A Generous Orthodoxy: By celebrating strengths of many traditions in the church (and beyond), this book will seek to communicate a “generous orthodoxy.”

so much of his journey mirrors my own. giving me permission to hold varied streams of christianity together is probably the gift im most thankful for from all of Brian's work. I initially hated New Kind of Christian. then i traveled and saw the global church and reread it with new eyes. he wad just yards ahead of my journey. much of his writing was exactly what I needed. he saw something i wasnt ready for the first time i read it, but was when I came back to it. on the other side of that experience, his wisdom has been so encouraging and life giving.

McLaren's proposed Generous Orthodoxy is a noble and massive undertaking, one which he admits will be incomplete. He admits it, and then embraces it with humility and grace, lending even more credibility to his deep and insightful (though occasionally drawn out) prose. A Generous Orthodoxy will most certainly strike a chord with you, be it reactionary disagreement, belittled confusion, or a profound admiration of this New Church - not entirely unlike the Old Church - that McLaren has envisioned. Simply put, a wonderful read.

I'm late to the Emergent movement, but McLaren has been a guiding voice for me, along with many other post-Evangelical thinkers (Bell, Evans, Enns, McHargue, etc). It seems that "Emergent" has fallen out of vouge as a descriptor, but the ideas are still around and as important as ever. I am so glad for books like this one, as they gave me hope for the faith of my youth, even if I don't find myself able to hold on to everything that I used to. I am in a different place that I used to be, and that is OK. If you likewise find yourself questioning the baseline assumptions prevalent in some churches, consider giving this a read.