Customer Reviews

Finding Faith: A Self-Discovery Guide for Your Spiritual Quest

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a rather progressive postmodern recovering-Evangelical I found this book to be a breath of fresh-air. While this book does fall into the category of apologetics, it is most certainly not an "Evidence That Demands a Verdict" or "Many Infallible Proofs for Christianity" style book. It's entire approach is radically different and immensely relevant to today's postmodern culture. Rather than focusing merely on cognitive arguments that are supposed to rationally convince people of the "absolute" truth of Christian beliefs, "Finding Faith" takes an existential approach that deals with the real life hang ups that postmodern individuals will have about Christianity. In other words, McLaren recognizes that postmoderns don't care so much whether Christianity is true as whether it is good.

Of course, postmoderns aren't entirely unconcerned about truth. They're not going to buy into something that is just obviously false. But what is much more important to them is whether our beliefs are livable, workable, and worthwhile. They want to know not "Is Christianity true?" but rather, "Will buying into the Christian faith make me into a better person?" And McLaren is brutally honest about the fact that when most non-Christians look at what Christians are like, what they see tends to repulse them. Too often we Christians present our worst face to the world: our bigotry, our arrogance, our legalism, our lack of cultural and social sensitivity, our tacky art, kitsch merchandise, and bad music, our lack of philosophical depth or intellectual nuance, our sexual or financial scandals, our abortion clinic bombers, our homophobic preachers, our aggressive culture wars and paranoid right-wing conservativism, and worst of all, our lack of visible unity and our inability to even love one another as Christ commanded. To be honest, there are times when I even wonder why I put up with it all and still claim the name "Christian", and I've been a Christian all my life. Can you imagine how someone seeing all this from the outside must perceive us? Can you think of any good reason why a decent, thoughtful, non-Christian person would want to risk taking on all that ugly baggage and even begin exploring Christianity? Well, Brian McLaren recognizes this huge risk that spiritual seekers take when approaching Christianity, and he has aimed "Finding Faith" at providing them with reasons to give Christian faith a second chance.

Don't get me wrong, McLaren doesn't skimp on the intellectual side of things either. He has whole chapters analyzing atheism, agnosticism, pluralism, etc. However, even his approach to these is atypical. McLaren doesn't make grandiose promises about logically and conclusively proving his point of view. He recognizes that as finite and fallen creatures it is impossible and absurd to claim absolute certainty about any of our beliefs. Rather he is up front about the short-comings of his arguments, but open about his own reasons for nevertheless maintaining Christian faith despite his lack of airtight proofs. This kind of honest vulnerability is a winning trait of this book, and one that I think would be very appealing to a non-Christian reader.

For me the bottom line is that this is one of the very few seeker-oriented Christian books that I wouldn't be embarrassed to give to a non-Christian friend. In fact, I plan to.

I highly recommend this book. But, I warn you -- it'll torque the hell out of traditionalists.

Author Brian McLaren also wrote last year's "Reinventing Your Church" which was the best Christian book I've read since the early 80s.

"Finding Faith" is a very clear, intellectually honest, and non-manipulative book on how to approach the whole subject of faith. It respects serious thought, postmodernism, and doubt. Not once does he resort to traditional arguments, evangelical tricks, or dogma.

It is a very honest and probing book.

For the first few chapters, he really got under my skin (exposing my own traditionalism!). But,I stuck with it. By the time I got to Chapter 13 (a wonderful look at the Bible), I was a convert.

McLaren clearly knows what he's doing here. He has taken a bold leap to present Christ in the open market of ideas. He doesn't assume any kind of Christian consensus and he doesn't try to defend God.

The book is a refreshing, contemporary look at the Kingdom of God.

If you want something to give to non-Christian friends, this is the book. It is very respectful of non-believers; it gives them lots of room.

Finding Faith is rare in that it takes seriously the issues that modern people have with christianity and presents a point of view that isn't tone deaf. McLaren has feeling and sensitivity to issues that educated 21st century people find troubling.

These include doubt, sexism and hypocrisy in the church, abhorrent church culture, postmodernism, atheism, intellectual certainty, are handled respectfully and seriously, without the author descending to smug polemic. McClaren actually allows people to disagree with him and form their own opinions. And he's quite open that the christian church sometimes seems very embarassing.

Ironically, insiders may find this book even more helpful than it's intended audience. His chapters on the personality types of churches, stages of faith and how God might be experienced should be must reading for those who already believe. McLaren is honest about his own struggles in his journey. These chapters alone could give hope to many older christians if only the church at large was aware that there's more depth to the journey with God than conservative christianity usually presents.

Finding Faith is not as highbrow intellectual as some might wish, but that's not it's intention, and will reach a wider audience. It's a good starting point to lead into more heavy-duty works. My only reservation is that Finding Faith occasionally uses christian jargon like "grace" without explanation, and that it's style is sometimes more wordy than needful. But I'm being picky: Until someone writes the perfect "Might belief in God make sense?" book, this is as good as it gets.

I'd also recommend "Why Believe?: Reason and Mystery As Pointers to God" by C. Stephen Evans. It's a little more intellectual, but still very readable and user friendly. Like Finding Faith, Evans' book deals with issues like "is Christianity sexist?", "is it just a psychological crutch?", and how the mysteries of life point us to God. It also deals effectively and simply with more classic arguments for and against God. The two books complement each other very well and I recommend both highly.

I certainly wish this was the first book I read when I began my spiritual quest (which eventually led me to become Christian). It would have made certain things a lot easier! To someone who is interested in "finding faith" but has no real experience with anything spiritual (the position I was in), I recommend this book. It covers a lot of issues that "beginners" are going to want to explore, and it does so in an open, patient and caring manner.

I would also like to respond to the review "SELF-motivated SPIRITUALITY". The reviewer complains that McLaren says: <They want to know not "Is Christianity true?" but rather, "Will buying into the Christian faith make me into a better person?"> While this is clearly not the proper motivation for seeking God, it is often true that people begin their search for God for these reasons! Mr McLaren is not saying that this is the proper motivation; he points out only that it is common and must therefore be acknowledged. While I now know that this sort of initial selfishness is not right, it can very well lead a person to come to faith ... as it did for me!

In sum, I recommend this book wholeheartedly for all readers: atheists, agnostics, seekers and committed Christians. One of the few books I've read that deserves 5 stars!

I was hooked on this book when the person who recommended it to me told me this was a book I could give to a non-Christian without feeling embarrassed. He was right.

Before publishing "Finding Faith," McLaren ran proofs by his friends, including atheists and agnostics. I found his conversational, nontraditional style refreshing. I work at a prep school and look forward to reading this book with the students, wherever they're at on their spiritual journey.

Brian McLaren is one of today's foremost Christian thinkers. Not everybody agrees with all that he says. But he is not afraid to engage in the important debate about how christian faith can operate within and influence a postmodern world.

This is simply a book about faith. It is written for those with no faith at all, those with an interest in faith and those who are keen to re-think their faith in the context of our present culture.

McLaren begins by looking at the relationship between faith and knowledge. He moves on to look at how we might view and then find God. He then examines the role of scripture and the church in our search for faith. What I particularly like is his ability to explain difficult philosophical matters in a way that is easy to follow.

I find his approach refreshing and challenging. He doesn't necessarily give answers. Nor does he expect universal agreement. But what he does do is encourage us to go away and think about what we believe, why we believe and how that can be relevant to the world in which we live.

If you are looking for a comfortable read then you may be disappointed. But that may be all the more reason to go and get a copy of this and read it.

Wonderful book. Written in a straight forward and honest style. I discovered that I've been using the word agnostic in error all these many years. I had always thought that an agnostic was someone who believed in God but didn't believe in religion. After reading Brian's book and consulting the dictionary, I now know that an agnostic is someone who doesn't know if there is a God. Brian's book touches on many of my obstacles to faith. Most convincing for me is Brian's idea that what most of us call fact is truly just faith in something else (possibly misplaced). Brian has given me a new foundation to move forward from in my spiritual quest. Thanks!

A great read. Very bold, courageous and refreshing. Chapter 16 just blew me away. Brian spoke at my church recently and was equally articulate. Buy it regardless of where you are in your search, Christian or otherwise.

In the tradition of C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity, this book engaged me to think THROUGH principles of faith and life instead of thinking ABOUT them. Very challenging and enjoyable read.

Finding Faith is best read by someone who's interested in and maybe even intrigued by the concept of God, but is chary of the way he's been presented by some of those who claim to believe in him the most. McLaren sensitively and intelligently addresses the concerns of those considering if there might somehow be a God who's relevant in any meaningful way to our everyday lives. The author has put together a guide to thinking about faith that leads the reader through a variety of choices without force-feeding stock answers. Particularly helpful is the list of additional resources - varying from Carl Sagan to Walker Percy - at the end of each chapter. With vulnerability about his own journey, a succinct presentation of the various alternatives, and a sensitivity to our postmodern culture, McLaren's Finding Faith could be the first tool used by many seekers in the new millennium as they seek for a genuine and relevant spirituality.