Is Emergent the New Christian Left? Tony Jones responds to the critics
By his own words, i'd say "yes."
One commenter writes, "So, by your own description, what Emergent is not is a bunch of Christians. The only thing that you can pinpoint on which you agree is that "something must be done about extreme poverty, especially in Africa." That is not the definition of a Believer in Christ. So this is a "community" focused on conversation but not a body of believers."
Now Jones does end his first paragraph with this, "My Emergent friends, old and new, love Jesus and are robustly grappling their way into God's future. It seems to me that the two most important commitments that we in Emergent share are 1) we are ultimately hopeful about God's future, and 2) we are committed to moving forward together, as friends."
But if the Jesus they love doesn't make the lesbian pastors uncomfortable, he bears a strong resemblance to the Jesus of last century's liberal theology, all smiles, no judgements.
Thus, we have friends among us who think that small government, free market economies are the solution to poverty, and others who favor federal programs and higher taxes—honestly, this is an ongoing conversation within the Emergent friendship. But we all agree that something must be done about extreme poverty, especially in Africa.
Within Emergent are Texas Baptists who don't allow women to preach and New England lesbian Episcopal priests. We have Southern California YWAMers and Midwest Lutherans. We have those who hold to biblical inerrancy, and others trying to demythologize the scripture. We have environmental, peacenik lefties, 'crunchy cons,' and right wing hawks.
One commenter writes, "So, by your own description, what Emergent is not is a bunch of Christians. The only thing that you can pinpoint on which you agree is that "something must be done about extreme poverty, especially in Africa." That is not the definition of a Believer in Christ. So this is a "community" focused on conversation but not a body of believers."
Now Jones does end his first paragraph with this, "My Emergent friends, old and new, love Jesus and are robustly grappling their way into God's future. It seems to me that the two most important commitments that we in Emergent share are 1) we are ultimately hopeful about God's future, and 2) we are committed to moving forward together, as friends."
But if the Jesus they love doesn't make the lesbian pastors uncomfortable, he bears a strong resemblance to the Jesus of last century's liberal theology, all smiles, no judgements.
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