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Title: The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier
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Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
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| The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier by Jossey-Bass Best overall introduction to Emergent | An excellent introduction to all things Emergent. Tony Jones does a great job outlining many of the characteristics of an Emergent way of faith, while also providing an insider's perspective on how much of the conversation began in the United States. This really is a must-read for anyone who is deep into the conversation, but is especially perfect for those who are new to the conversation and want to learn more about what it's all about. In reading this book it's important to acknowledge that it does primarily focus on the Emergent conversation in the United States. This is not a fault of the book, but must be acknowledged. For a more global perspective, or at least a perspective that includes the UK, one should read Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures by Gibbs and Bolger (a personal favorite, and a must-read).
This book fits well with the rest of the "Emergent Visions" series. You should definitely also check out the first book in the series Soul Graffiti: Making a Life in the Way of Jesus and the third, A Christianity Worth Believing: Hope-filled, Open-armed, Alive-and-well Faith for the Left Out, Left Behind, and Let Down in us All - taken together they are quite an Emergent trifecta. | | The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier by Jossey-Bass Disappointed | I was looking forward to reading this book, but ended up terribly disappointed! This book was a painful read. Not because it challenged my thinking, but because of the tortured reasoning, incoherent conclusions, and an utterly ridiculous portrayal of the modern church that left me wondering if Jones' real intent was to parody Emerging Church (EC) beliefs. For example:
1) Because the roots of the Southern Baptist denomination is the American Pilgrims and "Jolly Old England" therefore, at least genealogically, Albert Mohler (President of the SBC Southern Seminary) is in fact a Bishop of Southern Baptists (pg. 6).
2) Evangelical churches determine their theological and missiological priorities under pressure from conservative radio show hosts (pg. 18).
3) The claim of biblical authority as the Word of God is demonstrably untrue, and portrays those that think otherwise as irrational and unsophisticated.
Another example is Jones' effort to demonstrate the irrationality of believing in Biblical authority, To accomplish this Jones presents a rhetorical conversation between someone with the more sophisticated view of Scripture and an Evangelical:
-"I believe because the Bible says so."
-"How do you know the Bible is true and accurate?"
-"Because the Apostles died for it, and people don't die for a lie."
-"What about the 911 terrorists?"
-"They were deceived; they didn't know that what they died for was a lie. The Apostles had seen Jesus and lived with him so they knew he wasn't a lie."
-"What about the followers of Jim Jones and David Koresh?"
-"Well the Bible is really true because of the original manuscripts."
-"Do we have the original manuscripts?"
-"No, but we some old ones that are close to the originals."
-"How do we know they weren't changed?"
-"Because we have faith in the historical process by which early manuscripts were copied and distributed."
-"So your faith is in history..." (pg. 19)
The presentation continues on, but anyone that knows anything about the issue understands that Jones completely misrepresented the evangelical position. Either Jones is intellectually dishonest or he doesn't understand the issues. His inability to accurately portray the beliefs and practices of conservative evangelicals raises the question of whether or not emergent objections to modern Christian doctrine and practice have any real substance? If so, then why not accurately portray that which they seek to criticize? If EC theology is correct, then why is it necessary to misrepesent their opponents to substantiate their conclusions? Whether it is misunderstanding or misrepresentation, the result is same: Jones is disqualified as a legitimate critic of the modern church; for the reader cannot hope to gain any worthwhile insights from the critique of a belief system that either doesn't exist, or that the critic simply doesn't understand.
I have been researching the EC full time for more than two years. A primary practice of the Emerging church is deconstructing (critiquing) the doctrines and practices of the modern church. Let me assure you that if your desire is to learn about the Emerging Church's construct and theology, there are other books written by other authors who can explain the EC and who - even though their theology is fraught with error - possess the intellectual capacity to offer a critique of modern Christianity that will, at least, challenge your thinking. This, however, is not that book, and Jones is not that author. Save your money!
| | The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier by Jossey-Bass making sense of the wikichurch | | if you want to know what's happening in post-modern thinking in the church; the emergent church; or where the church at large is heading, this is a must read. tony jones has been a part of the emergent movement from the beginning, and brings a wealth of information and understanding to the table. not only that, he has done an incredible job of researching what's going on accross the nation, with a good cross-section of emergent churches he has visited. i thouroughly enjoyed the read, especially his description of the wikichurch. that, for me, explains the emergent churches approach to theology, community, and inovation as well as anything i've read. although few people would be comfortable with all the ideas coming from emergent and all the various expressions of these ideas (including emergents) tony jones exposes the absolute exuberance people are finding in going beyond beurocratic, institutional church and living into their faith. 5 stars with a bullet! | | The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier by Jossey-Bass A seminal contribution | | Christianity has been in a state of evolution, change, flux, and internal conflict every since the very first Christians emerged out of the synagogues of Jerusalem two thousand years ago. A doctoral fellow in practical theology at the Princeton Theological Seminary, author, speaker, and seasoned observer of the American religious landscape Tony Jones has written a seminal work exploring the emergent frontier of Christianity in the opening decade of the 21st Century in "The New Christians: Dispatches From The Emergent Frontier". Providing an informed, informative, and exceptionally well written survey of the more adventurous Christian communities around the world, "The New Christians" reveals a religious movement that is not based on the usual Left-Right political, economic, social, and cultural divides that have marked previous fractions of the Christian church. Simply stated, this is a new form of Christian community that difference in both substance and ideology from such previous ecclesiastical movements that gave rise to Protestantism from Catholicism, or even earlier than that, the Catholic Churches of the West from the Orthodox Churches of the East. "The New Christians" is enthusiastically recommended reading (especially for non-specialist general readers with an interest in religion, spirituality, church history, and current trends with in today's diverse Christian communities) and a seminal contribution for academic and community library Christian Studies and Religious History reference collections. | | The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier by Jossey-Bass I haven't stopped thinking since opening this book. | If you're at all interested in or curious about the emergent movement you need to read this book. It not only lays out many of its philosophies, it also gives a history of the movement
If you're uncomfortable with or opposed to the emergent movement you still should read this book. It will give you a better understanding of what it is that makes you uncomfortable.
For me, both were true. There were parts of this book that spoke very deeply to me while other parts helped clear up my disagreements with their beliefs.
While Jones can tend to over romanticize the emergent movement he is a fantastic writer/speaker and has created an engaging piece of work. As I wrote in my title, I have not stopped thinking about and wrestling with the ideas he puts forth in The New Christians since I began reading it. | | The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier by Jossey-Bass Product Description | | What the "Emergent Church Movement" is all about-and why it matters to the future of Christianity Following on the questions raised by Brian McLaren in A New Kind of Christian, Tony Jones has written an engaging exploration of what this new kind of Christianity looks like. Writing "dispatches" about the thinking and practices of adventurous Emergent Christians across the country, he offers an in-depth view of this new "third way" of faith-its origins, its theology, and its views of truth, scripture and interpretation, and the Emergent movement's hopeful and life-giving sense of community. With the depth of theological expertise and broad perspective he has gained as a pastor, writer, and leader of the movement, Jones initiates readers into the Emergent conversation and offers a new way forward for Christians in a post-Christian world. With journalistic narrative as well as authoritative reflection, he draws upon on-site research to provide fascinating examples and firsthand stories of who is doing what, where, and why it matters. |
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