Deconstructing: “The New Christians”

I have received my copy of Tony’s new book, and have begun the deconstruction process. My approach will be from a critical thinking perspective, and by that I mean that I will look at each thought “involving skillful judgment as to truth, merit, etc.; judicial: a critical analysis” based on the Word of God.

My intention is not to pursue this from a negative perspective, although I believe that the end result will probably turn out that way. I know from the outset that I have a completely different world view than Tony Jones, and that I look at the Word of God (the Bible) in a completely different way. My assessment will be negative where necessary, and positive where necessary. I make no pretense of having no bias.

I am planning on working through the book by reading each chapter twice, and then writing about my observations. There will be a couple of guys joining me in this effort, and they will post when appropriate.

If you are a Bible believing Christian, I encourage you to get a copy of this book and get up to speed on the emerging church movement. Pray for spiritual protection before you read, for the authors of the movement, for it’s supporters and critics alike, and for the church. Stay in the Word as you read other writings, and always compare what you read with Scripture.

If you are a seeker, a non-Christian, or just checking out the emergent church, I urge you to make a thoughtful analysis of both sides of the issues at hand. Don’t just dismiss criticism of the movement as rabid fundamentalist pablum. And don’t just accept everything you hear from the leaders of the emergent church as the gospel truth. Be discerning, use your critical thinking skills, be good Bereans.

There is a lot at stake in this discussion. From my understanding of the issues, either the leaders and practitioners of “emergent” are the true Christians and the reformed & fundamentalist believers are lost, or the opposite is true. Both can not be right, because both have a different Gospel, a different Christ, and a ultimately a different God. That may sound harsh, but that is the way I see it.

Until next time, I will be working my way through Chapter one. Peace.