Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?: Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World [Hardcover]

Brian D. McLaren (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 11, 2012

When four religious leaders walk across the road, it's not the beginning of a joke. It's the start of one of the most important conversations in today's world.

Can you be a committed Christian without having to condemn or convert people of other faiths? Is it possible to affirm other religious traditions without watering down your own?

In his most important book yet, widely acclaimed author and speaker Brian McLaren proposes a new faith alternative, one built on "benevolence and solidarity rather than rivalry and hostility." This way of being Christian is strong but doesn't strong-arm anyone, going beyond mere tolerance to vigorous hospitality toward, interest in, and collaboration with the other.

Blending history, narrative, and brilliant insight, McLaren shows readers step-by-step how to reclaim this strong-benevolent faith, challenging us to stop creating barriers in the name of God and learn how affirming other religions can strengthen our commitment to our own. And in doing so, he invites Christians to become more Christ-like than ever before.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...An essential life lesson about loving our neighbors and tolerating their differences...For Christians on the fence about whether to accept others and their faiths or to insist that only Christianity can adequately serve, this book provides important insights." (Booklist Online )

"...Worth reading, lively and passionate at translating progressive theology into a popular idiom."

(Publishers Weekly )

"...Important and extraordinarily timely...a soothing balm for the searing pain of our times..." (Huffington Post )

"Provocative...Even those who don't agree will be bettered by engaging its ideas." (Relevant Magazine )

"This is a major work in every sense of the word--so major, in fact, that it would be impossible to exaggerate either its importance or its worth to the current conversation about religion and religions." (Phyllis Tickle, Lecturer on Religion in America and Author of Emergence Christianity: What it Is, Where it is Going, and Why it Matters )

"Helpful, timely, and really, really inspiring." (Rob Bell, author of Love Wins )

"This is a book to cherish, to read over and over, a book that sheds light and warmth on one of the most difficult questions of our era." (Eboo Patel, Founder and President, Interfaith Youth Core, Author of Acts of Faith and Sacred Ground )

"McLaren offers a renewed and renewing vision of Christianity that will challenge every reader to go deeper into its core Truth and find radical urgency to befriend all God's children. If you are not afraid of having your viewpoint, identity, and complacency challenged - read this, for Love itself is to be found here!" (Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop, The Episcopal Church )

"With wisdom and wit, Brian McLaren courageously explores the contours of his Christian faith in light of his experiences with people from other religious communities. His questions and insights are important contributions to the unfolding interfaith discussion in the United States and beyond." (Rabbi Or N. Rose, Director, The Center for Global Judaism, Hebrew College )

About the Author

Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. After teaching college English, Brian was a church planter, pastor, and networker in the Baltimore-Washington DC area for over 20 years. He is a popular conference speaker and a frequent guest lecturer for denominational and ecumenical leadership gatherings in the U.S. and internationally, and is Theologian-in-Residence at Life in the Trinity Ministry.

Brian's writing spans over a dozen books, including his acclaimed A New Kind of Christian trilogy, A Generous Orthodoxy, and his most recent titles, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in 12 Simple Words (2011) and the eBook prequel to this title, The Girl with the Dove Tattoo (June 2012). A frequent guest on television, radio, and news media programs, Brian is also an active and popular blogger, a musician, and an avid outdoor enthusiast. Learn more at his website, www.brianmclaren.net. Brian is married to Grace, and they have four adult children.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Jericho Books (September 11, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1455513962
• ISBN-13: 978-1455513963
• Product Dimensions: 1.1 x 6.3 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,982 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > Ethics
  • #8 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > Sociology
  • #8 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > Comparative Religion

More About the Author

Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, pastor, and networker among innovative Christian leaders, thinkers, and activists. His groundbreaking books include A New Kind of Christian, A Generous Orthodoxy, The Secret Message of Jesus, and Everything Must Change. Named by Time magazine as one of America's top twenty-five evangelicals, McLaren has appeared on Nightline and Larry King Live, and has been covered by The Washington Post and the New York Times.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 81 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brian McLaren's Practical Advice on Making Interfaith Peace September 14, 2012

By David Crumm TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

It's easy to mistake Brian McLaren's newest book as "another interfaith book," exploring wise strategies for building bridges between various world faiths. Given the cover and the title, one might expect it to be much like Samir Selmanovic's It's Really All About God: How Islam, Atheism, and Judaism Made Me a Better Christian or Miroslav Volf's A Common Word: Muslims and Christians on Loving God and Neighbor or the WISDOM women's Friendship and Faith That's a strong temptation especially since, opening the cover, one finds Selmanovic and Volf and others with long experience in interfaith relations endorsing Why Did Jesus ...

Given the ongoing series of violent incidents around the world that are fueled by violence, I can also argue that this book is an important contribution to interfaith peacemaking. As a journalist who has specialized in covering religion around the world for several decades now, I can affirm how important McLaren's insights are to any possibility of ending this seemingly endless cycle of conflict.

But the primary audience for this book by one of America's most important Christian writers is quite simply: Christians. In 300 very practical and provocative pages, the overall message is: Interfaith peace begins at home. Brian is not presuming to instruct other faith leaders how to rethink their approaches to the world, although there is obvious wise advice for Christians here that is widely applicable to other religious groups.

Again, don't misunderstand.... No, Brian is not "blaming" Christians for fueling conflict. On the contrary, he's blaming the tendency in every major religious group around the world to attract, define and energize members through a sense of "us" versus "them." Christians do this. Muslims do this. Members of other faiths do the same thing. If we reach out peacefully to overcome conflicts and build bridges, the question becomes: Do I become less of a Christian if I'm less hostile to all other faiths? Brian writes that we can, indeed, disconnect the hostility and the high barriers against others from a healthy, vibrant faith.

You may respond: Christians aren't hostile. Brian is not arguing that Christians are bad or even that Christianity itself as a 2,000-year-old world faith is hostile. In fact, Brian is a passionate advocate for Christianity. He's one of America's most-listened-to preachers through his ongoing series of books, despite what some evangelical critics may claim. Brian is arguing, however, that through the ways we design our liturgy, tell our stories to each other, mark the passing of the religious year -- we often tend to strengthen our inner core by emphasizing the wrong and even evil ways of all other faiths. The same is true inside those other faiths, too, he argues.

I find his book deeply inspiring. It's certainly not a depressing read. Yes, he opens the book by exploring the hostility and violence we see around us. But by the end of the book, he is opening a toolbox of nuts-and-bolts ideas for building healthier, stronger and, yes, more generous and welcoming communities. This is a terrific choice for small-group discussion or individual reading. Read more ›

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars To Get To the Other September 13, 2012

By Adam Ericksen

Format:Hardcover

9/11/2012 marked the release of Brian McLaren's book Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Muhammad Cross the Road?: Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World. The date, of course, is significant. It's been 11 years since the tragedy of 9/11 - a tragedy that had religious overtones, but also political and economic overtones as well.

The question I often ask myself about religion is simple: What needs to stay and what needs to go? Jesus might have asked, "What's the wheat in religion and what's the chaff that needs to burn away?" (See Matt 3) Brian's book has helped me discern an answer to that question.

Peace journalist Bob Koehler and I interviewed Brian about the book last week on our podcast Voices of Peace. At the end of the show, I asked him about the title of his book. "So, Brian, why did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Muhammad cross the road?" Brian responded, "To get to the other."

Of course, one can get to the "other" to do harm or to do good. But the point of Brian's book is that Christians need to have a strong identity based on the love of Christ. Christ loved the "other." He loved people as they were and for who they were.

For Christians, that's the point of our religious identity in the post 9/11 world. Some bloggers are suggesting that Brian is somehow watering down Christ. That Christ would help people, sure, but Christ would also demand that they worship him, or he'd send them to hell. That's not the Christ I see in the Bible. Brian has helped me see that Christ had no superiority complex. He didn't get into a rivalry with people by demanding that they worship him; rather, he did things like wash 1st century filthy, nasty, sandal-wearing Mediterranean feet! Jesus came to serve, not to be served!... It's true: Jesus did come to convert us, but he came to convert us away from a life of hell on earth. Away from a life of violence over and against others and into a life of love and compassion that is for the flourishing of others.

Throughout the book, Brian explores Christian tradition. It was refreshing form me to see a love and appreciation in this book for Christians doctrine. Brian helps us rediscover that doctrine is meant to heal the brokenness of humanity. Unfortunately, doctrine can be used to add to that brokenness. For example Christian tradition has always emphasized the cross, but has frequently (not always!) gotten the cross wrong by stating that the Father demanded the violent death of the Son. That understanding of the cross, often referred to as penal substitutionary atonement, is wrong. It's a myth based on a god of violence; it's not the Gospel, which is based on the God of love. So, the Father didn't demand the death of the Son; we humans did! We are the ones who demanded that Jesus be crucified, and we continue to demand crucifixion in various forms of violence today. The cross shows that God has nothing to do with violence. Revenge is not on the lips of Jesus; rather a prayer of forgiveness is. On the cross we find what God is like: Forgiveness and the offering of peace. God's forgiveness through Jesus on the cross atones for our sins - and, in the resurrection, invites us to participate in God's new creation of forgiveness and peace.

The Gospel Jesus proclaimed invites us to stop our hostility and violence against one another. His early followers learned from him that God is love and violence belongs to us alone. Brian claims that the violence we witnessed 11 years ago and the violence that continues to rage leaves us with a choice. "We are increasingly faced with a choice," writes Brian, "not between kindness and hostility, but between kindness and nonexistence."

Kindness or nonexistence.

How can we be kind and love the "other" in a post 9/11 world? However Christians answer that question, Jesus was right: Our future depends on love and compassion. Brian is leading the way in helping us answer that question in our 21st century context. And so I hope you read his book!

For more see ravenfoundation(.)org. Read more ›

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Vision of Hope September 20, 2012

By Suzanne Ross

Format:Hardcover

How should followers of Christ treat members of other religions? That question is the subject of Brian McLaren's new book, Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?: Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World. Because mimetic theory claims for Christianity a unique demystifying power, McLaren's question haunts our work. If "the only true religion is the one that demystifies archaic religions," as René Girard succinctly summarizes his Christian apologetics in Battling to the End (xv), and Christianity is the sufficient and necessary source of demystification, how indeed are we to treat other religions, both in our academic work and in our personal lives? McLaren is not writing for academic audiences here. His tone is pastoral, his purpose to shift the thinking of people in the pews and the pastors and educators who have their ear. And yet his primary tool for engaging them is an explicit use of mimetic theory to answer the very questions that it has raised for Christians who engage with it.

Before referring to mimetic theory by name, McLaren frames the question of interfaith relations as a question of identity. Christians seem to be quite good, he says, at having strong identities that are hostile towards other religions, or weak identities that are kind and benevolent. Though left implicit, he is clearly referring to the ubiquitous use of scapegoating to create false differences (strong and hostile) or its inversion into political correctness (weak and kind). His book is an argument for a third alternative: Christian identity that is both strong and hospitable toward other beliefs.... In other words, this third option calls for the development of a non-scapegoating Christian identity, one that does not rely on turning other religions into adversaries to know ourselves, and our faith, as good. He writes: "My pursuit, not just in this book but in my life, is a Christian identity that moves me toward people of other faiths in wholehearted love, not in spite of their non-Christian identity and not in spite of my own Christian identity, but because of my identity as a follower of God in the way of Jesus." (p. 11)

The timing of the release of his book, September 11, coincided with the flare-up of violence in Arab countries apparently triggered by the translation of an offensive video mocking the Prophet Mohammed into Arabic. The tension between East and West and their two great religions, Christianity and Islam, was thrust to the forefront, intruding even into the carefully scripted US Presidential campaigns. McLaren comes out of an Evangelical background and during his years as a pastor he experienced a crisis of faith which led him to reject, among other things, what he has called Evangelical Islamophobia. Coincidently, mimetic theory's emphasis on judging the validity of a religion solely on its distance from the archaic, has led to, at best, an ambivalence toward Islam among some mimetic theory scholars. Girard himself can be selectively quoted as being admiring toward or suspicious of Islam. McLaren's position lacks ambivalence. To answer the question of his book title, he invites his readers to imagine how Jesus would behave if he met Moses, the Buddha and Mohammed on the road:

Would Jesus push Moses aside and demand to cross first, claiming that his ancestor's failed religion had been forever superseded by his own? Would he trade insults with Mohammed, claiming his crusaders could whip Mohammed's jihadists any day of the week, demanding that Mohammed cross behind, not beside him? Would Jesus demand the Buddha kneels at his feet and demonstrate submission before letting him cross? Or would he walk with them and, once on the other side, welcome each to a table of fellowship, not demanding any special status or privileges, maybe even taking the role of a servant--hanging up their coats, getting them something to eat and drink, making sure each felt welcome, safe, and at home? (3)

McLaren argues that to imitate Jesus in this imaginary encounter as we live out our real encounters with members of other religions would make us more Christ-like, not less. In the early chapters his tone is almost pleading with his readers to consider his call for a more benevolent, welcoming Christian attitude because his sense of the present moment is no less apocalyptic than Girard's. McLaren says: "We are increasingly faced with a choice, I believe, not between kindness and hostility, but between kindness and nonexistence." (12)

Mimetic theory has made McLaren keenly aware that it is not differences that divide us, but our similarities. If we destroy ourselves, it will be in an orgy of loss of difference with no sufficiently fascinating scapegoat available to save us. "The tensions between our conflicted religions arise not from our differences," he says in italics, "but from one thing we all hold in common: an oppositional religious identity that derives strength from hostility." (57) Our hatred reduces us to identity with our adversary, a hatred we can justify all too easily with claims of Christian uniqueness.

McLaren goes on to call for a renewal of Christian identity in three broad areas: doctrine, liturgy and mission. In the section devoted to re-imaging Christian doctrine in light of a strong and kind identity, mimetic theory is most explicit in the chapters on original sin and Christology. He begins Chapter 13, "How the Doctrine of Original Sin Can Help Christians Be Less Sinful" with a quote from James Alison: "The doctrine of original sin is a parting glance at the unnecessary nature of what we are ceasing to be." McLaren proceeds to explain that James Alison draws "from the seminal theories of René Girard" and then provides his own summary of "this fresh approach in five key concepts." They are imitation, rivalry anxiety (caused by the threat of internal conflict), scapegoating and ritualization. He then asks, "How might a fresh understanding of original sin be articulated in these terms?" Following Alison and including a reference to Paul Nuechterlein's "monumental contribution" to a Girardian reading of scriptures found on girardianlectionary.net, he speaks of original sin as Adam and Eve's succumbing to rivalrous imitation of God by "imitating the serpent's desire for the forbidden fruit." Chapter 16, "How a Deeper Christology Can Save Christians from Hostility" begins with a quotation from Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World and develops Girard's reading of Christ as taking on the role of sacrificial victim in order to reveal and subvert the sacrificial mechanism. McLaren argues that rather than the popular Christological formula "God=Jesus: Jesus=God", a proper Christology would "challenge preconceived understandings of God and revise them in light of Christ." In other words, our image of God as one who demands sacrifice is transformed by Jesus who reveals God's true nature to us by acceding to our demands for a sacrifice by occupying the role of victim for us.

McLaren reimagines Christian liturgy and Christian mission in the next sections, which make for inspiring reading for anyone trying to apply mimetic theory to the practical work of parish ministry. I will offer a few examples of his creative reimagining of day to day worship and Christian living. He offers his vision of a communion table that focuses on "God's sacred self-giving to us then invites us to imitation, to respond in kind through our own self-giving to God, to others, to the whole world." On the practice of reading and interpreting Scripture, McLaren encourages us to read the "passages that advocate hostility, vengeance, exclusion, elitism, and superiority to remind us of where we would be and who we would be if not for Christ." Scriptures that "advocate reconciliation, empathy, inclusion, solidarity, and equality" show us "who we are called to be in Christ."

McLaren's missional challenge is as simple as it is revolutionary for both hostile and weak Christian relationships with other religions: "My identity as a follower of Christ requires me first to move toward the other in friendship, and then to move with the other in service to those in need." This is a vision of a strong, secure Christian identity that does not threaten nor feel threatened by the power, truth and inspiration of other religions. In other words, it is a Christian identity that does not succumb to rivalry or resentment, particular traps of identity that mimetic theory illuminates with alarming clarity. But mimetic theory can view the ability for human beings to resist mimetic rivalries with skepticism. Brian McLaren, on the other hand, lives, works, writes and teaches in hope. "Over time, as others `taste and see' how good this new identity is in practice, it will spread and become increasingly normative. The ultimate result won't simply be a change in Christian identity: it will be a new direction in human history." (72) So why did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road? For the same reason we should - to serve the other.

For more on mimetic theory see ravenfoundation(dot)org Read more ›