Reconsidering Emergent Theology

Date February 22, 2005 Posted by Roger Overton

Folks in the Emergent Church (ECM) have decided we need to “deconstruct” our theology. This means different things for different people, as does much of what flies around Emergent circles. For Brian McLaren, recently listed in TIME's 25 Most Influential Evangelicals, this means giving up Christ's substitutionary atonement and the exclusivity of salvation through Christ alone. Only within the past few months has there been much of any academic response.

Today it was announced that the Kentucky Baptist Convention decided to drop McLaren from their conference next weekend… 

Dr. Bill Mackey, KBC executive director, and Dan Garland, Church Development and Evangelism Team leader, said they made 
the decision after reviewing McLaren’s position on salvation.
“I respect Dr. McLaren greatly and have appreciated his insights on reaching people in today’s culture,” Mackey 
said. “We try to bring dynamic speakers to the Evangelism Conference who will challenge and inspire their listeners. I 
felt that in this instance, however, Dr. McLaren’s position diverges too greatly to be appropriate for this conference.”

Garland, who had invited McLaren to speak more than a year ago, agreed, saying that reading McLaren’s most recent book, 
A Generous Orthodoxy, led him to reconsider. 
In the book, McLaren says that while there is no assurance that there is salvation to be found outside of Jesus, 
Christians should not jump to the conclusion that Jesus is the only way to salvation.
"I must add, though, that I don't believe making disciples must equal making adherents to the Christian religion. It may 
be advisable in many (not all!) circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, 
Hindu, or Jewish contexts,” McLaren says in the book.

It's nice to see someone out there realizing that what McLaren teaches should not be accepted within orthodox Christianity. We should no more accept him as a teacher as we would a Muslim or Taoist. Of course, most Emergent Church folk would accept them as teachers, and that only shows the problem more plainly. ECM despises dichotomies, including ones that draw lines between what we should and shouldn't believe. For them there is no longer “orthodox” and “heresy”, which is why McLaren believes in a “Generous Orthodoxy” (the title of his latest book). The Bible makes it clear that some beliefs are right and some are wrong, and we need to stand behind those who stand firm in the Bible, and pray others will follow step.

Here's the news article: McLaren Withdrawn From Evangelism Conference Lineup

Here's a new book coming out in a couple of weeks critiquing ECM: Becoming Conversant with Emergent: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications by D.A. Carson

UPDATE: Justin Taylor, a contributing editor for Reclaiming the Center among other things, has commented on this issue and the ECM debate in general.

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Amazing Grace DVD Set

Date February 21, 2005 Posted by Roger Overton

Being a calvinist, I'm constantly looking for new
reformed material to enrich my mind whether from books or
tapes, and I've ran across a new dvd set titled Amazing Grace.  It can be accessed on monergism.com and it has preview clips of the dvd set via quicktime media.  Check it out, it seems great!

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The Scriptural Basis of My Salvation

Date February 20, 2005 Posted by Roger Overton

This past week I finally got around to finishing and turning in my application for Talbot Seminary. One of the questions requiring response was “Describe in your own words the scriptural basis for your salvation.” The follow was my response:

The Bible makes it clear that I, like all other human beings, have sinned against the supremely Holy God (Rom 3:10-12,23). Due to the gravity of my sin, on my own I am lost without any hope for recovery (Eph 2:1-3, Rom 7:23). It is because of my complete depravity that my salvation must come from another source. The only source adequate is the atoning blood of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son of God. The wages of my sin is death (Rom 6:23), but Jesus took up the punishment for my sins, and many others, by taking my place on the cross. His death acted as a substitution for the debt I owed which I could not pay. In taking my place, He took on the wrath of God and became a curse for me (1 Thess 1:10, Gal 3:13). This is only possible since Jesus is both fully man and fully God, so He is an appropriate and adequate substitute.

Due to my free acts of sin against God, my nature was turned against Him; so not only could I not do any good deed to please Him, I had no desire to seek Him. Thus it must be that saving faith in Christ is a free gift, not by works nor merit, nor any being’s decision but God’s (Rom 8:29-30, Eph 2:8-10, 2 Tim 8-10). Due to this free gift of faith I have been justified (Rom 5:1-2); meaning in Christ’s holiness, and He as my mediator (1 Tim 2:5), I may worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). Since my faith and resulting salvation is a gift from God, and depends not on my work or merit, I have assurance of my salvation (John 6:37).

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Welcome to The A-Team Blog

Date February 18, 2005 Posted by Roger Overton

“Ten years ago a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire… THE A-TEAM”

We're not quite the A-Team of the 80s, but we are a group of crack commandos fighting the evils of postmodern society. As Christians, we are Ambassadors for Christ, representing Him with Knowledge, Wisdom, and Character. We're here to promote classical Christianity with clear thinking and integrity. I love it when a plan comes together…

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