4.4 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 2 October 2022
⏱️ 48 minutes
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In this episode, we were honored to bring back our friend Brian McLaren to talk about his brand new book, Do I Stay Christian?
In this new book, Brian addresses a real question which underlies a startling sociological truth: people are leaving Christianity at a rapid pace. In fact, Pew Research shows that today, about 64% people in the US identify as Christian, after falling rapidly from a high of 90% just a few decades back.
Brian’s book takes an unflinching look at the reasons people might leave Christianity, before spending a lot of time on why someone might choose to stay, as Brian has. But you won’t find any “apologetics” here — rather, Brian looks at staying as part of a broader faith journey — one that can take us out of a simple world of black-and-white into a new “stage” of our faith: one filled with paradox, mystery, and love. In one of the most compelling and memorable parts of the book, Brian asks “What if you’re really trying to change stages, not religions?”
While truly not prescribing any particular path for readers, Brian shows how all people of good will — including those with doubts, questions, and criticisms — can do so much to benefit their institutions and traditions if they choose to stay. We think this book does so much good work to paint compelling reasons for doing so, and to help illustrate a path forward.
Brian McLaren an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity” – just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. He is a faculty member of The Living School and podcaster with Learning How to See, which are part of the Center for Action and Contemplation. We’d also recommend going back and listening to Brian’s first appearance on the Faith Matters podcast in episode #67, where we discuss his book Faith After Doubt.
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0:00.0 | Hey everyone, I just want to take a second to invite you to join me this year at Restore |
0:06.6 | a Faith Matters Gathering happening October 13th and 14th. |
0:12.0 | It's going to be at the Amount and America Expo Center in Sandy and it promises to be |
0:16.5 | an exceptional conference. |
0:18.4 | I attended last fall and found it to be a remarkably inspiring, hopeful two days of listening |
0:27.2 | to really well-prepared, thoughtful talks as well as inspiring music and really feeling |
0:36.7 | a deep connection with my other Latter-day Saint brothers and sisters around me in our |
0:41.8 | shared desire to speak to the best in our faith and to speak to one another and find a sense |
0:48.6 | of connection. |
0:49.9 | I'm also going to be one of the people speaking. |
0:52.3 | I'll be speaking a bit about eros energy and its connection to spirituality and to the |
0:59.6 | light of Christ and so I hope to see you all there. |
1:08.9 | Hey everybody, this is Aubrey Tavis from Faith Matters. |
1:11.6 | In this episode, we were honored to bring back our friend Brian McLaren to talk about his |
1:15.0 | new book, Do I Stay Christian? |
1:17.3 | In this new book, Brian addresses a real question which underlies a startling sociological |
1:21.1 | truth. |
1:22.1 | People are leaving Christianity at a rapid pace. |
1:24.6 | In fact, few research shows that today about 64% of people in the U.S. identify as Christian |
1:29.4 | after falling rapidly from a high of 90% just a few decades back. |
1:33.4 | Brian's book takes an unflinching look at the reasons that people might choose to leave |
1:36.4 | Christianity before spending a lot of time on why someone might choose to stay as Brian |
... |
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