Why 'A Generous Orthodoxy'; By Brian McLaren, Sucks

My brother confuses me. We were both raised Born-Again Protestant Christians. He still is and is part of the emergent church movement. I'm an atheist. In 2005, my brotherrecommended thatMom buy a book that he thought was one of the most important books in the history of Christianity -- Brian McLaren's "A Generous Orthodoxy" (Zondervan; 2004.) I read it in 2005 and tried reading it again this year but during the second reading gave up at page 200.

"But You're an Atheist."

I claim that this book sucks not because I have problems with McLaren's flavor of Christianity or with his belief in God. The problem is that I haven't the slightest idea what he believes or doesn't believe in. This book is poorly organized, poorly written and has perhaps the world's worst subtitle. The entire book title is this:

A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I Am a missional + evangelical + post/protestant+ liberal/conservative + mystical/poetic + biblical + charismatic/contemplative + fundamentalist/Calvinist + Anabaptist/Anglican + Methodist + Catholic + green + incarnational + depressed-yet-hopeful + emergent + unfinished Christian

The book jacket and introduction praises McLaren for being a new G. K. Chesterton. But even though Chesterton was a pompous bore on the page, he could clearly make a point. I'm not even sure McLaren knows what a "point" is.

Huh?

Since I was raised Christian and spent grades 4 to 12 at a Christian school, I'm a tad bit familiar with Christian jargon. But even a life-long Christian will have trouble keeping up with all of the "-isms" presented in this book, let alone someone brand spanking new to the faith. A glossary would have really helped.

McLaren spends the entire first chapter explaining about how bad of a writer he is and how unqualified he is on writing a book about modern Christian orthodoxy. He certainly doesn't disappoint in these points. McLaren claims to have been an English teacher. I really cringe at thinking how his students must write.

Usually a sentence contains one concept. Not McLaren's. By the end of the sentence, he's talking about a subject different than the beginning of the sentence. Perhaps he was trying to be hip or trendy, but a writer should not sniff at comprehension, especially in the subject of Christian apologetics.

In Conclusion

If you want to know what the emergent church movement is all about, avoid "A Generous Orthodoxy." It confuses more than it enlightens to the point where reading it becomes borderline excruciating.