A number of us are reading the book 'The Secret Message of Jesus' by Brian McLaren (having read 'Generous Orthodoxy by McLaren together a couple years ago) and have been talking about his latest book 'Everything Must Change'. Many and varied are the opinions of Brian and his writing in Christendom today. Most of us reading his stuff at CCA appreciate very much the thought provocation and conversation fodder he provides. I read a great article/interview. Check it out. If you don't have time now to read the entire piece, here's a slice of the Q&A I found most meaningful:
Q. But some Christians may see the title of your book and worry that you're saying that what also needs changing is some basic doctrine. For example: Jesus' divinity. Is that negotiable?
A. I affirm in the book that I am completely orthodox in all of my beliefs about Christ. I affirm all the ancient creeds.
But here's where we have to face some deeper issues. The creeds teach us to affirm the deity of Christ. But then we have to say: What does it mean to live out the belief that Jesus was really the word of God incarnate? If we really believe that, then we'll take very seriously what he said about how we treat our enemies. Instead, we often affirm the doctrine in our words -- we can say "Lord, Lord" -- but then we don't actually do what he said.
The change I'm interested in is helping us flesh out what it means to affirm the ancient creeds and historic faith.
I don't know if I could have said that any better! What do you think?
Technorati Tags: Emerging Church, Emergent, Brian McLaren, Orthodoxy
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