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A Spiritual Evolution
This story is the personal account of a journey of transformation and change. Like a seasoned teacher, MacMurray probes our beliefs with a stream of relentless questions that had haunted him for years. If you have been left holding the ashes of your deconstructed faith with nothing left to trust or love - then this book is for you.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 21, 2024
I did find this book beautiful and helpful. God is not a punitive punisher that works outside of what we know to be loving and healthy. His examples of how his own experience of parenthood shape his view of Gods love are powerful.
The only thing I am left wanting from the book is more practicals of his assertion that what we need is not information about God, but relational experience with God. How do we go about this? How did he? Can we do this without information, or without a community of voices? His assertion sounds nice and is probably true but I want more in this vein.
The only thing I am left wanting from the book is more practicals of his assertion that what we need is not information about God, but relational experience with God. How do we go about this? How did he? Can we do this without information, or without a community of voices? His assertion sounds nice and is probably true but I want more in this vein.
September 21, 2022
As is the case with many “deconstruction” stories within Christendom, this testimony by John MacMurray is presented by him (to borrow the language of Scripture) as coming to understand “the way of God more accurately” (Acts 18:26) than he used to. He views himself not as leaving the faith, but rather as throwing off the toxic excesses of modern evangelicalism for a purer, kinder, better way of understanding the triune God and what John deems to be a better Gospel. Of course, it’s all under the humble rubric of “an ongoing conversation” (229, 293) and a humble attempt at dialog. He’s also not afraid, apparently, to embrace the language that says, “Apostasy can be a good thing” (291).
The end result actually and plainly is that like his cohorts William Paul Young and C. Baxter Kruger, John MacMurray is now an avowed Universalist. He’s come to realize that many of the things he believed when on staff at Good Shepherd Community Church in Boring, OR, and on faculty at Multnomah Bible College in Portland are just “not true. Those things were lies and deceptions, mere illusions…” (184)
Here are a couple of quotes to give you a taste:
- “This is the heart of the gospel. Jesus has revealed the Father to us and declares to us the good news of his Father’s love. This is true regardless of how moral or immoral we are and regardless of whether we believe Jesus or not.” (184)
- “Jesus declares a stunning fact: that every one of us is included in his life with his Father…We are to trust him. Not so that we can be embraced by the Father but because we already are.” (184)
- “If we are human, God is our Father.” (191)
- “The truth of our being is that you and I and the entire human race are God’s children.” (192)
- “[God’s] feelings toward us, his treatment of us, his concern for us is not swayed by how moral we are or aren’t. He loves everyone equally and treats us all in the same manner – with love. And any gospel that would tell me differently is no gospel at all.” (199) He goes on to say directly after this that, “For me, fatherhood has brought light and clarity to this thing called life in ways that I never saw coming. It has done wonders for my theology…It has been a game changer for me.” (199)
He now realizes that he had bought into the false belief “that divided the human race into two categories: those who were the children of God and those who aren’t.” (192) The great news of the Gospel, according to MacMurray is that everybody is in – some people just don’t know it.
Furthermore, regarding other earlier mistakes he writes “…I thought of the Bible as the exclusive revelation of God – that it was the only way someone could encounter Jesus. It is not.” (227) He also used to have “a theological and psychological fixation with the cross” (228) and even use to hold to such horrific doctrines like “penal substitution” (212) and “eternal punishment in hell.” (212)
Chapter 10 ought to be titled, “Exercises in Scripture Twisting.” Here’s how you can follow his lead if you’re interested in traveling the wide path that leads to destruction:
- Don’t use many Scriptures.
- And when you do use Scripture, cherry pick a line here or there. By all means do not submit yourself to “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).
- Caricature the views you seek to refute, don’t actually give them a fair representation.
- Project your views of God onto Him, don’t submit your judgments to His Word.
Oh, and he’s not a big fan of distinguishing love or discriminating judgment: “Please do not talk to me of a God who only loves some and not others. Or who loves in varying degrees. Or whose love embraces only those who trust him but doesn’t embrace those who don’t. This thought is unworthy of the Father, Son, and Spirit. I want nothing to do with that god. No, thank you.” (172) At least he’s polite in his apostasy.
As I have said regarding William Paul Young when I reviewed his hideous book, “Lies We Believe About God” – the same thing applies to John MacMurray: He is not a Christian. Their teaching is heresy.
In their minds they’ve moved “from fear and dogmatism to love and freedom;” from concern about certainty to humility. They’ve moved from knowledge about God to really knowing God; from viewing God as a legalistic Judge and an avenging Lord to a loving Father. They’ve cast off toxic ideas like wrath and retribution and embraced mercy and unconditional love. They speak “peace, peace” – literally.
It is a grievous thing to see men who once professed to walk with Christ according to the teaching of Scripture and who even once taught in reputable Christian Colleges – to see them turn aside, to be beguiled by the evil one. Woe to you, John MacMurray! “For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourself” (Matthew 23:15).
The end result actually and plainly is that like his cohorts William Paul Young and C. Baxter Kruger, John MacMurray is now an avowed Universalist. He’s come to realize that many of the things he believed when on staff at Good Shepherd Community Church in Boring, OR, and on faculty at Multnomah Bible College in Portland are just “not true. Those things were lies and deceptions, mere illusions…” (184)
Here are a couple of quotes to give you a taste:
- “This is the heart of the gospel. Jesus has revealed the Father to us and declares to us the good news of his Father’s love. This is true regardless of how moral or immoral we are and regardless of whether we believe Jesus or not.” (184)
- “Jesus declares a stunning fact: that every one of us is included in his life with his Father…We are to trust him. Not so that we can be embraced by the Father but because we already are.” (184)
- “If we are human, God is our Father.” (191)
- “The truth of our being is that you and I and the entire human race are God’s children.” (192)
- “[God’s] feelings toward us, his treatment of us, his concern for us is not swayed by how moral we are or aren’t. He loves everyone equally and treats us all in the same manner – with love. And any gospel that would tell me differently is no gospel at all.” (199) He goes on to say directly after this that, “For me, fatherhood has brought light and clarity to this thing called life in ways that I never saw coming. It has done wonders for my theology…It has been a game changer for me.” (199)
He now realizes that he had bought into the false belief “that divided the human race into two categories: those who were the children of God and those who aren’t.” (192) The great news of the Gospel, according to MacMurray is that everybody is in – some people just don’t know it.
Furthermore, regarding other earlier mistakes he writes “…I thought of the Bible as the exclusive revelation of God – that it was the only way someone could encounter Jesus. It is not.” (227) He also used to have “a theological and psychological fixation with the cross” (228) and even use to hold to such horrific doctrines like “penal substitution” (212) and “eternal punishment in hell.” (212)
Chapter 10 ought to be titled, “Exercises in Scripture Twisting.” Here’s how you can follow his lead if you’re interested in traveling the wide path that leads to destruction:
- Don’t use many Scriptures.
- And when you do use Scripture, cherry pick a line here or there. By all means do not submit yourself to “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).
- Caricature the views you seek to refute, don’t actually give them a fair representation.
- Project your views of God onto Him, don’t submit your judgments to His Word.
Oh, and he’s not a big fan of distinguishing love or discriminating judgment: “Please do not talk to me of a God who only loves some and not others. Or who loves in varying degrees. Or whose love embraces only those who trust him but doesn’t embrace those who don’t. This thought is unworthy of the Father, Son, and Spirit. I want nothing to do with that god. No, thank you.” (172) At least he’s polite in his apostasy.
As I have said regarding William Paul Young when I reviewed his hideous book, “Lies We Believe About God” – the same thing applies to John MacMurray: He is not a Christian. Their teaching is heresy.
In their minds they’ve moved “from fear and dogmatism to love and freedom;” from concern about certainty to humility. They’ve moved from knowledge about God to really knowing God; from viewing God as a legalistic Judge and an avenging Lord to a loving Father. They’ve cast off toxic ideas like wrath and retribution and embraced mercy and unconditional love. They speak “peace, peace” – literally.
It is a grievous thing to see men who once professed to walk with Christ according to the teaching of Scripture and who even once taught in reputable Christian Colleges – to see them turn aside, to be beguiled by the evil one. Woe to you, John MacMurray! “For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourself” (Matthew 23:15).
August 18, 2024
As MacMurray shared his own ongoing spiritual evolution in engaging and vulnerable languages, I was challenged and opened in new ways. I appreciated his journey to work through truths and misunderstandings of who God is, even if I may not always land where he does.
January 21, 2019
This is a great book. Don't miss chapter 4 and the bicycle ilkustration
November 30, 2020
Very much like my journey
February 29, 2024
Challenging. Thought-provoking. Freeing.
Grateful for great books to read for school.
Grateful for great books to read for school.
Read
January 26, 2019Before I begin the review I had to say Goodreads has the wrong author associated with this title. The author is John MacMurray who lives in Oregon and is very much alive.
And now the review:
Each of our lives is a journey, a story if you will. There are highs and lows to the story, character development, growth in knowledge and understanding. There are unexpected plot twists and turns, often in directions we don’t anticipate. In “A Spiritual Evolution” John MacMurray opens a window to us on his story. The focus is on the Spiritual part of his journey. Even better, I would say it is his story of following Jesus. In every part of the journey John would have said he loved Jesus. But like the first disciples of Jesus two thousand years ago his understanding of who Jesus is, and his understanding of the character of God grew and changed over the years. God did not change but John did. The more we look at Jesus the more we see He changes everything. He even changes our theology. As the years pass, life has a way of confronting us with questions. That’s true of everyone. Ultimately, for the follower of Jesus, you take the questions to Him. And, as you take the questions to Jesus, He answers them. Often, it’s not more information, or more bible verses to quote. The answer is usually Jesus Himself. Is it possible the Father is exactly as good as Jesus? John’s story builds into a bigger, better more beautiful view of the Father, Son and Spirit. Like DJ in his/her? review above/below? I found myself reading chapter 14 through tear filled eyes. The chapter on Justice is magnificent and makes the cost of the book worthwhile all by itself. Reading “A Spiritual Evolution” is like listening to a Beethoven symphony. It starts with a theme and weaves in new notes and harmonies eventually building to a crescendo of utter beauty. John’s story starts with a theme, Jesus is Lord, and then adds new ideas and insights all built on the original theme, but always building to a bigger and better and more beautiful view of Jesus, His Father and the Spirit. I highly recommend this book.
And now the review:
Each of our lives is a journey, a story if you will. There are highs and lows to the story, character development, growth in knowledge and understanding. There are unexpected plot twists and turns, often in directions we don’t anticipate. In “A Spiritual Evolution” John MacMurray opens a window to us on his story. The focus is on the Spiritual part of his journey. Even better, I would say it is his story of following Jesus. In every part of the journey John would have said he loved Jesus. But like the first disciples of Jesus two thousand years ago his understanding of who Jesus is, and his understanding of the character of God grew and changed over the years. God did not change but John did. The more we look at Jesus the more we see He changes everything. He even changes our theology. As the years pass, life has a way of confronting us with questions. That’s true of everyone. Ultimately, for the follower of Jesus, you take the questions to Him. And, as you take the questions to Jesus, He answers them. Often, it’s not more information, or more bible verses to quote. The answer is usually Jesus Himself. Is it possible the Father is exactly as good as Jesus? John’s story builds into a bigger, better more beautiful view of the Father, Son and Spirit. Like DJ in his/her? review above/below? I found myself reading chapter 14 through tear filled eyes. The chapter on Justice is magnificent and makes the cost of the book worthwhile all by itself. Reading “A Spiritual Evolution” is like listening to a Beethoven symphony. It starts with a theme and weaves in new notes and harmonies eventually building to a crescendo of utter beauty. John’s story starts with a theme, Jesus is Lord, and then adds new ideas and insights all built on the original theme, but always building to a bigger and better and more beautiful view of Jesus, His Father and the Spirit. I highly recommend this book.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews