Thanks for the clarifications, Andrew. Having re-read part one of your review of McLaren’s book I see the affinity of his position with "liberation theology," the Marx-inflected variant of Roman Catholicism that has been influential especially in Latin America. I’m also struck by your observation that "McLaren is trying very hard to reimagine
the kingdom of God for
people who live outside the boundaries of any form of serious Christian
commitment." I presume that on both of those counts McLaren’s book faces significant resistance in evangelical circles, even among those who trace the outer and eccentric orbits that have emerged in recent years. On the other hand, McLaren would seem to offer a more welcoming reception to people who, regardless of religious beliefs, share common cause in resisting the materialism, military expansionism, economic injustice and environmental destructiveness and of the 21st century Western "Empire."

By insisting that people consciously confess belief in Christ before they can enter into Christian fellowship, the traditional gospel imposes an interpersonal gulf between believer and unbeliever, limiting the open expression of love and trust between one another. And when the Church positions itself as a microcosmic harbinger of the eschatological new Creation that will some day displace the present corrupted Creation in what you term "a complete ontological break," it erects a strutural barrier between itself and the larger world in which it is embedded. For those of us outside the faith and outside the Church, this insular gospel is at best irrelevant to the common cause of pursuing justice and peace for all in the present world. To the extent that the insular gospel deflects people’s zeal for justice and peace away from the world and into the Church, it becomes an obstacle to the common cause.

It’s certainly possible that McLaren grossly misconstrues the trajectory that God traces through history. It also might be impossible ultimately to achieve peace and justice in this world. However, as someone who can barely concede the possibility of any sort of god at all, let alone the militantly nationalistic God of Israel as described in the Old Testament, I’m eager to see what McLaren has to say.