The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier [NOOK Book]

interesting but...

This is an engaging window into a new world of religious thinking, and certainly reveals much about the culture of questioning everything - except that certain things, like the Trinity of Persons in God, are still accepted as dogmatic mysteries. I was disappointed that Jones in describing this movement did not refer much to the metaphorical and symbolic character of Biblical language in addressing such mysteries, even though these are all neatly explained in the 18th century works of Emanuel Swedenborg.

Straw Man Argument Abounds

Tony Jones' book "The New Christians" is an outstanding history and overview of the Emergent Church movement. Jones is obviously a compelling writer. He also brings up many important things to consider for the future of the Church. But it was hard for me to read past the negative and inaccurate characterization of Mainline Christianity in general and the United Church of Christ in particular.

In the first chapter of his book, Jones attempts to set up a dichotomy between conservative Christians (via the Southern Baptist Convention) and liberal Christians (via the United Church of Christ). He then implies that these two denominations represent the extremes of Christianity. The SBC being at the far right and the UCC being at the far left. Jones also says that this SBC-UCC dichotomy represents "Conventional Christianity" that has grown stagnant, ineffective, and irrelevant. He then suggests that the Emergent Church represents a "New Christianity" that is fresh, capable, and relevant. The implied message is that the Emergent Church is the movement that has been able to transcend the conservative-liberal dualism and form something radically different. It's the classic straw man argument that misrepresents other perspectives.

One of the problems with Jones' argument is that it's an oversimplified description and false dichotomy. For example, Jones commented on "the silly television ads from the liberal United Church of Christ." This comment is a misunderstanding of the purpose and meaning of the commercials. The "bouncer ad" (which Jones mentions) was one of many different ads used in the UCC's TV ad campaign. All the ads have different themes and ways of communicating, so it's not possible to describe them with one simple, flippant description. As Bill Moyers says, we must "beware of the great oversimplifiers." Nuance is always important because things are always more complex than our initial impressions reflect. Plus, for Jones to name something as "silly," is dismissive, unhelpful rhetoric for Christian dialogue.

As another example, Jones said the UCC was a "notoriously left-leaning denomination." This label is a gross misrepresentation of the UCC, since the denomination is represented by a vast array of theological perspectives. The UCC is a postmodern denomination that is made up of a diversity of the polities, theologies, perspectives, and peoples from many different contexts: Evangelical, Reform, Congregational, Frontier Christian, Black Church, Rural America, Feminist, Womanist, Queer, etc. So, the UCC is a multiform denomination that seeks unity in it's diversity. It's not an ideological denomination that imposes any one agenda. It's not accurate to label the UCC as a "notoriously left-leaning denomination." A better description might be to label it a "notoriously 'big tent' denomination."

Real life is too complex for clear-cut labels. But somtimes we need to use labels in order to make sense of things and engage in conversation. The important thing is to use labels in a careful, prayerful, and mindful way. And to realize that all labels fail to perfectly describe anything or anyone perfectly. So, the flippant way in which Jones used labels in his book was inaccurate and unproductive. It ultimately undermined his own commitment to postmodern theory and theology.

In the end, this book was a disappointment.

Interesting But Biased

Tony Jones' book "The New Christians" is an outstanding history and overview of the Emergent Church movement. Jones is obviously a clear and compelling writer. As a postmodernist, he also bring along a nuanced perspective in much of his book. But, as in all writing, there's criticisms to be given. One criticism for his book is that Jones' comments about the Mainline/Old-line Church are inaccurate. Jones' comments communicate a non-nuanced, unrepresentative, and negative view of Mainline Christians in general and the United Church of Christ in particular.<BR/><BR/>In the first chapter of his book, Jones attempts to set up a dichotomy between conservatives (e.g. Southern Baptist Convention) and liberals (e.g. United Church of Christ). He then implies that these two perspectives represent the extremes of Christianity. Jones also says that the SBC-UCC dichotomy represents "Conventional Christianity" - and the Emergent Church represents "New Christianity." The implied message is that the Emergent Church is the rational movement that has been able to transcend the SBC-UCC dualism. The problem with this argument is that it's an oversimplified perspective and false dichotomy.<BR/><BR/>For example, Jones commented on "the silly television ads from the liberal United Church of Christ." This comment is a misunderstanding of the purpose and meaning of the commercials. The "bouncer ad" (which Jones mentions) was one of many different ads used in that campaign. They all have different themes and ways of communicating, so it's not possible to describe them with one simple description. As Bill Moyers says, we must "beware of the great oversimplifiers." Nuance is always important because things are always more complex than our initial impressions reflect. Plus, for Jones to name something as "silly," is dismissive, unhelpful rhetoric for Christian dialogue.<BR/><BR/>As another example, Jones said the UCC was a "notoriously left-leaning denomination." This label is a gross misrepresentation of the UCC, since the denomination is represented by a vast array of theological and political perspectives. The UCC is a postmodern denomination that is made up of a combination of the polities, theologies, perspectives, and peoples from many different contexts: Evangelical, Reform, Congregational, Frontier Christian, Black Church, Rural America, Feminist, Womanist, Queer, etc. So, the UCC is a multiform denomination that seeks "unity in diversity," not a denomination that is so easy to label. <BR/><BR/>Real life is too complex for labels. But we need to use them in order to make sense of things and engage in conversation. The important aspect is using labels in a careful, prayerful, and mindful way. This book tosses around labels too freely, especially for a person who claims to be leading a postmodern movement within Christianity.

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No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.