... why are so many religious people arguing about the origin of the species but so few concerned about the extinction of the species? Brian D. McLaren More Quotes by Brian D. McLaren More Quotes From Brian D. McLaren Scripture is something God had ‘let be,’ and so it is at once God’s creation and the creation of the dozens of people and communities and cultures who produced it. Brian D. McLaren gods-creationcommunitypeople Tony [Campolo] and I might disagree on the details, but I think we are both trying to find an alternative to both traditional Universalism and the narrow, exclusivist understanding of hell [that unless you explicitly accept and follow Jesus, you are excluded from eternal life with God and destined for hell]. Brian D. McLaren understandingjesusthinking I was relaxing in my parents' swimming pool with my brother, Peter. I asked him how the engineering business was going, and he reciprocated: 'How's the ministry world going?' 'Okay,' I said, 'except that a couple of weeks ago I realized that I don't know why Jesus had to die.' Then Peter, without skipping a beat, without even a moment's hesitation, said, 'Well, neither did Jesus.' Brian D. McLaren swimmingcouplejesus I love writers who are insightful enough to be cynical but choose not to be. Brian D. McLaren cynicalinsightfulenough If your goal is to produce firefighters and rescue workers, you have to produce people willing to enter burning buildings. Brian D. McLaren firefightergoalpeople The cross is almost a distraction and false advertisement for God. Brian D. McLaren advertisementsdistractioncrosses So we must realize this: the suicidal framing story that dominates our world today has no power except the power we give it by believing it. Similarly, believing an alternative and transforming framing story may turn out to be the most radical thing any of us can ever do. Brian D. McLaren suicidalour-worldbelieve That in itself is an act of peacemaking, because we're seeking to align our wills with God's will, our dreams with God's dream. Brian D. McLaren peacemakingseekingdream In the tradition of Julian of Norwich and St. Teresa of Avila and all the other mystics, we can learn to render ourselves vulnerable to the "favors of God" - those indescribable experiences that mock our dualisms and so saturate our imagination with abundance that they transcend our ability to convey joy and wonder. In the tradition of St. John of the Cross, we can learn to survive and derive benefits from the soul's dark night. Brian D. McLaren imaginationdarknight Our message and methodology have changed, do change, and must change if we are faithful to the ongoing and unchanging mission of Jesus Christ. Brian D. McLaren faithfulongoingjesus Through its appropriation of "texts of terror" and especially through the application of those texts to the Jews, the Christian religion created the conditions for the oppression of Palestinians. Brian D. McLaren oppressionpalestinianchristian We should consider the possibility that many, and perhaps even all of Jesus' hell-fire or end-of-the-universe statements refer not to postmortem [after death] judgment but to the very historic consequences of rejecting his kingdom message of reconciliation and peacemaking. The destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 67-70 seems to many people to fulfill much of what we have traditionally understood as hell. Brian D. McLaren firepeoplejesus You know what, the thing that breaks my heart is that there's no way I can answer it without hurting someone on either side. Brian D. McLaren hurtanswersheart I tried to read The Dubliners, when I went to Dublin a couple of years ago. I think I only go thurogh the first story. Gnomon is such an interesting word. So many different uses for a word nooone has heard of, or uses these days. I googled some pictures of sundials to check that it was the tall shadow casting bit (it is) and then discovered that Saint Sulpice in Paris has a rather fascinating large gnomon- which I shall endeavour to see on my next visit to that fair city. Thanks for such a great word, which I shall try to remember. Brian D. McLaren coupleyearsthinking About the book of Job: If it were today, God might be asking "How does DNA carry traits? How are instincts passed on in animals? How does consciousness arise in the human body and brain, and what is consciousness? What is dark matter? How did the big bang happen? Why does the speed of light appear to be absolute? Is cold fusion possible? How do you program a TV remote control? Brian D. McLaren funjobsbook Accumulating orthodoxy makes it harder year-by-year to be a Christian than it was in Jesus' day. Brian D. McLaren christianyearsjesus This is why I believe that many of our current eschatologies, intoxicated by dubious interpretations of John’s Apocalypse are not only ignorant and wrong, but dangerous and immoral. Brian D. McLaren dubiousignorantbelieve
