Meta tags:
keywords=emerging church, emerging pensees, Mike Clawson, Via Christus, postmodern, Christian, Emergent, Yorkville, Illinois, Chicago, Austin, Texas, web log, blog, pannasmontata, templates, blog tools, blog directory, free blog, blog template, blogger, e-journal, website personale, homepage, home page, community blogging, community blog;

Headings (most frequently used words):

-

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (283), and (137), that (63), goose (60), wild (54), for (46), what (42), was (39), liberal (33), not (28), this (27), from (27), with (27), more (26), about (26), but (26), are (26), all (23), church (23), emerging (23), post (20), emergent (20), have (20), you (19), who (18), festival (18), just (18), emergents (18), evangelical (17), mainline (17), brandon (17), were (16), there (16), think (16), those (15), our (15), god (15), blog (15), some (14), both (14), one (14), part (14), how (13), other (13), may (12), here (12), really (12), theology (12), 2009 (12), 2008 (12), 2007 (12), 2006 (12), 2005 (12), christian (11), why (11), out (11), been (11), past (11), olson (11), truth (11), good (10), also (10), however (10), new (10), very (10), way (10), most (10), conservative (10), than (10), jesus (10), faith (10), july (10), which (10), mike (9), event (9), hope (9), since (9), simply (9), being (9), know (9), world (9), much (9), christianity (9), when (9), 2010 (9), many (8), get (8), had (8), whether (8), between (8), they (8), say (8), has (8), like (8), revelation (8), august (8), clawson (7), day (7), well (7), while (7), point (7), can (7), people (7), only (7), life (7), whole (7), would (7), into (7), any (7), evangelicals (7), even (7), november (7), posted (6), progressive (6), around (6), too (6), their (6), reflections (6), see (6), could (6), traditions (6), best (6), actually (6), his (6), love (6), back (6), them (6), little (6), movement (6), over (6), emergence (6), merely (6), take (6), don (6), tradition (6), present (6), then (6), scripture (6), human (6), should (6), biblical (6), modern (6), june (6), april (6), march (6), february (6), january (6), december (6), october (6), still (5), already (5), own (5), though (5), reading (5), different (5), first (5), place (5), friends (5), loved (5), american (5), exactly (5), again (5), these (5), your (5), thing (5), want (5), labels (5), response (5), brian (5), 2011 (5), recently (5), specific (5), rather (5), hypotheses (5), ought (5), theological (5), must (5), liberalism (5), tony (5), aspects (5), mainliners (5), politics (5), september (5), comments (4), music (4), few (4), others (4), long (4), away (4), put (4), going (4), among (4), facebook (4), real (4), where (4), experience (4), did (4), three (4), enough (4), doesn (4), make (4), things (4), instance (4), such (4), kind (4), less (4), ways (4), bad (4), sort (4), common (4), approach (4), sign (4), its (4), will (4), mission (4), chasing (4), thoughts (4), grace (4), given (4), now (4), seminary (4), roger (4), thought (4), sources (4), happened (4), bible (4), personal (4), postmodern (4), brown (4), evangelicalism (4), mind (4), morgan (4), thus (4), jones (4), benefits (4), mclaren (4), pensees (4), digital (4), marketplace (4), inax (4), permalink (3), small (3), hill (3), justice (3), christians (3), lot (3), folks (3), especially (3), neo (3), social (3), talks (3), someone (3), two (3), time (3), happen (3), hear (3), content (3), down (3), important (3), middle (3), women (3), didn (3), right (3), able (3), everyone (3), else (3), years (3), next (3), something (3), passion (3), churches (3), each (3), come (3), gives (3), btw (3), fest (3), flying (3), thanks (3), friend (3), terms (3), ever (3), makes (3), seem (3), interpret (3), liberals (3), willing (3), opinion (3), religious (3), certainty (3), based (3), theologian (3), dialogue (3), everything (3), criticism (3), read (3), himself (3), feel (3), another (3), doing (3), critique (3), aren (3), karen (3), join (3), denominations (3), ministry (3), community (3), austin (3), chicago (3), green (3), wright (3), 2004 (3), haiti (3), handful (2), held (2), north (2), carolina (2), spirituality (2), art (2), attended (2), none (2), outside (2), camping (2), together (2), non (2), speakers (2), panel (2), opportunities (2), children (2), dozens (2), links (2), amazing (2), perry (2), through (2), experienced (2), came (2), circles (2), beforehand (2), sojourners (2), activist (2), maybe (2), getting (2), met (2), course (2), care (2), young (2), sessions (2), live (2), sit (2), keeping (2), kids (2), side (2), okay (2), hearing (2), having (2), sitting (2), civil (2), rights (2), leader (2), martin (2), learning (2), current (2), head (2), richard (2), excellent (2), bart (2), campolo (2), stopped (2), semi (2), mine (2), instead (2), diversity (2), white (2), male (2), whom (2), straight (2), categories (2), generally (2), along (2), favorite (2), set (2), asked (2), uncomfortable (2), followed (2), speaking (2), issues (2), topics (2), sense (2), particular (2), might (2), case (2), tipping (2), longer (2), certain (2), attendees (2), building (2), decades (2), growing (2), itself (2), genuine (2), finally (2), after (2), half (2), converging (2), century (2), ones (2), questions (2), couldn (2), resonate (2), big (2), mystery (2), compassion (2), country (2), nor (2), pastors (2), person (2), year (2), wrong (2), start (2), unfinished (2), symphony (2), last (2), lost (2), woods (2), goosed (2), anna (2), inaugural (2), chase (2), thin (2), steve (2), tammy (2), carter (2), visual (2), acuity (2), exiles (2), greenbelt (2), duck (2), john (2), table (2), dan (2), david (2), paul (2), bolz (2), waters (2), every (2), garden (2), murphy (2), went (2), ryan (2), later (2), review (2), nearly (2), busy (2), traveling (2), texas (2), french (2), class (2), haven (2), until (2), bit (2), anyway (2), asking (2), considered (2), within (2), orthodox (2), theologians (2), edge (2), whereas (2), misses (2), self (2), experiences (2), natural (2), issue (2), speculation (2), places (2), rightly (2), humanly (2), created (2), recent (2), claim (2), whatever (2), means (2), difference (2), differs (2), relative (2), involved (2), supposedly (2), apart (2), listen (2), mean (2), asks (2), crucial (2), question (2), consensus (2), contemporary (2), give (2), answer (2), ultimately (2), differ (2), ourselves (2), agree (2), message (2), always (2), article (2), critical (2), days (2), support (2), anecdotal (2), positive (2), critiques (2), constructive (2), disagree (2), brought (2), odd (2), talking (2), friendly (2), gotten (2), noted (2), needs (2), examination (2), including (2), negative (2), recognized (2), background (2), fun (2), seems (2), walker (2), cleaveland (2), troy (2), term (2), classic (2), theologies (2), need (2), embracing (2), uncritically (2), same (2), openness (2), share (2), nature (2), sides (2), rejecting (2), generous (2), orthodoxy (2), conversation (2), mosaic (2), madrid (2), mars (2), christ (2), key (2), party (2), recommended (2), history (2), political (2), revolution (2), change (2), village (2), sites (2), julie (2), book (2), marcus (2), borg (2), putting (2), childish (2), tale (2), cautions (2), sin (2), emma (2), family (2), interesting (2), keep (2), sharing (2), zone (2), flex (2), pakistan (2), com (2), dot (2), layout, design, header, image, vladstudio, pannasmontata, readers, aware, four, shakori, hills, rural, property, minutes, south, chapel, focused, organized, sponsored, broad, circle, leaders, organizations, 1200, above, category, basically, consisted, weekend, surrounded, stop, program, discussions, performances, worship, innumerable, informal, conversations, battling, heat, ticks, sleep, deprivation, rambunctious, water, spigots, waaayyy, far, actual, areas, link, find, collection, interested, photos, courtney, tell, vibe, recaps, afterwards, seemed, festivals, differently, depending, primarily, knew, connected, monastic, innovative, types, folk, thrown, reconnect, old, great, became, acquaintances, got, whenever, ask, online, wife, juggling, low, expectations, attend, fail, expectation, managed, offered, eavesdropped, couple, eye, attuned, playing, field, wholeheartedly, echo, sentiment, michael, toy, hang, bonus, fantastic, privilege, briefly, vincent, harding, former, speech, writer, luther, king, willie, barber, naacp, twiss, session, native, story, nodding, similarities, never, extremely, refreshing, planting, consisting, aged, bunch, goateed, hipster, guys, overall, besides, heard, times, before, plenty, options, fit, sought, lines, thrilled, jennifer, knapp, artists, perform, stage, she, her, chalantly, lesbian, invitation, crowd, help, gets, better, video, openly, sexuality, controversial, universalism, talked, childcare, duties, prevented, formal, subjects, throughout, perceive, avoiding, afraid, express, position, apprehensive, sponsors, organizers, mostly, wasn, sure, prompt, avoid, ignore, litmus, test, type, fortunately, alone, tells, reached, caring, conservatives, condemn, opinions, regardless, freer, admit, yourself, once, career, income, depend, believing, exceptions, needing, approval, money, indeed, represents, several, vogue, proclaim, death, demonstrates, dead, visible, mainstream, marketing, machine, moved, fad, left, committed, free, lasting, substantial, sans, hype, coming, decade, without, nationwide, gathering, bubbling, swirling, efforts, taking, shape, across, spectrum, 21st, activists, radicals, monastics, burned, religion, full, crazy, controversies, joy, creativity, midst, creator, culmination, existence, vitality, fraction, professors, lay, persons, pews, kinds, walked, institutional, altogether, represented, hundreds, liked, various, reasons, surprised, double, triple, knows, possible, grow, significant, gatherings, future, synchrobloggers, exhaust, totality, reflecting, healthy, jamie, arpin, ricci, anderson, listening, joel, devyldere, anthony, ehrhardt, independence, bec, cranford, jason, hess, patricia, burlison, called, rachel, swan, joey, wahoo, wendy, mccaig, loosing, woofenden, slippery, slope, robert, jeremy, myers, giving, christine, sine, encounters, space, minnow, hayes, dale, lature, reflection, tsmith, york, seth, donovan, gays, peterson, toscano, blurted, carried, glen, reteif, shay, kearns, public, private, apologizing, rhine, power, shirt, eric, elnes, recovering, callid, keefe, gatekeeping, martinez, croghan, safe, brennan, deep, freedom, ugly, photoblogging, making, collages, zimmerman, recap, fromberg, celebrating, interdependence, matthew, weber, remembering, michelle, thorburg, hammond, heart, jay, bakker, peter, rollins, knight, magical, abbie, jessica, fable, allison, leigh, lilley, pagan, goes, catching, kerri, practicing, contemplative, waterfowl, norman, custodianseed, eat, boiled, deborah, wise, cherie, renaissance, return, chris, lenshyn, gerald, born, kyla, cofer, karyn, wiseman, hines, controversy, lee, smith, bumps, everywhere, offense, fair, objective, snoeyenbos, spirit, revival, overdue, ended, weeks, ago, home, took, detour, michigan, process, weird, posting, publish, revamp, using, occasionally, thursday, truett, prof, wall, blogging, moment, cross, reply, him, occasion, absolutely, correct, description, significantly, defined, sloppy, tend, throw, discovered, attending, karl, barth, reinhold, niebuhr, jurgen, moltmann, etc, wouldn, consider, because, speak, myself, argument, authority, true, cares, comes, reveals, found, ordinary, act, competition, scriptural, incarnational, furthermore, dichotomy, frames, entirely, choose, framing, possibly, against, ability, choice, face, unfiltered, access, divine, alter, previously, interpretations, light, newer, imho, comfort, ambiguity, classically, pursuit, unshakable, foundation, belief, inerrant, text, universal, quixotic, quest, attempts, deeper, truths, limited, perspectival, error, prone, condition, prerequisites, knowledge, trust, despite, lack, prerequisite, ethical, action, requires, impose, absolutist, visions, tangible, concern, learn, order, truly, understand, desire, ethos, expressed, nutshell, delwin, convert, clark, pinnock, crossfire, minds, markedly, precious, teachings, follow, primary, allegiance, particularly, acceptance, ultimate, obligation, judged, conformity, says, takes, precedence, unavoidable, conflict, speaks, likely, certainly, honor, richness, appreciate, vast, contribution, lives, conclusions, absolutized, subect, further, revision, commitment, tentative, critically, maintained, careful, judgments, age, radically, dictates, section, saturday, mild, debate, stirred, blogosphere, suggests, danger, offering, meaningful, alternative, seconding, concerns, encouraging, challenging, analysis, evidence, apparently, hoping, reception, seeing, assessment, compelled, respond, following, comment, chosen, wish, react, recommend, wider, discussion, traffic, anymore, highlight, use, pains, emphasize, insider, distancing, language, immediately, yet, attack, inside, unfortunate, probably, contributed, number, defensive, responses, anyhow, guess, boils, implying, complexity, nuance, detailed, impressions, thorough, definition, engaged, become, clear, embraced, aspect, words, said, jettisoning, specifically, negatives, qualified, hand, withholding, judgment, familiar, shouldn, leave, themselves, allowed, mama, except, rude, tacky, tearing, firsthand, factor, reality, exclusively, phyllis, tickle, nadia, webber, carol, howard, merritt, bruce, reyes, chow, adam, bronsink, sloan, kemp, pappan, nanette, sawyer, ward, jonny, baker, note, unprecise, throwing, historically, rare, properly, refers, 19th, early, 20th, centuries, chastened, mid, twentieth, tempered, refined, quite, accuse, referring, diverse, nuanced, fact, swallowed, raised, masters, degree, close, confidently, mainliner, classmates, innovation, experimentation, methods, liturgical, practices, weren, differences, thinks, reflect, merits, fall, practice, questioning, imagining, liturgy, hence, inherently, conversational, land, engage, disappointed, frame, rest, made, unless, show, thoroughly, therefore, heavy, emphasis, themes, emphases, traditional, horrible, reclaimed, lacking, insights, upbringings, resonated, succeeded, transcending, division, protestantism, formulated, holistic, include, jettison, framed, valuing, blindly, described, deeply, participant, venture, initial, apologies, sooner, attention, responded, guest, friday, vineyard, shoreline, oasis, spain, solomon, porch, minneapolis, threads, kalamazoo, hudsonville, grandville, vine, grove, fusion, lake, zurich, emmaus, heights, wicker, park, reconciler, vintage, santa, cruz, los, angeles, simpsons, futurama, high, fidelity, donnie, darko, magnolia, joan, arcadia, saved, state, fight, club, star, wars, trilogy, lord, rings, viewing, tourniquet, vanishing, lessons, jake, armerding, hymns, ancient, caedmon, call, wilcox, idiot, dismantle, atomic, bomb, joe, republican, rebuttals, dawkins, mark, twain, war, prayer, walter, wink, myth, redemptive, violence, penal, substitution, values, profoundly, disturbed, 4th, directions, obama, resources, articles, jim, wallis, yaconelli, messy, soren, kierkegaard, fear, trembling, lewis, till, faces, anne, lamott, mercies, doug, pagitt, imagined, lesslie, newbigin, gospel, pluralist, society, challenge, rob, bell, velvet, elvis, secret, books, campaign, poverty, global, exchange, alliance, partnership, stuff, jesusland, brianmclaren, net, empire, remixed, carnival, iamjoshbrown, decompressing, frenetic, peace, kingdom, bob, paradoxology, armstrong, tallskinnykiwi, theolog, cggc, reclaiming, atheist, creed, blogs, fifty, percenters, shieldmaiden, designs, wedding, usa, rooted, via, christus, comm, mustard, seed, associates, dylan, lectionary, disassemblance, page, wave, ezine, ooze, parents, atlanta, nov, tent, raleigh, sept, events, gross, national, debt, email, mailing, list, posts, archives, conferences, brief, presbymergent, escobar, men, summer, eats, thi, hiatus, obviously, previous, entries, owning, believe, exceptionalism, imperialism, disturbing, parts, trivial, soul, parables, failure, epistemology, ethics, abortion, movements, contextualization, isolation, perspective, let, nafta, existed, routes, escape, caught, relational, journey, patriotic, weak, designing, house, transformation, aslan, roots, vendetta, postmodernism, immigration, solutions, petting, zoo, does, forgiveness, require, repentance, approaches, hell, exodus, thomas, laurel, dixon, discovering, pathways, inouye, rebecca, rumpus, derek, berner, disonanz, cognitif, helen, mildenhall, matt, cavanaugh, mattthetroll, brandy, daniels, jen, pare, unconventionalwisdom, amy, toornstra, off, andy, culbertson, thinkulum, tripp, hudgins, anglobaptist, cady, marbles, horwedel, danno, dangerous, gerber, fluctuating, onehandclapping, alan, moore, dave, gibbons, watchmen, jacqueline, carey, namaah, curse, philip, clayton, quantum, consciousness, charles, arthur, focus, guide, culture, randall, robinson, unbroken, agony, kidnapping, president, farmer, uses, reads, download, products, goods, price, helpful, sorting, nicee, nice, guardian, roofing, looking, forward, checked, daily, basis, adding, game, thank, work, appreciated, lavabo, thiết, sinh, giá, aidan, reviews, atheism, united, states, follower, amateur, philosopher, husband, father, student, http, www, clawson1, profile, gmail, contact, name, gutter,

Text of the page (random words):
tplace digital products marketplace digital download marketplace recent reads the uses of haiti by paul farmer putting away childish things by marcus borg an unbroken agony haiti from revolution to the kidnapping of a president by randall robinson haiti in focus a guide to the people politics and culture by charles arthur mind emergence from quantum to consciousness by philip clayton namaah s curse by jacqueline carey watchmen by alan moore dave gibbons friend s sites onehandclapping julie clawson fluctuating certainty karen gerber danno s dangerous mind dan horwedel t r oy marbles troy cady anglobaptist tripp hudgins the thinkulum andy culbertson a little off key amy toornstra unconventionalwisdom jen pare not so straight from seminary brandy daniels mattthetroll matt cavanaugh love is the most excellent way helen mildenhall disonanz cognitif derek berner wild rumpus rebecca murphy this just in inouye family discovering pathways laurel dixon postmodern questions thomas just clawson family blog classic pensees what is the emerging church the converging church how to read the bible did the exodus really happen hell q a three approaches to scripture does forgiveness require repentance emma at the petting zoo biblical support for women in ministry what is sin what good is the bible the god of thin places immigration real solutions what is postmodernism v for vendetta what is justice roots if it s good enough for kids aslan is not jesus community transformation theology is like designing a house when i am weak why i m not patriotic what is truth what this postmodern journey is all about the relational nature of sin caught in between three routes of escape what if god really existed a tale of two churches cautions for emergents part 1 cautions for emergents part 2 we were there first take nafta for instance let them come a new perspective on jesus was jesus political contextualization or isolation then and now a tale of two movements abortion talking past each other epistemology or ethics why faith a failure of compassion parables aren t always about god do you have a soul is it all just trivial what about the disturbing parts of the bible into the woods american exceptionalism or imperialism why believe in god owning emergent previous entries are emergents merely liberal liberalism evangelicalism and emergence the wild goose as a sign of hope blog hiatus obviously review of marcus borg s putting away childish thi favorite austin eats busy summer escobar on new men and social change walker cleaveland s brief history of presbymergent more conferences archives october 2004 november 2004 december 2004 january 2005 february 2005 march 2005 april 2005 may 2005 june 2005 july 2005 august 2005 september 2005 october 2005 november 2005 december 2005 january 2006 february 2006 march 2006 april 2006 may 2006 june 2006 july 2006 august 2006 september 2006 october 2006 november 2006 december 2006 january 2007 february 2007 march 2007 april 2007 may 2007 june 2007 july 2007 august 2007 september 2007 october 2007 november 2007 december 2007 january 2008 february 2008 march 2008 april 2008 may 2008 june 2008 july 2008 august 2008 september 2008 october 2008 november 2008 december 2008 january 2009 february 2009 march 2009 april 2009 may 2009 june 2009 july 2009 august 2009 september 2009 october 2009 november 2009 december 2009 january 2010 february 2010 march 2010 april 2010 may 2010 june 2010 july 2010 august 2010 november 2010 july 2011 august 2011 current posts join the emergent c mailing list email the gross national debt recommended julie s book events big tent christianity raleigh nc sept 8 9 emergent village theological conversation atlanta ga nov 1 3 sites emerging women emerging parents emergent village the ooze next wave ezine nt wright page disassemblance dylan s lectionary blog mustard seed associates everything must change via christus comm church up rooted wedding pastors usa shieldmaiden designs fifty percenters blogs god s politics jesus creed friendly atheist reclaiming the mission emerging cggc out of ur theolog tallskinnykiwi john armstrong paradoxology bob blog kingdom grace frenetic peace decompressing faith iamjoshbrown the carnival in my head tony jones empire remixed brianmclaren net revolution in jesusland with out god political stuff sojourners new evangelical partnership for the common good progressive christian alliance green party global exchange the one campaign to make poverty history books a new kind of christianity by brian mclaren the secret message of jesus by brian mclaren velvet elvis by rob bell the challenge of jesus by n t wright the gospel in a pluralist society by lesslie newbigin a generous orthodoxy by brian mclaren church re imagined by doug pagitt traveling mercies by anne lamott till we have faces by c s lewis fear trembling by soren kierkegaard messy spirituality by mike yaconelli god s politics by jim wallis articles what is the emerging church recommended reading for the emerging church emerging church resources obama on faith politics mars hill s directions profoundly disturbed on the 4th of july 10 key values of the green party nt wright on penal substitution walter wink on the myth of redemptive violence mark twain s war prayer rebuttals to richard dawkins day in the life of joe middle class republican music u2 how to dismantle an atomic bomb green day american idiot david wilcox into the mystery caedmon s call share the well passion hymns ancient and modern jake armerding tourniquet vanishing lessons viewing the lord of the rings star wars trilogy fight club garden state saved joan of arcadia magnolia donnie darko high fidelity the mission futurama the simpsons emerging churches mosaic los angeles ca vintage faith church santa cruz ca church of jesus christ reconciler chicago il wicker park grace chicago il the emmaus community chicago heights il fusion church lake zurich il life on the vine long grove il mars hill grandville mi waters edge hudsonville mi threads church kalamazoo mi solomon s porch minneapolis mn oasis madrid madrid spain mosaic austin tx vineyard community church shoreline wa friday august 05 2011 are emergents merely liberal a mild debate has been stirred up in the blogosphere over a guest post by brandon morgan over at theologian roger olson s blog in which brandon suggests that emergents are not critical enough of liberal mainline theology and thus are in danger of not offering any meaningful alternative to liberal christianity olson himself followed up brandon s post by seconding his concerns and encouraging everyone to read it a few days later tony jones responded by challenging both morgan and olson to support their analysis with more than anecdotal evidence olson was apparently hoping for a more positive reception of morgan s critiques and thus put up another post asking whether emergents are able to take constructive criticism while i don t think i can give a response that is any more positive than tony s seeing as how i generally just disagree with morgan s assessment i did feel compelled to respond the following is comment which i posted at olson s blog and have chosen to also re post here if you wish to react to my comments i would recommend that you do it over at olson s blog rather than here so that it will be part of the wider discussion since my blog doesn t get much traffic anymore as a deeply involved participant in the emerging conversation i will venture a response to brandon s initial post my apologies for not doing so sooner but it was only recently brought to my attention the part of brandon s post that i resonated with most was when he asked have emergent folks succeeded in transcending the evangelical progressive division in american protestantism have they formulated a holistic theological approach able to include the benefits of both sides and jettison the negative aspects i like especially how he framed this in terms of keeping the good and rejecting the bad from both traditions that i feel is what the emerging church is all about valuing all traditions but not blindly or uncritically what brian mclaren described as generous orthodoxy however i was disappointed that brandon went on to frame the rest of his post around what the emerging church was or was not rejecting about the liberal mainline traditions he made it seem like unless we could show ourselves to be thoroughly different than liberal mainliners in all of the ways that he himself thought we should be different we therefore simply were liberals who ought to just own it and join those denominations but why such a heavy emphasis on difference what happened to including the benefits of both sides if emergents happen to be embracing some of the same themes and theologies and emphases as more traditional mainliners what is so horrible about that aren t there many good and important aspects of those traditions that need to be reclaimed by post conservative emergents who were lacking those insights in their evangelical upbringings must we only ever be about critique but the fact that some of us are embracing some aspects of the mainline tradition doesn t mean we have uncritically swallowed all of it as someone who was raised in a very conservative evangelical background but has also recently gotten a masters degree at a liberal mainline seminary i have close personal experiences with both traditions and i can confidently say that being an emergent was not just the same as being a liberal mainliner in some ways i was still much more conservative than many of my mainline classmates in other ways i was much more progressive for instance both my emergent passion for mission and my openness to innovation and experimentation in ministry methods and liturgical practices was rather different from much of what i experienced of the mainline approach however i get the sense from brandon s post that those weren t exactly the specific differences that he thinks i ought to have had with my liberal mainline friends which may simply reflect brandon s own personal opinion about the relative merits of the liberal theological tradition an opinion which i and other emergents may or may not share ultimately however i think what set me apart as an emergent was not where i happened to fall on any particular issue of theology or practice but simply on my openness to questioning and re imagining all of it theology liturgy ministry whatever hence the inherently conversational nature of emergence christianity it s not about where you land it s about whether you re willing to place everything on the table and engage in the dialogue in the first place btw i also want to note that i m uncomfortable with how unprecise we re being in throwing around this term liberal as roger olson himself has recently noted on this very blog liberal theology is a very specific thing historically speaking and is really very rare among christians these days even in the mainline denominations it properly only refers to the classic liberalism of the 19th and early 20th centuries most mainliners chastened by the neo orthodox critiques of the mid twentieth century have tempered or refined their theologies quite a bit since then so if you want to accuse emergents of merely being liberal i think you need to be a little more specific about which aspects of mainline theology you re referring to with that term it s really a very diverse and nuanced tradition another factor that i don t think brandon recognized in his post was the reality that the emerging church is not exclusively a post evangelical movement many emergents already are and have long been mainliners people like phyllis tickle nadia bolz webber carol howard merritt bruce reyes chow adam walker cleaveland troy bronsink karen sloan ryan kemp pappan nanette sawyer karen ward jonny baker and many others that s why it seems a little odd when brandon asks why emergents don t just join the mainline denominations some have already been there there all along that being the case i think it should be recognized that each of us are more qualified to critique what we know first hand thus it is natural for post evangelical emergents to be more critical of their evangelical background while withholding judgment on the liberal mainline which we are much less familiar with i agree with brandon that there needs to be an emergent critique of that tradition as well but shouldn t we leave that to those emergents who are themselves mainliners it s the whole no one s allowed to make fun of my mama except me thing just seems sort of rude and tacky to go tearing into someone else s tradition when you aren t a part of it and don t really know that much about it firsthand anyway anyhow i guess you could say my response to brandon s post boils down to this implying that emergents are merely liberal really misses a lot of the complexity and nuance of both the emerging movement and of mainline theology itself thus as tony jones noted brandon s claim needs to be based on more detailed examination and not simply anecdotal impressions as well as more thorough definition of what exactly it means to be liberal i think if one engaged in that examination it would become clear that most emergents like some aspects of liberal theology but have not embraced it in every aspect in other words we ve been doing exactly what brandon said we should including the benefits and jettisoning the negative though some of us may disagree with brandon on what specifically are the benefits and what are the negatives p s i do also want to highlight one other point tony jones brought out brandon s odd use of they instead of we when talking about the emergent movement if as both he and roger olson seem at pains to emphasize brandon really is an insider to the emergent movement why this distancing language it immediately makes it feel like yet another outside attack rather than friendly constructive criticism from the inside that was unfortunate and probably contributed to the number of defensive responses you may have gotten labels emerging church posted by mike clawson at 8 04 pm permalink 3 comments saturday july 16 2011 liberalism evangelicalism and emergence a friend of mine recently posted this article by truett seminary prof roger olson to my facebook wall asking for an emergent s take on it since i m blogging again for the moment i thought i d cross post my reply to him here as well though you should read the whole article here is the section of it that i especially had in mind in my response i think the liberal theological ethos is best expressed in a nutshell by liberal theologian delwin brown a convert to liberal theology from evangelicalism in his dialogue with clark pinnock in theological crossfire an evangelical liberal dialogue there brown asks the crucial question of modern theology when the consensus of the best contemporary minds differs markedly from the most precious teachings of the past which do we follow to wh...