Do I Stay Christian?
A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned
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5.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
Dubbed "a heroic gate-crasher" by New York Times bestselling author Glennon Doyle, Brian D. McLaren explores reasons to leave or stay within the church and if so how...
"Brian's new book on remaining Christian knocks it out of the ballpark in terms of framing and naming the questions. I cannot stop reading it. Thank you, Brian!"
—Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, author of The Universal Christ
"Any thoughtful Christian has been asking the questions McLaren tackles here, but many of us are afraid to voice them aloud. In Do I Stay Christian? we’re gifted a gentle guide who opens ideas and voices the questions we cannot, naming our frustration, fear, and hesitant hope."
—Rev. Dr. Amy Butler, former Senior Minister, The Riverside Church; Founder, Invested Faith
Do I Stay Christian? addresses in public the powerful question that surprising numbers of people—including pastors, priests, and other religious leaders—are asking in private. Picking up where Faith After Doubt leaves off, Do I Stay Christian? is not McLaren's attempt to persuade Christians to dig in their heels or run for the exit. Instead, he combines his own experience with that of thousands of people who have confided in him over the years to help readers make a responsible, honest, ethical decision about their religious identity.
There is a way to say both yes and no to the question of staying Christian, McLaren says, by shifting the focus from whether we stay Christian to how we stay human. If Do I Stay Christian? is the question you're asking—or if it's a question that someone you love is asking—this is the book you've been waiting for.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Former pastor McLaren (Faith After Doubt) continues to challenge conservative institutional Christianity in this gloves-off critique of the "Christian-industrial project." Setting out to think "through the question of retaining or shedding Christian identity with you looking over my shoulder," McLaren first lays out "the best reasons I am aware of" for leaving Christianity, then explores reasons to stay and how one can live with one's decision. Among the reasons to leave, McLaren lists Christianity's history of colonialism, racist patriarchalism, and theological stagnation, recounting how popes sanctioned European leaders to steal land from Native Americans, and bemoaning many Christians' view of the religion as a static set of beliefs rather than an adaptable "way of life." Reasons to stay include the "uniquely extraordinary" moral character of Jesus and the desire to support allies working for progressive change. Whatever one chooses, McLaren offers recommendations for "spiritual resilience," urging readers to nurture their impulse toward bettering humanity and to cherish their bodies as more than mere vessels for their spirits. The author's fans will be grateful for his well-grounded, bracing examination of a complex question, while his critics will feel compelled to take his arguments seriously. This earnest inquiry solidifies McLaren's place as one of the more thoughtful interrogators of modern Christianity.
