To survey harsh criticisms against Brian Douglas Mc Laren (1956‒), readers gain the inaccurate impression that he is a heretical relativist who denies objective truth and logic. While Mc Laren’s inflammatory and provocative writing style is partly to blame, this study also suspects that his critics base much of their analyses on only small portions of his overall corpus. The result becomes a caricature of Mc Laren’s actual philosophy of religion. What is argued in this book is that Mc Laren’s philosophy of religion suggests a faith-based intersubjective relationship with the divine ought to result in an existential appropriation of Christ’s religio-ethical teachings. When subjectively internalized, this appropriation will lead to the assimilation of Jesus’ kingdom priorities, thereby transforming the believer’s identity into one that actualizes Jesus’ kingdom ideals. The hope of this book is that by tracing Mc Laren’s philosophy of Christian religion, future researchers will not only be able to comprehend (and perhaps empathize with) Mc Laren’s line of reasoning, but they will also possess a more nuanced discernment of where they agree and disagree with his overall rationale.
Circa l’autore
Darren M. Slade is a published theologian from Denver, CO who holds a BA from the University of Northern Colorado (Theatre Arts) and two masters’ degrees from Liberty University (a Master of Arts in Theological Studies and a Master of Divinity). He is currently a doctoral student at Liberty University, working towards a Ph D in Christian theology and apologetics. His research into the influence of schismatic Christologies on the development of Islam, as well as the ancient church’s inconsequential views on the mode of baptism, were recently published by the academic journal, American Theological Inquiry.