Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches, pt. 1

i'd been curious to read this book for some time now, and got quite frustrated with how long it took amazon to deliver it. but it finally arrived last week and it read it in just a couple of days. part of the reason i was so intent on reading it is because our pastor is one of the five authors and i was itching to know more about where she's coming from theologically.

the book has five sections, each with a chapter written by a different pastor of an emerging church (in this case defined as a church that has a young congregation). each of these chapters is supposed to cover that person's view of theology and how it's practiced in their church (primarily their views of scripture, atonement, and God/the Trinity). after each chapter, the other four authors take about two or three pages to respond to that person's chapter, making the book much more conversational than the typical book (although it is something that has been done in a few other books about the emerging church).

i really enjoyed the format, it was refreshing to switch between the different authors voices and perspectives. since the authors' views vary so much from one another, it was also fun to wonder and anticipate how the others would respond to each chapter.

the book is edited by the late Robert Webber, who introduces the book with a discussion about historical trends and closes the book with a reminder that we live in a very different age now than the modern era and how it's important to listen to these pastors even if they seem to be speaking a different (theological) language.

it's been pointed out that the authors names on the cover somewhat reflect their theological orientations, from left (liberal) to right (conservative), though i would argue if that's the case that Karen Ward and Doug Pagitt should switch places as she seemed a bit more conservative. but, i would argue that cautiously, as i would agree with comments made a couple of times in the book that labels such as liberal and conservative should be avoided (at least in some situations).

for the sake of clarity, and to keep my posts a bit shorter, i'm going to talk about this book over the course of a few posts.