Summary of Brian D. McLaren's Do I Stay Christian?

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

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#1 A group of south Louisiana college students wanted to talk to me about leaving Christianity. I was a young Christian minister in San Francisco, and I didn’t know what to do.

#2 Christianity is a lot of things to a lot of people.

#3 I was a Christian. I was on eleven of eleven indicators. And yet, eventually, every single marker became problematic for me.

#4 Christianity advocates for a lot of things that I disagree with.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Oct 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9798350039597

IRB Media

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Insights on Brian D. McLaren's Do I Stay Christian

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I had a similar conversation with a group of pastors in Chicago 20 years later. One of the Methodists pastors across from me had just told our little group that she had seriously considered leaving ministry earlier in the year. Then she caught my eye: Brian, do you ever feel tempted to just throw out the whole thing and do something else with your life.

#2

Christianity is a complex mixture of many different things, and to be a Christian is to participate in some version of Christianity’s rituals or practices. Christianity can be defined moralistically, as a shared set of moral values or precepts.

#3

Christianity can be defined missionally, as a program, plan, or movement for intentional action in the world. To be a Christian is to take on that mission as your own. Christianity can be defined demographically, as a sociological or anthropological identity. To be a Christian is to identify yourself as a member of a recognized group.

#4

I have struggled with my Christian identity for years, and it has been challenged by fellow Christians who advocated versions of Christianity that horrified me and made me want to run for my life in the opposite direction.

#5

I want to consider how I am going to live, whether or not I identify as Christian. I present the best reasons I am aware of for answering Do I stay Christian. with a definitive no in Part I.

#6

I want to address the question of whether or not to stay Christian, and I want to do so in a way that is honest and loving. I want to encourage you to be as honest about your experience as I have been about mine.

#7

Christianity can hell-ify us by inspiring in us a sense of rightness or