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Synopsis
Brian McLaren, one of "Time" magazine's "25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America," is back, this time to lead readers on a journey that will prove to be as unsettling and groundshaking as it is thrilling and life-changing. Unafraid of controversy or the uncomfortable grey areas of life, McLaren's quest is to find the essential message of Jesus' life - even if it overturns our conventional ideas, priorities, and practices. "Through the years, I have frequently had an uncomfortable feeling:" writes McLaren, "that the portrait of Jesus I found in the New Testament didn't fit with the images of Jesus in the church." Out of that nagging discomfort arose this book, promising to be McLaren's most revolutionary to date. He writes, "I'd like to share my search with you, and invite you to be a part of it. I don't want to spoil the ending, but I'll let you in on this: the farther I go on this search, the more inspired, moved, challenged, shocked, and motivated I become about the secret message of Jesus."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'm not a Christian. Having said that I do believe that Jesus Christ is the most perfect being to have ever walked on the face of the earth. And I also believe that he died that I may be saved. On a daily basis I do my best to put my trust in God.
However, Christianity for me has always been about being good enough for heaven or being doomed to hell. And I'm sorry but I don't accept that. And that's why I don't call myself a Christian.
This book will take seekers away from the evangelistic portrayal of Christianity to a new and more encompassing understanding of why God sent his only son to pay such an awful price for our sins.
This book is much more than another attempt to get us hooked on religion. Indeed I don't think it would have too much success if that was its aims. Instead Mr McLaren uncovers what Jesus was about, what he stood for and what his vision for the world consisted of. Reading it with acceptance will take you to a new understanding of what it is to be human.
This is a fresh approach and it works.
However, Christianity for me has always been about being good enough for heaven or being doomed to hell. And I'm sorry but I don't accept that. And that's why I don't call myself a Christian.
This book will take seekers away from the evangelistic portrayal of Christianity to a new and more encompassing understanding of why God sent his only son to pay such an awful price for our sins.
This book is much more than another attempt to get us hooked on religion. Indeed I don't think it would have too much success if that was its aims. Instead Mr McLaren uncovers what Jesus was about, what he stood for and what his vision for the world consisted of. Reading it with acceptance will take you to a new understanding of what it is to be human.
This is a fresh approach and it works.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The central idea of this book is an intriguing one in an age when so many people are ready to proclaim glib certainties about Jesus' intentions. The Kingdom of God, the author argues, was and should continue to be established by indirection and by a subtle, suggestive 'pointing beyond' what is to what might be. McLaren is at pains to show how this approach is in continuity with the style of Jewish prophetic tradition, but also grows out of the social and political context of Jesus' day, when Roman occupation of his homeland was a major factor shaping thought and circumscribing the possibilities for political and social change. Though the book's central idea is a little difficult to sustain for over 200 pages (and there's an element of repetition in the middle section), there's much to ponder here.
If the Kingdom is as McLaren suggests it is, then new metaphors are necessary to describe it - I liked the metaphor of it being God's network. What emerges is a fairly radical new vision of what the followers of Jesus need to be working at in order to bring that Kingdom in. It will perhaps strike you as less radical if you're familiar with the work of activists like Jim Wallis, but I suspect McLaren's vision is aimed fairly squarely at more conservative strands of Christianity in his native America. One point that really jarred, though: McLaren sees the `peaceable Kingdom' as one of Jesus' goals, and that's a vision that involves harmony with the natural world. So far so good. But he quotes as evidence for that emerging vision another author's description of a choreographed show of captive orcas at a Seaworld Centre in Florida. How wild mammals, reduced to performing for human amusement in the confines of a pool, can embody the peaceable Kingdom eludes me. This (serious) critique apart, though, a recommended read.
If the Kingdom is as McLaren suggests it is, then new metaphors are necessary to describe it - I liked the metaphor of it being God's network. What emerges is a fairly radical new vision of what the followers of Jesus need to be working at in order to bring that Kingdom in. It will perhaps strike you as less radical if you're familiar with the work of activists like Jim Wallis, but I suspect McLaren's vision is aimed fairly squarely at more conservative strands of Christianity in his native America. One point that really jarred, though: McLaren sees the `peaceable Kingdom' as one of Jesus' goals, and that's a vision that involves harmony with the natural world. So far so good. But he quotes as evidence for that emerging vision another author's description of a choreographed show of captive orcas at a Seaworld Centre in Florida. How wild mammals, reduced to performing for human amusement in the confines of a pool, can embody the peaceable Kingdom eludes me. This (serious) critique apart, though, a recommended read.
27 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've often puzzled at why the church seems so different from what I read in the Gospels. Church tends to focus on Jesus saving our sins etc. What I'm interested in is what Jesus said about how to live our life - being kind, giving, humble, welcoming to prostitutes etc. The author agrees and is also a vicar and learned man of God so it made an interesting, and at times inspiring, read. I did lose the thread occasionally in the first half but the second half is excellent. If you're not Christian (and I'm not really) then it might be a tad too focused on scripture as the means to get a message across. However the author is a very good writer, which makes it a great read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A book to revolutionise your thinking
This book focusses on what Jesus set and did, set against the cultural of his day. By careful analysis, it reveals the revolutionary nature of his life and teaching and shows how... Read more
Published on 28 Mar 2010 by Dr. N. Reid
A light in the fog
Secret Message is well written, accessible, entertaining and light-hearted. I combines a mix of basic historical analysis with McLaren's liberal theology and while this might seem... Read more
Published on 30 Oct 2009 by Mr. L. R. Wareham
Book Review
This book gripped me straight away and took me on a journey of exploration. Brian Mclaren challenges you to 'really look' at scripture and historical accounts rather than simply... Read more
Published on 2 May 2009 by R. Moore
A 'must read' for evangelicals
I feel a little guilty for giving this book only a 3 star rating. It is a 'must read'for those evangelicals who have begun to wonder whether there is more to the Gospel than they... Read more
Published on 7 Mar 2009 by M. Morton
Challenging Thinking about Jesus
I have been a fan of Mclaren since being introduced to the "New Kind of Christian" trilogy. Whilst the discussions in these books rang true with me, I found the underlying messages... Read more
Published on 14 Sep 2006 by William Notcutt
Not so Secret Secret
I've been fortunate to be able to read a pre-release galley of Brian McLaren's new book, the Secret Message of Jesus. Read more
Published on 22 Mar 2006 by Revd J. P. Clark
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