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Postmodern reformers have many wise things to say, but I fear they will never be able to produce a "new kind of Christian." The bulk of A New Kind of Christian wrestles with culture and church, and implies that by such analysis, a new kind of Christian will begin to emerge. But there is no deep engagement with Scripture in the book. Scripture is only referenced, and often as a proof text for a larger cultural argument (at least it feels like this to me).

Early on, McLaren asks poignantly, "Has the 'good news' been reduced to the 'good same-old same-old'?" In fact, it needs to be expanded to the same-old same-old. Otherwise, it will never be good news but only postmodern news. Our culture needs more than that.

Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

A New Kind of Christian is available at Christianbook.com.

Christianity Today columnist Andy Crouch reviewedA New Kind of Christian for Christianity Today's sister publication Books & Culture.

Publisher Josey-Bass has an excerpt, as does Beliefnet.

There's a Yahoo group discussing the book.

In 1997, Leadership Journal, another Christianity Today sister publication, analyzed "The Riddle of Our Postmodern CultureWhat is postmodernism? Should we even care?"

Previous Christianity Today articles on the postmodern debate include:

The Anti-ModernsSix postmodern Christians discuss the possibilities and limits of postmodernism. (Nov. 13, 2000)

What Exactly Is Postmodernism?The often-maligned movement is today's academic Rorschach blot. (Nov. 13, 2000)

Urbanites: More Justice, Less EpistemologyThe emerging urban class is targeting capitalism and Christianity—often for good reason. (Nov. 13, 2000)

Scientists: Just Leave Us AloneNot all the academy is so taken with postmodernism. (Nov. 13, 2000)

The Sky Isn't FallingThe only remaining "ism" is postmodernism. And it is a formalized expression of despair. (Jan. 11, 1999)

Poster Boy for PostmodernismStrohmeyer told police he strangled the little girl by twisting her neck the way he had seen in movies. (Nov. 16, 1998)

Abraham Kuyper: A Man for This SeasonThe surprisingly relevant advice of a Dutch statesman for engaging postmodern culture. (Oct. 5, 1998)

The Oxford ProphetLewis predicted a time when those who want to remold human nature "will be armed with the powers of an omnicompetent state. (June 15, 1998).

A Theology to Die ForTheologians are not freelance scholars of religion, but trustees of the deposit of faith. (Feb. 9, 1998)

The New TheologiansCreating a theological symphony. (Feb. 8, 1998)

A Cultural Literacy PrimerTen resources Christians need for understanding today's world. (April 28, 1997)

Previous Long View columns include:

Wielding the SwordEarly believers were not as troubled as we are by the use of force. (Feb. 20, 2002)

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April 1 2002, Vol. 46, No. 4