The book is about the Kingdom of God as understood in the first century, and also relevant today. today. Those who follow Christ are described by the author as ‘agents’ of the Kingdom, our job being to spread the message of Jesus: of peace, reconciliation, and so on.

The first few chapters set the scene in the historical and Jewish cultural contexts in which Jesus lived as a man on earth. The second section looks at how the author sees the message, in contrast to how some fundamentalist churches tend to portray it, and the final section looks at what it means in the 21st century.

The writing is good, the author's views clearly expressed, and there's plenty of Biblical backing. The book covers portions of the ‘sermon on the mount’, for instance, and reminds readers about the meanings of the ‘parables of the Kingdom’, from the perspective of the first century audience.

I’m puzzled about the idea of it being a ‘secret’ message. This is broadly how I understood the Christian message growing up in an Anglican Church in the UK; it was explored more fully in RE lessons at my secondary school, and is similar to much of what I have read over the years.

Still, this book gives some excellent and thoughtful writing about the Kingdom of God in its many aspects, and much to think about. If it weren't for the title and insistence that this is a 'new' understanding, I'd have given it five stars. ( )

This is a refreshing take on the kingdom of heaven and what it means for Christians. ( )

Brian McLaren is one of my favorite Christian authors. I have read three other books written by him. "The Secret Message of Jesus" is the fourth one. This one seems to be quite different than others written by him. In his other works he seems to offer new insight, a new paradigm, even a new hermeneutic. Whereas, in "The Secret Message of Jesus" he merely expounds upon an existing theme. This theme, which McLaren calls the secret message of Jesus is really no secret. It is the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is here... now in our midst. For, the kingdom of God is within you. McLaren spends a majority of the book describing what this looks like in everyday life. Although I thoroughly agree with McLaren's views, I give this a 3-star rating simply for the fact that there doesn't seem to be any new or fresh insight that is typical of McLaren's works. Nevertheless, it McLaren type fashion, there are many wonderful quotes worth mentioning. Here are a few:

"Believing untrue things, however sincerely, can have it's own unintended consequences."

"This carpenter's son from Galilee challenges every existing political movement to a radical rethinking and dares everyone to imagine and consider his revolutionary alternative."

"So here, "eternal life" means knowing, and knowing means an interactive relationship with the only true God and with Jesus Christ, his messenger."

"Kingdom of God... Let's render it simply an extraordinary life to the full centered in a relationship with God."

"A parable renders its hearers not as experts, not as know-it-alls, not as scholars... but as children."

"We will understand neither signs and wonders in particular nor the idea of the kingdom of God in general if we try to shrink them into our restrictive universe. We have to meet these phenomena in their natural habitat."

"God, the good King, is present, working from the inside. The King is in the kingdom, and the kingdom is among us here and now... for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. The King is present in the mess and chaos of everyday life on earth, bringing healing, sight, perception, liberation, wholeness, wholesomeness, movement, health, fullness, nourishment, sanity, and balance. The incursion of the kingdom of God has begun. We are under a gentle, compassionate assault by a kingdom of peace and healing and forgiveness and life."

"For Jesus' secret message of the kingdom to be realized, it must first expose the evil of all alternative kingdoms or regimes or systems of ideologies. And, for that evil to be exposed, it must be drawn out of the shadows, where it hides in secret."

"When Christianity sees itself more as a belief system or set of rituals for the select few and less as a way of daily life available to all, it loses the "magic" of the kingdom." ( )

McLaren says a lot that is true, but as if no one else has ever said it. He obviously hasn't paid much attention to the teachings of the Catholic church for the last 2000 years.

Very thought provoking. This book isn't written to direct or convert, but to encourage thoughtful consideration of our concept of Jesus' message. ( )