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ThinkFwd host Spencer Burke drives the streets of Santa Monica with author and activist Brian Mclaren, discussing Brian’s new book, A New Kind of Christianity. In it, Brian lays out 10 questions people seem to be wrestling with universally, which he has observed as he as criss-crossed the country.
Questions, says Brian, can lead you on a new quest, which leads you into conversation and can produce friendship along the way. This is in contrast to Statements, which can lead you to a new state but often cause debate and hatred along the way. To Brian, the conversation and the friendships are as important as the content; the journey as important as the destination.
Spencer notes that Brian’s voice really comes through in the book–his compassion, care and maturity. Brian agrees that these 10 questions are really the core questions of his own faith–what, to him, makes the biggest difference in his beliefs. The first one, says Brian, is “What’s the big story line of the Bible?”
Spencer suggests that the questions are not just theological, but deal with Brian’s other passions like social justice. Brian explains that in “Old Christianity” theology was about the after-life or one’s personal life, but really didn’t have much to say about social life or public life. After doing much speaking, and experiencing the discussion getting diverted over and over again from global crises into people’s personal, theological argurments, Brian saw the opportunity with this book. In it, he says, he had the chance to deal with theology in a way that reconnects us with the real mission of Christ.
Coming February 9, 2010 is the launch of the new Brian Mclaren channel on TheOOZE.tv. Each week will feature a 5 minute episode where Brian will focus on one of the 10 questions posed in his book. This resource can be used by individuals or study/reading groups as a promotion or thought-provoking primer for the next week’s study. Or, it can be a great lead-off for for group discussion of the book, chapter-by-chapter. Click here to find out more, and for your chance to have Brian Skype live into your study group.
Click here to learn more about Brian’s New Channel
Personal Reflections:
- In the face of criticism, how can I be honest and caring, considering the “brittle” around me?
- If I am happy and okay with where I am, how do I deal with others that feel excluded or left out of my style of Christianity?
Group or Staff Questions:
- Does your group lean more towards questions or statements?
- How do social justice, the environment, and theology work together? Are they divorced from each other?
Resources:
- Brian’s website: http://brianmclaren.net
- Brian on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brian-D-McLaren/65814657989
- Brian on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BrianMcLaren
- Browse inside A New Kind of Christianity
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January 20th, 2010 at 8:02 am
[...] Watch the interview: [...]
January 20th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
[...] your churches, coffee shops, pubs and living rooms. In addition to the Think:FWD episode here (go here for show notes BTW), we’re going to be launching an entire Brian McLaren channel devoted to [...]
February 1st, 2010 at 11:45 pm
An answer to the second group/ staff question:
Yes, theology and social justice are divorced from one another because “social justice” has it’s origin in philosophers John Stuart Mill, Immanuel Kant, and Jean Jacques Rousseau, not Jesus. “Social justice” specifically involves forced wealth re-distribution through a tax code of a state. Check any standard definition of “social justice” online if you like such as Wikipedia. The theology of Jesus taught voluntary private wealth re-distribution motivated by the compassion of the individual heart.
This is what the Bible teaches.
February 4th, 2010 at 3:16 am
I first heard Brian unveil the idea that statements lead to a state and questions to a quest, six months ago (Jun 2009, Amahoro). It’s great to see how the thought has developed in the interim, to
- statements lead to a state which lead to debate which can lead to hate.
- questions lead to a quest which leads to conversations which can lead to friendship.
A wonderful heuristic for the new decade.
February 8th, 2010 at 10:50 am
[...] Doug Pagitt wrote on his blog and Brian McLaren said in a video that those of us who take them and others to task are held in bondage to fear and [...]
February 8th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
[...] En este vídeo Brian McLaren conversa con Spencer Burke, de TheOoze, sobre su nuevo libro, A new kind of Christianity: ten questions that are transforming the faith (Un nuevo tipo de cristianismo: diez preguntas que están transformando la fe), que sale publicado mañana por HarperOne. [...]
February 9th, 2010 at 6:59 am
[...] I watched a video about Brian McLaren’s new book, I wondered if that was happening. If I disagreed with [...]
February 11th, 2010 at 11:43 am
I’m enjoying listening in to some new ideas about approaching the world through faith. One of my worst nightmares growing up was the maxim to “be ye separate” which for me just seemed impossible in terms of the evangelism I was told that the faithful would be a witness to the world about. You know, as to the story of Jesus. And juxtaposed to that maxim was the picture of Jesus himself who sat with any and everyone to discuss theology yes but more importantly to speak peace to bearers and the burdened of the law. The burdened welcoming the relief and the bearers rejecting the very notion of law as burden.
There’s something about all that which makes “go ye therefore” a call to a nomadic faith, a portable faith if you will. One that isn’t relegated to people just like oneself, people who go to church, people who don’t go to church, people who share one’s beliefs, people who share enough of the basics that compose one’s own doctrinal train of thought that informs a very specific way of living in the world while rejecting any hint of being of the world. This is difficult stuff but if the tenets of a portable faith were accepted, the burden would be Light and the yoke would be easy.
February 16th, 2010 at 12:52 am
[...] the quiz paired with a misunderstanding of some comments by Doug Pagitt placed alongside an Ooze.tv video with Brian has led a number of folks to conclude that disagreement with Brian (or other Emergent writers) [...]
February 16th, 2010 at 11:22 am
[...] haven’t read it yet (see PhD studies), but am very interested in this one. Here’s an interview with Brian about the new [...]
February 16th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
[...] out Brian’s New Channel on THEOOZE.TV where each week will feature a 5 minute episode where Brian will focus on one of the 10 questions [...]
February 27th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
[...] familiar with Brian? Check him out on TheOoze.Tv! [...]