Thanks for the comments everyone.
I don't know when we'll get pictures up. Maybe I can talk Sarah into posting some now that our home computer is fixed.
Dave, I just bought Velvet Elvis. (Your recommendation was the straw that broke the amazon camel's back.) I look forward to reading it and maybe discussing it here.
I agree that the emergent church and postmodernism are not just a new way to do "contemporary worship." This is becoming a radically different approach to Christianity. As a globe we are (unevenly) in the midst of a revolution of thought parallel to the Renaissance/Enlightenment/Copernican Revolution. This causes huge questions about theology and practice. What is orthodoxy? What is orthopraxy? How do we even make these decisions? Should we even try to make these decisions? If the old way of doing church isn't working, what is the new way? How do we change our whole way of thinking and remain faithful to the gospel? (After all, we have only known it in our old way of thinking.) I guess that is the big question surrounding all of this - How do we proceed through these changes and remain faithful? What must change? What must never change? What is optional? How do we decide?
At this point, I have WAY more questions than answers.
However, I am beginning to get a sense of one thing. Possibly the single most underrated part of Christianity is following Jesus. I mean, actually following him, living life like him. I wonder if the "Postmodern Reformation" might be a return to truly following Jesus instead of just talking about it. This might be something that could unite all Christians and even all people.
2 comments:
In my research I have come across a few different strains of emergent theology.
The Emergent. - Theologically everything is on the table; from the deity of Christ, to a re-purposed view of sexual ethics, to calling a God a 'chick'. They seem to identify more with Christ as the example of a cause, and pursue social justice as the highest calling. Examples of proponents would be Brian McClaren.
The Emerging Liturgist. - Rediscovering the Jewish roots of the ancient church and Judaisms impact on how Christ taught us to live. Theologically holds to the deity of Christ, the need for confession, repentance, and atonement. Beyond that the other doctrines become a living, breathing, dynamic framework to be re-shaped and modeled by the Christian community. Rob Bell would be an example.
The Emerging Reformist. - A mixture of evangelical tradition, modern worship, and classic theology. Believes in the in-errancy of scripture, the classic doctrines are much more fixed and define the Christian more than the Christian defines the doctrine. Usually Calvinistic in philosophy. Mark Driscoll would be a proponent here. Interestingly Mark with Brian McClaren in the early years of the emergent church movement. He eventually broke away as the theology of the emergent church began to manifest in a very liberal way.
These are but three trends I see out of many, many diverse threads. I have yet to see an example of a true emergent leader with a more pure Armenian theological background. I am not sure that the emergent church reformation will ever transform the Nazarene church, nor should it. But I can see a day where the cultural rifts of multi-culturalism, post modernity, and social justice, take our denomination in two distinct directions leaving the traditional Nazarene church mainly in the rural areas of the U.S. and some of the developing nations and a more socially justice minded and culturally diverse church within the urban centers of the US and Europe.
Like you I have so many more questions, and the well of knowledge is a deep one. I look forward to discovering it's depths with you.
Josh,
Please read my notation about Emergent Nazarenes.
Just a note: I've been thinking like an "emergent" for most of my adult life.
Keep the faith, but have your own reasons for doing so. Don't do this just because it is the fad of this decade.
Love
rfl
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