An Emerging Deception, Part 1

Greetings everyone,

There is a growing movement among many evangelical churches called the Emerging (or Emergent) Church. It is of critical importance that we understand the dangers of this movement.

I am going to come right out and give my opinion right off the bat, and then work to defend it in this and further editions in this blog- this is an extremely dangerous movement. It meets every definition of a cult. To anyone who holds to the traditional interpretation of scripture, it is a damnable error.

On the surface, it looks like a wonderful extension of Christianity- churches that are very active in their communities, very concerned about social issues, and very interested in reaching everyone with their message. However, when one takes an even slightly deeper look into their beliefs and “theology”, one finds a message and theology (or lack thereof) that is very much opposed to the classical/traditional understanding of God, theology, and even Christian Doctrine that is revealed to us in the scriptures.

I’ve been studying this in depth for the last month to try to get an understanding of the complicated issues and philosophies surrounding this movement’s belief structure. This is very difficult as one of their core beliefs is putting practice before theology/beliefs, leading to a wide array of beliefs that are dependant upon local practices. As an example, if an Emergent Church was formed in Haiti, they would incorporate voodoo into their worship practice since that is “how god is revealing himself to these people”1. This is one of the main issues I have with them, but more on that later.

My research is taken from several books, internet articles, and audio messages I’ve listened to pro and con toward this movement. The books include “A Generous Orthodoxy” by Brian McLaren, “The Secret Message of Jesus…” by the same author, miscellaneous writings and speeches/debates of Doug Pagitt, and the primary text I’m using which is “The Emergent Church, Undefining Christianity” by Bob Dewaay, which extensively quotes from the previous texts as well as several other Emerging Church leaders.

To truly understand anything, you have to examine the history and origin of it. As this series will be long, I’ll try to be concise here to save time.

The history of the Emergent Movement can be traced to the philosophy of a German theologian named Jurgen Moltmann, who was heavily influenced by two German philosophers named Friedrich Hegel (an atheist) and Ernst Bloch (an atheist/neo-Marxist). Moltmann wrote a book called “The Theology of Hope” in which he put forward several primary theses-

1. The classical teaching of the bible that the world will end in judgment is wrong (see bullet 5)
2. god (small “g” on purpose) is bringing all people and his whole creation to himself
3. The fullness of the kingdom of God is not a future event, but something we can experience now through working toward establishing that kingdom now on earth.
4. The bible is not our absolute rule of faith and conduct. god is found in experiencing him in the context of the society we are in.
5. Although not implicitly stated by Moltmann, the inference is drawn in his writings and is believed by the Emergent church that only through understanding the scriptures in the context of Moltmann’s (and other Emerging Church authors) ideas, can the true meaning of the “red-letter words” or any other scripture be found. (This heresy is called gnosticism)

Understanding this background is key to understanding where the Emergent church is coming from, particularly the faulty eschatology of no final judgment and the working out of the kingdom on earth. This “theology” (I hesitate to use that word, as they don’t really study God at all) really took root among open theists, and although initially somewhat cloaked, is what fueled Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven movement, which paved the way for the Emergent Church. In fact, the Emergent Church is simply the next logical step of Warren’s model of church.

Next Part Two- What the term “missional” means to the Emergent Church

1. McLaren, Brian, a Generous Orthodoxy, Zondervon (although the example is not directly stated, the idea of the example is exactly what he is stating)

Many blessings,