Life After Doom by Brian McLaren Book Review

About the Book:

A deeply insightful exploration of how to live with wisdom, resilience and love in our turbulent times.

For the last quarter-century, author and activist Brian D. McLaren has been writing at the intersection of religious faith and contemporary culture. In Life After Doom, he engages with the catastrophic failure of both our religious and political leaders to address the dominant realities of our time: ecological overshoot, economic injustice, and the increasing likelihood of civilizational collapse. McLaren defines doom as the “un-peaceful, uneasy, unwanted feeling” that “we humans have made a mess of our civilization and our planet, and not enough of us seem to care enough to change deeply enough or quickly enough to save ourselves.”

Blending insights from philosophers, poets, scientists, and theologians, Life After Doom explores the complexity of hope, the necessity of grief, and the need for new ways of thinking, becoming, and belonging in turbulent times. If you want to help yourself, your family, and the communities to which you belong to find courage and resilience for the deeply challenging times that are upon us — this is the book you need right now.

My Review:

This book from McLaren answered some of my questions why Christians have not been very concerned about climate change. One insight was the rise of dispensationalism. It taught that the world has to get destroyed so there is really no motivation to save the earth. Another insight was the merging of Christianity and capitalism. He also reminds us of the world we were taught to believe exists – one with unlimited resources to fuel economic prosperity.

My father was a logger and I really like McLaren's analogy of cutting down a big tree. You might saw and saw, moving several inches in. Nothing happens. Perhaps you come back later and saw some more. Still nothing happens. You saw a little more and suddenly you hear a crack. Perhaps the tree falls then. Perhaps it stays upright for a day or two until a wind causes the tree to go past the tipping point and it crashes to the ground. We have been sawing on the tree for some time, thinking nothing bad was happening. Now we are beginning to hear the wood cracking.

McLaren draws from a number of spiritual disciplines. His theology does not correspond to evangelical Christianity so evangelicals will probably ignore this book. That is unfortunate as McLaren encourages us, among other things, to develop critical thinking. That is a skill that would benefit us all. He also encourages us to live with wisdom and courage in the coming years.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

About the Author:

A former college English teacher, Brian D. McLaren was a pastor for twenty-four years. Now he’s an author, activist, public theologian, and frequent guest lecturer for gatherings in the U.S. and internationally. His work has been covered in TIME Magazine, Newsweek, USA Today, The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, and many other media outlets. The author of more than 15 books, including Faith After Doubt, Do I Stay Christian?, and A New Kind of Christian, he is a faculty member of The Living School at the Center for Action and Contemplation. McLaren lives in Florida. Photo by Ken O'Renik.

St. Martin's Essentials, 304 pages

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher/ My comments are an independent and honest review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)