Do I Stay Christian?

A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned

De: Brian D. McLaren

Narrado por: Brian D. McLaren

Dubbed "a heroic gate-crasher" by New York Times bestselling author Glennon Doyle, Brian D. McLaren explores reasons to leave or stay within the church and if so how...

"Brian's new book on remaining Christian knocks it out of the ballpark in terms of framing and naming the questions. I cannot stop reading it. Thank you, Brian!" —Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, author of The Universal Christ

"Any thoughtful Christian has been asking the questions McLaren tackles here, but many of us are afraid to voice them aloud. In Do I Stay Christian? we’re gifted a gentle guide who opens ideas and voices the questions we cannot, naming our frustration, fear, and hesitant hope." —Rev. Dr. Amy Butler, former Senior Minister, The Riverside Church; Founder, Invested Faith

"[McLaren's] earnest, conversational tone sounds as though he's speaking directly to each individual listener." -AudioFile on Do I Stay Christian?

Do I Stay Christian? addresses in public the powerful question that surprising numbers of people—including pastors, priests, and other religious leaders—are asking in private. Picking up where Faith After Doubt leaves off, Do I Stay Christian? is not McLaren's attempt to persuade Christians to dig in their heels or run for the exit. Instead, he combines his own experience with that of thousands of people who have confided in him over the years to help listeners make a responsible, honest, ethical decision about their religious identity.

There is a way to say both yes and no to the question of staying Christian, McLaren says, by shifting the focus from whether we stay Christian to how we stay human. If Do I Stay Christian? is the question you're asking—or if it's a question that someone you love is asking—this is the book you've been waiting for.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Brian D. McLaren (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

Perhaps his finest work so far

I’ve read/listened to several of Brian’s books and this is a thoughtful one in particular. He graciously addresses some ugly history but encourages people to become not so much the Christian they should be, but the human being they want to be. Don’t just read one part. Read and contemplate. It just might change your life.

Thought-provoking and inspiring religious novel

McLaren does a great job analyzing Christianity’s controversial past and questioning what its future may look like as it continually diverges into two camps: those clinging to the fundamentalist narrative of Christianity, and those challenging Christianity to adapt as the human race evolves. Definitely more on the advanced reading level, especially for those new to religious philosophy. I would recommend this book to anyone who may be questioning how they fit into today’s model of organized Christianity or what their options are for still practicing the faith without the toxic group think that modern churches often cultivate.

A Warm Welcome

I especially enjoyed the attitude of mutuality, expressed in an unconditional warm welcome and posture of receiving each person complete, just as the are.

The world would be a safer place if we could all grasp this book!

I’m a little stunned with how this book has transformed my insides, my thoughts, my deep knowing- Into words and trajectories of intentions from information and wisdom! No doubt it took him many years of wrestling with one’s self in wonder, awe, and disgust to get where he is today. Brian had been placed in God, but then questioned God, wrestled with God, removed God, only to bury God, then mourn and wept for God, then longed and searched for God, a God that was alive inside, to then rediscover God all along, always there- that small still voice! Brian resurrected God from his own insides to then see that same God in everyone and everything- alive and doing a new thing, always. If you look and feel, you may see with eyes of knowing—There is a thread of God through history, through humans, through animals, trees and planets and all creatures who ever creatured, a glimpse of the Holy unconditional love meeting us exactly where we are, and working from whatever point that may be. Let us not destroy ourselves before we all see the light, the thread, the love. May we all one day know God as Love! Gosh Brian, a great piece of work that I wish I could inject into every mind! This makes me feel connected to you, like that same thread is doing a new thing in all of us who aren’t condemned to the prison of old belief that was extremely limited in fear and the cult of innocence. After 14 years as a Christian, 14 years of wrestling with God, but more so with the Bible, and even more so fear— I have deconstructed and reconstructed so many times, always with love and freedom as my only true guiding lights- but today my friend, I see your God in you because I see truth in you, and this book-You shall know the truth and it shall set you free. Jesus said we shall do greater things than him? Thank you dear brother, friend— for setting me more free than I was before I encountered you. I have decided my thread is connected to yours- and that I too, want to continue to participate in and with and through this beautiful thread of God that is in all for my short little stint on planet earth. May you be blessed and continue with to be a blessing. I’m sorry this review is riddled with grammar mistakes, but hopefully you get the point- Read this! Your soul will thank you later!

An Open Door to Clarity

It has been a while now that I have had discomfort with what seems to have become of the institutional church;organized religion if you will. At the same time as there has been a sense of unsettledness and more questions than answers, there has also been a sense of a new reformation arising out of the ashes of a religious system that seems to be dying .... if not already dead. Then this book came along, causing me to realize that I'm not the only one who has been perplexed and disturbed, but that, as Valerie Kaur has written "is this the darkness of the tomb, or the darkness of the womb?" I very much like the way that the book is divided into three segments ... NO, YES and HOW. and the compassionate kindness both in the writing, as well as Brian's manner of presenting the material in this audio book. There are several of my friends who are either reading or listening to the book right now, with most expressing a desire to develop a discussion group. I think that would greatly benefit all of us.The message and ideas included in this book have transforming value, and I am grateful to Brian McClaren for sharing his vision in writing it.

Wonderful to not be alone

I struggle with these questions all the time and it was wonderful to know I am not alone. I have often thought that the boxes so many people put their religions in are the very reason I could not identify with any of them. Christian box people either in or out and separate themselves from others which always seemed contradictory to what Jesus was trying to tell us. Thank you for writing this book, your other books have been leading us here and it feels like we are finally finding our path to better Love one another, be just to one another, be kind to one another and just be better humans!

Excellent guide for those questioning Christianity’s place in their lives and our world

I greatly appreciated the thorough analysis of how in general Christianity got to where it is today, warts and all. I appreciate how he guides the reader on how to think and act through the all the questions and issues. I highly recommend readers to also listen to McLaren’s podcast Learning How to See as it dovetails with this book.

Thought prevoking

The book will make you think and ask yourself questions you may not have asked.

Excellent, thought provoking perspective

Honestly, I bought this book for others, but it turned out to be exactly what I needed. I bought the book to help an older generation of Christians understand why the younger people weren't falling all over themselves to jump on board with Christianity, even though they are seeking God and agree wholeheartedly with Jesus Christ's teachings. I bought it to help me explain my dissolution and discontent. I bought it to explain to others why some people abhor what has been done in the name of and by Christians so strongly that they run full out the opposite direction. And I bought this book to explain to those abhorrent of the history, why I choose to remain a Christian, for now. This book isn't about one religion, far from it. It isn't about which path you choose. It's about stopping to see things from the perspectives of people outside of your group. It's about how to return to the teachings of Christ and how to choose your part in that transformation.

I highly recommend this for people of all faiths and no faith, because it does such a wonderful job of helping you see past your own perspective and biases. You can pull from it strength to be a part of the change , or find it useful in helping determine you are too tired to fight for change from within. Or perhaps it will solidify your atheism. One thing it will do, if you'll listen to all of it, even the parts to which you most object, is broaden your perspective and humility.

We Baptists are taught that God is never changing and I still believe this is true. God never needs to change. But we do. We are constantly changing. We now have plastic in our bodies, are born with it in there! We are told many times in the Bible that God's ways are so far beyond our comprehension, yet instead of truly seeking God's face, we so often project our mental and physical limitations onto God. Jesus put it all so succinctly when he stated that Love is the prime directive - not just love of people who agree with you, think like you, but especially of those who hate you. As many more "mainline" ministers are beginning to preach, we desperately need a recentering back to the Love based philosophy of Christ, if we are to claim to be followers of Christ. And if you choose to leave whatever you associate with spiritually now, I will still love you and I will understand your heartache.

Honest, provoking and insightful.

Honest, provoking and insightful. Honest and vulnerable insight with a call to be better humans at its core which is what I believe all good religion should do.