Unveiling the Emerging Church Movement
Explore the Emerging Church Movement, its history, key figures, and distinctions between "Emerging" and "Emergent". Delve into the movement's global impact on church practices in a postmodern context.
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MOVING TOWARD CATHOLICISM A Look at the Emerging Church Dr. Jobe Martin Biblical Discipleship Ministries www.biblicaldiscipleship.org www.evolutionofacreationist.com
PROVERBS 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
2 CORINTHIANS 11:3 3But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
GENESIS 3:1 1Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, ?
A BIT OF HISTORY (As I see it.) (With some notable exceptions)
1. Christian Orthodoxy 2. Pentacostal Movement 3. Charismatic Movement 4. Fellowship Church Movement 5. Seeker-Friendly Movement 6. Emerging Church Movement
EMERGING VS EMERGENT Emerging is the wider, informal, global, ecclesial (church centered) focus of the movement, while Emergent is an official organization in the U.S. and the U.K. Emergent Village, the organization, is directed by Tony Jones, a Ph.D. student at Princeton Theological Seminary . Other names connected with Emergent Village include Doug Pagitt, Chris Seay, Tim Keel, Karen Ward, Ivy Beckwith, Brian McLaren, and Mark Oestreicher. Emergent U.K. is directed by Jason Clark. Scott McKnight
Emerging catches into one term the global reshaping of how to do church in postmodern culture. It has no central offices, and it is as varied as evangelicalism itself. If I were to point to one centrist expression of the emerging movement in the U.S., it would be Dan Kimball s Vintage Church in Santa Cruz, CA. His U.K. counterpart is Andrew Jones . Scot McKnight, Five Streams of the Emerging Church: Key elements of the most controversial and misunderstood movement in the church today. (Posted 1/19/2007 see blog: JesusCreed.org)
Frankly, the emerging movement loves ideas and theology. It just doesn t have an airtight system or statement of faith. We believe the Great Tradition offers various ways of telling the truth about God s redemption in Christ, but we don t believe any one theology gets it absolutely right. Scot McKnight, Five Streams of the Emerging Church
Scot McKnight continues: Hence, a trademark feature of the emerging movement is that we believe all theology will remain a conversation about the Truth who is God in Christ through the Spirit, and about God s story of redemption at work in the church. No systematic theology can be final. In this sense, the emerging movement is radically Reformed. It turns its chastened epistemology against itself, saying, This is what I believe, but I could be wrong. What do you think? Let s talk. (see blog: Jesus Creed.org)
Brian McClaren, a pastor and a leader in the Emerging Church movement, was asked his position on homosexuality. McClaren responded that a five year conversation would be required and if there was no consensus, another five years of dialog would be necessary.
EMERGING CHURCH MORAL RELATIVISM: HOMOSEXUAL ITY IS AN ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLE WHAT DOES THE GOD OF THE BIBLE SAY? Genesis 13:13, Homosexuality is sin and wickedness! Genesis 18:20, Homosexuality is grievous sin! Genesis 19:7, Homosexuality is wicked!
Leviticus 18:22, Homosexuality is an abomination. Deuteronomy 23:17-18, Homosexuality is an abomination to the Lord of Hosts. 1 Kings 14:24, Homosexuality(sodomy) is an abomination. Romans 1:24, Homosexuality dishonors your own body. Romans1:26, Lesbianism is a vile affection.
Lesbianism ...is against nature. Romans 1:27, Homosexuality is unseemly Romans 1:28, Homosexuality is the fruit of a reprobate mind. 1 Cor. 6:9, Effeminate ( male prostitutes NIV) and abusers of themselves with mankind (homosexuals NAS) shall not inherit the kingdom of God
IDEAS HAVE CONSEQUENCES Do not be taken captive by the erroneous ideas of unbiblical worldviews!!! Col. 2:8 We must identify the enemy .and the enemy is always attractively disguised!!!! For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an
angel of light. (II Cor. 11:13,14) The world runs on ideas, and these ideas have godly or ungodly consequences. In the end, the sword is always conquered by the mind. Napolean Bonaparte
HOW DID WE GET TO NOW? Acts 17 to 1636 read Faith and Freedom by Ben Hart and Understanding the Times, by Dr. David Noebel 1636: John Harvard and Thomas Sheppherd founded Harvard University as an Evangelical Christian College 1691: John Locke, Essay on Human Understanding (Root of French Revolution)
1805: Harvard goes Unitarian (Jesus is not God = denial of the Trinity) 1839: Horace Mann (a Unitarian) establishes government-sponsored education (Public Education) in Mass. 1848: Karl Marx publishes the Political Economy. Main idea is Socialism and Private Property is Evil. 1859: Charles Darwin, Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favored Races
in the Struggle for Life = (EVOLUTION = 1859!) 1859: Marx and Engels, Das Capitol = (Socialism and abolition of private property) 1859: Richard Wagner, Tristan and Isolde = (Immorality and Materialism) 1860-1900: Nietzche, (God is Dead, Nihilism: no meaning to life) IDEAS HAVE CONSEQUENCES!
1929: First Humanist Church of N. Y. City Established by Charles Francis Potter 1930: John Dewey = Atheist, Humanist, Pres. of The League for Industrial Demo., Public Education = Secular Humanism 1933: Humanist Manifesto I 1934: A Common Faith, John Dewey, Pub. by Yale U. Press = Humanism is a RELIGIOUS FAITH
THE 1960S Mad Magazine and Johnny Carson: There is nothing sacred!!!! Frank Sinatra: I did it my way. Debbie Boone: How can it be wrong when it feels so right? Invictus: I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.
1961: (Torcaso vs Watkins) Humanism a religion protected by 1st amendment (501c 3) 1962: (Engel vs Vitale) Prayer banned 1963: (Abington vs Schempp) Bible reading forbidden in schools. 1968: (Epperson vs Arkansas) Laws against teaching Evolution now unconstitutional 1973: Humanist Manifesto 2 +Roe v Wade 1980: (Stone vs Graham) 10 commandments out of schools
1982: (McLean vs Arkansas) Law mandating creation and evolution banned 1987: (Aguillard vs Edwards) God is out of USA! 2003:TX law against sodomy overturned Homosexuality is in!! 2005:Euthanasia is in (Florida-Terri Schiavo).
DECONSTRUCTIONISM IS A PART OF POSTMODERNISM Postmodernism is a worldview. Postmodernists believe that truth is created by the life story of the individual. A Postmodernist might say, I have my truth and you have your truth. In other words in a certain sense you create your own reality. No absolute Truth, just conversations about percieved truth. Quite similar to New Age in this respect.
Humanists, Marxists, etc., say: God is dead, or Man is God. Postmodernists agree with Humanists and Marxists that God is dead, but go one step farther and say of any piece of literature, art or music The author is dead! If the author is a product of his/her time, culture, language, etc., and he/she is dead then it is impossible for the reader of their text to get into their head and understand their intentions. There is then no authoritative interpretation of any text. The meaning is determined by the reader of the text! The Bible is what it means to you.
Bill Honsberger, honzl@msn.com says: What then replaces the author s intent, unknowable to us all? Well what is left is different versions of what is called reader response theory. What this means is that the reader of the text brings to the text their community s values, language games, experiences, ethical concerns or lack thereof . [This is beginning to sound like the Emerging Church.]
Bill Honsberger, honzl@msn.com says: The question then for example is not What was the Apostle Paul trying to say when he speaks about propitiation in Romans 3? , but rather What do I/we think Paul was saying based on our community s values and concerns. So one might answer (and they have) that as a lesbian, feminist community our understanding of the Bible is based on our values and understanding and we say that Paul is a homophobic, sexist, patriarchal evil white man, who was seeking power over us with his claims to truth .
Bill Honsberger, honzl@msn.com says: I think there is a direct connection between Nietzsche s death of God and the Pomo writers death of the author. In both cases there is a denial of any authority (no truth giver) which or who sits above that of the autonomous human (the singular man in Existentialism and the community of humans in PostModern circles) and therefore all we are left with is the much tamer opinion or perspective. This is easily dismissed since all have perspectives and no perspective is any closer to an alleged truth than any other.
THE BIBLE IS OBJECTIVE, CERTAIN TRUE TRUTH! Postmodernists claim that there is no objective, certain, clear, authoritative truth. Notice that they must use words that are clearly understood and objective and authoritative to make their claim. Postmodernists disconnect from reality. The ultimate end of postmodern thought is that the Bible has no meaning of its own.
POSTMODERNISM PENETRATES CHRISTIANITY VIA: THE EMERGING CHURCH. The Emerging Church movement claims to be exiting Modernism. Modernism is seen as a synonym for the Enlightenment thought of 17th-19thcentury Europe. Enlightenment, now called Modernism has been an obstacle to church growth, so says the evangelists of the Emerging church
The Emerging Church claims that Modernism (European Enlightenment Thought) was concerned with: Truth Certainty Individualism Colonialism Objectivity Ethical absolutes And a host of other evils. Postmodernism rejects all of the above!
The cure for the problems in The Church (of historical Christianity), according to prominent Emerging Church writers, is to adapt to and accept the worldview and values of the predominant postmodern culture. In other words, to minister to the postmodern culture we Christians must, to a great extent, live out the postmodern value system ourselves. We must become all things to all people.
HANG ON A MINUTE. 1 Corinthians 9:22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Is the Apostle Paul saying in this verse that he would live out the Postmodern lifestyle to win postmodernists to the Gospel?
I am made all things to all men, Is Paul saying, I will become an alcoholic to minister to alcoholics? I will become a drug addict to minister to drug addicts. I will become a fornicator to minister to fornicators. I will become a heretic to minister to heretics. I will deny the absolute Truth of the Bible to minister to Postmodernists.
It is unfortunate that the phrase all things to all men (1 Cor. 9:22) has been used and abused by the world and made to mean what Paul did not intend for it to mean. Paul was not a chameleon who changed his message and methods with each new situation. Nor was Paul a compromiser who adjusted his message to please his audience. He was an ambassador, not a politician! Wiersbe, W. W. 1996, c1989. The Bible Exposition Commentary. "An exposition of the New Testament comprising the entire 'BE' series"--Jkt. Victor Books: Wheaton, Ill.
1 Corinthians 8:8-13 But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse. 9 But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak. 10 For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; 11 And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? 12 But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. 13 Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.
The primary purpose of Pauls not taking full advantage of his Christian liberty was that [he] might win the more. He deeply believed that he who is wise wins souls (Prov. 11:30) and was willing to do anything and to sacrifice anything to win people to Jesus Christ. As far as his rights were concerned he was free from all men, but because of his love for all men he would gladly limit those rights for their sakes. He had, figuratively, become a slave to all. He would modify his habits, his preferences, his entire life style if any of those things caused someone to stumble, to be offended, or to be hindered from faith in the Lord. MacArthur, J. 1996, c1984. 1 Corinthians. Includes indexes. Moody Press: Chicago
I am made all things to all men, What Paul means by this statement is that he will voluntarily restrain himself from certain freedoms he has in Christ so as to not offend a weaker brother! He is not saying that he would become a Postmodernist in order to witness to a Postmodernist! Paul would not support the Emerging Church.
POSTMODERNISTS CLAIM: There are no truths which apply to all of us. There are no absolute moral standards. There are no absolute ethical concerns. There is no God. There are personal opinions. There are personal perspectives. See the writings of Nietzsche, Derrida, Lyotard, Ricouer, Foucault, Rorty, Baudrillard, etc. Most Postmodernist thinkers are/were disillusioned Marxists.
Disillusioned Marxists became PostModernists and now gain strength through Multiculturalism and its stepchild, Political Correctness, which is rightly labeled, Cultural Marxism . Marx and Lenin taught that, given the chance, European workers would overthrow capitalist governments and replace them with communism. But after the Russian revolution of 1917 the Western European workers did not support the Communist revolution or ideas. Why not?
Christianity and its moral and ethical absolutes was the roadblock to the expansion of Marxism. This roadblock was noticed by two Marxist theorists in 1919: Italian, Antonio Gramsci and Hungarian, Georg Lukacs. These two men decided that the spread of Communism could only be accomplished if Western Christian culture was destroyed. So Lukacs introduced sex education into the public schools of Hungary,1919, believing that if children knew more about sex their lust for it would overpower their Christian morals!
So Gramsci and Lukacs laid the groundwork to change communism from economic terms (ownership of private property is evil) into cultural terms. (tolerance, sex ed, individual freedom, etc.) Then in 1923 at Frankfurt University in Germany the Institute for Social Research was established=The Frankfurt School. The Frankfurt School moved to New York City in 1933 when Hitler came to power. Theorists like Wilhelm Reich, Eric Fromm, Max Horkheimer, Herbert Marcuse, etc.
The Frankfurt School invented Critical Theory which had the goal of demonizing all traditional institutions such as family, fatherhood, patriotism, Bible-believing churches, etc. The Frankfurt School published Studies in Prejudice which taught that anyone who believes in traditional Western Christian culture is prejudiced, a racist or sexist or fascist or is mentally unstable. Mixing Freud with Marx, they perfected the technique of psychological conditioning thus, for example, TV shows fornication, etc. as normal. TV shows Christians as crazy, intolerant, bigoted, hypocritical fools.
For example see: The Humanist magazine, Nov/Dec 1987 Featured cover article: Christianity and Mental Health: A Psychotherapist looks at how Christianity may harm mental health, by Dr. Wendell Watters. The picture on the cover is of a church with a person (minister?) on the psychiatrist s couch and an all-wise-looking psychiatrist doing the counselling. If you are a Christian you must be insane!
Herbert Marcuse, working with Hollywood friends, became a leading evangelist of Cultural Marxism (Political Correctness) especially on the university campuses of USA. In his book Eros and Civilization, he argued that by freeing sex from any restraints, we could elevate the pleasure principle over the reality principle and create a society with no work, only play (Marcuse coined the phrase, Make love, not war ). Marcuse also argued for what he called liberating tolerance, which he defined as tolerance for all ideas coming from the Left and intolerance for any ideas coming from the
right. In the late 1960s Marcuse became the chief guru of the New Left, and he injected the cultural Marxism of the Frankfurt School into the baby boom generation, to the point where it is now America s state ideology. The next conservatism should unmask Multicul- turalism and Political Correctness and tell the American people what they really are: cultural Marxism. Its goal remains that Lukacs and Gramsci set in 1919: destroying Western culture and the Christian religion. [see: Wm. Lind, Cultural Marxism The Schwarz Report, vol. 46, No. 4, p 4. www.schwarzreport.org]
PSALM 19:7-9 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
Christianity Today, November 13, 2006 A Guide to the Christian Practice of Contemplation. The bright evangelical mind, always so active and in pursuit, must leap great hurdles of spiritual and intellectual activity to shut itself down and be still. Theologian Martin Laird offers a roadmap to this practice of silence and God-awareness with warmth and reason.
