A generous orthodoxy (by Brian McLaren)

(Amazon UK link)

My aim is to read a couple of Christian non-fiction books each month, as well as several fictional books. Brian McLaren’s books tend to be a tad heavy-going, albeit full of wisdom. I decided I would re-read ‘A generous orthodoxy’, and aimed for about twenty pages per day. I last read it in 2013. 

The book is essentially an explanation of McLaren’s theological position, in terms that are certainly comprehensible to ordinary people like me. In places I had to reread a paragraph here and there when my mind wandered, a bit, but on the whole it all makes a whole lot of sense. I appreciate his introductory pages in particular, where he explains that this is his ongoing thinking, not intended to be absolute or unchanging. He acknowledges that others may disagree strongly, and offers open discussion questions at the end of each chapter. 

Then he gets right into why he is a Christian, in the broadest use of the word, as someone who believes in and follows Jesus. He describes, in some detail, seven different images of Jesus that he had come across over the years - or eight, if one includes the generic Jesus as the friend of children whom he came across as a child at Sunday School. I liked the way he talks about a kind of progression of understanding - from quite a narrow view of Jesus due to much broader viewpoints. They encompass a focus not just Jesus’ death, but on his resurrection, his birth, his teaching and his example of living.  

I also appreciated the way that McLaren doesn’t reject any of these images, which he associates with different strands of Christianity. He gives the traditional and Scriptural explanations for each one, and what he sees as positive about them. He then points out how easily each of them can tend towards some form of pride or heresy. And I love the way he describes keeping them all in balance, as different parts of who Jesus really is, rather than trying to choose just one, or blending them together. 

He then moves on to other words that are sometimes misunderstood, and why he considers himself part of groups associated with many jargon labels. He talks about what mission is, at heart, and why he is missional in outlook. He explains the difference between ‘Evangelical’ (with a capital E) and ‘evangelical’ (lowercase e). He acknowledges that the former has become too associated with right-wing politics, and anger, while the latter is more associated with spreading the good news to all.

I was very interested in the potted history of the Reformation in another of the earlier chapters. McLaren explains that the initial protests from Luther and others were quite valid, as sale of indulgences and priestly authority had become almost cultic. Then they had to decide what could be kept from the traditions of the Roman Catholic church, and what should be put aside. Which was all very well, but people then debated what was essential or otherwise, and further divisions were - and continue to be - inevitable. There are probably thousands of different Protestant denominations now, each holding to slightly different doctrines or practices.

I was particularly struck by what was almost an aside - that the ‘conservative’ Protestants during and immediately after the Reformation apparently changed allegiance from a supposedly infallible Pope to a supposedly infallible Bible. People who questioned the Pope had been considered heretical; then people who questioned Scripture were considered heretical - or ‘liberal’. And since some of the Bible is quite hard to understand, it needs interpretation at times, and one has to decide whether to trust traditional Bible scholars, or attempt to understand on one’s own.

So McLaren calls himself ‘conservative’ in that he does trust the basic message of the Bible, and that the anecdotes and histories are true. But he’s also ‘liberal’ in that he believes it’s important to act on one’s beliefs, and - at times - to question puzzling things in the Bible. Rejecting one verse or practice does not mean everything is wrong. 

The book continues in similar vein, explaining why he associates with a wide variety of Christian descriptions, as well as the reservations he has with each label. They are all part of his ‘generous orthodoxy’ - holding sound doctrine, but being generous about individuals, and some behaviours, and above all remembering that Jesus said the greatest commandments were to love God and love other people. 

None of what the book said was new to me, even though I had forgotten much of the detail of the author’s own journey and stance. But I very much liked how he wrote it, even though I couldn’t read more than about twenty pages at a time without feeling a tad overwhelmed. He writes very well, but the book is quite heavy in places. I finished it feeling encouraged and positive about what, I hope, is a new generation of believers: knowing what is important about our faith, following Jesus’ life and teaching, and extending God’s love to all. 

I should add, perhaps, that McLaren is not a theologian. He states this more than once. It's possible that his summaries and definitions are too simplistic, perhaps even wrong. He's open to that possibility, and apparently has no problem with questions, or polite debate. And in his final chapter, he mentions that, as we all are, he is 'unfinished'. 

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