A New Evangelical Manifesto
You don't have to ask me twice to read a book that begins with an essay by Brian McLaren. If not for McLaren and his courageous steps to remain evangelical while embracing a generous orthodoxy (which is also the title of one of his best books!) I'd still be cowering in the theological corner.
A New Evangelical Manifesto begins with McLaren and moves onto writings by numerous other theologically-minded folks who see our role as Christ-followers a bit differently than the status quo. The essays cover a lot of ground and tackle tough topics like the death penalty, torture, abortion, Muslim-Christian relationships and human trafficking. Some of the essays were more interesting than others - I was very keen on the topic of Cheryl Bridges Johns's piece ("Where evangelicals went wrong with the Bible") but it was kind of a slow read. Not that it's a bad read, just kind of dry - like reading CS Lewis, I couldn't stay focused for long even though I was totally down with what she was saying. Others had more personal stories such as "The Dying" by Scott Claybrook and "Those Trafficked and Commodified" by Jennifer D. Crumpton.
For me, the actual Manifesto is the best part of the book. This sentence alone creates a challenge that many of us could spend a long time living out:
"We want to see engagement of Christians in American public life that is loving, rather than angry, holistic rather than narrowly focused, healing rather than divisive and independent of partisanship and ideology, rather than subservient to party or ideology".
I want to make copies of the manifesto and send it along to churches with a simple note that says "Selah".
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR,Part 255.
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