Book Review – Finding Our Way Again
Brian McLaren’s Finding Our Way Again: The Return of The Ancient Practices is the introductory book in a series of books related to ancient religious practices. Notice the word religious instead of Christian. Although a pastor, supposedly evangelical, McLaren is known for his faulty biblical hermeneutics and “generous” interpretations of scriptural text. This book, although somewhat valuable in teaching historical practices, falls short in two major areas: 1) the practices McLaren espouses in the book are very easy to turn into legalism and ritual because that is what they are for the most part anyway, and 2) Finding Our Way Again is written from a religious neutral perspective. McLaren seemingly presents the three Abrahamic faiths–Christianity, Judaism, and Islam–as equally valid, and equally following and seeking for Jesus.
Although McLaren brings up some very valid points, such as fundamentalism being generally a turn-off to Christianity, his emphasis on outward practices puts a damper on the message he hoped to convey through this book. Although he calls for a return to ancient practices, he seems to contradict himself by saying Christians (and Jews, and Muslims) should not be too restrained by tradition. Should we practice these ancient ways? Or should we not? The back of the book features Jeremiah 6:16 in an attempt to give some biblical backing. However, again McLaren presents faulty interpretation and use of scripture. In the end, despite some seemingly good intentions and ideas, Find Our Way Again suffers from major flaws.
