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Naked Spirituality A Life With God In Twelve Simple Words (2011)

by Brian D. McLaren(Favorite Author)

3.92 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0340995459 (ISBN13: 9780340995457)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Hodder & Stoughton

review 1: I rarely re-read a book. However, I've written the year in the front of my VERY highlighted copy because I think it is something I will return to at different times in my spiritual journey. McLaren writes with authenticity and vulnerability. It is written by someone for someone who has known tragedy and disappointment in their journey with God. And, as such, it provides hope and something of a path. It also helps the reader, who has shared these experiences, know that they are not alone and normalizes thoughts and feelings that might otherwise be seen as less than.
review 2: I first heard about McLaren's book at a talk he gave at the Greenbelt festival in which he outlined his model of the 4 stages of the spiritual life - Simplicity, Complexity, Perplexity... more, Harmony, and then back around again. These four stages form the basis of 'Naked Spirituality', with each stage assigned three of the twelve words referred to in the book's subtitle. McLaren uses these twelve words as a framing device for his chapters on the practices and rituals that form the bedrock of the spiritual life - praise, thanksgiving, confession, meditation, lamentation etc. What you get out of this book will depend on what you bring to it and where you are on your faith journey at the time of reading. As with the other McLaren book I've read, 'Everything Must Change', I felt like I wasn't really his target audience - he is writing for people of his own background, conservative evangelical American Christians, for whom some of the ideas in this book would be considered radical. I found the framework and the idea of a 'cycle' of spiritual seasons more helpful than the actual content of individual chapters. I would recommend it as an introduction to the spiritual life or as a jumping off point for deepening your own faith, but don't expect too much from it. less

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