September Questions Part II
Subject: blogging and preaching
Dear Brian,
I have enjoyed a couple of your books very much - I appreciate your ecumenical and evangelical approach. I'm writing to solicit your help on a research project I'm working on as a Ph.D. student at Fuller Theological Seminary.
I'm working on a paper on post-modern preaching, and I've begun wondering about communal blogging as a substitute or supplement for preaching in communities where worship doesn't normally have anything like a declarative scriptural moment of proclamation. My question to you is this: Is this true in any communities you know about? Perhaps your own or others you've been part of?
Thanks for any directions/links you can point me.
Grace and peace,
RR
Subject: one question
I'm not a "new kind of Christian", so I may not get the understood subtext of the emergent church perspective . . . but in a very simple way, would you mind offering your explanation of something I recently observed? If today's culture needs a new paradigm for spreading the gospel, why are so many young people drawn to the catholic World Youth Days? I think I read that this most recent one drew more people together in one place than has ever been documented.
Thanks very much in advance!
Regards,
Monica
Subject: Thanks from the bottom of my heart!!
Hello Dr. McLaren,
I don't know exactly what to say, but 3 months ago I started the long and grueling process of planting a church. One of my good friends went and bought me the book, A New Kind of Christian. He knew that I would read it if he bought it for me. And it has changed my perspective and has been an awesome tool in helping me tear down and recreate even myself as a Christian. I will be preaching 2 sermons at the end of September and I am going to be using some of the awesome ideas from your book. More than a couple of times the book moved me to tears. Thanks so much for writing something that God could use to purify my heart and put into words all of the things that I have felt but didn't even know how to say without being kicked out of the church. God bless you and your ministry.
Jonathan Finkenbiner
Subject: Creation/Evolution
Hello Brian,
I was only introduced to your writing in the last three months or so, ?but in that time I've read about five of your books and thoroughly ?enjoyed them. I appreciate the way you provoke minds to think in new ?ways.
I have one main question and concern from the reading of yours that ?I've done so far. It seems to me that you spend a disproportionate ?amount time talking about/defending Theistic Evolution. Within that ?topic you spend a lot of time talking about the story of God and how ?that has worked through the evolutionary process, the very miracle and ?creation aspects of evolution, and how the evolutionary process fits ?within the context of the book of Genesis.
My concerns/questions in this area are two: ?1) With the way you've presented Theistic Evolution, particularly in ?"The Story We Find Ourselves In," it seems that evolution is not ?something to be seen simply as a scientific event, but very much part ?of our faith story and as a distinct act of God. Since you have ?incorporated faith so much into Theistic Evolution I wonder why not ?accept the Creation account as written in Genesis? There has been much ?scientific research (reference the Institute for Creation Research and ?others) that shows distinct evidence to support a literal six-day ?creation. And the fact is that the theory of evolution still leaves ?some big gaps. True, both stories require faith to truly believe in, ?and it seems that if there is significant empirical evidence for a ?six-day creation, why would you not accept creation as recorded in ?scripture. ?2) Stemming from the first question, it seems that you give a ?disservice to Creationists, again particularly in "The Story We Find ?Ourselves In." In so much of your writing it seems that you emphasize ?accepting and appreciating people we're they're at...even rigid, ?legalistic fundamentalists or the Amish. Why then, do you not extend ?the same courtesy to Creationists? (This is the feeling I get from ?reading your books.) There is much empirical evidence to convince any ?Christian that a six-day creation is a very legitimate option, ?regardless of what Genesis says. Please don't disrespect a point of ?view that stands not simply on just a literal reading of Genesis, but ?also on significant scientific research.
Again, I want to reinforce how much I really do appreciate your ?writing. Even when I have some significant disagreements (such as ?mentioned above) I'm thankful for the gentle way that you lead the ?reader outside of the boxes of modernity that we often find ourselves ?in.
A: Thanks for your note. I addressed this question at some length in a previous reply this month, and I hope the answer there will be of some help in helping you understand where I’m coming from. You should know that while many Creationists (and some followers of “intelligent design”) seem to think that evolutionary theory is crumbling, none of my biologist friends who are not already of their number agree. Some may believe this because they’ve been given a false understanding of what evolutionary theory involves, and others have probably been misinformed by Creationist literature.
Subject: Is There a Study Guide for A Generous Orthodoxy?
We are considering AGO for a new faculty-staff book group at MSU. Is there a study guide available for the book that I could use to lead the conversation?
A: There is a study guide contained in the new softcover edition. - Brian