Darryl's Blog
New Christians vs. Young, Restless and Reformed
Tony Jones, coordinator of Emergent Village, and Colin Hansen, author of Young, Restless, and Reformed, have begun an online exchange. Says Jones:
Where we probably differ is not so much on theology, but on epistemology. That is, it seems the difference between the people you profile in Young, Restless, Reformed seem pretty darn sure that they've got the gospel right, whereas the Emergents that I hang out with are less sure of their right-ness. In fact, they're less sure that we, as finite human beings, can get anything all that right.
Here's another way I'd explain the differences. An American Christian today is beset by globalization, pluralism, and postmodernism (three terms that I use interchangeably). In other words, the world is a confusing mess. I think that conservative, evangelical, Reformed theology offers sure answers spoken in tones of certainty by authority figures. Emergent Christianity, for better and worse, offers more ambiguous answers (and even more questions!) in tones of less certainty - but, hopefully, at least with what Lesslie Newbigin called 'proper confidence.'
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And what do you think about that, Darryl?
This will be an interesting dialog. I think the problem with some of us reformed folk is that we think we have the gospel absolutely and completely pinned down. We read through the gospels and the book of Acts and whenever the text says "good news" we assume it means the proclamation that God is holy, we are sinners, and Christ died as a subsitute. Indeed this is the gospel but the gospel is like a diamond with many different sides. There is a complexity to the good news that we must keep exploring. Things like how does this news relate to the story of Israel and all those kinds of complex questions. The gospel is big and it is simple. The problem with people like Tony Jones is they feel uncomfortable saying things like "I know what the gospel is". This isn't how Paul, John and Peter talk. Many times they will simply say, "Christ came into the world to save sinners" or "Christ died for our sins and rose again on the third day". We err when we think we know it all but we also err when we think we can't know anything. Martin Luther used to say something about Scripture being simply enough for a child to understand it yet so complex that a lifetime of study could not comprehend all its truths. I think the same is true of the gospel.
Mike:
I think it's fascinating. I am probably between those who have no doubts and those who have only doubts. I think it's possible to know something sufficiently without knowing fully. It helps that I think God is pretty good at communicating what he wants us to know.
I'm looking forward to reading more.