“Brian McLaren has written a remarkable book on hell and the grace of God. And it is one hell of a book! The book is a narrative account, offered in a winsome conversational mode, that traces his thinking from a flat, closed, literalistic notion of God′s wrath to a relational articulation of alienation and reconciliation. McLaren′s work will be of immense help to those who are rethinking fundamentalist, literalistic ways of God that, in his judgment, have little to do with the Bible itself. The last word in the horizon of this book is hell, taken as ultimate divine punishment. The pastoral power of this book is that after that word, there is still the word of divine grace and forgiveness that overrides all the threat. This is a bold book that evades none of the hard questions. It evidences yet again why McLaren is an emerging voice to be taken seriously concerning new modes of church and new practices of faith.”
––Walter Brueggemann, minister, United Church of Christ; professor, Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia
“With the passion of a Reformation broadside, Brian McLaren′s The Last Word and the Word after That goes for popular Christianity′s theological jugular: hell and damnation. Pained by a corrupted gospel that promotes exclusion, oppression, and violence, McLaren′s fictional Pastor Dan deconstructs dangerous understandings of eternal life and points toward the joy–filled possibility of Christian community shaped by a radical biblical vision of God′s love and justice. In a time when some churches have been co–opted by fundamentalist political–theologies, this prophetic tale of a new kind of Christianity serves as a much–needed challenge and corrective.”
––Diana Butler Bass, author, Strength for the Journey: A Pilgrimage of Faith in Community
From the Inside Flap
The Last Word and the Word After That
For all those seeking more authentic ways to hold and practice Christian faith, Brian McLaren has been an inspiring, compassionate and provocative voice. Starting with the award–winning A New Kind of Christian, McLaren offered a lively, wide–ranging fictional conversation between Pastor Dan Poole and his friend Neil Oliver as they reflected about faith, doubt, reason, mission, leadership, and spiritual practice in the emerging postmodern world. That conversation widened to include several intriguing new characters in the sequel, The Story We Find Ourselves In, as Dan and friends continued to explore faith–stretching themes from evolution to evangelism, from death to the meaning of life.
Now, in this third installment of their adventures, Dan and his widening circle of friends grapple with conventional Christian teachings about hell and judgment and what they mean for our relationship with God and each other. Is there an alternative to the usual polar views of a just God short on mercy or a merciful God short on justice? Could our conflicted views of hell be symptoms of a deeper set of problems misunderstandings about what God′s justice and mercy are about, misconceptions about God′s purpose in creating the world, deep misgivings about what kind of character God is and what the Christian gospel is for?
In The Last Word and the Word After That, as Dan and crew face and survive their doubts and dark nights of the soul, they begin to imagine a new vision of God and life with God a life that is more truly biblical and faithful, more inspiring and challenging, more intellectually satisfying and emotionally healing than what is currently available. For all who have been on this journey, searching for a deeper, more transformative life with God and a new kind of Christianity, The Last Word can mark the beginning of an exciting spiritual adventure into new ways of believing, belonging, and becoming.
From the Back Cover
“If [the emerging church] movement can survive in the politicized world of conservative Christianity, McLaren could find a way for young Evangelicals and more liberal Christians to march into the future together despite their theological differences.”
Time magazine, which named Brian McLaren as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Evangelicals
praise for The Last Word and the Word After That
“Brian McLaren has written a remarkable book on hell and the grace of God. And it is one hell of a book! The book is a narrative account, offered in a winsome conversational mode. McLaren′s work will be of immense help to those who are rethinking fundamentalist, literalistic ways of God that, in his judgment, have little to do with the Bible itself. The last word in the horizon of this book is hell, taken as ultimate divine punishment. The pastoral power of this book is that after that word, there is still the word of divine grace and forgiveness that overrides all the threat. This is a bold book that evades none of the hard questions.”
Walter Brueggemann, minister, United Church of Christ; professor, Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia
“With the passion of a Reformation broadside, Brian McLaren′s The Last Word and the Word after That goes for popular Christianity′s theological jugular: hell and damnation. McLaren′s fictional Pastor Dan deconstructs dangerous understandings of eternal life and points toward the joy–filled possibility of Christian community shaped by a radical biblical vision of God′s love and justice.”
Diana Butler Bass, author, Strength for the Journey: A Pilgrimage of Faith in Community
praise for A New Kind of Christian
“This is a book that heightens the depths and deepens the peaks. Like all the best things in life, it is not to be entered into lightly, but reverently and in the fear of a God who is waiting for the church to stop asking WWJD, “What would Jesus do?” and start asking WIJD, ′What is Jesus doing?′”
Dr. Leonard Sweet, E. Stanley Jones Chair in Evangelism, Drew University, and author of Post–Modern Pilgrims, SoulSalsa, SoulTsunami, and AquaChurch
About the Author
Brian D. McLaren is the founding pastor of Cedar Ridge Community Church in the Washington–Baltimore area, and the author of several books on contemporary and postmodern Christianity, including A New Kind of Christian and The Story We Find Ourselves In, both from Jossey–Bass.
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