What is the problem with the Emerging Church Movement?
Anyone who reads my blog,rupeba.se, regularly can not have failed to notice that I am not particularly enamored with what is called the Emerging Church movement. In fact it's even worse than that. I see the preaching in the Emerging Church as a major threat to Bible-based authentic Christianity in our time.
Well aware that I generalize, I would still highlight some salient features of the Emerging Church to clarify why I see it as a great danger.
The Bible is not the prescriptive (authoritarian) book in the Emerging Church. The Bible is a supplemental addition equated with other viewpoints and comments in the discussions. The result is that the Christian lives in a quagmire which consists of what I think, feel and hear others say.
The concepts of sin and salvation is almost non-existent in the Emerging Church. If there is no right or wrong or sin, there is no need for salvation and forgiveness, which makes Jesus' death on the cross completely meaningless.
The talk about heaven and hell is mostly focused on our living conditions here on Earth. In the end, all people will be saved, some prior to their earthly death and others subsequent to death. This naturally lessens the Christian zeal to win others for Christ.
The different religions can be perceived as different paths to God.
I see the Emerging Church as the old liberal theology in modern garb. The intention of both liberal theology and the Emerging Church is positive. The intent is to make it easier for people to believe, and to remove or reinterpret those parts of the Bible and Christian doctrine that’s deemed offensive to modern man.
The risk is obvious. In their eagerness to presents the Gospel to today’s generations they find it simplest to do so by presenting a completely different gospel than what is in the Bible, and consequently it becomes a devious heresy.
Peter Baronowsky
Translation: Dr. Sven Ljungholm
Peter Baronowsky
Translation: Dr. Sven Ljungholm
6 comments:
This from McLaren, the voice of the Emerging Church in: A New Kind of Christianity - “The Bible is not considered an accurate, absolute, authoritative, or authoritarian source but a book to be experienced, and one experience can be as valid as any other can. Experience, dialogue, feelings, and conversations are equated with Scripture while certitude, authority, and doctrine are to be eschewed! No doctrines are to be absolute and truth or doctrine must be considered only with personal experiences, traditions, historical leaders, etc. The Bible is not an answer book.”.
This from the Salvation Army doctrines: " We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and that they only constitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice."
I say Mclaren does not know what he is talking about.
Brian Hamer
Australian Southern Territory.
Very disturbing, but not surprising. We have been warned about a "great falling away" and I believe the "emergent church" is part of that falling away. It is up to believers in the Way to keep preaching the good news in word and in deed and to not compromise one iota of God's Holy Word, but stand on its truth with courage, passion, determination and most of all, love.
Shayne Meyers
Scripture is has to be relied upon. It can be relied upon. How do we know that God has a plan at all for His children to follow? Not by nature or experience.It is through the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments that we know many specific facts and desires of God. We certainly have general revelation (nature) and experience that point to our Great Creator but without the Bible and reliance upon it we all would be in a heap of trouble. There will always be some disagreement and theological differences of opinion but when Scripture is thrown aside, Christianity turns into a watered down do what ever, believe whatever religious system.
Bob Deidrick,Major
USA West
Another quote for Brian McLaren:
"When we are threatened by others, we're tempted to dehumanize and demonize them by labelling them with words like communist, imperialist, evil, insane, heretic, fundamentalist, liberal or infidel.
Ironically by turning them into subhuman monsters in our own minds, we also empower them, making them larger than life and intensifying our own anxiety about them."
Former
Canada
I would argue that tarnishing everyone in the so-called Emerging Church with Brian MacLaren's brush is similar to saying that all US Evangelicals agree with Westboro Baptist Church!
If we are truly to understand what God is seeking to do within the Church then we should be careful about making sweeping statements that could devalue the contribution parts of the church that may not necessarily stand theologically in our camp make. This was exactly the problem that faced the likes of Martin Luther at the time of the Reformation and he was vehemently opposed by the established church who of course knew that they were right!
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