The Story We Find Ourselves In: Further Adventures of a New Kind of Christian (Hardcover)

by Brian D. McLaren (Author) "Dear Dan, It;s terrible after you havent heard from me for so long for me to finzlly email you asking a favr..." (more)
Key Phrases: land iguanas, saving love, Puerto Ayora, Holy Spirit, Potomac Community Church (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
McLaren's A New Kind of Christian set the evangelical community abuzz in 2001 by exploring weighty ideas about faith through the vehicle of fiction. In his gentler follow-up, which intentionally reads more like an extended conversation than a gripping novel, McLaren brings back as protagonists pastor Dan Poole and spiritual guru (and now certified naturalist and tour guide) "Neo" (Neil Oliver). "Sometimes, I think the Bible is more of a question book than answer book; it raises questions that bring people together for conversation about life's most important issues," muses Neo. Using the device of Neo conversing with spiritual seekers, including an Australian woman who is battling cancer, McLaren tackles age-old questions about Christianity, including, "Before the beginning, what was God doing?" The conversations discuss the relevance of other religions, the authenticity of miracles and the work of Christ on the cross. The backdrop of the Gal pagos Islands provides Neo the opportunity to discourse on creation, evolution and a Christian's responsibility to care for the planet. McLaren's characters' awe of Neo can be wearing at times, as when Dan reflects, "What Neo explained next was so fascinating that I could hardly sit still." McLaren tends to overuse parentheses-there are seven sets on a single page-and some portions of text feel inserted, rather than well-integrated. However, like the first volume, this book offers an excellent opportunity for Christians to rethink why they believe what they believe.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"…this is a book you’ll want to read at least twice." (UK Christian Bookshops, July 2005)

Written as a piece of fiction, this second in a series by McLaren explores the places where many interested in the newer forms of Christianity now find themselves—uncomfortable in the traditional and evangelical churches, and evaluating what the mission of the Christian community should be. Anyone interested in what is the next phase of Christianity in America should read this book. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 7, 2003)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (February 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787963879
• ISBN-13: 978-0787963873
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #102,853 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I loved the first book, but was dissapointed with this one, May 27, 2005

By	J. Thiessen "Jon" (Denver) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was surprised to be so dissapointed in this book. The previous book "A New Kind of Christian" was great! The previous book asked questions that need to be asked of the church, questions that often lead to shocking answers (and revelations), but the author left them as questions. This was very wise of Mr. McLaren; it leaves the reader to pursue God to find the Truth. Especially in the 'postmodern' world that Mr. McLaren posits, there will not be simple and 'cookie cutter' answers. One-size-fits-all church is a thing of the past, and I wholeheartedly agree with him.
Unfortunately, in this second book we find out that Mr. McLaren's answer to all of the dogma of the past is to create a new dogma for the future. I was especially dissapointed that he hinges his story on evolution- a theory rooted more as a faith than science. C.S. Lewis once said that to anchor any faith in the findings of science is a mistake. All science will be disproven, and your faith will go with it. When our faith and science agree- it should be no more than a curious fact to us, because our faith is based on Truth, and science (by the modern definition) is rooted in materialism.

I suppose what disturbed me most was that I was halfway through "the story we find ourselves in" before there was any mention of the enemy, and then only as a 'metaphor to put a personality on evil." The next mention of the enemy was similary vague, and it was in the very end of the book. I suppose if you remove the enemy from our story, what you're left with is.... evolution to explain evil and suffering.

From the movie "The Usual Suspects: The greatest lie the devil ever perpetrated on humanity was to convince the world that he doesn't exist."

I agree with Mr. McLaren that the conveyance of the Gospel is changing as society changes, but I disagree the we need to change it into some form of unitarian cosmo-love to communicate the love of Christ. There is an enemy, and removing references to him doesn't do anyone any favors except, of course, the enemy.

Jon

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bold Brushstrokes from a Humble Artist of Faith, March 28, 2003

By	Ken Archer (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It's interesting that the tone of some reviews of McLaren's work stands in bold relief compared to humility brought by McLaren to his works, and the humility that he insists upon from people who agree with him. There is alot in this book to engage as a reader, and thoughtful readers will refrain, as McLaren does, from wholesale endorsements or rejections of complex works such as this. In fact, the only basis for wholesale rejection is the rejection of storytelling, which McLaren clearly stands behind. So allow me to defend McLaren's craft of creative nonfiction below.

Many writers in the postmodern Christian "tradition" call for a turn from abstract theology to theology as story, from the apologetics of argument to the apologetics of storytelling. Few, chief among them McLaren in this book and John Eldredge in Sacred Romance, are actually telling stories. Stories are by there very nature disarming. Perhaps that's why Plato wrote in stories, to be able to say exactly what Socrates was saying, but without being persecuted for it. Stories also enable the storyteller to experiment with ideas without offering endless caveats and "quotation marks" to properly distance himself from his proposal. Finally, stories reflect our day-to-day interior worlds, our thought lives, and are thus much better able to engage us than abstract claims of the Kantian or Schleiermachian ilk.

The most intriguing episodes in The Story We Find Ourselves in are, to me, the creation account given by McLaren and the break that occurs with the medieval synthesis of Christianity with Greek philosophy. It is indeed difficult to think of the creation story without the extraBiblical dualism of material vs. spiritual.

Finally, I think an interesting result of this book, or of the 3rd in the series, would be for others to continue the story that McLaren has begun. I think many would love to work through their questions via the medium of Neo, Dan and the rest.

37 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not Worth The Time, June 30, 2005

By	Phillip H. Steiger (Colorado Springs, CO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In this continuation of Neo and pastor Dan's story, McLaren does not succeed in giving us much that is genuinely insightful or with great impact. Besides a couple of genuine moments in the story line in which characters appear to come to terms with God and their spirituality (even then, though, McLaren is extremely shy of the concept and the word "conversion"), there is not much in either the fiction or the theology to recommend.

One general point of critique would be the postmodern penchant for story and dialogue in which no clear point is made and, allegedly, no side is taken. As philosophers no less than Aristotle and Davidson have pointed out, a good story or metaphor has a plot or makes a point. What is a metaphor or a story but a clever and unique way of saying something fairly specific? Dialogue simply for the sake of dialogue is basically (and maybe literally) meaningless. Christ did not speak in parables in order not to make a point.

As for the theology, most of what McLaren has to say in this second part of his trilogy is wrapped in politics, an obvious adherence to evolution, and his clear aversion things traditionally evangelical. The only "bad guys" in this work are caricatures of traditional evangelicals. At times McLaren seems to toy with Monism, Pelagianism, and a general lack of definition of sin and redemption. The concept of redemption looms large in his book, but it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what needs to be redeemed except white evangelicals and conservative politics. In other words, sin does not play the role it needs to in order for McLaren's version of redemption to be meaningful.

At one point near the end of the story when McLaren is laying the foundation for the third book's plot, his theology hits the surface. Dan and Neo are reflecting on the death of one character and Dan is questioning him about heaven and hell. Neo is talking around the issue and Dan presses him on the point. Neo's, and apparently McLaren's, response is, "Why do you always need to ask that question?" Neo then continues to evade giving a clear or distinct answer to the question. The answer to why the question of heaven and hell needs to be answered is obvious-because it is the one final question every single human being ever born needs to face. Seems to me that a caring and thoughtful response would not be a gloss but an answer.

Unless you are interested in understanding the theology of the emergent church movement, I would not recommend this book.