Emergent Church

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The Emergent Church movement is a progressive Christian movement that attempts to reduce or eliminate Christian doctrine in favor of experience and feelings. Most do not believe man can know what is absolute truth, and believe God must be experienced outside of traditional biblical doctrines.

In their book Why We Are Not Emergent authors Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck say trying to come up with a short description of the Emergent Movement is like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall! Emergent church movement teachings include questioning individual salvation through Jesus Christ, believing in the teaching of collective salvation. Many question the existence of hell as a place of eternal separation from God. some believe that all religions are viable paths to God. A growing number question the doctrine of substitutionary atonement of Jesus for sin on the cross.

Some have noted a difference between the terms “emerging” and “Emergent.” While emerging is a wider, informal, church-based, global movement, Emergent refers to an official organization, the Emergent Village, associated with Brian McLaren, and has also been called the “Emergent stream.”

Emergent church leaders usually adopt the principles of social justice, liberation theology and collective salvation. Some leaders also incorporate elements of Universalism, the Seeker-Friendly Movement, and even New Age Spirituality.

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Other Places To Learn:

Emerging Church Resources: A Beginner’s Reference Guide

Article:  Who Are Some of the Leaders of the Emergent Church?

Emergent Village Website

Books about the Emerging Church

1. Emerging Churches – Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger (the most comprehensive resource on the EC, very readable and very done in a creative format)
2. Shaping of Things to Come – Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch (Offer both theoretical and concrete ideas about models of church that are emerging in the postmodern world)
3. Out of Bounds Church – Steve Taylor (A short easily accessible book about the emerging church)
4. A New Kind of Christian – Brian Mclaren (A short story that helps to get at some of these ideas in narrative form)
5. Church Re-Imagined – Doug Pagitt (A week in the life of the emerging church)

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