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Emerging church movement (view source)
Revision as of 22:55, January 8, 2017
, 22:55, January 8, 2017created page
The '''emerging church movement''' or ''Emergent Church'' began in the late 20th century by Christians who were dissatisfied with the mainstream [[Doctrine|doctrinal]] teaching and practices of the larger denominations of Christianity, who see themselves as the true church "emerging" from within denominational forms of Christianity. The motivation and causes of this movement are similar to the original motivations and causes of [[Pietism|pietistic]] movements and churches having their own roots in the 16th century. The emerging church movement emphasizes the primary spiritual value of relationships, experience, dialogue, feelings, and conversations, which are to be equated with the reliable inspiration of Scripture, while certitude, authority, and historical [[doctrine]] are to be avoided as divisive and spiritually harmful. There is no [[Sunday School]].
The emerging church movement claims to be a Conversation instead of a Church. All seekers and believers alike are invited to participate in the unifying, relaxed and informal setting of "the conversation", instead of worshiping in a structured institutional church which emphasizes doctrinal and [[dogma]]tic truths. In place of educationally structured Sunday School classes, they sit in large rooms for the purpose of small group gatherings for "enlightening conversations", often lit by candlelight, with the smell of incense and the ringing of bells, surrounded by statues and icons.
The Bible itself is variously interpreted according to its perceived relevance or lack of relevance for each individual reader, who is encouraged to express his or her feelings about its value without fear of censure. The leaders of the movement emphasize that no one actually knows with certainty what the Bible really means, and that ''no one'' can legitimately claim to interpret its doctrines with [[dogma]]ically infallible certitude. They dismiss as doctrinally unreliable all claims of [[Apostolic succession]], and every [[Historical-critical method (Higher criticism)|historically documented evidence]] that the Bible has been accurately preserved without any error.
Leaders of the movement claim to be implementing the [[Second Vatican Council|Vatican]] call for authentic [[Ecumenical Movement|ecumenism]] by promoting the unity of a common spirituality. Catholic [[Christian apologetics|apologists]] dispute this claim, citing the Emerging Church Movement's deliberately [[Heresy|heretical]] distortions of the Vatican II Document ''Unitatis Redintegratio'' (UR).
However, against Catholic apologists' firm disclaimers and citing of abundant doctrinal and documentary evidence to the contrary, many conservative Christian groups and denominations maintain, either [[Error|erroneously]] or [[Falsehood|falsely]], that the movement is in fact a deliberate and coordinated Catholic plot specifically designed to convert Christians to Catholicism.
The emerging church movement with its doctrinal [[Indifference|indifferentism]] and its forms of Small Group conversation is viewed with alarm by many conservatives as a radical falling away from historical Christianity through exalting ''personal [[Relativism|subjectivism]]'' by combining [[distortion]]s of [[devotion]]al Roman Catholicism, Orthodox [[mysticism]] and Protestant [[pietism]] with expressions of "feel-good" [[New age movement|New Age]] teachings about the ''Cosmic Christ'' of [[liberal Christianity]] in place of the real historical Jesus Who is the true [[cosmic Christ]] of St. Paul.
Observers are uncertain if the emergent church movement is a passing phenomenon. If it becomes established it may become a [[sect]] of Christianity.
==See also==
[[Scandal]]
[[Cults]]
[[Relativism]]
[[Hippies]]
[[Specious reasoning]]
[[Polemic]]
[[Slander]]
[[Worship]]
[[Second Vatican Council]]
[[Hermeneutics]]
==External links==
[http://www.theopedia.com/Emerging_Church Emerging Church (theopedia.com)]
[http://www1.cbn.com/spirituallife/the-emerging-church-explained The Emerging Church Explained (cbn.com)]
[http://www.cstnews.com/bm/issues-facing-christians-today-common-sense-for-today/the-emergent-church-runs-away-from-the-bible.shtml The Emergent Church Runs Away from the Bible!, by Don Boys, PhD. (cstnews.com)]
[http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons/GTY107 What's So Dangerous About the Emerging Church? (gty.org)] ''proud of uncertainty about the Bible''
[http://forgottenword.org/marshawest.html Emergent Church Spreading Spiritual Cancer, by Marsha West (forgottenword.org)]
[http://cicministry.org/commentary/issue128.htm "The Dangers of the Cosmic Christ: A Review of ''The Coming of the Cosmic Christ'' by Matthew Fox", by Bob DeWaay]. ''a conservative Christian review of the influential 1988 seminal heretical text by Matthew Fox''
[http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/is-ecumenism-a-heresy Is Ecumenism A Heresy?, by Fr. Brian Harrison, O.S., emeritus professor of theology of the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico, and at the time of writing was based at the Oblates of Wisdom Study Center in St. Louis, Missouri (catholic.com)] <br>—''exposing four ecumenical errors embodied in the "emerging church movement", deliberate heretical distortions of the Vatican II Document ''Unitatis Redintegratio (UR).
[https://www.gci.org/church/youth/dmf4 Grace Communion International: Disciplemaking Ministry: Prayerful Dependence, Jeb Egbert (gci.org)] ''teaching adolescents authentic Christian prayer and Christian discipleship''.
[http://www.emptybell.org/articles/christian%20contemplation.pdf Christian Prayer, Meditation and Contemplation, Robert A. Jonas (emptybell.org)] ''authentic Christian prayer traditions''.
[https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=234 The Danger of Centering Prayer, Rev. John D. Dreher (catholicculture.org)] ''the technique of centering prayer is neither Christian nor prayer—the deception and dangers can be grave''.
[[Category:Christianity]]
[[Category:Protestantism]]
[[Category:Spirituality]]
The emerging church movement claims to be a Conversation instead of a Church. All seekers and believers alike are invited to participate in the unifying, relaxed and informal setting of "the conversation", instead of worshiping in a structured institutional church which emphasizes doctrinal and [[dogma]]tic truths. In place of educationally structured Sunday School classes, they sit in large rooms for the purpose of small group gatherings for "enlightening conversations", often lit by candlelight, with the smell of incense and the ringing of bells, surrounded by statues and icons.
The Bible itself is variously interpreted according to its perceived relevance or lack of relevance for each individual reader, who is encouraged to express his or her feelings about its value without fear of censure. The leaders of the movement emphasize that no one actually knows with certainty what the Bible really means, and that ''no one'' can legitimately claim to interpret its doctrines with [[dogma]]ically infallible certitude. They dismiss as doctrinally unreliable all claims of [[Apostolic succession]], and every [[Historical-critical method (Higher criticism)|historically documented evidence]] that the Bible has been accurately preserved without any error.
Leaders of the movement claim to be implementing the [[Second Vatican Council|Vatican]] call for authentic [[Ecumenical Movement|ecumenism]] by promoting the unity of a common spirituality. Catholic [[Christian apologetics|apologists]] dispute this claim, citing the Emerging Church Movement's deliberately [[Heresy|heretical]] distortions of the Vatican II Document ''Unitatis Redintegratio'' (UR).
However, against Catholic apologists' firm disclaimers and citing of abundant doctrinal and documentary evidence to the contrary, many conservative Christian groups and denominations maintain, either [[Error|erroneously]] or [[Falsehood|falsely]], that the movement is in fact a deliberate and coordinated Catholic plot specifically designed to convert Christians to Catholicism.
The emerging church movement with its doctrinal [[Indifference|indifferentism]] and its forms of Small Group conversation is viewed with alarm by many conservatives as a radical falling away from historical Christianity through exalting ''personal [[Relativism|subjectivism]]'' by combining [[distortion]]s of [[devotion]]al Roman Catholicism, Orthodox [[mysticism]] and Protestant [[pietism]] with expressions of "feel-good" [[New age movement|New Age]] teachings about the ''Cosmic Christ'' of [[liberal Christianity]] in place of the real historical Jesus Who is the true [[cosmic Christ]] of St. Paul.
Observers are uncertain if the emergent church movement is a passing phenomenon. If it becomes established it may become a [[sect]] of Christianity.
==See also==
[[Scandal]]
[[Cults]]
[[Relativism]]
[[Hippies]]
[[Specious reasoning]]
[[Polemic]]
[[Slander]]
[[Worship]]
[[Second Vatican Council]]
[[Hermeneutics]]
==External links==
[http://www.theopedia.com/Emerging_Church Emerging Church (theopedia.com)]
[http://www1.cbn.com/spirituallife/the-emerging-church-explained The Emerging Church Explained (cbn.com)]
[http://www.cstnews.com/bm/issues-facing-christians-today-common-sense-for-today/the-emergent-church-runs-away-from-the-bible.shtml The Emergent Church Runs Away from the Bible!, by Don Boys, PhD. (cstnews.com)]
[http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons/GTY107 What's So Dangerous About the Emerging Church? (gty.org)] ''proud of uncertainty about the Bible''
[http://forgottenword.org/marshawest.html Emergent Church Spreading Spiritual Cancer, by Marsha West (forgottenword.org)]
[http://cicministry.org/commentary/issue128.htm "The Dangers of the Cosmic Christ: A Review of ''The Coming of the Cosmic Christ'' by Matthew Fox", by Bob DeWaay]. ''a conservative Christian review of the influential 1988 seminal heretical text by Matthew Fox''
[http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/is-ecumenism-a-heresy Is Ecumenism A Heresy?, by Fr. Brian Harrison, O.S., emeritus professor of theology of the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico, and at the time of writing was based at the Oblates of Wisdom Study Center in St. Louis, Missouri (catholic.com)] <br>—''exposing four ecumenical errors embodied in the "emerging church movement", deliberate heretical distortions of the Vatican II Document ''Unitatis Redintegratio (UR).
[https://www.gci.org/church/youth/dmf4 Grace Communion International: Disciplemaking Ministry: Prayerful Dependence, Jeb Egbert (gci.org)] ''teaching adolescents authentic Christian prayer and Christian discipleship''.
[http://www.emptybell.org/articles/christian%20contemplation.pdf Christian Prayer, Meditation and Contemplation, Robert A. Jonas (emptybell.org)] ''authentic Christian prayer traditions''.
[https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=234 The Danger of Centering Prayer, Rev. John D. Dreher (catholicculture.org)] ''the technique of centering prayer is neither Christian nor prayer—the deception and dangers can be grave''.
[[Category:Christianity]]
[[Category:Protestantism]]
[[Category:Spirituality]]