By C.E. Moore
GENRE: THEOLOGY
PUBLISHER: CROSSWAY
PUBLICATION DATE: SEPTEMBER 30, 2008
I don’t know what it is about Reformed theologians that makes them enjoy pistol-whipping Emergent “theologians” (if they can be called that at all), but they sure make it look easy. Reading the intellectual/theological essays of Reformed thinkers as they consider the claims and implications of those in the Emergent “conversation,” is sometimes sinfully fun.* Reforming or Conforming: Post-Conservative Evangelicals and the Emerging Church is the latest book from the Reformed tradition to call into question some of the ideas being espoused by some emergent leaders and younger evangelicals.
This book will, however, take time and effort to get through. It is dry. It is boring. It is not your run-of-the-mill Christian pop culture fluff piece. These are theological essays that are written by thirteen Reformed scholars who call to task postmodern evangelicals, proving a biblical critique of their main (or most destructive ideas). It is not the most accessible book, I have ever read. The only advantage I had reading it is that I am training for the pastorate. This is the type of writing that is assigned at the collegiate level. When David Wells can say something like, “…the fundamental matrix of the humanity of Scripture is that of a new humanity in the old. The primary aspect of linguistic communication is not that it is fallen but that it is creational,” you know you’re in for a tough read.
The main difficulty with this book lies not in its arguments. While I do not agree with all of the arguments made here, they are for the most part, solid and biblical. The main difficulty is that it can fall prey of over-intellectualizing the Christian faith. This is not to say that the intellect ought to be abandoned at any point along the Christian spectrum. But, the claim lobbied against traditional and even pragmatic evangelicals is that the head is more important than the heart. The two are held in tension, one against the other, rather than working in a harmonious balance with each other. Being geared as a theological treatise that requires the intellect to be engaged, Reforming or Conforming makes itself an easy target. Again, it could easily be used as a text in a college course. Solid arguments or not, it falls firmly into the camp against which emergent thinkers are kicking against.**
That being said, it’s greatest liability is its greatest strength. Far too many Christians are fearful of a Christianity that engages more than the emotions. Abuses by the “intellectual elites” within the fold have led many to the extreme position of a mind/spirit dichotomy. The contributors to Reforming or Conforming embrace the need for Christian intellectualism and provide Christians teaching to help them think rightly about such things as Scripture, the atonement, postmodernism, the Church, and the gospel. R. Scott Clark’s “Whosoever Will Be Saved: Emerging Church, Meet Christian Dogma” is of particular note.
All told, I believe this book is a needed resource. The writers do an excellent job of calling into question the prevailing thought of postmodern/emergent thinkers like Brian McLaren, John Franke, and the late Stanley Grenz (though Grenz was, admittedly Baptist). I thoroughly enjoyed it. But, I cannot suggest that everyone go out and buy it. It would be most beneficial for more cerebral pastors, laymen, and college students. There is a lot of food for thought here.
*I know that’s wrong, but I guess we can just go to the bar and have a conversation about how it’s really not sin because I don’t interpret Scripture the same way you do and that your smug assurance is the exact reason why people love Jesus but hate the church. (read: total sarcasm)
**For more on this, read Robert Webber’s remarkable introduction to the book Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches (Zondervan, 2007).
Review copy provided courtesy of Crossway Books
thanks for pointing this out to me, definitely interesting.
i’m reading Why We’re Not Emergent right now but this seems like a good, though more dense, book to look at next.
Yeah, you’ll need time and a cup of coffee for this one. Reforming or Conforming is definitely more of a “educated man’s version” of Why We’re Not Emergent.
That one-sentence excerpt makes me want to eat my own arm. It’s like they want to seem cool in front of their scholar buddies, so they phrase things in such a way as to obscure meaning. I know context would probably help, but I can’t envision a context where that first clause “the fundamental matrix of the humanity of Scripture is that of a new humanity in the old” would make sense. At least the ending was italicized so we could tell it’s important, even if we don’t know what it means.
Liked the review though.