By Jerry Wragg www.gibcjupiter.org
This is taken from Phil Johnson's site (under comment section) but i think it is well worth your read. If you don't have time to read DA Carson's critique of the Emerging Church then you really should read this blog. It was written in response to another person (who is sympathetic with these new movements). http://phillipjohnson.blogspot.com/2005/11/ugliness-everywhere.html
pomo = post modernism
EC = The emerging church
"Chewing before you swallow is one thing...but putting everything and anything into your mouth is just plain unhealthy!
See 1 Cor. 3:18-23 and 1 Tim. 6:3-5"
"One more thing...
You said, '...hurling Bible verses into the void, as if they interpret themselves, doesn't help'
First, the texts I cited were not "hurled into [a] void", but clearly were offered in the context of my caution about indiscriminate intake. It should've been obvious that I believe those passages teach us how to be discerning, never giving human wisdom any divine ground. But if I should've been clearer, I'm sorry.
Second, at least my volley includes some reference to places in scripture that I think bring clarity to our interlocution. If you want to dispute what I infer from these verses and offer a better understanding, be my guest...but don't accuse me of Bible hit-and-runs. Many of my comments have included passages that I believe, according to the exegetical work I've done, directly answer some of the issues. I must say, that's more than I've received from you my friend. You're right...verses don't interpret themselves, but neither will they ever enjoy such attention if the "dialogue" muses on in the pattern so far established.
Oh yeah, one more thing (I feel like Columbo), you strongly challenged Phil regarding an alleged "ignorance" of the profitable discussion taking place in pomo and EC circles.
OK...so you think the talk is positive. Now what? Are we supposed to feel bad that we don't agree. Honestly, I've heard, read, and otherwise eavesdropped on most of what is "definable" in the postmodern and emerging world...and I don't see any real, long-term, edifying positives.
Oh sure, their preoccupation with man's finiteness as an alternative to the rationalist arrogance of modernism might earn a brief "atta-boy", except that they use this "humble" concession as the main trump against a reachable objectivity (an arrogance of another kind---sorry, "atta-boy" removed).
Perhaps we could award them for championing "authentic relationships" over cold "linear proof" models, except that their definition of "authentic" is its own immoveable, linear proof by which they deem rational evidence inauthentic (since when did our culture become more superior at understanding social and intuitive influences than other eras?---sorry, "atta-boy" removed).
Or maybe we might thank the pomo's and EC'ers for their genuine interest in the worthiness and equality of all cultures, except that again this other-cultures sensitivity is used to argue that the subjective complexities of human communication make objectivity impossible (how in the world did I ever "connect" in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Greece, England, Scotland, South America, and France with so much abstraction?---sorry again, "atta-boy" removed).
You see, I'm truly thankful for the privilege of coming under the sanctifying grace of God's word in order to answer the challenges of postmodernism and the EC. What I will not do is join a "conversation", even a "positive" one, that requires me to check my Bible or my certainty at the door simply because the moderators think believing in attainable absolutes is "epistemologically naive", "academically obtuse", and "culturally insensitive". Whatever "relational positives" such dialogue promises, the dangers, in my judgment, far outweigh them.
Will the purveyors of this "new kind of Christianity" be around in 30 years to clean up the mess and take responsibility? The history of every movement entrenched in subjectivity demostrates otherwise. Everyone says "woops!", but the seed-planters are no where to be found."
Written by JWragg
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