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From the church's birth to the reign of St. Gregory the great, to the Great Schism and through the Reformation, Phyllis Tickle notes that every 500 years the church has been rocked by massive transitions. Remarkably enough, Tickle suggests to us that we live in such a time right now. The Great Emergence Examines history, social upheaval, and current events, showing how a new form of Christianity is rising within postmodern culture. Anyone interested in the future of the church in America, no matter what their personal affiliation, will find this book a fascinating exploration.
Anonymous
Posted January 16, 2012
Tickle's first hypothesis is that the contemporary moment is comparable in significance to the century or more that culminated in the Reformation, and to other significant turning points in the history of the Church, spaced out every half-millennium or so. This idea is not new with her, but the Reformation at least gets a look, so that the person who vaguely remembers learning about it years ago can be reminded of why it was so important.
Her second hypothesis regards the present time, attempting to draw the picture of the current "Emergence" from its roots as far back as the 18th century in its intellectual roots, and technologically and socially to the early 20th century. This is perhaps the most memorable part of the book.
Third, she reflects on the ways in which the different types of Christian observance have related to one another over in the last century, and how that set of relationships may be shifting and blurring in response to the cultural, social, and technological shifts that have broadened all our horizons.
Many books connected to the issues of postmodern Christianity are long on rhetoric and short on content. This is the opposite, and will reward readers who slog past the opening slow chapter or two with plenty to consider and talk about.
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Posted March 16, 2011
I think it's pretty obvious to the unbiased reader of "The Great Emergence" that Tickle's arrangement of history, her beliefs about what is most important and why, and her assessment of where we're at and where we are going are all easily called into question. Since she both defines and applies her own terms as they relate to the monumental shift she describes, and then incorporates virtually everything we can possibly observe into it, it becomes apparent early on that if you don't just relax and listen to what she has to say, you will not get through the book.
Bill Moyers' impact on the Christian church has been comparable to Darwin and Freud? Really? Better to just let it go and read on.
Ignoring entirely the Bereans, Tickle portrays sola scriptura as nothing more than a pragmatic concoction of the Reformers. But I think a strong argument can be made for the authority of scripture on the most practical grounds imaginable, with no mention of the Reformation (or literacy, or translations, or printing) whatsoever.
As it relates to the issues of slavery and women's suffrage, Tickle is too eager to fix the blame for the church's errors on a belief in the authority of scripture, rather than on the validity of their interpretations. She also focuses far too little on how deeply scripture informed and motivated those who fought bravely for advancement in those areas, and the moral traction that scripture gave to their arguments.
To set the leading of the Spirit and biblical authority in opposition, or competition, you must assume they are in conflict. I would like to know what that point of conflict is, what the Bible specifically says that is in error, and what the Holy Spirit has instead revealed that shows the authority of scripture to be problematic. I understand the idea that there may be a persistent tension in evidence, and that not everything will resolve cleanly in matters of faith, but if that's the case, why on earth do we need to let go of biblical authority?
I recently have been reading a critique of John Shelby Spong, a collection of essays written by ten Episcopal scholars. In places, it traces the bishop's ideas from early articles appearing in The Christian Century to his current heretical stances. Wherever you place Spong's ideas in relationship to modern or postmodern notions, his decline from iconoclast to apostate has been accompanied by reasoning that is arrestingly similar to that of Tickle (and other Emergent luminaries). In fact, they appear to be coming to many of the same conclusions.
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Overview
From the church's birth to the reign of St. Gregory the great, to the Great Schism and through the Reformation, Phyllis Tickle notes that every 500 years the church has been rocked by massive transitions. Remarkably enough, Tickle suggests to us that we live in such a time right now. The Great Emergence Examines history, social upheaval, and current events, showing how a new form of Christianity is rising within postmodern culture. Anyone interested in the future of the church in America, no matter what their ...