Literature Review: Church in the Present Tense—A Candid Look at What's Emerging
Introduction
Church in the Present Tense: A Candid Look at What's Emerging is a book written by four authors, Kevin Corcoran, Jason Clark, Peter Rollins, and Scot McKnight. The as the title suggest explores what it means to be the Church, or shape a community of faith within a postmodern context. The views expressed are as varied as the four authors are in their own personal experiences, but like the fragmentation of society they still construct a vivid picture that people, who are considering church planting in the twenty-first century, need to stand in front of and ponder the subtle nuances that beg interpretation.
Philosophy:
Chapter One—Who's Afraid of Philosophical Realism? Taking Emerging Christianity to Task
In this chapter Kevin Corcoran makes the case that postmodern philosophy is not necessarily committed to antirealism, thus in the context of Christianity God does not need to be viewed through apophatism. Corcoran also argues that we need to look at postmodernism from a wider perspective than just seeing it as "cataclysmic, epochal shift [that] occurred in the fairly recent past."[1] It seems that Corcoran's reasoning for arguing against the view, that postmodernism is an "epic [shift]" that he calls an "over exaggerated" claim, is because it is rooted in a "view [of] the world [that] is the academic and abstruse work of philosophers."[2] Corcoran goes on to use Stanley Hauerwas' essay "Discipleship as Craft: Church as a Disciplined Community" to lay the ground work for his case that the Christian faith is rooted in praxis, which is the reason why he argues that postmodernism is compatible with epistemological realism. The Praxis of the Church is rooted in the reality of the risen Christ, "then Christ must [really] be risen."[3]
Chapter Two—The Worldly Theology of Emerging Christianity
This chapter is written by Peter Rollins. Rollins proposes a few different ideas in this chapter, but in the interest brevity and interest one idea will be focused on. Rollins suggests that the church needs to be a place "where we put aside"[4] our identities and embrace the neither/nor identity found in Christ. In America the Christian faith has been co-opted and assimilated through syncretism into the civil religion of the state. In order to regain our identities in Christ one must like Paul suggest in Galatians chapter three assume the identity of neither/nor. Rollins suggests, "that [Paul] calls into question the socio-symbolic identity of his readers."[5] The outworking of this line of thought is that Paul is actively deconstructing the categories of identity, thus the three categories mentioned, race, gender, and class can be implicitly used as a hermeneutic in today's church. Rollins takes the above idea and works into his concept of suspended space, which is the place where the above is set aside, and argues that is where Christian formation can take place.
Theology:
Chapter Three—Consumer Liturgies and Their Corrosive Effects on Christian Identity
Jason Clark, the author of this chapter close to the end of it says, “The future of the church resides with those who, though critical, are nonetheless deeply devoted to living within it.”[6] The hyper individualism of modern metanarrative of autonomy gave rise, like no other time within the Church, to consumerism, meaning that the modern era saw the Church go from very few competing churches to thousands upon thousands of competing expressions of “church” all vying to sell you their version of the Christian faith. Gone are the days of struggling for unity replaced by exegetical evidence that [insert denomination or type of church here] hold true sound doctrine. The battle of rightness won out over the battle for unity. Often because of the disgust or distain for what the Church has become, one is tempted to leave the church instead putting in the work of continually reforming and striving for unity. Clark’s chapter on consumerism in the Church was a real challenge dissidents in the Church to stay put in the Church.
Chapter Four—Thy Kingdom Come (on Earth): An Emerging Eschatology
Kevin Corcoran writes a chapter on how emergents view eschatology. Corcoran does a good job describing how, because of the vapid misuse and understanding of eschatology, emergents are tempted to ignore eschatology all together. Corcoran goes on to paint a picture of eschatology rooted firmly in the concept of the kingdom of God. Corcoran also explores other theorist of eschatology that many emergents have turned to and show how anything less then an incarnational kingdom perspective is lacking. I must note that although I tend to agree with many points that Corcoran makes, I am hesitant to embrace his perspective as it requires far more processing than time has allowed since reading it.
Worship:
Chapter Five—The Renewal of Liturgy in the Emerging Church
Life is liturgy. Jason Clark argues that the Church needs to re-embrace intentionally acknowledged liturgical practices. Liturgy helps to root the person in the story that they are a part of. In reflecting on this chapter the imagery of drug addiction came to mind. Drug addicts have a very particular liturgy that they reenact daily, if not hourly, that roots them in the narrative of drug addiction. Many addicts have very particular locations they get high, they have particular dealers that supply them, they have praxes they utilize to fund their addiction, so on and so on. If the Church today wants to anchor itself in the narrative of Jesus, the Church needs to re-embrace liturgy. Clark suggests that churches take up the Christian calendar as a liturgical praxis that will help root them in the narrative of Jesus.
Chapter Six—Transformance Art: Reconfiguring the Social Self
Christianity should be revolutionary. The church should be a transformative community. Peter Rollins says in this chapter that the church or at least the religious institution called the Church has become the great subduer of the oppressed masses helping them to cope with their oppression rather than transform it into liberation. Christianity is the very thing that allows us to continue to not change.[7] In regards to the Church, “the point is not to provide a space for people to engage in acts of love but rather to help reconfigure one's social existence so that acts of love become part of our whole existence.”[8] Karl Marx’s critique that “religion is the opium of the masses”[9] seems all too real to observers of Christianity when they see that the of “religious” folk’s lives seem to be compartmentalized in such a way that they can continue in their vain of life without every really seeking transformation. The Church needs to be a place where transformation is not just a conversation or belief, but a holistic way of life.
Bible and Doctrine:
Chapter Seven—Scripture in the Emerging Movement
Scot McKnight steps into an on going conversation about the nature of the Bible as narrative, instead of instruction manual. While I find McKnight’s insights intriguing he is ultimately summing up where the conversation has landed, which I believe to be his task. The Bible in recent times has gone from manual for living, which is exampled by acronyms like B.i.b.l.e. (basic instructions before leaving earth), to metanarrative or at minimum master-narrative that encompasses everything within the biblical narrative, to wiki-narratives, which views the Bible as user generated stories that invite the reader into further participation.
Chapter Eight—Atonement and Gospel
Scot McKnight in the final chapter of the book puts the Evangelical Church’s “Gospel” and “Atonement” theory under the bright lights of the interrogation room. Ultimately McKnight ends this chapter by saying that at the heart of the gospel, as preached by Peter and Paul in the book of Acts, is the resurrection of Jesus. McKnight does not say that the emphasis on justification, propitiation, and substitution are not important; McKnight asserts that those doctrines are not what the apostles emphasized when “gospeling.”
Footnotes:
Church in the Present Tense: A Candid Look at What's Emerging is a book written by four authors, Kevin Corcoran, Jason Clark, Peter Rollins, and Scot McKnight. The as the title suggest explores what it means to be the Church, or shape a community of faith within a postmodern context. The views expressed are as varied as the four authors are in their own personal experiences, but like the fragmentation of society they still construct a vivid picture that people, who are considering church planting in the twenty-first century, need to stand in front of and ponder the subtle nuances that beg interpretation.
Philosophy:
Chapter One—Who's Afraid of Philosophical Realism? Taking Emerging Christianity to Task
In this chapter Kevin Corcoran makes the case that postmodern philosophy is not necessarily committed to antirealism, thus in the context of Christianity God does not need to be viewed through apophatism. Corcoran also argues that we need to look at postmodernism from a wider perspective than just seeing it as "cataclysmic, epochal shift [that] occurred in the fairly recent past."[1] It seems that Corcoran's reasoning for arguing against the view, that postmodernism is an "epic [shift]" that he calls an "over exaggerated" claim, is because it is rooted in a "view [of] the world [that] is the academic and abstruse work of philosophers."[2] Corcoran goes on to use Stanley Hauerwas' essay "Discipleship as Craft: Church as a Disciplined Community" to lay the ground work for his case that the Christian faith is rooted in praxis, which is the reason why he argues that postmodernism is compatible with epistemological realism. The Praxis of the Church is rooted in the reality of the risen Christ, "then Christ must [really] be risen."[3]
Chapter Two—The Worldly Theology of Emerging Christianity
This chapter is written by Peter Rollins. Rollins proposes a few different ideas in this chapter, but in the interest brevity and interest one idea will be focused on. Rollins suggests that the church needs to be a place "where we put aside"[4] our identities and embrace the neither/nor identity found in Christ. In America the Christian faith has been co-opted and assimilated through syncretism into the civil religion of the state. In order to regain our identities in Christ one must like Paul suggest in Galatians chapter three assume the identity of neither/nor. Rollins suggests, "that [Paul] calls into question the socio-symbolic identity of his readers."[5] The outworking of this line of thought is that Paul is actively deconstructing the categories of identity, thus the three categories mentioned, race, gender, and class can be implicitly used as a hermeneutic in today's church. Rollins takes the above idea and works into his concept of suspended space, which is the place where the above is set aside, and argues that is where Christian formation can take place.
Theology:
Chapter Three—Consumer Liturgies and Their Corrosive Effects on Christian Identity
Jason Clark, the author of this chapter close to the end of it says, “The future of the church resides with those who, though critical, are nonetheless deeply devoted to living within it.”[6] The hyper individualism of modern metanarrative of autonomy gave rise, like no other time within the Church, to consumerism, meaning that the modern era saw the Church go from very few competing churches to thousands upon thousands of competing expressions of “church” all vying to sell you their version of the Christian faith. Gone are the days of struggling for unity replaced by exegetical evidence that [insert denomination or type of church here] hold true sound doctrine. The battle of rightness won out over the battle for unity. Often because of the disgust or distain for what the Church has become, one is tempted to leave the church instead putting in the work of continually reforming and striving for unity. Clark’s chapter on consumerism in the Church was a real challenge dissidents in the Church to stay put in the Church.
Chapter Four—Thy Kingdom Come (on Earth): An Emerging Eschatology
Kevin Corcoran writes a chapter on how emergents view eschatology. Corcoran does a good job describing how, because of the vapid misuse and understanding of eschatology, emergents are tempted to ignore eschatology all together. Corcoran goes on to paint a picture of eschatology rooted firmly in the concept of the kingdom of God. Corcoran also explores other theorist of eschatology that many emergents have turned to and show how anything less then an incarnational kingdom perspective is lacking. I must note that although I tend to agree with many points that Corcoran makes, I am hesitant to embrace his perspective as it requires far more processing than time has allowed since reading it.
Worship:
Chapter Five—The Renewal of Liturgy in the Emerging Church
Life is liturgy. Jason Clark argues that the Church needs to re-embrace intentionally acknowledged liturgical practices. Liturgy helps to root the person in the story that they are a part of. In reflecting on this chapter the imagery of drug addiction came to mind. Drug addicts have a very particular liturgy that they reenact daily, if not hourly, that roots them in the narrative of drug addiction. Many addicts have very particular locations they get high, they have particular dealers that supply them, they have praxes they utilize to fund their addiction, so on and so on. If the Church today wants to anchor itself in the narrative of Jesus, the Church needs to re-embrace liturgy. Clark suggests that churches take up the Christian calendar as a liturgical praxis that will help root them in the narrative of Jesus.
Chapter Six—Transformance Art: Reconfiguring the Social Self
Christianity should be revolutionary. The church should be a transformative community. Peter Rollins says in this chapter that the church or at least the religious institution called the Church has become the great subduer of the oppressed masses helping them to cope with their oppression rather than transform it into liberation. Christianity is the very thing that allows us to continue to not change.[7] In regards to the Church, “the point is not to provide a space for people to engage in acts of love but rather to help reconfigure one's social existence so that acts of love become part of our whole existence.”[8] Karl Marx’s critique that “religion is the opium of the masses”[9] seems all too real to observers of Christianity when they see that the of “religious” folk’s lives seem to be compartmentalized in such a way that they can continue in their vain of life without every really seeking transformation. The Church needs to be a place where transformation is not just a conversation or belief, but a holistic way of life.
Bible and Doctrine:
Chapter Seven—Scripture in the Emerging Movement
Scot McKnight steps into an on going conversation about the nature of the Bible as narrative, instead of instruction manual. While I find McKnight’s insights intriguing he is ultimately summing up where the conversation has landed, which I believe to be his task. The Bible in recent times has gone from manual for living, which is exampled by acronyms like B.i.b.l.e. (basic instructions before leaving earth), to metanarrative or at minimum master-narrative that encompasses everything within the biblical narrative, to wiki-narratives, which views the Bible as user generated stories that invite the reader into further participation.
Chapter Eight—Atonement and Gospel
Scot McKnight in the final chapter of the book puts the Evangelical Church’s “Gospel” and “Atonement” theory under the bright lights of the interrogation room. Ultimately McKnight ends this chapter by saying that at the heart of the gospel, as preached by Peter and Paul in the book of Acts, is the resurrection of Jesus. McKnight does not say that the emphasis on justification, propitiation, and substitution are not important; McKnight asserts that those doctrines are not what the apostles emphasized when “gospeling.”
Footnotes:
[1] Page 9
[2] Page 10
[3] Page 13
[4] Page 23
[5] Page 24
[6] Page 56
[7] Page 97
[8]Page 100
[9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_of_the_people
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