Customer Reviews

Jesus Was a Liberal: Reclaiming Christianity for All

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

 

 

This book comes highly recommended by Nationally Syndicated radio talk show star, Stephanie Miller. Which is how I found out about it in the first place, she did an interview with the author on her show.

As a person who considers myself spiritual, and who identifies most strongly with Christianity, it has been frustrating me for a long time that the extreme right wing in the United States (and elsewhere, but mostly in the United States) have somehow managed to claim Jesus Christ to be on "their side."

Their side just happens to be: pro-torture, pro-war, pro-death penalty, pro-revenge, pro-wealth at the expense of all else, pro-public displays of personal religion, anti-taxes, against helping the poor, and against women's rights.

This book, point by point, cites chapter and verse of the Bible and shows that not only was Jesus a "hippy Liberal" who hung out with the prostitues, the poor and the downtrodden, but that he was outspoken against pretty much all of the issues the extreme right wing keep trying to claim he would be for.

The author points out that it was Jesus who said "turn the other cheek," he did NOT say, "let's bomb them back to the stone age." The author points out that it was Jesus who said, "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. [...] But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." [NIV] That pretty much flies in the face of those screaming hysterically about public prayer in the schools.

The author also points out that it was Jesus who said, "Truly I tell you, it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter the kingdom of God." [NIV] And, "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." That seems pretty clear as to where Jesus would come down on the whole multi-billionaire issue.

The author hits the nail right on the head for all of the talking points the extreme right ring like to bandy about on the national air waves, and refutes them with Jesus' own words. It is refreshing to have it all at your fingertips. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has extreme right wingers in their family (like me) who they are constantly getting dragged into debates with. It is great ammunition for those inevitable Thanksgiving dinner arguments.

I am aware that there are people out there who are going to disagree with this author, the conclusions he makes, and my review, simply on the basis that we do not agree with them. I fully expect to get many "not helpful" marks for this review, and I am fine with that. I think this review IS helpful, and I challenge any of you getting ready to hit that "not helpful" rating, to seriously read the book, read the EXACT WORDS of Jesus Christ, and really ask yourself if what you are doing is to glory Him and His message, or a petty, vindictive act of petulant revenge simply because you are filled with hate from a hateful message, and you do not know how to let go? Read the book, and ask Him. He may have "good news" for you ;-)

Book Review by Jim Burklo, Associate Dean of Religious Life, University of Southern California, and author of BIRDLIKE AND BARNLESS: Meditations, Prayers, and Songs for Progressive Christians:

JESUS WAS A LIBERAL: Reclaiming Christianity for All
by Rev. Scotty McLennan (Palgrave MacMillan, 2009)

This review was published in the Summer 2009 edition of THE PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIAN magazine.


"Liberal" is anything but a dirty word for the Dean of Religious Life, and pastor of Memorial Church, at Stanford University. Scotty McLennan is proof that while Christians may be a minority group within it, publicly professing followers of Jesus still thrive in the Unitarian Universalist Association in which he is ordained. He has written his opus on progressive Christianity without disparaging the conservative Christians or the public atheists to whose positions his book carefully responds. With his typical generosity of spirit, Scotty shares how much he respects and learns from those with whom he substantially disagrees, while using them to locate progressives in the center of the Christian tradition. Scotty is the real person behind the figure of Rev. Scot Sloan in Doonesbury, created by McLennan's Yale roommate, Garry Trudeau. Contrary to his comic-strip caricature as the pastor of a nearly empty church, McLennan's big audience will grow bigger with the launch of this new book.

JESUS WAS A LIBERAL is the best introduction to theologically and socially progressive Christianity that I've read in the past several years. McLennan offers a concise definition of "liberal" Christianity, and applies it concretely to hot-button social issues and common confusions about biblical interpretation. He describes what is right about the long, venerable liberal religious tradition more than he argues against what is wrong with atheism or biblical literalism. He makes his cases unequivocally but without being shrill. He offers a defense of abortion rights grounded on the Christmas story in Matthew: "Precisely because Mary's situation is utterly unique, it places in bold relief other girls and women who have not voluntarily chosen to become pregnant." (p 16) He shares the bases of his public opposition to the war in Iraq in Christian "just war theory". His analysis of the impending conflict, and his predictions of the outcome of the war expressed in his sermons and a newspaper editorial, turned out to be uncannily accurate.

The book is flavored throughout with both the earthy and the intellectual. Scotty moves between insights from religious scholarship and stories from his own and others' experiences of pastoral ministry. He illustrates with stories from his stints as a poverty lawyer, as a disciple of a Hindu priest in India, and as a university lecturer. He neatly addresses the common concerns of lay people who are struggling with basic Christian concepts like the Trinity, the "body and blood" of communion, being "born again", and the apocalypse. But he doesn't talk down to the reader: he also salts the text with scholarly analyses of biblical texts and historical details.

The most distinctive feature of his book is his detailed response to four highly visible public atheists of the past few years; Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens. He engaged with them personally in their appearances at Stanford, responding to their indictments of liberal, progressive faith. Scotty's book is a call for critics of supernaturalist faith to refrain from throwing the baby Jesus out with the bathwater. He vigorously argues against their accusations that progressive faithful people unwittingly aid and abet the perpetuation of archaic, harmful religion. At the same time, he calls liberal Christians to join atheists in ecstatically experiencing the natural world. "...I congratulate Richard Dawkins on his enthusiasm, awe, and wonder forged as an atheist in the realm of science alone. We religious people need more of his spirit." (p 127)

The book ends with McLennan's rousing defense of the "L" word. "Too many (liberal Christians) choose silence, afraid to use the word "liberal" to describe where they stand. That leaves them lying low, sitting quietly in their pews at church or in private prayer at home... I bellow, `Stand up, stand tall, and proclaim the positive power of liberal Christianity! Do it now, before it's too late!'" (p 219) In the cause of redeeming the faith, whether we use the word "liberal" or "progressive", nobody stands taller - literally and figuratively - than Scotty McLennan.

In this thoughtful, carefully documented book, Scotty McLennan has some reassuring words for those of us interested in peace, at home and abroad, and in social justice. This though many of us have occasionally been embarrassed to identify ourselves as Christians of late. Jesus, McLennan explains, was up to promoting those same things. He probably wouldn't even have been pointing an exclusionary finger at people who are different. At a time when ultra-conservative Christians command large audiences from a few convenient bully pulpits, and when conservative congregations are admittedly growing (and surely doing a lot of good things!) it's easy for us centrists and liberals to wonder what to do next. So when McLennan shows how Jesus consistently stood for peace, and against poverty, discrimination and environmental degradation, it's like a breath of supportive fresh air. "We need to find each other and support each other," he says. This good book offers ways to do that, and food for the liberal soul.

In my opinion, this book is a work of art. Rev. McLennan teaches that, to coin a phrase, "God is Great and Jesus was one of his Prophets." This book can give monotheistic Christians a rational, heartfelt explanation of how one can call Jesus of Nazareth both Lord and Savior WITHOUT deifying him into a golden calf.

Objective review - This book can give depth to theistic UUs born and raised in more or less Christian families a way to reclaim both their religious heritage and gain religious depth. Rev. McLennan draws on a number of works by both fundamentalists and liberals in supporting his thesis. His work is generally objective and well written with the exception of some capitalization problems.

Subjective review - This book has given me the tools necessary to sing my favorite childhood hymns without wincing. I can remember my Grandmother singing in the kitchen. She would often "belt out" (her words) some of those old time Gospel songs with all her heart. My favorite was "How Great Thou Art."

The memory of her voice lifted in praise of God...that, truly, is a song in my soul. Though she passed on many years ago, I deeply thank Rev. McLennan for allowing me to sing alongside her memory without going silent at certain points in the song. You just can't get through "How Great Thou Art" properly without the word "Savior!"

I can now praise God with all my strength, with all my heart, with all my soul and with all my voice. My utmost thanks to Rev. McLennan for making this possible.

Well worth reading if you wonder what happened to Christianity. Although I don't agree with everything in this book, I didn't expect to, and I don't find that particularly worrisome when I read something. I have found the religious right confusing for some time now. Jesus was nothing if not a champion of the poor and marginalized members of society. Its strange to me that people who claim to be Christian would be against universal health care or other social programs. As this book points out, in times brought up, the top two things covered in the new testament are redemption and social justice. Gay marriage - not mentioned. Abortion - not mentioned. Don't worry about the fact that the author is a Unitarian or doesn't believe in an active deity - you can still get things out of this book. I am not sure exactly when or how Christianity moved away from people like Martin Luther King and toward the very conservative people you mostly see associated with it today. Time to move it back. I think if a few more Christian people stopped and asked themselves - "Where would Jesus stand on this issue" they might come to some very different conclusions.

Jesus was a socially liberal Jew from the Middle East. If anything of those things make you want to freak out, you should ask yourself "why?"

Am I reviewing the book or the service. This is a wonderful book which helps us to remember what real love is all about and the need for social justice.

I purchased this book in order to participate in a discussion group. It was a breath of fresh air for me to read that my Christian roots were still a viable way for me to pursue a religious life. I had turned away from Christianity many years ago because of the conservative interpretations with which I was familiar. It is a pleasure to discover that the answer to 'What would Jesus do?' is not necessarily answered by the highly visible, stridently vocal conservative "Christians" we see on TV these days.

I was quite impressed with this Author.

He brought up many valid points that I hadn't heard or thought about before. There were a couple minor things I didn't agree with in this book, but that's okay, this book is about helping you find your own niche. Or at the very least coming out with a more open mind.

I like the approach the Author took. He didn't force me to share his beliefs, instead he gave me more information to strengthen my own. "They have tried to link learning with love, intellect with piety, knowing that aroused but uninformed Christians are as dangerous as quack physicians." pg 59

The book was written in a respectful manner. I never felt as though the author was deliberately attacking 'conservative' Christians, and as a reader I appreciate that.

I underlined the quote on page 25 "Do not judge and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned." All to often we forget.

There were a couple chapters in this book that I found a little less interesting, but overall it is a good package, with something for everyone.

Scott McLennan's new book "Jesus Was a Liberal" tries to offer a fairly brief discourse on what he sees as the true nature of Christianity. In it he goes addresses the topics of abortion, homosexuality, how to approach the Bible, dealing with conservatives, social matters, and Christian doctrine.

Truth be told, there is definitely some solid food for thought found between the two covers of this book. For example, who cannot deeply sympathize with McLennan's thoughts on Christian doctrine when he decries the "theological minutia" that has served often to only divide the body of Christ rather than unite it? What scientifically literate person has not struggled, at least at some point, with a literal reading of some of the Bible's text, like the creation account? With regard to social issues, I share McLennan's concern that Christians must exuviate what we might call their non-Christian conditioning in order to face down the injustices in the world today. I also, on the matter of homosexuality, would agree with McLennan in as much as gays are certainly no less human than any heterosexual and that social/legal oppression against them is absolutely pointless and intolerant. As far as abortion goes, McLennan is in my judgment right to point out that the notion that life begins at the point of conception is highly questionable in light of how many zygotes fail to implant and successfully develop.

At the same time, not all that glitters is gold. Several problems manifest themselves in this work. First of all, we are treated to ideas that are anywhere from heterodox to simply unorthodox. Early on in the book McLennan affirms more or less the principle that the Bible is to be largely read as metaphor or allegory. The problem with this lies not in the nouns but in the adverb. The author also speaks approvingly of a piece of terribly nice post-modern advice a spiritual mentor gave him; namely, that the approach one ought to take to religion is to adopt the path he or she is most familiar with from prior experience (if you're a Muslim take up Islam; a Christian, then start with Christianity). McLennan clearly puts himself in the camp of Boswell et al. who argue that the Bible is permissive of monogamous homosexual partnerships, and that what the scriptures are really against in the oft-cited passages is rape, violation of Israelite culture/social purity (in the OT of course), prostitution, and pederasty. However, I have yet to see how these typical canards have withstood the broadside that is the scholarship of Donald J. Wold, Robert A.J. Gagnon, and Richard B. Hays, and McLennan provides nothing to show that they have.

Although not all worthless, in the end it seems to me this is simply another product by someone who wishes to place Jesus in a political compartment so that he and his ilk can claim him as their own. This is ultimately no different than the approach of your fundamentalist conservatives who have done likewise. I find this a huge problem in America as it suggests to me a horrendous misplacement of priorities, as if we must interpret Jesus in light of politics rather than the other way around. How much better would it be if we would just remember Christ's statement to Pilate: My kingdom is not of this world? Unfortunately this book seems to be, to borrow an astute illustration I once heard, an excellent example of one claiming to look down the dark and dank well of scripture in search of the true Christ only to instead find the he is but enamored by his own reflection, values and all.

This book begins with the question "Wasn't Jesus a liberal?" and ends 200+ pages later with the answer "Jesus was a liberal". But as much as I would like to have seen the case proven decisively, I'm afraid that too many of Scotty's arrows missed the bullseye. This book leaves no doubt that Rev. McLennan is a liberal, but since I have been making that very case since 1996 on the web, I've found ample evidence of the liberalism of Jesus of Nazareth which all Christian clergy should be taking into account when formulating their own views about religion and politics, which can be found be Googling "LiberalslikeChrist,Christlike" (two words).
Rev. Ray Dubuque
By the way, there'a another book called "Jesus was a Liberal, by Jerry Wilde. It's by a layman, and less theological, but quite good in my view.
One of the best books I have read on this topic was published in early 2007 by the well-known liberal Democratic pundit, Bill Press.
IMHO "How the Republicans Stole Religion" (i. e. Christianity) didn't get anywhere near the attention that it deserved.