Though I've written reviews and reports in the past, I can call this written response neither.  It is a reaction.  I have termed it such because I do not intend to provide chapter breakdowns, line by line analysis, or even a sure fire positive or negative endorsement.  This is a book that I'm rather lukewarm about.  I'm also classifying this review as a reaction because of my disposition toward the author, toward whom I have rather strong feelings.  I finished reading the book a couple of weeks ago, enjoyed it in part, found it distasteful at times, and have kept it near my computer in recent days contemplating what I might have to say about this recent work.

I met Brian McLaren through A New Kind of Christian in the spring of 2002.  My wife, whom I had just begun dating at the time, suggested that we pick up that book and use it as a primer for discussion about the Christian life.  I devoured the book, she read most of it, and through it both of us were introduced to"postmodernism" and how this perspective is shaping and may still shape Christianity.  I credit McLaren with shifting my thinking in a new direction, I've read most of what he has published, I've tracked "Emergent" carefully over the past 6 years, and might be considered a friendly, though not entirely sympathetic, critic of McLaren and those who are of like mind.

Finding Our Way again begins with a true to life parable, in which McLaren recounts an interview which he conducted some years ago with Peter Senge, one of the pioneers of systems thinking.  This interview took place at a conference for pastors.  McLaren had prepared to introduce Dr. Senge.  He was surprised to find out the evening before that his actual task was to interview this brilliant man.  At the beginning of the interview he remarked that this audience must be rather unconventional for someone like Senge, and asked, "What would you like to say to a group of five hundred Christian ministers?"

Senge responded thoughtfully, agreeing that he did not typically speak to such audiences.  It so happened that the day before Dr. Senge had been present in a bookstore and learned that the second most popular genre of books where those on Buddhism, ranking behind books on how to earn wealth quickly in the new information economy.  In light of this recent experience, he responded to McLaren with a question.  Senge asked the group, "Why are book on Buddhism so popular, and not books on Christianity?"

McLaren asked for Senge's answer to this question.  He responded by saying, "I think it's because Buddhism presents itself as a way of life, and Christianity presents itself as a system of belief.  So I would want to get Christian ministers thinking about how to rediscover their own faith as a way of life, because that's what people are searching for today.  That's what they need most."

McLaren's presentation flows from this parable.  First, McLaren chronicles why spiritual practices matter.  On many points I agree strongly with McLaren.  McLaren affirms that becoming a person of character does not happen instantaneously.  Rather, becoming a person of virtue takes years of practice and development.  McLaren argues that spiritual practices matter because they are the means by which God transforms our character into the likeness of Jesus.

Next, McLaren discusses specific practices which stand at the root of character transformation.  In his discussion he attempts to address Christianity, Judaism, and Islam as ways of life that need to be recaptured for the good of the world.  McLaren notes how fasting, fixed hour prayer, Sabbath, the sacred meal, pilgrimage, observances of sacred seasons, and giving are all rooted in the story of Abraham--a common root for each of these major world religions.  Whereas I would see this as a central theme of any book on spiritual practices, McLaren only devotes one chapter of focus to these disciplines.

After rooting spiritual practices in the Abrahamic narrative, McLaren turns to both Jesus and Paul.  To be brief, McLaren's discussion of Jesus is mainly centered on the kingdom of God, a topic which McLaren has written about extensively in his book The Secret Message of Jesus.  When considering Paul, McLaren asserts that the apostle has been commonly misread and must be seen as someone working out the teachings of Jesus.  Said differently, Paul must be read in light of Jesus rather than through Wesley, Calvin, Luther, Aquinas, or Augustine.  McLaren describes Paul's ministry as teaching the way of love, highlighting the apostle's teaching on the ingrafting of Gentiles into God's people through Christ (a form of radical inclusivity) and the way in which we are called to practice love as persons "in Christ."

Moving forward from here, McLaren discusses the importance of spiritual community, paints a picture of "open-source spirituality" (taking what is good from a variety of traditions), and the need for a commonality between the Activist and Contemplative ways, two polarities which have existed historically in Christianity.  McLaren describes the Contemplative way as emphasizing the personal gospel, private piety, the future-reality of heaven, and the avoidance of sin.  The Activist way is focused on the social gospel, the common good, present-reality of earth, and the avoidance of injustice.  McLaren sees the need for these polarities to converge in a balanced spirituality which engages communally, contemplatively, and missionally.  These three ways of being, which I will not treat in detail, constitute McLaren's "Holy Trinity" of a healthy spiritual environment.

In the final 1/4 of his book, McLaren presents three other ways of thinking about spiritual practices.  Katharsis (via purgativa), Fotosis (via illuminativa), and Theosis (via unitiva) are explained through a story of an interaction with a nun.  In short, these practices work together to yield a healthier and more vibrant life with God. Through Katharsis the soul purges the junk, the dust, and the cobwebs which have cluttered our lives, opening the way for a fresh engagement with God.  In Fotosis practices such as lectio divina are engaged so that God might lead the individual to new insights.  In Theosis one moves to a place where one's heartbeat falls in rhythm with the heartbeat of God.

McLaren concludes his book with an exhortation to the three great monotheistic faiths to find their way again so that character might be developed, persons might be more awake to the world, and individuals may testify to an experience of God.  Lastly, McLaren wishes to see these practices undertaken in hope they will lead to peace.  He states,"What if there is a treasure hidden in the field of our three great monotheisms, long buried but waiting to be recovered?  And what if that treasure is a way...a way that can train us to stop killing and hating and instead to work together, under God, joining God, to build a better world, a city of peace, a city of God?  What if our suffering and fear are not intended to inspire deadly cycles of defense and counterattack in a vain search for peace through victory and domination, but instead, what if they can serve to break and soften us like a plowed field after rain so that the seed of God's kingdom--a few notes of God's eternal harmony--can grow within us and among us?"

Most people would agree that peace is a worthy hope.

While many of the things McLaren describes in this book are worthy, good, hopeful, encouraging, and, on some points, true, as I read the book I continued to be plagued by the thought that something was missed, or amiss.  Why is it, I asked, that Christianity continues to be pigeon holed as a "system of belief," and not as "a way of life"?  All I have ever known of Christianity has come to me within the lived context of a people.  Could it be that persons in the American context are not drawn to Eastern religious traditions because of their presentation as a way of life?  Could it be, rather, that as people seek after a way of life and search for an option which seems truthful, Christianity as it is being expressed in America has been found wanting?  Perhaps the problem is not with our way of life or our emphasis on information to construct a system of belief.  Perhaps the problem lies beneath those categories.  I tend to think that it does.  I tend to think that our problem has greatly to do with our theology as it is both expressed and practiced, the erosion of our capacity to be serious in the middle of an amusement culture, and the absence of vision and leadership which reflects the grandiose nature of the Kingdom of God.  The problem with Christianity is not with it's emphasis on one aspect (cognitive) or another (practice), it is that both the system and the way have become hollow and cheap, rather than weighty and costly.

One last issue: McLaren ends his treatment of spiritual practices with an appeal to the three Abrahamic faiths, petitioning them to become more disciplined in their historic rhythms for the purpose of forming people who exhibit God's shalom, or peace.  McLaren wants to see us all get along, whether we be Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, or whatever.  While I agree with McLaren that within each historic religion rest resources for peaceful coexistence, I wonder if he fully realizes the magnitude of his vision.  A peaceful relationship between people of varying traditions is hard work.  Just because it is hard does not mean that it is not possible. Yet, religion deals with matters of "ultimate concern," constructs maps of meaning, and makes claims of truth about existence.  Sometimes religious claims come in to conflict both within and between traditions.  To me, it seems that McLaren's hope for peaceful coexistence for a "city of peace, a city of God" reflects an eschatology that minors on certain central particulars.  I'm not saying that it isn't a worthy hope.  I am saying that I have questions for how this works itself out eschatologically.

Though I read this book over the course of about three days and did find some nuggets within, in the words of Homer Simpson I could only grant "Five Thumbs Up" on a scale of 10 Thumbs.  Good, but not great.  If you have found some of the ideas I've outlined here interesting and can obtain it from your public library, check it out.  I wouldn't recommend dishing out dollars to add this to your personal collection.

Keep learning.

I will select from among all of those writing on the emerging church, missional church, mosaic church and those theologian engaging postmodern thought in a significant way. I will focus on those books listed at: 100 Books on the Emerging Church

Brian McLaren, Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices (Thomas Nelson, 2008).

Surprisingly, it was difficult to find reviews of this book. Most of the reviews that were listed highly by Google were by people so fundamentalist that some of them accused the Moody Bible Institute of being deeply involved in theological error and that Mr. McLaren was clearly a new age prophet here to mislead the church in the end-times. I included one or two of those above, but mostly for curiosity's sake. The Amazon reviews seemed to be the most substantive.

If you enjoy this post, you might also enjoy this one on "Books on New Monasticism".

To read reviews of some of these books from around the web, check here.

In Alphabetical order by the last name of the primary author:

1. Ray S. Anderson, An Emergent Theology for Emerging Churches (InterVarsity Press, 2006).
2. George Barna, Revolution (Tyndale House Publishers, 2006).
3. Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith (Zondervan, 2005).
4. Rob Bell and Don Golden, Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile (Zondervan, 2008).
5. Don Brandt and Ron Sider, Inheriting the Earth: Poor Communities and Environmental Renewal (WorldVision, 2004).
6. Kester Brewin, Signs of Emergence: A Vision for Church That Is Always Organic/Networked/Decentraliz (BAKER BOOK HOUSE, 2007).
7. Warren Brown, Nancey Murphy, and H. Newton Malony, Whatever Happened to the Soul? Scientific and Theological Portraits of Human Nature (Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1998).
8. Spencer Burke, Making Sense of Church: Eavesdropping on Emerging Conversations About God, Community, and Culture (Zondervan/Youth Specialties, 2003).
9. Tony Campolo, Red Letter Christians: A Citizen's Guide to Faith and Politics (Regal Books, 2008).
10. D. A. Carson, Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications (Zondervan, 2005).
11. Bruxy Cavey, The End of Religion: Encountering the Subversive Spirituality of Jesus (NavPress Publishing Group, 2007).
12. Steve Chalke and Alan Mann, The Lost Message of Jesus (Zondervan, 2004).
13. Shane Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical (Zondervan, 2006). (Reviews)
14. Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw, Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals (Zondervan, 2008). (Reviews)
15. Clarke E. Cochran et al., Church, State and Public Justice: Five Views (IVP Academic, 2007).
16. Neil Cole, Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens (Jossey-Bass, 2005).
17. Tim Conder, The Church in Transition: The Journey of Existing Churches into the Emerging Culture (Zondervan/Youth Specialties, 2006).
18. Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck, Why We're Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be (Moody Publishers, 2008).
19. William T. Ditewig, The Emerging Diaconate: Servant Leaders in a Servant Church (Paulist Press, 2007).
20. Dennis M. Doyle, The Church Emerging from Vatican II: A Popular Approach to Contemporary Catholicism (Twenty-Third Publications, 1992).
21. Mark Driscoll, Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church, Revised. (Zondervan, 2006).
22. Mark Driscoll et al., Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches: Five Perspectives (Zondervan, 2007).
23. Nathan C. P. Frambach, Emerging Ministry: Being Church Today (Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 2007).
24. Michael Frost, Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture (Hendrickson Publishers, 2006).
25. Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch, The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21 Century Church (Hendrickson Publishers, 2003).
26. Becky Garrison, Rising from the Ashes: Rethinking Church (Seabury Books, 2007).
27. Eddie Gibbs and Ryan K. Bolger, Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures (Baker Academic, 2005). (Reviews)
28. Stanley J. Grenz, A Primer on Postmodernism (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1996).
29. Stanley J. Grenz, Created for Community: Connecting Christian Belief with Christian Living, 2nd ed. (Baker Academic, 1998).
30. Stanley J. Grenz, Theology for the Community of God (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000).
31. Stanley J. Grenz, The Moral Quest: Foundations of Christian Ethics (InterVarsity Press, 2000).
32. Stanley J. Grenz, The Social God and the Relational Self: A Trinitarian Theology of the Imago Dei (Westminster John Knox Press, 2001).
33. Stanley J. Grenz and John R. Franke, Beyond Foundationalism: Shaping Theology in a Postmodern Context (Westminster John Knox Press, 2001).
34. Hugh Halter and Matt Smay, The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community (Jossey-Bass, 2008).
35. Stanley Hauerwas, Unleashing the Scripture: Freeing the Bible from Captivity to America (Abingdon Press, 1993).
36. Stanley Hauerwas, The Peaceable Kingdom, 2nd ed. (SCM Press, 2003).
37. Stanley Hauerwas and Romand Coles, Christianity, Democracy, and the Radical Ordinary: Conversations Between a Radical Democrat and a Christian (Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2007).
38. Stanley Hauerwas and William H. Willimon, Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony, 1st ed. (Abingdon Press, 1989).
39. Jim Henderson, Matt Casper, and George Barna, Jim and Casper Go to Church: Frank Conversation about Faith, Churches, and Well-Meaning Christians (BarnaBooks, 2007).
40. Alan Hirsch, Forgotten Ways, The: Reactivating the Missional Church (Brazos Press, 2007).
41. George R. Hunsberger and Craig Van Gelder, The Church Between Gospel and Culture: The Emerging Mission in North America (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1996).
42. Wayne Jacobsen and Dave Coleman, So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore (Windblown Media, 2006).
43. Tony Jones, Postmodern Youth Ministry (Zondervan/Youth Specialties, 2001).
44. Tony Jones, The Sacred Way: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life (Zondervan/Youth Specialties, 2005).
45. Tony Jones, Divine Intervention: Encountering God Through the Ancient Practice of Lectio Divina (Th1nk Books, 2006).
46. Tony Jones, The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier (Jossey-Bass, 2008).
47. Tim Keel, Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor, and Chaos (Baker Books, 2007).
48. Dan Kimball, The Emerging Church: Vintage Christianity for New Generations (Zondervan/Youth Specialties, 2003). (Reviews)
49. Dan Kimball, They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations (Zondervan, 2007).
50. Dan Kimball, David Crowder, and Sally Morgenthaler, Emerging Worship: Creating Worship Gatherings for New Generations (Zondervan/Youth Specialties, 2004).
51. B Larson and R Osbourne, The Emerging Church (London: Word Books, 1970).
52. Christopher Stephen Lutz, Tradition in the Ethics of Alasdair MacIntyre (Lexington Books, 2004).
53. Alasdair Macintyre, Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry: Encyclopaedia, Genealogy, and Tradition (University of Notre Dame Press, 1991).
54. Alasdair C. MacIntyre, Whose Justice? Which Rationality? (University of Notre Dame Press, 1989).
55. Alasdair MacIntyre, Dependent Rational Animals: Why Human Beings Need the Virtues (Open Court, 2001).
56. Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory, Third Edition, 3rd ed. (University of Notre Dame Press, 2007).
57. Brian D. McLaren, A New Kind of Christian: A Tale of Two Friends on a Spiritual Journey, 1st ed. (Jossey-Bass, 2001).
58. Brian D. McLaren, Church on the Other Side, The, Exp&ed. (Zondervan, 2003). (Reviews)
59. Brian D. McLaren, 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 (Zondervan/Youth Specialties, 2004).
60. Brian McLaren, Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope (Thomas Nelson, 2007). (Reviews)
61. Brian McLaren, Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices (Thomas Nelson, 2008). (Reviews)
62. Carol Howard Merritt, Tribal Church: Ministering to the Missing Generation (The Alban Institute, 2007).
63. Donald Miller, Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance (Harvest House Pub, 2000).
64. Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality (Thomas Nelson, 2003).
65. Donald Miller, Searching for God Knows What (Thomas Nelson, 2004).
66. Donald Miller, Through Painted Deserts: Light, God, and Beauty on the Open Road (Thomas Nelson, 2005).
67. Nancey Murphy, Beyond Liberalism and Fundamentalism: How Modern and Postmodern Philosophy Set the Theological Agenda (Trinity Press International, 1996).
68. Nancey Murphy, Anglo-American Postmodernity: Philosophical Perspectives on Science, Religion, and Ethics (Westview Press, 1997).
69. Nancey C. Murphy, Reasoning and Rhetoric in Religion (Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2001).
70. Nancey C. Murphy and George Francis Rayner Ellis, On the Moral Nature of the Universe: Theology, Cosmology & Ethics (Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1996).
71. Nancey C. Murphy, Stanley Hauerwas, and Mark Nation, Theology Without Foundations: Religious Practice and the Future of Theological Truth (Abingdon Pr, 1994).
72. Nancey Murphy, Brad J. Kallenberg, and Mark Thiessen Nation, Virtues & Practices in the Christian Tradition: Christian Ethics After Macintyre (University of Notre Dame Press, 2003).
73. Joseph R. Myers, Organic Community: Creating a Place Where People Naturally Connect (Baker Books, 2007).
74. Roger Oakland, The Emerging Church, DVD (Understand the Times, 2005).
75. Roger Oakland, Faith Undone: The Emerging Church a New Reformation or an Endtime Deception (Lighthouse Trails Publishing, 2007).
76. Doug Pagitt, Reimagining Spiritual Formation: A Week in the Life of an Experimental Church (Zondervan, 2004).
77. Doug Pagitt, Preaching Re-Imagined: The Role of the Sermon in Communities of Faith (Zondervan/Youth Specialties, 2005).
78. Doug Pagitt, Church Re-Imagined: The Spiritual Formation of People in Communities of Faith (Zondervan, 2005).
79. Doug Pagitt, A Christianity Worth Believing: Hope-filled, Open-armed, Alive-and-well Faith for the Left Out, Left Behind, and Let Down in us All (Jossey-Bass, 2008).
80. Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones, Emergent Manifesto of Hope, An (Baker Books, 2007).
81. Doug Pagitt and Kathryn Prill, BodyPrayer: The Posture of Intimacy with God (WaterBrook Press, 2005).
82. Fred Peatross, Tradition, Opinion, and Truth: The Emerging Church of Christ (Writers Club Press, 2000).
83. Steve Rabey, In Search of Authentic Faith: How Emerging Generations Are Transforming the Church, 1st ed. (WaterBrook Press, 2001).
84. Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger, Simple Church: Returning to God's Process for Making Disciples (B&H Publishing Group, 2006).
85. Arne Rasmusson, The Church As Polis: From Political Theology to Theological Politics As Exemplified by Jurgen Moltmann and Stanley Hauerwas (University of Notre Dame Press, 1996).
86. Peter Rollins, How (Not) to Speak of God (Paraclete Press (MA), 2006).
87. Peter Rollins, The Fidelity of Betrayal: Towards a Church Beyond Belief (Paraclete Press (MA), 2008).
88. Bruce Sanguin, The Emerging Church: A Model for Change & a Map of Renewal (Copperhouse, 2008). (Reviews)
89. Mark Scandrette, Soul Graffiti: Making a Life in the Way of Jesus (Jossey-Bass, 2008).
90. Donald Schmidt, Emerging Word: A Creation Spirituality Lectionary: Scripture Readings and Commentary for the Church Year (iUniverse, Inc., 2006).
91. F. LeRon Shults, The Postfoundationalist Task of Theology (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999).
92. Ronald J. Sider, Good News and Good Works: A Theology for the Whole Gospel (Baker Books, 1999).
93. Ronald J. Sider, Doing Evangelism Jesus' Way: How Christians Demonstrate the Good News (Evangel Publishing House, 2003).
94. Ronald J. Sider, Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience, The: Why Are Christians Living Just Like the Rest of the World? (Baker Books, 2005).
95. Ronald J. Sider, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity (Thomas Nelson, 2005).
96. Ronald J. Sider, Just Generosity: A New Vision for Overcoming Poverty in America, 2nd ed. (Baker Books, 2007).
97. Ronald J. Sider, Scandal of Evangelical Politics, The: Why Are Christians Missing the Chance to Really Change the World? (Baker Books, 2008).
98. Ronald J. Sider, I Am Not a Social Activist: Making Jesus the Agenda (Herald Pr, 2008).
99. Ronald J. Sider, Philip N. Olson, and Heidi Rolland Unruh, Churches That Make a Difference: Reaching Your Community with Good News and Good Works (Baker Books, 2002).
100. Tom Sine, The Mustard Seed Conspiracy: You Can Make A Difference In Tomorrow's Troubled World (Marc, 1972).
101. Tom Sine, Mustard Seed Conspiracy (W Pub Group, 1981).
102. Tom Sine, Taking Discipleship Seriously: A Radical Biblical Approach (Judson Press, 1985).
103. Tom Sine, Cease Fire: Searching for Sanity in America's Culture Wars (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1996).
104. Tom Sine, Mustard Seed vs. McWorld: Reinventing Life and Faith for the Future (Baker Books, 1999).
105. Tom Sine, The New Conspirators: Creating the Future One Mustard Seed at a Time (IVP Books, 2008). (Reviews) (Another Review)
106. Leonard Sweet et al., Church in Emerging Culture: Five Perspectives (Zondervan/Youth Specialties, 2003).
107. Steve Taylor, The Out of Bounds Church?: Learning to Create a Community of Faith in a Culture of Change (Zondervan/Youth Specialties, 2005).
108. Phyllis Tickle, The Great Emergence: How Christianity Is Changing and Why (Baker Books, 2008).
109. Heidi Rolland Unruh and Ronald J. Sider, Saving Souls, Serving Society: Understanding the Faith Factor in Church-Based Social Ministry (Oxford University Press, USA, 2005).
110. Jim Wallis, Faith Works: How to Live Your Beliefs and Ignite Positive Social Change (Random House, 2005).
111. Jim Wallis, God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It (HarperOne, 2006).
112. Jim Wallis, The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith and Politics in a Post-Religious Right America, 1st ed. (HarperOne, 2008).
113. Jim Wallis et al., The Revolution: A Field Manual for Changing Your World (Relevant Books, 2006).
114. Pete Ward, Liquid Church (Hendrickson Publishers, 2002).
115. Jim L. Wilson, Future Church: Ministry In A Post-seeker Age (B&H Publishing Group, 2004).
116. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Free To Be Bound: Church Beyond the Color Line (NavPress Publishing Group, 2008).
117. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, New Monasticism: What It Has to Say to Today's Church (Brazos Press, 2008).
118. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (HarperOne, 2008).

Ok folks, thanks for your on and off list suggestions. I have revised the list. It is now a bit longer. Perhaps we should think about which books can be culled from the list. Which ones don't actually make that strong of a contribution? I'll start to add some commentary on the books through links on the titles. Thanks again.

El nuevo libro de Brian McLaren, Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices (Nashville: Thomas Nelson), trata el tema del reino ahora y de la salvación futura desde un razonamiento lógico que él une en tres conceptos: katharsis, fotosis y theosis (autoanálisis, iluminación y unidad con Dios).

El libro es parte de una serie de ocho tomos titulada The Ancient Practices Series. Junto a esta obra, fue puesto también en circulación el libro In Constant Prayer, por Robert Benson.

La obra parece interesante y fresca. Es tiempo de que nos dediquemos a vivir nuestras vidas correctamente a la manera de Jesús.

Relacionado:

-Scot McKnight comenta sobre la obra en su blog Jesus Creed.

-Comentario de Kayla Smith en RELEVANT.

-Thom Turner, de Everyday Liturgy, entrevistó a Brian McLaren sobre la obra.

The Ancient Practices Series

-Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices, Brian McLaren

-In Constant Prayer, Robert Benson

-Sabbath, Dan B. Allender (2009)

-Fasting, Scot McKnight (2009)

-The Sacred Meal, Nora Gallagher (2009)

-The Pilgrimage, Diana Butler Bass (2009)

-The Liturgical Year, Joan Chittister (2010)

-Tithing, Douglas LeBlanc (2010)

Más sobre nuevo monasticismo y nueva liturgia:

-NewMonasticism.org: Sitio de la School of Conversion, con recursos y artículos sobre el tema.

-Entrada de "New Monasticism" en Wikipedia.

-"The New Monasticism". Artículo de Rob Moll @ Christianity Today.

-"Monastic Evangelicals". Chris Armstrong habla en este artículo en CT sobre la nueva camada de jóvenes cristianos norteamericanos atraídos por las prácticas monásticas.

-Beyond Smells & Bells: The Wonder and Power of Christian Liturgy. Otro libro recién lanzado sobre el tema, cuyo autor, Mark Galli, busca enlazar la liturgia a la vida en comunidad, en un mundo plagado por el individualismo.

-The Missio Dei Breviary. Colección de oraciones escritas por Mark Van Steenwyk, que han sido utilizadas en su comunidad, Missio Dei.

-Monk Habits for Everyday People: Benedictine Spirituality for Protestants, por Dennis Olkholm. Ada, MI: BrazosPress, 2007.

-Getting to Know the Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction, por Bryan M. Liftin. Ada, MI: BrazosPress, 2007.

Comunidades:

-MissioDei, Minneapolis, MN (Mark Van Steenwyk).

-Mustard Seed House, Seattle, WA (Tom & Christine Sine, Eliacin Rosario-Cruz.

-Northumbria Community, Chatton, Northumberland, UK

-The Simple Way, Philadelphia, PA (Shane Claiborne)

Recently, there has been quite a bit written about a third way that goes beyond the polarizing options between conservative and liberal or left and right. McLaren, however, writes that "more and more of us feel, more and more intensely, the need for a fresh, creative alternative - a fourth alternative, something beyond militarist scientific secularism, pushy religious fundamentalism, and mushy amorphous spirituality.... The challenge of the future will require, we realize, rediscovery and adaptive reuse of resources from the ancient past" (5-6)

As a result, McLaren's book, and the series of book that he is introducing, seek to flesh out this "fourth way" by reaching "beyond a reductionistic secularism, beyond a reactive and intransigent fundamentalism, and beyond a vague, consumerist spirituality" (6).

I always enjoy reading McLaren's work because he is a gifted writer. His conversational style and his ability to bring you into the story that he is telling make it easy to go along with him for the ride that he wants to take you on. He has the ability to make you feel as if he is actually speaking directly to you saying, "Hey, here are some things that I have been thinking about. Let me show you what I am seeing and see what you think about it."

Finding Our Way Again is certainly no exception to McLaren's ability to engage the reader and invite them into a conversation. McLaren is at his best in the chapters where he explains the ancient practices of katharsis, fotosis, and theosis. In these chapters he explains these concepts by asking the reader to imagine themselves to be "a young spiritual seeker who has just come into possession of a time machine... You come to a monastery and are given a hospitable welcome. You meet with the abbess, a short, wrinkled, slightly hunched-over woman who walks with a stick at a pace that exceeds the speed limit you would imagine for a wrinkled, slightly hunched-over woman" (148). I suspect that most authors would not be able to pull this off in a believable way. However, at least for me, I read this passage and never blinked. Before I knew it, I was fully absorbed in this new world with an abbess from the Middle Ages explaining these ancient practices through very ordinary stories and exercises.

In this volume, at least, McLaren also seems to occasionally overstate his case. I found his argument for "Why Spiritual Practices Matter" in the second chapter to be the least convincing of the book. The chapter begins with a focus on the role that I play in forming my character that seems to tend toward works righteousness. The notion of sin that is presented seems to be one where sin is the result of bad habits that come from my not tending the soil of my character closely enough, rather than something that is deeply ingrained within each one of us and cannot be uprooted by our own efforts, but only by the grace of God.

I also thought that McLaren was a little too anxious to make these Christian practices applicable to everyone, whether they are a Christian or not. He writes, "In these two ways, then, paying attention to 'life practices' is worthwhile for everybody, those who consider themselves spiritual and those who don't: first, because nobody wants to become a tedious fart, and second, because nobody wants to miss Life because they're short on legroom and sleep in economy class [a reference to a story he just told about being on a long flight in economy class]" (17). To be fair, McLaren does immediately qualify this by saying "I haven't told the whole story though... Spiritual practices are ways of becoming awake and staying awake to God -- that's the third reason" (17-18). But still, the argument seems to be a bit of a reach. His argument seems to be analogous to saying that everyone should play basketball because nobody wants to become overweight and die of a heart attack. There is a difference between making the case for the importance of a good diet and exercise and universalizing the importance of one particular type of exercise. I may be misunderstanding McLaren's argument, but it seems that in wanting to try to find something universally beneficial about the ancient practices, he would either fall into the trap of universalizing practices that are specifically Christian (Would non-Christians agree that there is a benefit to following the liturgical year?) on the one hand, or watering down the specifically Christian content of the Christian practices and making them nearly unrecognizable on the other hand.

Aside from the arguments I found to be distracting in that particular chapter, there were several statements that stuck with me and stirred up visions, thoughts, and dreams within me that remained long after I closed the cover of the book. Here are two of my favorites:

I think that's part of what's going on in this time of change and transition. Old sectarian turf wars are giving way to a sharing of resources -- heroes, practices, flavors, and styles of practice. And this, in a way, is itself a new practice, namely, the sharing of previously proprietary practices. We might say that Christianity is beginning to go 'open source'" (58).

I also really appreciated McLaren's discussion of the way that God's Spirit moves within institutions and how the work of God's Spirit cannot be contained or hampered by bureaucracy. He discusses the work of William Wilberforce and others in England who worked to end slavery, despite the vigorous defense of slavery by the Anglican Church. "Their fledgling movement grew in the spaces between the institutional structures of their day, not within the structures themselves" (134). This conversation leads to the profound insight that "When any sector of the church stops learning, God simply overflows the structures that are in the way and works outside them with those willing to learn... God can't be contained by the structures that claim to serve him but often try to manage and control him" (136-137). McLaren follows this up with the powerful question: "Are we a club for the elite who pretend to have arrived or a school for disciples who are still on the way" (137)?

All in all, I found this book to be worth the read because it is another important invitation to enter into a conversation about what it means to be a Christians and what it means to be a part of the Body of Christ. May this book and McLaren's ministry help disciples who are still "on the way" find their way to God through the ancient practices that McLaren and the other author's in this series seek to resuscitate.