. In this story, we are a community who are learning to live in the present the way we live in the future.
Just one critique: to me the book could actually end after the last "C" - what followed didn't really kept the "suspense" to read to the end - the only reason why I did, was: I hate leaving books at 80%; its as if it keeps on nagging at me as an unfinished project - yes, that's me being ADHD (and maybe a bit OCD in there).
February 27, 2011
The best McLaren book I've read! Okay, so I've only read two. I'm going through the New Kind of Christian series (in preparation for his newest book, A New Kind of Christianity), and this is the second book in the installment.
Book One (A New Kind of Christian) deals with WHY people need to step back and evaluate how they think about God and the church. Many of the doctrines we believe are orthodox Christianity are flavored by thoughts from the "Modern" era, and even from the era of Greek philosophy. So he argues that (Western?) Christians need to rethink what it means to be a Christian in a society that is starting to look more "post-modern."
Book Two (The Story We Find Ourselves In) (does that grammar only bother me?) deals with WHAT a possible re-evaluation of Christianity might look like. The author starts with the creation story and moves throughout scripture telling the story of God's people. But instead of focusing on the normal parts of each story (a snake telling Eve to eat a forbidden fruit), McLaren grabs them from different angles (people evolved into social constructions and technology at a faster rate than their moral ability). Then he presses all the ("reinterpreted"?) stories together and forms a cohesive unit.
This book meant a lot to me. After the first book, I was left with a lot of questions about what it might look like to take his presuppositions seriously. This answered many of my questions. I know that McLaren doesn't really like dwelling on questions like "What happens to me after I die?" and "What about people that have never had anyone explain 'the gospel' to them?", but he humors all his readers who are (like me) just dying to find out how he would answer those questions. And, surprisingly, he left me quite satisfied.
Book One (A New Kind of Christian) deals with WHY people need to step back and evaluate how they think about God and the church. Many of the doctrines we believe are orthodox Christianity are flavored by thoughts from the "Modern" era, and even from the era of Greek philosophy. So he argues that (Western?) Christians need to rethink what it means to be a Christian in a society that is starting to look more "post-modern."
Book Two (The Story We Find Ourselves In) (does that grammar only bother me?) deals with WHAT a possible re-evaluation of Christianity might look like. The author starts with the creation story and moves throughout scripture telling the story of God's people. But instead of focusing on the normal parts of each story (a snake telling Eve to eat a forbidden fruit), McLaren grabs them from different angles (people evolved into social constructions and technology at a faster rate than their moral ability). Then he presses all the ("reinterpreted"?) stories together and forms a cohesive unit.
This book meant a lot to me. After the first book, I was left with a lot of questions about what it might look like to take his presuppositions seriously. This answered many of my questions. I know that McLaren doesn't really like dwelling on questions like "What happens to me after I die?" and "What about people that have never had anyone explain 'the gospel' to them?", but he humors all his readers who are (like me) just dying to find out how he would answer those questions. And, surprisingly, he left me quite satisfied.
January 17, 2014
A continuation of McLaren's "creative nonfiction" work, following the friendship of disillusioned evangelical pastor Dan Poole and his daughter's former high school science teacher, Neil Edward Oliver, but everyone calls him Neo. Another friend, an Australian naturalist working in the Galapagos who strikes a friendship with Neo, discovers her cancer is worsening and later joins the Pooles in the States. As with the first in what became a trilogy (A New Kind of Christian), the characters eventually become dear enough to the reader, but it's all contrived in the end to provide a framework for the theological and philosophical arguments the book is really about: the story of God in seven "episodes" that encompass all of history and scripture. (Almost) nobody talks about this stuff all the time! The weaknesses of the format aside, it is a compelling invitation into the grand narrative that God has been and is telling in our world. It takes on poignancy with its inclusion of the events of 9-11, and I can see how much of the cultural metanarrative of the last decade has been heavily influenced by said events, but in the end all great stories ultimately derive from the greatest Story ever told.
March 13, 2008
Not quite a novel, this is a postmodern theology presented through the postmodern medium of narrative. I'm curious as to how people of other backgrounds might respond to this book. Although some of McLaren's descriptions of Christian concepts are lofty and inspiring, I can't help but feel that this book fails both as an intellectual defense of postmodern theology and as a believable story. For my part, as a Christian who holds to a high view of Scripture, I feel very uncomfortable with the way postmodern theology bends the Bible to mean whatever the theologian subjectively sees or wants to see; and I am particularly dissatisfied with where McLaren ends up as a result. From the standpoint of story, I also find it hard to believe that McLaren's characters--supposed intellectuals and scientists--would buy Neo's "story we find ourselves in" merely for its subjective beauty without deeply questioning its objective validity. However, I must give McLaren kudos for figuring out a way to make a book on theology a lot less painful to read than it could have been.
November 29, 2024
Second in a trilogy, this could easily stand alone. McLaren continues to look at being a Christian in the post-modern world, this time from the perspective of PhD scientists working in the galapagos. Neo, the lively Jamaican high-school teacher is on a world tour sabbatical, and stops to take on a temporary job as a tour guide, introducing staff and visitors to the God who created such amazing biodiversity.
Fascinating discussions about evolution from a Christian perspective, and the whole 'story' from creation through crisis to the final consummation still awaiting us. The fictional setting makes it possible to agree with a great deal while being unsure about other parts, and the whole is extremely thought-provoking. More non-fiction than fiction, the characters aren't particularly well-developed and I didn't feel any emotional attachment, but I still enjoyed this very much and would recommend it to anyone.
Perhaps four and a half stars would be fairer.
Latest longer review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
Fascinating discussions about evolution from a Christian perspective, and the whole 'story' from creation through crisis to the final consummation still awaiting us. The fictional setting makes it possible to agree with a great deal while being unsure about other parts, and the whole is extremely thought-provoking. More non-fiction than fiction, the characters aren't particularly well-developed and I didn't feel any emotional attachment, but I still enjoyed this very much and would recommend it to anyone.
Perhaps four and a half stars would be fairer.
Latest longer review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
May 29, 2013
Brian McLaren always challenges me to think deeper about faith, Christianity, church, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God. This book is no different. It is a beautiful retelling of the gospel story and our part in this every unfolding story of God that we find ourselves in. Here is one of my favorite quotes...
"A violin master is someone who can take an instrument of wood and wire and horsehair and play it so that it yields music more beautiful than anyone else can play. And for the disciples to call Jesus 'master' would mean...yes, it would mean that no one else could take the raw materials of life - skin and bone and blood and space and time and words and deeds and waking and sleeping and eating and walking - and elicit from them a beautiful song of truth and goodness, as Jesus did."
Excellent book and resource as we continue to think about what it means to be a Christian in our times, right here and right now.
"A violin master is someone who can take an instrument of wood and wire and horsehair and play it so that it yields music more beautiful than anyone else can play. And for the disciples to call Jesus 'master' would mean...yes, it would mean that no one else could take the raw materials of life - skin and bone and blood and space and time and words and deeds and waking and sleeping and eating and walking - and elicit from them a beautiful song of truth and goodness, as Jesus did."
Excellent book and resource as we continue to think about what it means to be a Christian in our times, right here and right now.
May 3, 2011
This is the second book in the "Further Adventures of a New Kind of Christian." In the first one Rev. Daniel Poole begins to doubt his calling as a pastor. Then he meets Neo, his daughter's science teacher and soccer coach, also a former pastor. Neo has come to an invigorating new way of looking at Christianity. In this book Neo has befriended a woman on his travels to Ecuador who has cancer. She is coming to the Washington DC area for medical treatment, and Neo has asked Daniel and his family to look after her. The journey they take together is touching and instructive as it opens a window and breathes fresh air into the Christian way of life.
November 6, 2014
Even if Brian McLaren hadn't honed his fiction writing skills between books, I might have been inclined to give this one a pass. The clashes and, hopefully, combinations of theology and science weigh heavily on me, and I loved having Neo and Dan and new characters analyze and critique various schools of thought about them.
Thankfully, McLaren also honed his fiction writing skills between books.
I worried a bit when he brought 9/11 into the story, I said "Oh no, here comes the shark, he's gonna jump!" to myself. Thankfully he didn't wildly overreach. I'm compelled to finish the story with book three, and I definitely could not say that after the last one.
Thankfully, McLaren also honed his fiction writing skills between books.
I worried a bit when he brought 9/11 into the story, I said "Oh no, here comes the shark, he's gonna jump!" to myself. Thankfully he didn't wildly overreach. I'm compelled to finish the story with book three, and I definitely could not say that after the last one.
June 8, 2023
An interesting and fresh way to present theology, though some might find the lectures in conversation form off-putting. The plot is helpful for the conversations and breaks up the monotony of the conversation/lectures. The Story is a beautiful retelling of the Gospel though it unnecessarily focuses on the battle between Intelligent Design and creationism. I'm not sure if that was intentional or merely caused by the main characters working on the Galapagos Islands. I loved Neo's approach to open theism in that he took neither side because neither frames their argument well. To be honest, that more describes my interest in evolution/ID/creationism.
September 24, 2009
This book, like the others in the series are quite incredible. Although McLaren is not exactly the best fiction writer, there are so many rich moments in these books that bring up points which cause you to stop and think. This ability more than makes up for the story, which seems to lack in some points and drag on with parts that don't really seem necessary. Overall, I would say that there is much that can be learned from this series, and it is a shame that many refuse to read it and solely criticize him because he can be controversial at times.
December 13, 2007
This the continuation of the book A New Kind of Christian. I would recommend reading that one first, thought it is not necessary. I would highly recommend this to anyone who would love to challenge their traditional thinking of the church in present day. However, if you are happy "doing" church on sundays and wednesdays please don't read this book, because I would rather not hear you spew on the "heresy" it contains. Please use discretion in picking this book up and read it with an open mind!!
April 4, 2015
An interesting look at narrative theology as a response to the difficulties of Christianity in our post-modern culture. As a fictionalized story of some of the authors own experiences, it is neither theologically robust nor an artfully crafted story. But the influence of acknowledged theological writings is evident, and the narrative presents the ideas within a everyday context that helps us to understand why these struggles and questions are important to people who aren't bible or theology scholars (or even members of the church). A useful bit of theology lite.
May 13, 2007
I found this second book in McLarens threesome to be really intriguing because I like story and storytelling. Not only is his style more storytelling in this book, but it's about the fact that being a person of faith is finding yourself in an ongoing story, not one that was started and already finished, or the outcome is totally clear. If you want to find out what story we are in, read this book.
January 22, 2010
While there are issues in the books where I disagree with McLaren, the story he paints in this book is beautiful and moving. I disagree with some of the science, but I do agree with the basic themes of "the story we find ourselves in." Christians can differ on issues (how many different theological stances are there within Christianity?) but still be united in purpose to bring others into relationship with Christ. Arguing will not change people's hearts, but God's love through us will.
October 1, 2009
This is book 2 of the continuing story of Dan Poole and his frienship w/ Neil Oliver(aka Neo)and his quest to find deeper meaning than offered conventional Evangelical Christianity. The book takes many twist and turns and many 'points' the book makes are told through the relationship w/ Dan and the characters he encounters. Very easy reading, and a refreshing viewpoint, esp to recovering "fundamentalists" of which I'm part of.
March 31, 2012
The use of "creative nonfiction" (as McLaren describes it in the Preface) is an effective way to explore the theological subject matter. By depicting the characters as being on a journey, the book invites readers to take their own journeys, validating the idea that we don't have to have all the answers or agree 100% with ideas presented.
While this book would stand alone, I strongly recommend reading "A New Kind of Christian" first.
While this book would stand alone, I strongly recommend reading "A New Kind of Christian" first.
July 31, 2014
McLaren shares his theology in the form of a story, which is fitting, as that is one way he approaches scripture, as story, as poetry, as an epic tale. If you are tired of a Christianity which seems to always say "no," if you are tired of a Christianity which is anti-intellectual and opposed to science, if you are tired of a Christianity which seems to always be bickering over seemingly pointless issues, this book, if you give it a chance, may give you some hope.
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