Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?
Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World
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4.4 • 18 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
McLaren (Naked Spirituality) argues that Christians can respect other faiths while not diluting their own Christianity. He calls this "strong benevolence," a way of remaining firmly Christian while honoring other religious and nonreligious traditions. The goal is communication, not conversion, and relationship, not repression. Using stories from his life and what he has gleaned, sometimes creatively, from theologians, McLaren focuses on ways Christians can reconfigure concepts such as Christology and the Trinity to build a robust emergent Christian faith that repudiates violence, coercion, and domination. Although he claims to reject a sugary Coke commercial version of interfaith "harmony," McLaren's utopian vision, however, might strike even his followers as overly sanguine in its downplaying of the problem of evil. Further, some of his personal anecdotes read more like Save the Children infomercials than slices of real life. Ultimately, McLaren remains worth reading, lively and passionate at translating progressive theology into a popular idiom.
Customer Reviews
The Times They Are a Changin'
What does following christ look like in a multi-faith world? is it possible retain a strong christian identity without resorting to hostility against people of other faiths? If the core of Christ's teaching is love, why has "Christianity" been plagued by seemingly just as many atrocities as other religions throughout its 2000 year history? Every person interested thinking through these questions NEEDS to read this book. That is to say, every person who claims to be interested in following Christ should read this book.