DISQUS

I read Josh's post, and while I could catch where he's coming from, I keep thinking about how disbanding the top-down structure probably saved emergent from becoming more faddish than it has become already.

Darrell Guder spoke about missional theology at Biblical Seminary this past fall, and he said that he hopes the word missional fades away and becomes superfluous because everything we do is missional. It just becomes part of who we are, not a label we stick on the side of a blog.

I think the same could be true for emergent. Theology and ministry should always be done with an eye to the contemporary setting. There will be a wide variety of views as far as that goes, but on the whole, I think the push toward a grass-roots movement was the way to go, even if it's easy to pick out some flaws and weaknesses in the process.

Perhaps emergent will have only succeeded when we stop talking about it... Then we'll know it wasn't about a hip movement.

Books could be written about the Cardinal's statement... Sheesh, the kind of language that asserts defense of the truth and the message of Christ displays a frightening absolutism and inability to reckon with the complexities of biblical interpretation.

Thanks DJ! I look forward to your review, and particularly your thoughts on my chapter on including the global church in theology. Blessings!

Now where oh, where did you find that article??? ;) Tis' good, no?

But you will get around to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell at some point, right???

Glad to hear the benefits of being "unplugged."

Tough one, but way to stand for Biblical equality. This is a tough one because it's not a matter of orthodoxy in doctrine, but it is a matter of morals and social ethics. It's also a matter of whether or not women are equally part of God's image, as Genesis clearly states.

Our own sense is we can't join any church that devalues women, however it would be a tough call if we were already attending a church and then came to the conclusion that men and women must be equals. It seems like it will be a hard for a church to work toward the justice that God desires when it's openly putting women one rung below men. I suppose it could happen, but that issue is hanging over it.

Thanks to Paul we'll probably never have agreement across the board on this one!

On following up on John B. Chilton's comment...

I read the article you cite. Guinness and Yates make a pretty strong statement regarding the Episcopal Church. My understanding of the article is they are leaving the Episcopal Church because the church has abandoned traditional Christian orthodoxy, the basic beliefs that make one a follower of Christ according to scripture. This sentence stood out to me:

"Some leaders expressly deny the central articles of the faith -- saying that traditional theism is "dead," the incarnation is "nonsense," the resurrection of Jesus is a fiction, the understanding of the cross is "a barbarous idea," the Bible is "pure propaganda" and so on. Others simply say the creed as poetry or with their fingers crossed."

All conversations about nonviolent atonement and the literary merits of scripture aside, I don't see anything all that sensational in that article. The epistles make it pretty clear that the cross and resurrection of Christ are central to our faith, not to mention the climactic place they're given in all four Gospels. Their accusations are no doubt serious, but certainly not groundless, as many Episcopal leaders have spoken openly about abandoning these orthodox (lower-case "o") doctrines. Bishop Spong is perhaps the most outspoken.

Guinness has made other statements that I disagree with, but I don't see anything mean or ignorant here. I see a carefully worded, clearly reasoned explanation that lays out some serious charges. However they don't resort to name-calling, passionate pleas, or groundless accusations. Disagree with them if you like, no problem there, but I don't think they're being mean. They're just trying to be faithful.

I understand that you must take issue with their accusations of the Episcopal Church and must find some of their claims to be exaggerated, however they have grounds for their objections and they clearly avoided some of the other flash-point issues such as women pastors or a gay bishop. They limited their objections to the centrality of Christ's redemptive work in the Episcopal Church. Sounds like they're on the right track to me.

Great use of humor.

I have one problem.

How can you have a problem with Rob Bell's hair and not even mention Dan Kimball's hair???? Rumor has it he spends a solid hour on that sucker. If you've got Bell's hair, you've gotta get Kimball on there or else I'll have to doubt the validity of your list. Please address this oversight. :)

Thank You.

I didn't even notice the spelling mistake until the end of your post. Geez. I guess designers can't use spell check in adobe.