Who is Brian McLaren, and what has he done to make these people so angry?

March 29 marks the beginning of the holiest week for Christians — when believers reflect on the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. This year, there’s something of a dust-up among evangelicals over core beliefs about who Jesus was and whether he is the only way to salvation.

Recently, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., convened a school-wide event to talk about a new book by a popular evangelical Christian. It wasn’t pretty.
“It is a new kind of Christianity that is no Christianity at all,” says Southern Baptist theologian Jim Hamilton.

Evangelical author Bruce Ware adds, “I’ve thought of Brian McLaren for years as a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but I think in this book, he took the sheep’s clothing off.”

Who is Brian McLaren, and what has he done to make these people so angry?

It turns out that McLaren is considered one of the country’s most influential evangelicals, and his new book, A New Kind of Christianity, takes aim at some core doctrinal beliefs. McLaren is rethinking Jesus’ mission on Earth, and even the purpose of the crucifixion.

“The view of the cross that I was given growing up, in a sense, has a God who needs blood in order to be appeased,” McLaren says. “If this God doesn’t see blood, God can’t forgive.”

McLaren believes that version of God is a misreading of the Bible.

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