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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Use Your Emergination, Nov 12 2008
This book is an important warning about the errors of the emergent church movement (oops, I mean un-movement). It is well researched and clearly presented and maintains a gracious spirit throughout, carefully pointing out that some of the emergent emphasis is a reaction to and an attempted correction of some genuine follies and foibles of present day evangelical Christianity. The alternating narrative and didactic chapters made for an interesting format that likely will appeal to those attracted to the "story" emphasis of the postmodernism-infused emergent church as well as satisfy those more systematic types who just want the straight goods on this "conversation".
For a movement which resonates with many so-called evangelicals, it is dangerously errant in both doctrine and practice. However, as far as movements go, practice generally follows doctrine so it will likely take a while for the life of emergent churches to fully realize and apply the tenets which they hold...but it will come, and the authors seem to sense this as they raise the red flag. Many if not most of the movers within the emergent "conversation" either reject, are antagonistic toward or are at least foggy or mushy on such cardinal doctrines as the substitutionary atonement, justification, imputation, foreknowledge/sovereignty of God, God's judgement/punishment of sin, and infallibility/authority of the Scriptures and instead are very friendly toward or simply embrace such unbiblical innovations as open theism, moral influence theory of the atonement, downplaying justification for lifestyle ("it's not about what you believe but how you live"), and are too individualistic in their soteriology (like everything else) to even begin to understand covenant and its implications for God declaring people guilty in Adam and righteous in Christ. On such issues as sin and its consequences, one would be hard pressed to hear much at all as most emergent types see this as a hindrance to the "conversation" and simply don't mention it. And there are already clear warning signs about where all of this mush-think will practically lead with the emergent movement being hesitant to mention if not outright opposing the Bible's clear teaching on such issues as human sexuality, human dignity (abortion), etc.
Though sometimes it takes some digging to discover, the emergent church has far more in common with several of the prominent heresies in the church's history than it does with the orthodox and biblical faith. I fear that this book and others like it, while valuable resources, will prove to have been far less critical than they could or should have been as this trend spreads and progresses. If one spends even a little time reading church history, one can see the damage that these doctrines have done to the faith when they have been embraced in the past by various groups. It's not hard to emergine...err, I mean imagine those things happening again. I wish more people who are uncritically "engaging" in this "conversation" would spend the time and effort to compare it with the church's standard, Scripture, as the authors of this little book have done. All in all, the emergent church is just a cooler, hipper version of a watered down, severely edited, seeker-sensative movement, only with candles, jazz and cappucinos. Engage with this book.
D.A. Carson, theologian par excellance, is interviewed in this book and has his own, more indepth critique of the emergent church movement hereBecoming Conversant/emerging Church.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Interesting Contribution to the Emerging Church Conversation / Debate, April 30 2008
DeYoung & Kluck, two of my contemporaries, have done an excellent job at taking a fresh look at what the emergent church is, and how orthodox evangelical Christianity looks (and is still relevant) in the reality of an emerging culture. It is very well written, well researched, and engaging. I have to admit, I preferred the narrative chapters, but the complementary writing styles of the two authors (one a writer, the other a pastor) really worked together.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
highly recommend, Aug 14 2009
I've heard a lot about "the Emergent Church" recently. Mostly from The Bushman, who listens to a lot of satellite radio, which is all American; I don't think I'd actually heard the term before he started bandying it about the house. Since then I've seen it pop up here and there in church conference publications and whatnot, but mostly, the stuff I've read about the Emergent Church is stuff I've come across online in my search to find out more.
Not all of it's bad, but most of it seems to stem from rebellion against the dogma of scripture; rather than following God's narrow road, the preference is a wider path and now there are all sorts of apologetics springing forth arguing the path really isn't as narrow as the Bible says it is.
There are surely faults with traditional evangelical churches, and these two young authors, Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck, point those out as well ~ most notably, that exemplary, fundamentalist evangelical churches are potentially indoctrinating and discerning themselves into extinction. They focus keenly on not compromising with the world (which is good), but they're not engaging it either. (which is bad)
But in the quest to appear less exclusive, this new "emerging" Church has become a little too inclusive. It seems this "new" faith is doing a good job of loving what God loves, but not necessarily remembering to also hate what He hates. Like these two authors point out, it seems the Emergent Church is quick to point out the sins of overly-judgmental and slow-to-forgive evangelical churches, but in doing so, "end up rebuking not just the faults of these churches, but their strengths as well, tearing down what Jesus commends in order to strengthen what Jesus condemns." (p. 247)
This book reads like a conversation. The chapters written by DeYoung, pastor of a Reformed church, are deeply theological, but they're well balanced and alternate with the shorter chapters written by Kluck, a sports journalist for ESPN, who gives a more "on-the-street perspective." (from the back cover) Tackling major doctrinal issues and direct quotes from Emergent leaders like Doug Pagitt, Brian McLaren, Rob Bell, Tony Jones, Spencer Burke and the like, they frankly state their problems with the emerging, post-modernist view and, using scripture, ask some very pointed questions.
According to this book, which is heavily laden with direct quotes from Emergent leader writings, there are some rather startling statements being made by church leaders today. There is some VERY questionable teaching coming out of the pulpits in evangelical churches all over Europe and North America today, and this book is an urgent call to Christians to sharpen their discernment skills.
I like that this book affirms the good the authors see in the Emergent movement rather than just bashing the whole thing. I like that there's no name-calling (which sadly, can often be found in books of this sort), but rather a careful, thoughtful study of what they've read from the movement and their concerns about it. I like that this book has been written by two guys roughly my age who want to make very certain their lives and teaching are doctrinally sound.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has heard about the Emergent Church and would like to know more, and to any Christian who wants to live life founded on orthodox beliefs about God, propositional truths about Jesus, and the authority of Scripture.
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by Kevin Deyoung
by D A Carson
by Piper John Piper
