An author, speaker, pastor, and activist, McLaren is a frequent guest on television, radio, and news media programs such as Larry King Live, Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, and Nightline.
In this interview, Brian shares his thoughts on the authority of Scripture:
Christian: What additional sources of authority do you find those in the emerging church using in place or in addition to the Scriptures?
Brian: I don’t find people in the emergent conversation using other sources of authority in place of or in addition to the Scriptures. If anything, I think the emergent conversation is asserting the primacy of Scripture over other prevailing sources of authority – including many conventional interpretations of Scripture. What I do find people questioning, though, are the assumptions that lie within the word “authority” itself. A lot of us feel that the concepts of authority we inherited were naive – implying, for example, that Scripture can exercise authority without interpretation. Also, many of the concepts of authority we inherited seem to be part and parcel of a Cartesian or foundational epistemology; many of us are questioning the epistemological assumptions that lie unexamined in the word “authority” for many people. Continue reading …
On the occasion of Father’s Day, I wanted to pay tribute to my greatest earthly hero, someone who has played a significant role in my life – my dad.
As a father, friend, writer, scholar (and gentleman), Timothy George is unique among men. His uniqueness stems from a life formed, reformed, and transformed by his faith.
Born into abject poverty in “hell’s half acre,” Tennessee, he became a preacher, pastor, and student of history. A Harvard University graduate, he went on to teach at Southern Seminary, and later became the founding dean of Beeson Divinity School.
Included in this tribute is the story of his life, recounted in his own words in his lecture, “Is Jesus A Baptist?” Also included are some of my favorite of his sermons, lectures, and videos that I have accumulated over the years.
After three years of research, Eric Metaxas has recently published Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. A masterful mix of sociological explanation, historical analysis, and selective quotation, this much needed work reexamines Dietrich Bonhoeffer as a theologian who incarnated theology in a radical way against the backdrop of an encroaching Nazi regime.
Several years ago, I stumbled upon Love Letters From Cell 92, a compilation of the letters Bonhoeffer wrote to Maria Von Wedemeyer, his fiance. Unfortunately, Bonhoeffer was martyred before he could marry.
It’s always interesting to see how a man’s theology morphs when he’s under pressure, particularly when his life is in jeopardy. One of things that struck me from this compilation of letters is that Bonhoeffer’s theology within the bars of cell 92 was just as consistent as his theology outside of them. Continue reading …
We live in an accomplishment-driven culture. If you were asked to describe your friends, you might say something like “Josh is a lawyer” or “Megan teaches yoga.” We often define each other by what we do – what we produce.
But what would it look like if we began to see and define each other for who they are instead of what they do?
Snow and ice have crippled the United Kingdom this week- the coldest recorded winter in thirty years. With temperatures rarely rising above freezing, I thought it would be appropriate to remember another snowy winter.
On January 6, 1850, a young man stumbled through a blizzard in Colcester, England. His name was Charles Spurgeon. Originally bound for a baptist church, Charles was forced to seek shelter in a Primitive Methodist church. It would turn out to be a life changing event. Continue reading …
For the past month I’ve been traveling on pilgrimage to Italy – from Naples to Rome and Umbria, following in the footsteps of Paul and St. Francis.
Of all the pilgrimages I’ve ever taken, Assisi is one of my favorites. I find myself returning there, magnetized to it somehow. Assisi is situated in Umbria, a land of rolling hills laced with castles and orchids. The sunsets would make van Gogh drool. They call it the “green heart” of Italy for a reason. It’s grassy arteries take pilgrims through towns like Gubio, where Francis tamed a wolf, and Spoleto where he preached to birds. For a middle-class, suburban-oriented guy like me, these small medieval villages provokes a sense of conviction within me. Continue reading …
There’s a new phobia sweeping the world – evangephobia: the fear of the evangelical.
I was in a taxi in Chicago a few months ago and the driver asked me if I was one of those “gun-carrying, gloom and doom evangelicals.” It caught me off guard, to be honest. But I wanted to see what would happen, so I said that I was (minus the gun carrying bit).
As we drove on, there was a lot of silence and I could see that this guy was really getting freaked out – physically affected by my response. When we arrived at our destination, I remember standing on the side of the road with a haphazardly-written receipt in my hand thinking that I had just witnessed my first experience with evangephobia. Continue reading …
Some movies will think for you. Others will cause you to think. Into Great Silence belongs to the latter.
In 1984, German filmmaker Philip Gröning sought to make a documentary about the life of the Carthusian monks in the French Alps. Sixteen years later, the monks said they were ready to film. The film took two years to make, following the daily routines of monastic life.
At first, I didn’t know what to expect. There were no violent explosions, sneaking velociraptors, CGI effects or thrilling action sequences to speak of. There were no suspenseful plot twists or clever dialogues. Just the simple life of the monks as they gave themselves to reflection, meditation, and worship. Continue reading …
In this podcast, I interview Tony Jones – author, commentator, freelance theologian, and many other things.
Tony is the author of The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier and is theologian-in-residence at Solomon’s Porch in Minneapolis. He is a doctoral fellow in practical theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, the author of many books on Christian ministry and spirituality, and is a sought after speaker and consultant in the areas of emerging church, postmodernism, and Christian spirituality.
In this podcast we discuss the emerging/emergent church, evangelicalism, preaching, worship, theology, and homosexuality. About half way into the interview, the audio gives out a bit, but Tony relocates to a quieter venue. Tony blogs here.
There are some who say that evangelicals and emergents can’t have a cordial chat, Tony certainly proves them wrong.
Set against the backdrop of World War II, “Boy In The Striped Pajamas” (2008), directed by Mark Herman, balances the curiosity of boyhood with the horrors of Jewish holocaust.
Having travelled to Buchenwald, Germany, and other concentration camps, I assumed this movie would rekindle memories of gas chambers, chimneys, and trenches. My assumption was justified. For those who have yet to study the tragedy of Nazi Holocaust, this film serves as a good introduction, and moreover, the Christological message in this film is worth all the Kleenexes you’ll need to get you through the end.
Maintaining a delicate tension between freedom and bondage, hope and despair, life and death, this movie raises questions of good and evil, light and dark.
Continue reading …
Written by Alex and Brett Harris, Do Hard Things (Multnomah, 2008) is intended to confront a comfortable Christianity. The 240 pages of this book are packed with all the adrenaline that two twentysomething guys can muster.
Each chapter offers a no-holds barred approach to the Christian life and even includes a foreword by none other than Chuck Norris.
Against the backdrop of countless reads that exchange biblical truths for contemporary trends, this book caught me off guard by standing unapologetically in the tradition of Christian missions, evangelism, and spiritual discipline.
Most books that enjoy such success compromise on traditionally evangelical doctrines such as sin, heaven, hell, afterlife, and so forth. Not this book. Do Hard Things rides the building wave of revived puritanism that’s currently sweeping the Unites States. Standing on the shoulders of those like John Piper, C. J. Mahaney, Mark Dever, and others, this book fits naturally into the younger evangelical genre of Christian literature that’s gaining momentum.
Continue reading …
Godology is for those who crave to know more about God and why it matters. It’s theology. For twenty–somethings.
Listed by Time Magazine as one of the top twenty-five influential evangelicals in America, Brian McLaren has done much to advance the Emerging / Emergent Church movement.
For the past month I’ve been traveling on pilgrimage to Italy – from Naples to Rome and Umbria, following in the footsteps of Paul and St. Francis.
Some movies will think for you. Others will cause you to think. 
In this podcast, I interview Tony Jones – author, commentator, freelance theologian, and many other things.
Set against the backdrop of World War II, “Boy In The Striped Pajamas” (2008), directed by Mark Herman, balances the curiosity of boyhood with the horrors of Jewish holocaust.
Written by Alex and Brett Harris, Do Hard Things (Multnomah, 2008) is intended to confront a comfortable Christianity. The 240 pages of this book are packed with all the adrenaline that two twentysomething guys can muster.