An Emerging Problem
The Emerging Phenomneon is taking evangelicalism by storm. This scarry movement is lead by capable, brilliant men. They in fact don't intend to be a movement at all - and would probably take mild offense to having someone identified as a 'leader.' I went to hear Brian McLaren this week out at Fuller Seminary. I have to admit, I enjoyed my evening. McLaren presented a paper on history, culture and the landscape of ministry today. After that there were 3 responders to his comments. McLaren has an uncanny ability to assess culture and articulate the zeitgeist of the day. His assessment of our 'postcolonial' society and the effects this has had on ministry are interesting. The bottom line is that the Emerging guys have identified some real issues that are facing the church but their answers to these issues are really bad. There is a complete lack of the authority, sufficiency, and perspecuity of the Scripture. They are very social gospel oriented, unashamedly. The emphasis on individual justification before God has been replaced by a 'missional' idea of just joining God in His program. This smells of the New Perspective to me. In fact, McLaren footnotes N.T. Wright in A Generous Orthodoxy. I was curious of the significance of this but in hearing him this past week, it began to make more sense.
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5 comments:
Nice post Allen. I'm interested in who the "responders" were to Brian McLaren at the Fuller lectures. Did they provide any helpful balance?
2 of them were Fuller Sem teachers (One was a lady who has a Ph.D in 'practical theology' and the other is a missiology teacher). The other panelist was the leader of a mission orginization in Mexico. Sorry, I didn't take down their names, I could find out if you're really curious. They were basically cheerleaders for what had been said. McLaren is in town all week lecturing for some doctoral classes.
I'm not that curious who but I am curious as to how this so-called "conversation" has avoided any serious face-to-face discussion in a public forum. I would think a seminary would be a great place to conduct such a thing. Sounds like Fuller missed out on a good opportunity.
Yes, the "responders" were definitely nothing more than cheerleaders. Thankfully (especially for the dude with the big hair), they all left their plaid skirts at home. I've been thinking about that evening everyday since then, and have grown less and less impressed with any aspect of McLaren and what he presented. Didn't start out as a fan either. I think that Western culture can rightly be critiqued, but I no longer think that it can be helpfully critiqued for any of the reasons that he mentioned. I still agree that he has an uncanny ability to spot problems, but as you said his answers are disasterously wrong. As soon as I muster enough intelligence, I'll try to post something about all this myself.
Interesting observations, Jonathan. Your second point hits the nail on the head. This is their mantra but the 'movement' is completely lacking in biblical authority and exegetical undergirding. It appears to be almost solely based on social (not even political, necessarily) change and the common good of man and society. One of the responders said something to the effect of 'it all goes back to the sermon on the mount.' We've heard this song before. They've just changed the music.
By the way, if anyone who happens to be reading this has a good understanding of the New Perspective, I would be curious to hear some thoughts on the relationship of that theological understanding and the EC.
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