Christians: What do you think of Rob Bell/ Donald Miller/ the emerging/ emergent church?

Answer 1

I think that the emerging church is only scary to people afraid of new ideas. I have read Rob Bell and Brian Mc Laren's books and get a sense of clarity (finally) about what it means to be a Christian today, NOT 100 years ago. Jesus said that when you do this to the least of these you do it unto me. Actions speak louder than words and I am stoked to see a church like Mars Hill (which seems to be a more conservatve version of an Emergant Church) doing what it is doing in the areas of social justice and helping the helpless. One thing that Brian M. says in his book; A Generous Orthodoxy is that he believes that although eternal life is a part of being saved it misses the point if you believe that it is the reason one becomes saved! We are saved in order to advance God's kingdom for the benefit of those that are saved AND those that are unsaved. The Emerging Church may just be the one thing that brings many people to a place of worship who are interested in God but that are disgusted by American Church Culture. I wonder if the person who commented to your question with the idea that McLaren is a heretic has ever read his books. May I recommend the book Adventures in Missing the Point? It is a great book written by Brian McLaren and Tony Compolo.

Answer 2

Some emergents are okay I hope, I haven't heard of any yet. Some are wishy washy, and some are just out right heretics, like Brian Mclaren. All I know about Rob Bell is that he has a certain distaste for people who share their faith the way I do, and a few other things. So, I can't say I like them from what I've heard.

Answer 3

The first time I heard about it was today when I was listening to John MacArthur. I respect him and his knowledge and he says that it's dangerous and to stay away from it. Here's what Wikipedia says about it.

The emerging church movement is a controversial[1], 21st century Christian movement whose participants seek to engage postmodern people, especially the unchurched. To accomplish this, "emerging Christians" or "emergents" embrace a missional aproach to Christianity in which they reshape belief, standards, and methods to fit a postmodern mold while advocating efforts to effect tangible, temporal changes that enhance the lives of postmoderns. Proponents of this movement call it a "conversation" to emphasize its developing and decentralized nature. The predominantly young participants in this movement prefer narrative presentations drawn from their own experiences and biblical narratives over propositional, Bible exposition. Emergent methodology includes frequent use of new technologies such as multimedia and the Internet. Their acceptance of diversity and reliance on open dialogue rather than the dogmatic proclamation found in historic Christianity leads emergents to diverse beliefs and moral standards.

Critics of the movement are often conservative evangelical theologians and pastors who disagree with the movement's embrace of postmodernism, believing such a worldview leads emergents to unorthodox theology, relativism, antinomianism, universalism, and syncretism. These critics frequently associate emergent theology with the liberal theology that has historically been at odds with Christian fundamentalism and Evangelicalism.

Answer 4

The emergent church is slowly gaining floor, you're precise; that's a unfavorable circulation. those church homes are places the place further and further human beings flock to and are being lulled to sleep right into a seeker comfortable environment that falls wanting the severe calling of our Lord Jesus Christ. maximum of those church homes fail to evangelise the gospel and could draw those human beings in the process the senses. they regularly introduce activities designed to speak to those genuinely drawn with the help of sensationalism. an area church in our area (approximately 3,000 human beings or extra) is continuously drawing human beings with the help of that's carnivals, that's donut provide-aways, that's classes designed to offer human beings a feeling of installation in --- yet they fail to share the gospel message. the priority with those church homes is amazingly severe. those human beings unaware connect a circulation which will at last lead them to flow into an eternity with out Christ OR would be disenchanted with the circulation that they are going to run to Jesus and this variety of church homes.

Answer 5

They are flaky- will be too liberal to make a difference in the world. They may grow and get real big, but they will be useless against godlessness on this planet. They will be like the Methodist- church full of lost people, embrace everything as long as it brings people to church.

Answer 6

They seem to be more interested in having a "conversation" than spreading the Gospel Truth of Jesus christ and his atoning death. They are "light" on sin and heavy on "love" and kingdom theology and/or liberation theology (creating heaven on earth and trying to "right" all the "wrongs" in the world). These social issues (HIV, drugs, war) are important to all Christians, but they are NOT the focus. These issues are simply symptoms of a much bigger issue which is mankinds sinfulness. It is our job to address sin and the individual sinners with the Gospel of Christ, NOT the symptoms that we see in society, thus the Emergents are addressing symptoms not the real issue of sin. The Emergents are also too focused upon the "experential". This seems to relate to the post-modern mindset, but our foundation as followers of Christ must be upon the Word of God, not on our personal experience. People of all faiths can share similar experiences that "validate" their faith and personal truth. As a Christian, my truth rests not on my own experiences, but on the Bible. Thanks for reading my answer!

Answer 7

Oh great. Just what the world needs-
another church.

Answer 8

Never heard of them/it

Answer 9

Don't know anything of them or what they are up to, sorry...