The Secret Message of Jesus

I think I don't have much real wisdom to contribute in a review, and I know I have a cat in the way of the keyboard, so I don't feel like typing much, so I will simply content myself with a few scattered thoughts.

Full disclosure: I know that Mclaren's thesis is correct because he agrees pretty much exactly with what I have been preaching for many years.

McLaren says (I paraphrase), “We should read what Jesus actually is recorded to have said, and take that seriously.” I do not understand how that can cause any distress or disagreement. But somehow it does. Reading reviews of this book here and in other places causes me to shake my head in confusion. I even read one reviewer who said, “It does not matter what Jesus said, what matters is that he saves us from God's wrath.”

Jesus preached, “Change the way you think; change your priorities. The Kingdom of God is right around the corner.” His message could be severely paraphrased thus: “Everything that comes automatically and naturally to you, every priority you have, is at best inadequate and at worst the opposite of God-values.” We have created a religion which preaches something different–not necessarily bad or wrong, but different. The occasional corrective of being called back to the actual teachings of Jesus and being urged to take those teachings seriously is a good thing.

– Enough for now. The old sick cat needs his evening food and medicine, so I will leave this book here for now. I like it very much and recommend it highly to any person, Christian or otherwise, who would like to take Jesus seriously as a teacher.