Has the Emergent Conversation Been Beneficial in Any Way? Y e S
Evangelical Village asks the question, “Has the Emergent Church been beneficial in any way? How?”
I answer … Yes. They have forced me to wrestle with tons of theological questions. For example …
About culture … Is the American church out of touch with the postmodern culture and therefore failing to contextualize the gospel in a way that is faithful and relevant?
About sectarianism … Are theological conservatives too uptight about their theological differences amongst each other and especially with those outside their understanding of “conservative”?
About church … Do we do church the way we do church because it’s biblically commanded or because we are incredibly bias and legalistic in our preconceptions about the regulative principle?
About the genres of scripture … Are we reading the Bible more like a science book for theological information than like it’s supposed to be read? Is our approach to reading scripture with the purpose of systematizing its teachings a result of Western European rationalism rather than our commitment to follow its teaching? Are we reading the Bible in the way it was intended to be read, or are we forcing an alien grid upon the text and therefore misapplying it?
About what it means to be a Christian … Can a female pastor who believes in annihilationism or limited inerrancy or inclusivism still be a Christian because she still believes in the deity, redemptive death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus?
That’s not an exhaustive list, but it should demonstrate that the Emergent Church has forced the church to ask really, really important questions.
(HT: Evangelical Village)
Underoath’s New Album Tops All
Underoath is one of those exceptional bands that pulls off the screamo style on an unprecedented level. Their new album (Lost in the Sound of Separation) came out some months ago, but I just now listened to it for the first time. I agree with the band that it has managed to somehow take them to a whole new level all over again. I don’t know how they do it. They don’t crank out albums every year. They take their time. Not sure how they’re going to beat this album next time. My guess is that they are at the peak of their career right now. T h r i l l e s t.
(HT: Underoath)
Don’t Uncritically Follow John Piper
The Internet Monk warns Reformed folks who love to read John Piper stuff not to follow him on everything.
(HT: Internet Monk)
UPDATE: iMonk entertains my question about which of Piper’s teachings he is concerned about. The following comes from the thread of his comment.
1) Christian hedonism can very easily be construed as a Gospel of works rather than sola fide, esp when we say that we are commanded to delight in God in all things.
2) Piper’s pastoral use of his Edwardsian view of the Sovereignty of God has led to some uses and pronouncements that seem very deficient in pastoral wisdom and compassion.
3) I think some of his teaching in the past intentionally bred fanatical applications, esp in regard to martyrdom.
4) I believe he is of two minds on C.S. Lewis and needs to make a clear statement in regard to whether Lewis is an orthodox teacher of the Gospel.
5) I sense a lot of God-centeredness at the expense of Christ-centeredness. Edwards over Luther.
6) Mark Dever once said in an interview, when asked for a brief summary statement on a variety of contemporary reformed men, that Piper was ruthlessly logical. I would agree, and I think that is the difference in the Piper we heard before his Romans study and the one we hear now.
I like Piper and have benefited from him a lot.
An Atheist Perspective on Abortion
Ever wondered how an Atheist might think through the moral issues of Abortion? Here is an excerpt from VJACK, author of the blog Atheist Revolution (for the whole post go here).
At the same time, I believe that we all have a vested interest in reducing the number of abortions performed. While many women who have abortions suffer no psychological damage, some do. Minimizing the number of abortions performed is thus a worthy goal.
(HT: Atheist Revolution)
The West is a Theological Ghetto
My good friend Celucien Joseph talks about how theology in the West has incredibly narrow scope. I give an except below, but for the rest of the post go here.
I begin this paragraph with this proposition: it is fair to state that Christian Theology as a discipline, and particularly the fields of biblical studies are dominated by European descent individuals, who make interpretive decisions for “other groups” as if they are the Guardian of the Word. It is a common already presumed that European hermeneutics is the best of its kind. Let’s say it another way, consciously and unknowingly, Christian dogma has been kidnapped by Western thought, and largely designed and conditioned to advance Western culture and values, with little regard to non-western societies. We might also state, by context, it is also presupposed that Christianity is Western.
(HT: Christ, My Righteousness)
Why has Emergent Village Changed?
Tony Jones said in the latest edition of Emergent Village podcast that it was the result of hundreds (thousands?) of e-mails and conversations in which people expressed concern that EV was going to become like all the other organizations with Big-Wig’s at the top who speak disproportionately for the group as a whole and spend too much money on staffing etc. They want to “de-centralize” the thing. Very interesting perspective and mindset the Emergent Village has huh?
(HT: Emergent Village)
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