Brian McLaren in Focus: A New Kind of Apologetics

by Scott R. Burson

Foreword by Brian D. McLaren

Finally, a balanced appraisal . . .

Labeled as both a villain and a hero, Brian McLaren has been celebrated and maligned by the evangelical community. Many have used his extensive writings to understand Christianity in fresh ways, but critics contend that McLaren has strayed too far from the Bible as well as from core Christian beliefs.

Finally, this book puts McLaren in focus—showing the development of his ideas over time, giving firm assessments of his positions, and offering suggestions of both the strengths and weaknesses of his thinking.

Even more, McLaren speaks for himself in these pages as the author of the foreword, and through his extensive, charitable conversation with the author.

Scott R. Burson is in his eighth year as a full-time faculty member at Indiana Wesleyan University. Scott teaches courses in philosophy and theology, and serves as the co-coordinator for the sports ministry major. Prior to joining the School of Theology and Ministry, Scott was IWU's Assistant Vice President for Marketing. While working in administration, Scott served as an adjunct professor for both the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Adult and Professional Studies. Scott completed the Ph.D. at Brunel University (London). His Ph.D. thesis is entitled "Apologetics and the New Kind of Christian: An Arminian Analysis of Brian D. McLaren's Emergent Reconstruction of the Faith." He is the co-author of 21 Lessons for the 21st Century: Holistic Intelligence and the Apologetic Mandate (Baker Academic, 2017), and C.S. Lewis and Francis Schaeffer: Lessons for a New Century from the Most Influential Apologists of Our Time (InterVarsity Press, 1998), which has also been translated into Korean, Indonesian and Portuguese.