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

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In fact, this is a big part of McLaren’s argument to Christians “on the fence” about whether to leave or stay: “how could we give up now?” So much has been accomplished; there is so much yet to do; and there is so much for those who are Christian to contribute to the becoming-better-human-beings enterprise. 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?” We with so many others of various faith traditions and cultures are people of hope and eternal perspective. Of God (Divine LOVE) and Their active creating and making all things new, despite the brokenness and violence we all see or experience. We resist narcissistic patriarchs with lives of nonviolence and compassion, in a word—LOVE. Jana Riess, author of Flunking Sainthood and The Next Mormons; senior columnist for Religion News Service Since I have included the chapter titles of Parts I and II, I have also included chapter titles for Part III in the following spoiler. However, I found these chapter titles less descriptive of their contents than was the case in the other parts. 21. Include and Transcend

Do I Stay Christian? (N277) - Nomad Podcast Brian McLaren - Do I Stay Christian? (N277) - Nomad Podcast

There are large parts of what Brian says that I’m 100% in agreement with, and other parts that worry me. I worry that there’s no discussion of the transcendence of God or that my life was renewed by the Spirit of God in a way that makes walking away literally impossible – that’s definitely my experience! Book Genre: Christian, Christianity, Faith, Health, Mental Health, Nonfiction, Religion, Self Help, Spirituality, TheologyThe irony is so stark that it’s hard to process: a Jewish movement with a Jewish founder and all-Jewish original followers becomes, in the matter of a couple of decades, viciously anti-Jewish. From late in the first century onward, beginning with the author of the Fourth Gospel and later including Tertullian, Origen, Chrysostom, Jerome, Ambrose, and Augustine, many of Christianity’s most revered leaders vilified Jews, setting the stage for inhumane acts of persecution against Jewish people in the coming centuries, from ghettoization and banishments to forced conversions and mass executions.5 At its best, each religion has its way of pointing people toward “a more mature humanity” that “will desire the good of all people, beginning with the poor and most vulnerable.” One reason McLaren gives that he remains Christian, despite all the lousiness of his tradition, is that Christianity remains, at its best, an excellent path for people ready to learn to understand their hearts on the way to becoming more fully human, “passionately eager to embody a way of being human that is pro-justice, pro-kindness, and pro-humility.” Rome’s empire was characterized by domination. God’s empire was characterized by service and liberation.

Do I Stay Christian?” Book Review of Brian McLaren’s “ Do I Stay Christian?”

Dubbed "a heroic gate-crasher" by New York Times bestselling author Glennon Doyle, Brian D. McLaren explores reasons to leave or stay within the church and if so how... Regarding Pope Francis, McLaren, says: “Of course, he isn’t saying and doing everything some of us wish he would. He knows he has to bring his people along at a pace that won’t blow up the whole Catholic Church, and I can only imagine the threats and resistance he faces behind the scenes. But when you read his letter to the world, Laudato si, don’t you feel how incredibly blessed we are to have him at a time of ecological and economic collapse? And when you read its sequel, Fratelli tutti, don’t you see it as a call to exactly the kind of solidarity we dreamed of in the previous chapter? In light of these remarkable breakthroughs, how could we give up now?” Taken together, Faith After Doubt (January 2021) and Do I Stay Christian? (May 2022) provide an overview of my work over these last 20+ years. I hope you will find both books helpful — for your own spiritual journey, and also for those you love. I have no idea whether or not you should remain Christian. That is a conversation between you and God. But I do know that if you decide to stay, the next big step in your deconstruction journey just might be deciding what kind of Christian you hope to become. Or better yet, what kind of human you hope to become. Over these years, we’ve seen the Religious Right become more strident and powerful, creating alliances with white supremacists, climate change deniers, and more recently, anti-masker/anti-vaxxer insurrectionists.Jonathan Merritt, Contributing writer for The Atlantic and author of Learning to Speak God from Scratch In Do I Stay Christian?, McLaren wrestles the scandalous theological questions and conscientiousness objections that keep so many of us awake at night—and he does so with the courage and grace that have become his trademark. If you're wondering whether it's time to shake off your sandals and walk away from Christianity, I beg you to read this book before making up your mind." Important book…Helps you find a deeper and wiser faith " — Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, author of The Universal Christ As a result, staying Christian feels increasingly compromised, even dirty, a cover for siding with regressive attitudes and perpetuating systems of harm.

Do I Stay Christian? with Brian McLaren - Leadpages Do I Stay Christian? with Brian McLaren - Leadpages

I remember the first time I considered the possibility that I might not stay Christian. I was somewhere around twelve years old, and I realized that my church (which I had been taught was the best, most "biblical" version of Christianity on earth) did not accept the theory of evolution. Since evolution made obvious sense to me -- especially after reading several literal six-day creation books that my parents gave me -- I thought, "OK. A few more years and I'll turn 18 and I'll be done with this religion for good."

I recently sat down with Brian McLaren to discuss what might be one of the most important questions each of us will need to ask ourselves at some point in the deconstruction journey. Do I stay Christian or walk away from this faith movement altogether? The step that many of us need to learn how to take at this moment is a step of learning how to simultaneously transcend and include. Many times we want to transcend and reject – I’ve moved beyond something, I now reject it, I hate it, I want to destroy it. But that’s where you recently were, and there are a whole lot of people who are still there.” Christianity can be defined socially, as a community of people in whose presence you feel safe, welcome, needed, accepted, or supported. To be a Christian is to enjoy an experience of social belonging with others who identify as Christian. The Great Spiritual Migration: How the World’s Largest Religion is Seeking a Better Way to Be Christian In his conclusion, Brian calls for a radical redefinition of Christianity. He says, “I could not stay a Christian if my only option was the old way, the old way of white Christianity, the old way of patriarchal Christianity, the old way of theo-Capitalistic Christianity; the old way of violent, exclusive, and authoritarian Christianity with its suppressed but real history of cruelty.”