We are continuing a study on a movement that calls itself Christian. In order to see the whole context, please click here to start with the first article of this series.

We are learning about those in the Emergent Church. As discussed in our previous article they avoid or oppose theology all together. All theology is, is a study of God’s Word to determine what is right and wrong, true or false.

They continue to speak of theology negatively by saying they wish to be, “A welcoming Christian community who believed that God is not defined by theology. We welcome dialogue between different theological positions but also recognize that dialogue involves listening and real listing involves change” (5). So in order to be a welcoming Christian community we have to be without biblical definition, because remember that is what theology truly is. If they are forming a group of people who do not serve the God of the Bible nor are they Christian as defined by the Bible, then are they really serving the true God and are they really forming a Christian group? Now certainly we should have open discussion as to theology, but once we discover what the Bible clearly says on a topic, we must embrace that view with confidence. Not according to those in the Emergent Church though. As can be seen above, to truly have an honest discussion, you have to change your beliefs. What if your beliefs are right? What if your beliefs are Christian?

I struggle to understand this concept that the only way to prove you are listening is to change your beliefs. Not me thank you. I will believe in the Bible, regardless if you say I am not welcoming, I do not listen, and I am unwilling to discuss. Even though none of those items are true of me. The truth seems to be that they want to silence criticism by setting up the you don’t listen or you don’t welcome card.

Imagine if a young student answered on a test that 4 + 4 = 9 and was marked wrong. Then that student said no I am right, the answer is 9. However the teacher still stood by what she had declared, that the answer is wrong and the correct answer is 8. Now imagine that student yelling, you don’t listen to me or you are not a welcoming teacher. Should that teacher just tell that student he is correct? Yet the Emergent Church is not teaching things that impact our math abilities. They are teaching things that impact the salvation of others. This should be taken very seriously.

They seem to be obsessed with the idea that we must be willing to change. They say, “wherever change has stopped, so thought must have done too. This appears to happen in two places: where change is thought not necessary, and where change is thought impossible. Where change is not necessary, everything must be perfect - it is a utopia, a place where everything is settled and nothing needs to be - or can be - debated. No thought is required. Where change is not possible, everything is stuck. It is a place of oppression, a prison where the mind is shackled, a dictatorship where imagination is a crime. No thought is possible” (6).

Now like I said before in this study, we can discuss any theological topic you want. However, once it is shown that the Bible is clear on an issue we must accept it and not change or do they want us to change from being good, righteous, holy, obedient to God? They want to appear as if all they want is an open and honest discussion, but really they want us to abandon submission to the Bible, which is rebellion against God. They say, “Either their faith is settled, the Scriptures are clear and closed, their minds are eternal, spotless sunshine, or the task is simply too great, the institution too large and the energy required too massive for change to be thought achievable” (6). Basically, if you don’t change your mind, then you are wrong. What? As we discussed above, we are capable of knowing the truth through the study of God’s word. Why are they so insistent that we must change. I don’t think they are arguing with us, they are arguing with God. They seem bent on the idea that we cannot know what is true even with study of the Bible.

Remember in our discussion that we discussed their original desire was to reach those of post modern philosophy and to reach them they had to become like them? Post Modernism says that nothing is true, everything is relative. If you look at the views of those in the Emergent Church and those of Scripture, which view are they advocating? Are they advocating the Bible or Post Modernism? They are advocating Post Modernism and in doing so continue to question anything based on the Bible. In doing so, what are they? Are they Christian or are they something else?

A Christian is defined by the Bible, because the Bible is inspired by God. Yet I challenge you to look for all the Scripture references they use in all of their articles. They use some, but not many. In fact, in the 13 Articles they placed on their website to describe themselves, I counted four references to Scripture and most of them were not even used correctly. How can a movement claim to be Christian and yet develop a whole philosophy with almost no consultation of God’s Word? Once you decide to toss the Bible aside, it is amazing how far from true Christianity you go. It is also amazing how you completely lose the motivation to evangelize, but gain a different motivation. We will discuss that next time.

(1) Resource One
(2) Resource Two
(3) Resource Three
(4) Resource Four
(5) Resource Five
(6) Resource Six