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| Why We're Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 43 reviews)
Sales Rank: 7365
Category: Book
Authors: Kevin Deyoung, Ted Kluck
Publisher: Moody Publishers
Studio: Moody Publishers
Manufacturer: Moody Publishers
Label: Moody Publishers
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.6
ISBN: 0802458343
Dewey Decimal Number: 270.83
EAN: 9780802458346
ASIN: 0802458343
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
?You can be young, passionate about Jesus Christ, surrounded by diversity, engaged in a postmodern world, reared in evangelicalism and not be an emergent Christian. In fact, I want to argue that it would be better if you weren?t.? The Emergent Church is a strong voice in today?s Christian community. And they?re talking about good things: caring for the poor, peace for all men, loving Jesus. They?re doing church a new way, not content to fit the mold. Again, all good. But there?s more to the movement than that. Much more. Kevin and Ted are two guys who, demographically, should be all over this movement. But they?re not. And Why We?re Not Emergent gives you the solid reasons why. From both a theological and an on-the-street perspective, Kevin and Ted diagnose the emerging church. They pull apart interviews, articles, books, and blogs, helping you see for yourself what it?s all about.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 38 more reviews...
 Informative, readable, balanced, and humorous treatment of the emerging church December 31, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I confess that when I first saw the "cool" poly-chromatic cover of this book and the provocative title I envisioned something alone the lines of "Do Hard Things" by the Harris boys---a book that doesn't give you serious insight as much as it makes you smile and think, "Gee, I'm glad that there's still solid kids out there!" While I would have enjoyed such a book, what I actually read was immensely superior.
The book is a theological and "on-the-street" perspective of the emerging church (henceforth EC), written by two Reformed guys in their early thirties. Both great writers, they each contribute in a different way while still complementing one another. I appreciate that they worked on this together. I'll discuss Kevin DeYoung, the pastor-theologian, first. DeYoung's theological treatment is very well-researched, balanced, and wide. He hits all of the main facets of the EC, succinctly summarizing the essence of this movement and deftly pointing out its flaws.
Since the EC is difficult to define, I was very curious as to how DeYoung would actually begin. Much to my surprise and delight, on p. 20-22 he presented a long list of characteristics that give you a decent feel for what this whole "emergent" thing is all about. This is the beauty of stereotypes---though imperfect and often times exaggerative, its still nice to read them and think to yourself, "Ohh... I think I see who he's talking about." This approach works because it gives the reader context, allowing him to draw upon what he probably already knew but could never put a name on. And then DeYoung spends the rest of the book filling in the details or sanding off the rough edges of some of the more questionable or comical stereotypes.
And as I mentioned, DeYoung seems to cover all of the bases: journey versus destination, "Jesus is all I need" theology, God's "knowability", revelation, mystery, certainty, doubt, argument versus conversation, propositions, foundationalism, postmodernism, modernism, orthodoxy, "repainting the faith," theological and political liberalism, doctrinal boundaries, exclusivism, false dichotomies, semantic difficulties, church leadership, preaching, social justice and activism, the kingdom of God, the gospel, Hell, and God's wrath.
Once again, his discussion of these topics isn't an in-depth scholarly treatment, but it doesn't need to be. DeYoung spends sufficient time on each topic before moving on, generally stating the emergent position (using the words of emergent thinkers, of course), gently pointing out the problems, and explaining the significance of the issue from a Refomed perspective. He certainly has a gift for organization---each chapter covers just the right amount of topics that seem to have just enough in common with one another. All the chapters are valuable, but I particularly enjoyed the one on the "boogeyman" of modernism, which points out the historical revisionism behind the emergent caricature of evangelicalism.
As mentioned before, DeYoung is charitable towards the EC---perhaps too charitable. I'm glad he admits that he could be misunderstanding them and that he's not trying to lump the whole movement together. I disagree, however, that all segments of the EC loves Jesus. Maybe the far more tame Scot McKnight variety, but I don't see how the EC can so openly deny Christ's words and yet sincerely love Him (2 John 6-9), as DeYoung sometimes claims (p. 204). To his credit, he does state fairly bluntly that some thinkers, like Burke and Chalke, have essentially abandoned the gospel. A few more minor criticisms: DeYoung at one point unwittingly nods his head toward the very fallibilist argument that renders knowing God (or anything, for that matter) impossible (p. 83). Next, I wish he had explained in brief why social justice---a huge pillar in the emergent orthopraxy wing---is unbiblical. Finally, DeYoung often describes the emergent church position from a first-person perspective, which can be confusing. For example, on p. 194 he alternates between describing his position and the emergent position, without using quotes or italics to differentiate, in the same paragraph.
Moving on to Ted Kluck: I love this guy. Though I bought the book primarily for the theological insight, I found his chapters very well-written, clever, and laugh-out-loud hilarious. In journaling his thoughts and experiences with the EC and some of its critics he really does capture a lot of the frustration, attitude, emotion, of the emergent church. Though he is dead serious at times, much of his writing is satirical, which I greatly appreciate. Whether poking fun at John Piper "groupies" or describing Rob Bell's white, middle-class, suburbanite congregation trying to sing civil rights spirituals, Kluck often had me rolling. Indeed, for all of the hoopla about being innoviative, different, postmodern, whatever---the EC really doesn't bring any new moves to the dance. Its warmed over theological liberalism with a side-helping of neo-orthodoxy, all wrapped in cute cliches and pseudo-intellectual verbiage. At times this is troublesome, at times its just downright silly. Kluck emphasizes both nicely without coming across as having an axe to grind.
As a Calvinist I appreciate DeYoung and Kluck's Reformed perspective. I think that Reformed theology, particularly presuppositional apologetics, offers an antidote to the disillusionment of both traditional evangelicalism and "postmodern theology". I won't go into depth on that topic here, but I did enjoy DeYoung drawing upon Jonathan Edwards, John Piper, and DA Carson.
Finally, I want to defend DeYoung and Kluck against the notion that the book's subtitle is just a marketing gimmick. I do believe that many of us young guys raised in the evangelical church "should be" emergent---according to the EC, at least. You see, I just spent five years at a conservative Christian school where I saw firsthand the fruit of the clash between the "modernists" and the "postmodernists". (Wasn't pretty.) I saw the arguments on both sides. I became disillusioned with much of evangelicalism---both the form and the doctrine. I should be emergent. But instead I became Reformed. Likewise, since DeYoung and Kluck operate right outside of MSU they of all people should know that "modern Christianity" isn't working in this "postmodern culture". But instead of abandoning orthodox Chrisitanity for paradox, mystery, and uncerstainty they are holding tight to the faith once for all delivered to the saints.
In conclusion, I was already familiar with the EC before I read this book, having read McLaren, Bell, and Miller, but I can easily say that I walked away with a more solid understanding of the movement. I will undoubtedly recommend this book as the best overview of the EC available: charitable, insightful, informational, humorous, and---last but not least---just the right length.
Informative and Eminently Fair December 2, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Much of the evangelical criticism of the emergent church movement has been ham fisted and uninformed. Many evangelicals in talking about the emergent movement seem to follow the pattern laid down for them back in the eighties and nineties, when alot of evangelicals would press anything that smacked of emotionalism or poetic license with charges of "new age." Now, these same folks, or their spiritual descendants, are labeling any worship service that includes a Rob Bell "Nooma" video or a song by U2 as "emergent" and heretical (and "New Age" to boot). The emergents complain alot that evangelicals are criticizing them unfairly, and there is more than a little justice in their complaint.
But there is little to nothing to complain about in DeYoung and Kluck's book, "Why We're not Emergent." DeYoung and Kluck have produced a critique of the emergent movement that is well informed, sensitive to the different streams of thought in the emergent movement, and even aware of the problems in mainstream evangelicalism that led, in part, to the emergent movement's ... umm ... emergence.
These guys know their stuff. They have read the emergent books and gone to the emergent churches. They have listened and thought. And the product of their efforts is a book that presents a thoroughly Biblical and thoroughly fair critique of the movement.
They have taken an interesting approach to their writing, with DeYoung, the minister, providing an analysis of the themes common in emergent writings, and comparing and constrasting them with (Warning to any emergent Christians reading this: your blood pressure is about to go through the roof. Sorry.) Biblical doctrine. Kluck, the sportswriter, presents in alternate chapters his own encounter with the emergent movement in a thoroughly narrative mode.
DeYoung is widely read in emergent literature, and presents a well-balanced view of its major emphases. He neither brushes under the rug the significant differences between emergents and evangelicals, nor does he go cherry picking for controversial emergent material, as many evangelicals spoiling for a fight tend to do. Space doesn't permit me to do justice to the knowledge and wisdom DeYoung shows. His ironic, and irenic, drawing of parallels between the emergent "conversation" and the theology of nineteenth and twenty century theological liberalism is his own indispensible contribution to the emergent conversation. He leaves no doubt that the emergent movement, with its claim to eschew modernism and update the gospel for the post-modern world, actually sounds very much like the theological liberals of the previous two centuries, who were consciously trying to update the gospel for the *modern* world. His rebuttal of the sloppy historical scholarship of some emergents, particularly Rob Bell, is also very helpful and completely fair. (DeYoung, if you're reading this, an entire little book on this one topic would be of great value.) Finally, he closes the book with an absolutely wonderful "sermon" on the letters to the seven churches in the book of Revelation. To summarize his point, there are many ways that churches can go wrong. It is wrong to be lifeless and loveless like the Ephesian (i.e. evangelical) church. And it is wrong to tolerate evil and falsehood, like the churches of Pergamum and Thyratira (i.e emrgents). Honestly, I think he makes his best point in a simple footnote: "I am not arguing that tolerance is a dirty word that is never befitting of Christians, only that ... [some] emergent leaders can scarcely imagine why intolerance would ever be justified. In so doing, they are more generous than Jesus."
I obviously like DeYoung's work and I agree with almost everything he says. But, in a way, Ted Kluck's narrative approach is even more to the point. Emergent theology, or conversation, camps out on the importance of narrative. Kluck's recounting of his own personal encounter with the emergent church, then, makes a surer point of contact with the movement. Kluck's own narrative brings to the forefront what I think emergents tend to forget: Narratives can compete. Narratives can even critique one another. Not all narratives are commensurate. And so, even if narrative is of primary importance in faith, it is still possible that some narratives are "better" than others, and it is completely possible to pick the wrong narrative. Kluck's encounter with the emergent movement, conveyed in chapters with titles such as "Why I Don't Want a Cool Pastor," is doubly important as a challenge to the emergent narrative and a sorely needed reminder to evangelicals of the importance of narrative. Read it, please!
In short, "Why We're not Emergent" should present a challenge - a completely fair challenge - to emergents to think through the ramifications of their faith. Also, it will be a well balanced introduction to the movement for evangelicals who aren't familiar with it.
Even tempered explanation and critique of the emergent movement November 8, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I picked this book up in the bookstore of a Christian college we were visiting with my high school aged children and devoured it in one week. After reading much about the emergent church on the web and some in print I was ready for an even handed approach with as much scripture to back up the premise that this "movement" is off base in some fundamental ways as feelings or worse, venom. The fact that the authors are in the target group for the emergent church gave them even more credibility. I was impressed by the homework done, authors read, conferences attended, actual friendship with some of the players in the movement and solid biblical background of the authors. The Epilogue regarding the seven churches in Revelation and how those could apply to current day churches was especially interesting. That is the section I am recommending to my husband and others who don't have time to read the whole book as it puts in a nutshell the problems with all churches in our fallen world and what we all need to continue to strive for in our churches regardless of the category they fall into.
 Fair and Balanced? Hardly October 22, 2008
2 out of 19 found this review helpful
It is an easy thing to construct a straw man, and then knock it down as evidence of one's ideological superiority. This book is a classic example of this oft used approach to argumentation. Being an evangelical who has read a good bit of the authors critiqued in this book, I found its characterizations of their ideas to be extremely incomplete and biased to support the authors pre-drawn conclusions. I found this book profoundly misleading.
 A contemporary look at the emergents October 19, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
With so much made of McClaren, Bell, etc, it's nice to be able to see books from the other side to consider the biblical perspective of the issue, especially since this movement is hard to figure out ("like nailing jello to the wall," they write in the intro). These two 30-somethings, one a pastor and the other a writer, take different perspectives but make the same conclusion: There's much to think about with the emergents, but no thanks, we just can't go Emergent. Especially worth the read are the chapters written by Deyoung, who is the pastor at University Reformed Church near Michigan State. His are the best, utilizing clear thinking and good analysis. They were very enjoyable. The chapters by Kluck were OK, but as I was reading the chapter, I was secretly hoping it would get over quickly so I could get on with Deyoung's next chapter (they alternated). The only other book that I highly recommend more is D.A. Carson's work on the movement written three years earlier. But "Why We're Not Emergent" is definitely worth a look, especially for those who are considering moving over to this type of worship/church.
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