Book Notes: Becoming Conversant with The Emerging Church by D.A. Carson

I have just finished reading Don Carson's contraversial book, "Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and It's Implications".

The Emerging Church is seen by many as the answer to the most urgent need of the church in the west - to re-engage with a culture, radically alienated from the gospel. The argument is that the church is hoplessly locked into a modern-enlightenment frame of reference which neither does jutsice to the narrative nature of scripture nor engages with our post-modern times. The 'emergent' response is a 'new kind of Christian', freed from such shackles, able to engage in realistic mission, within our culture; by seriously reckoning with the contemporary cultural shift.

Much in this Carson welcomes and salutes. However, this book is an attempt to expose the movement as being one of compromise with unBiblical standards and doctrinal naivety. Carson alleges that much of the emergent movement is simply selective in its use of the Bible, and lacks integrity in its failure to be as counter-cultural as scripture demands. He sees this as being based on a non-Biblical epistemology in which truth is deemed as insufficiently knowable; and propositional truths ruled out of court despite their scriptural prominence. Finally, Carson says that the emergent conversation misreads post-modernity, and has misread 'confessional evangelicalism' too; over-reacting against unrepresentative extremes.

One problem which Carson admits is the huge variation in the subject matter - making his generalisations almost meaningless in practice.

In terms of my own view of this book, I'd make the following three points. Firstly, as I am rooted in the 'confessional' side of the equation I don't know enough to judge whether the criticisms levelled are accurate or not. I think before assessing that it would be fair to read a less critical book like Gibbs/Bolger. Secondly, however, I share Carson's view that much of what I have read from the emergent stream does misrepresent me as a 'confessional evangelical'. Thirdly, while some of this book is fairly harsh (but if correct, then fair enough) the emergents shouldn't complain too much, as their movement is deeply critical of its forebears.

All movements in recent church history, house-churches, mass-evangelism, seeker-friendly have had valid contributions to make; but have stood in need of some correction too. The emergent church claims to be romancing our culture for the gospel. If it turns out instead to be seducing the church from evangelicalism, then it too must respond to correction as graciously as its image would suggest it should.

Gibbs/Bolger is on my reading list!