The emerging church and postmodernism?

Question

Is the emerging church embracing postmodernism as a helpful aid in reaching out to what seems to be the rise of a postmodern society (especially in other cultures)? Or is the emerging church embracing postmodernism because of the belief that it makes an abundance of sense? Or is it a little bit of both?

If the second option seems to be the case, why does postmodernism make so much sense, and why does, or why should it, fit in with Christianity? Can postmodernism in combination with contemporary Christianity help revert Christianity more closely back to its first century roots? Why or why not?

What advantages do you see in the church embracing postmodernism? What disadvantages?

Should an alternative to both modernism and postmodernism be sought?

What do you think?

Answer 1

The church needs rely on nothing else but Jesus Christ and Him crucified for our sin. Any church that feels it must use gimmicks to attract the lost and to make apostles of the saved, is not really trying to glorify God.

Answer 2

If the church is truly teaching the Word of God, then that Word does not change regardless of the culture it is being spoken to.

It's one thing to investigate new worship formats, activities, and the like, to encourage people to attend worship. It is entirely different to 'tweak' scripture with the expressed interest of trying to cater to a broader audience.

Having said this, as long as what the church teaches what is in the Word, then I see no problem with how they teach it.

But to more adequately answer your question, I would say that modern science, politics, etc... have put a whole new perspective on our old beliefs that the early church never anticipated. Naturally the church is not going to cling to the belief that the earth is flat and that the sun revolves around it (there is no scriptural basis for this) but that doesn't mean that it needs to fall over for other scientific considerations that have not been proved.

Christianity has to accept its own limits, and the attributes of other aspects of society. In fact, acceptance is one of the fundamental responsibilities of Christianity.

And please, don't ever ask questions like this at 1 in the morning again!