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Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned

Brian D. McLaren

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Jun 04, 2022 Sheila rated it it was amazing

“ I really don’t care if you stay Christian.”

McLaren concludes his book with this assertion and adds that the key question each human faces is not “ Should I be a Christian?” but rather “What kind of human do I want to become?” This book is divided into 3 parts. “Part one: No” details reasons for leaving Christianity altogether, including chapters on colonialism, white patriarchy, toxic theology, lack of transformation and constricted intellectualism. “Part 2: Yes” explores support for staying, “ I really don’t care if you stay Christian.”

McLaren concludes his book with this assertion and adds that the key question each human faces is not “ Should I be a Christian?” but rather “What kind of human do I want to become?” This book is divided into 3 parts. “Part one: No” details reasons for leaving Christianity altogether, including chapters on colonialism, white patriarchy, toxic theology, lack of transformation and constricted intellectualism. “Part 2: Yes” explores support for staying, including the topics of where to go ( all groups have problems), Jesus’ extraordinary life, and the fact that Christianity is still in its infancy. “Part 3: How” imagines a way forward for humanity, whether that future includes Christianity or not.

As always, McLaren’s writing offers reasoned, thoughtful support for struggling and frustrated Christians, among whom I consider myself to be one. This book will take me another reading and lots of discussion to digest, not because it is difficult to read ( it is not), but because some of the information is so new to me. For example, in the chapter on toxic theology, he details how Christianity has been based on a model of the universe where “worldly things”are allowed to change and evolve, but “ eternal things” are considered perfect and cannot change. He challenges this assumption and offers a gentle introduction to what I believe is “process theology” and asks” why can’t we Christians admit that we, like everything else in the universe are in process and that our religion, like all religions, is actually an event, constantly, unavoidably changing, for better or worse?”

More insightful info includes his list of biases all humans struggle with, found in the chapter on “Constricted Intellectualism” and the concept of “innocence addiction “(we want a victim to defend and a evil villain to oppose in order to feel both superior and innocent), which he offers as a partial explanation for the pro-life movement. And his chapter on Fermi’s Paradox ( if the universe is as old as it appears, why haven’t we been visited by alien life forms?) suggests that a new Christianity could be instrumental in preventing humanity from destroying itself.

McLaren writes with gentle humility and graciousness, gradually pulling the reader towards seeing a new vision of Christianity which offers hope for our planet and for humanity as well. ...more

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Jun 19, 2022 Matt LeFevers added it

Aug 14, 2022 Travis rated it it was amazing

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Mar 05, 2023 Heather Schlemmer marked it as to-read

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