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Page 3 of 6 Just how popular is McLaren and his view of the church? He was listed as one of 25 influential evangelicals in the February 7, 2005 edition of Time magazine. In its profile, Time referred back to a 2004 conference at which McLaren was asked a question related to gay marriage. His response is indicative of his "generosity" when it comes to embracing biblical teaching. He said, "You know what, "the thing that breaks my heart is that there's no way I can answer it without hurting someone on either side." Not surprisingly, Time magazine referred to this as "a kinder and gentler brand of religion." In an age of tolerance, we can see in this one statement how one might successfully build a large church. But what kind of church? Mohler observes: McLaren's "nonanswer" is itself an answer. This is a man who doesn't want to offend anyone on any side of any argument. That's why it's hard to find the orthodoxy in A Generous Orthodoxy (Albert Mohler, "‘A Generous Orthodoxy’ - Is it Orthodox?," June 20, 2005, http://www.albertmohler.com/). In this sense, the ECM appears to follow in step with the seeker sensitive methodology, which it protests. Brian McLaren admits, "People who try to label me an exclusivist, inclusivist, or universalist on the issue of hell will find here only more reasons for frustration." In short, McLaren simply refuses to answer the question as to whether there will be anyone in hell (universalism). He refers to these kinds of questions as evangelical hang-ups for the doctrinally moribund which, if emphasized and taught, will eventually destroy the church. Again, Mohler observes: McLaren effectively ransacks the Christian tradition, picking and choosing among theological options without any particular concern for consistency. He rejects the traditional understanding of doctrine as statements of biblical truth and instead presents a variant of postmodernism - effectively arguing that doctrines form a language that is meaningful to Christians, even if not objectively true. He claims to be arguing for "a generous third way beyond the conservative and liberal versions of Christianity so dominant in the Western world." Incredibly, McLaren simply asserts that concern for the propositional truthfulness of the text is an artifact of the modern age, "modern-Western-moderately-educated desires." As a postmodernist, he considers himself free from any concern for propositional truthfulness, and simply wants the Christian community to embrace a pluriform understanding of truth as a way out of doctrinal conflict and impasse. What about other belief systems? McLaren suggests that we should embrace the existence of different faiths, "willingly, not begrudgingly." What would this mean? Well, a complete reconsideration of Christian missions, for one thing. McLaren claims to affirm that Christians should give witness to their faith in Jesus Christ. But, before you assume this means an affirmation of Christian missions, consider this statement: "I must add, though, that I don't believe making disciples must equal making adherents to the Christian religion. It may be advisable in many (not all?) circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish contexts. This will be hard, you say, and I agree. But frankly, it's not at all easy to be a follower of Jesus in many 'Christian' religious contexts, either" (Albert Mohler, "‘A Generous Orthodoxy’ - Is it Orthodox?," June 20, 2005, www.albertmohler.com). In case the reader is, at this point, becoming nauseated with this description of the EMC, the bottom line with Brian McLaren, not unlike Robert Schuller, is that he wants to take anything that has caused argument and might be offensive out of the Christian faith. In the last few paragraphs of his review, Mohler concludes: The Emergent movement represents a significant challenge to biblical Christianity. Unwilling to affirm that the Bible contains propositional truths that form the framework for Christian belief, this movement argues that we can have Christian symbolism and substance without those thorny questions of truthfulness that have so vexed the modern mind. The worldview of postmodernism - complete with an epistemology that denies the possibility of or need for propositional truth - affords the movement an opportunity to hop, skip and jump throughout the Bible and the history of Christian thought in order to take whatever pieces they want from one theology and attach them, like doctrinal post-it notes, to whatever picture they would want to draw.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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