In Store Now - A New Kind of Christianity

Well, it took a little longer than I thought it would but we finally got our copies in of Brian McLaren's new book A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions that are Transforming the Faith.  The reviews that I've read so far have been very critical which doesn't surprise me.  Michael Wittmer did several posts on the book, Kevin DeYoung has provided a PDF of his extensive review and Tim Challies also chimed in with his thoughts.  One amazon reviewer said "a book's excellence lies not in its being right but in its being interesting" (the reviewer was Nathan P. Gilmore who gave it three stars and titled his review "McLaren, on balance, is worth reading").  I'm not sure I would go that far.  A book could be a fascinating read on the subject of physics but if it's not very accurate then I wouldn't say it was in any meaningful sense "excellent."  But for many the notion of something being "accurate" in theology bristles with problems.  Accurate compared to what?  Therein lies part of the problem.  As I read through McLaren, which I plan to start this weekend, I will obviously be reading him through my rose-colored glasses of conservative theology.  I know I'm going to have problems with much of what he says.  But I want to give him a fair hearing and decide for myself.  I'll let you know sometime next week what some of my initial thoughts are.

The book is published by HarperOne.  It is a hardcover with 306 pages and sells for $24.99.