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Brian D. McLaren Quotes

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Brian D. McLaren is an American pastor and writer known for his critical thinking on Christian tradition and modern culture. He began his pastoral career in the 1980s and started writing in the early 1990s. McLaren's work often emphasizes social justice, inclusivity, and religious dialogue, and he is considered a significant figure in the emerging church movement and postmodern theology.

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Famous Brian D. McLaren Quotes

“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.”

Way Church Willing Structure Work Out Overflow Willing To Learn

Author:Brian D. McLaren

“You might tell me that you have been engaging in some deep questioning and theological rethinking.1 You can no longer live with the faith you inherited from your parents or constructed earlier in your life. As you sort through your dogma and doctrine, you’ve found yourself praying less, less thrilled about worship, scripture, or church attendance. You’ve been so focused on sorting and purging your theological theories that you’ve lost track of the spiritual practices that sustain an actual relationship with God. You may even wonder if such a thing is possible for someone like you.”

Source: Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in 12 Simple Words

“The church has been preoccupied with the question, 'What happens to your soul after you die?' AS IF THE REASON FOR JESUS COMING CAN BE SUMMED UP IN, 'JESUS IS TRYING TO HELP GET MORE SOULS INTO HEAVEN, AS OPPOSED TO HELL, AFTER THEY DIE.' I JUST THINK A FAIR READING OF THE GOSPELS BLOWS THAT OUT OF THE WATER. I don't think that the entire message and life of Jesus can be boiled down to that bottom line”

Ifs Thinking Trying Has Beens Soul Reason Helping Happens Dies Reading Jesus Heaven Water Church Lines Hell Messages Fairs Bottom Blow Your Soul Bottom Line Church Leaders

Author:Brian D. McLaren

“The church latched on to that old doctrine of original sin like a dog to a stick, and before you knew it, the whole gospel got twisted around it. Instead of being God’s big message of saving love for the whole world, the gospel became a little bit of secret information on how to solve the pesky legal problem of original sin.”

Source: The Last Word and the Word after That: A Tale of Faith, Doubt, and a New Kind of Christianity

“The Church has little idea how unorthodox it is at any given moment. If a church can't yet be perfectly orthodox, it can, with the Holy Spirit's help and by the grace of God, be perpetually reformable.”

Ifs Littles Ideas Moments Helping Spirit Given Church Grace Holy Holy Spirit Orthodox Grace Of God Unorthodox

Book: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

Source: 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 scarily brilliant Romantic poet and visionary William Blake dared to say what many of us have perhaps thought but kept to ourselves: “A good local pub has much in common with a church, except that a pub is warmer, and there’s more conversation.”

Church Common Poet Conversation Brilliant Locals Visionaries Pubs Blake Romantic Poet

Author:Brian D. McLaren

“It's not about the church meeting your needs; it's about joining the mission of God's people to meet the world's needs.”

People World Needs Church Meetings Missions Joining

Author:Brian D. McLaren