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A New Kind of Christianity
(Chapters 4-6)
- The author quickly introduces two very important ideas: the six-line narrative and reading the Bible frontward instead of backward. Try to summarize each in your own words, and discuss your reactions to each.
- The author distinguishes Theos, the God of the six-line, Greco-Roman narrative, with Elohim, the God we encounter in the Bible. Summarize those differences.
- Summarize and respond to each of the three narratives the author proposes as essential to the Bible: the creation narrative, the liberation narrative, and the reconciliation narrative.
- Respond to the author’s reflections on Scripture – especially his reflections on Genesis, Exodus, and passages from the Prophets. Do his readings make sense or ring true to you? Why or why not? If time permits, read the Bible passages in Chapter 6 aloud slowly, and reflect on what these passages say to you after having read and discuss these first six chapters of the book.
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Additional Questions:
Questions for Reading Groups:
- What one, two, or three passages or ideas in this chapter did you respond most strongly to? What was your response – what feelings and ideas did the idea(s) or passage(s) elicit? Why do you think you responded in this way?
- What quotes, points, or questions from this chapter would you most like to talk about with your group? What would you like to ask your other group members about these quotes, points, or questions?
- How would you complete this sentence: “For me, the most important take-aways from this chapter were …”
A Five-Step Reading Circle:
A convener invites a circle of friends to read the book. The convener proposes how many chapters will be read per week, and when, where, and for how long the group will meet. At each meeting, the convener reads these five steps as ground rules for the group, and intervenes to uphold these ground rules as necessary. The convener may also lead in a brief opening and closing activity – such as reciting the Lord’s Prayer, observing a period of silence, journaling, etc.
- A volunteer reads a sentence or paragraph from the week’s reading that was important to him or her for some reason.
- That group member then talks about the passage for an agreed-upon period of time without interruption. (Ten minutes would be a good maximum, but five or seven minutes might be better for groups of more than five people.) He or she shares why the passage is important, what the passage means to him or her, and how he or she responds to it. Other members seek to “listen the speaker into free speech” through their attentiveness. Again, no interruptions are allowed, and periods of silence are fine.
- That group member invites others to ask further questions about his or her responses to the passage – for the purpose of understanding the group member (not debating, not critiquing, not agreeing or disagreeing – only seeking to understand the group member better). Or that group member may ask a question of fellow members to which they may respond.
- Another group member volunteers (or is invited by the leader to go next), and the process continues around the circle.
- If time permits, the group leader may invite each member to reflect on what they have learned or gained from one another during the gathering. The group confirms the next week’s readings and meeting details.
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February 17th, 2010 at 10:10 am
[...] http://theooze.tv/brian-mclaren/brian-mclaren-q1-the-narrative-questio [...]
February 17th, 2010 at 10:56 am
[...] heresy, integral, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Missional, organic church, Quaker, Seth Godin I mentioned recently that Brian has taken all kinds of heat from certain corners of the blogosphere for putting [...]
February 17th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
When I was an Atheist and 27 years old, I started reading the bible for the first time. I read Mark and Acts and then Genesis and Exodus. Something rang true and I became a Christian. However, I then turned to Luther and Calvin and C.S. Lewis and a whole list of wonderful people to explain to me Jesus. It is now 20 years later. In the process I forgot were I started. How refreshing to be reminded to start at the beginning and look forward. It has renewed my perspective on Jesus and scriptures and my life. Thank-you Mr. McLaren…
February 19th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Jesus shows up on the scene announces that the “Kingdom of God is at hand” and no one asks what are you talking about? Because they knew the narrative, they where part of the on going story line and so are we, we just might not know it. Great opener Brian
February 19th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
What surprises me is that there is nothing new in what Brian is saying. Either I went to a great Bible College and Seminary that was ahead of the times or we have not been listening. The North American Church has been rewriting the gospel every time the culture has changed. Right now we are in that phrase where we don’t say anything negative. We need only positive statements. If we start with Jesus as is suggested we have a much different understanding of suffering and of failure than we see in books and print.
Secondly, I guess I am getting old because things are seeming to be recycled. Lots of stuff that is emergerent is really very old (40 yrs old) and all of a sudden we are hearing about it again. Take the kingdom idea that is supposed to be new but a School at the Toronto School of theology was talking about preaching the kingdom 40 years ago. (Name slips my mind getting old)
Lastly all of this is important to return to but we need to be less arrogant in thinking that we found it out all by ourselves. We really did not and there is nothing new under the sun. We we just as guilty of claiming new insights as Brown did in his Divinci Code. Lets give credit where credit is due. Brian is standing on the shoulders of other very great teachers and he is repackaging an important truth but it is still a repackaging.
February 19th, 2010 at 2:22 pm
Don, you sounds like you have it all figured out. Unfortunately, the rest of the main-stream church has not. I don’t think if you were to ask Brian if this stuff was really “new” he would say “no” and probably agree with you. I think his point is that it’s new for most of the Western Church. It’s not the way most of American Christians see the story of the gospel. Also, don’t forget that every great teacher that has been stood on also stood on another great teacher themselves. I personally believe Brian is one of the LEAST arrogant teachers out there and it shows in his humble demeanor.
February 19th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Don and Jon, Brian also mentions in his book that a lot of what he is talking about comes from the overlooked traditions, like the Quakers and Eastern Orthodox- of course its not “new,” but perhaps the room we give for other voices and the ability to be open to correction from the “least of these” in terms of historic theological discussion is what’s new. I know that is what’s new for me!
February 20th, 2010 at 12:52 pm
Dear Brain,
Why start from Abraham? Instead if we start from creation, then we can talk about GOD(not the “Christian God”, but God who oversees the complete His-torical narrative (In the begining…). Of course, the solution is Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross which brings us back in the restored relationship to Him (GOD).
Sonny Mathew
February 23rd, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Again, what is new about this? Absolutely nothing.
What Pastor McLaren is going here is simply regurgitating thought from other authors. If you deny that Paul’s view of Christ is an authentic one (which Pastor McLaren does here) than you have abrogated the nature of the inspiration and authority of the New Testament.
Then the suggestion that we can’t “clearly” see the biblical narrative because the Graeco-Roman socio-political-philosophical influences is just an ad hoc criticism. Where is the validation for that point? Where are the arguments? Is it all of the philosophers of these two civilizations or just one or two? Where did the influence come in?
Finally, how are we going to understand Jesus in the text if we start in Abraham. Is it a first Temple understanding or a second Temple understanding? Is it going to deal with the messianic implications of federal thought?
At some point one would expect Pastor McLaren to actually offer something new in his New Kind of Christianity. To date, he has not.
February 24th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
Dear preachingjesus,
I think that you have sumed up things very nicely. I am just finishing his book The Secret Message of Jesus. It is well written. Without a solid bible background one is easily convinced that he has the truth. But if one is well read and well trained one can see that there is nothing new in what he is saying.
Being a baptist I have always supported the priesthood of all believers even to the point of hiring only from within the body of Christ in the last few years. But after reading some of what I am reading not just from McLaren but others I have to admit that all that stuff that was so boring in Seminary proves to be very valuable. Somewhere there is a balance but we tend to live in the ditches. We either give too much power to the academics or not enough.
Keep preaching Jesus. I know that is what Brian wants as well. Hopefully we all come out stronger in the long run and the body of Christ is built into the image of Christ over it all.
February 25th, 2010 at 10:40 pm
[...] Question 1 – The Narrative Question [...]
April 12th, 2010 at 11:43 am
I from Colombia…
Pleeeeeeease… Subtitle in Spanish…
Thank you…
May 13th, 2010 at 9:30 am
Thanks for your entry. It has given me quite a bit to think about. Thanks again!
July 21st, 2010 at 11:45 pm
I have been reading, A New Kind of Christianity, and find it interesting reading, new to me. However, God is a theistic concept created by humans to cope with consciousness of self and finiteness. Christianity is just one of the many world religions that further develops the theistic God concept. Christians, however, can gain a lot from reading Brian Mclaren’s book, primarily that of tolerance and compassion for those that do not believe as they do.