“The point that is being made here is that Christianity, as a religion without religion, always resists being implicated in the dominant ideological systems within society by seeking to stand with those who dwell outside of them. As religion without religion Christianity's ir/religious expression cannot be reduced to a tightly held worldview without being effaced, for it is expressed fundamentally in the texture of one's life particularly in relation to the poor and oppressed. Is this not the d...

“We believe that God has created the entire cosmos; our work here is to say, 'This belongs to God,' and to help point out the beauty of creation to everyone we know, everyone we meet. And most of all, to live in it ourselves” (Chris Seay, The Gospel of John, 63). Seay acknowledges God as the Creator as do almost all Emerging Church proponents, but notice his next statement. Is our central task to tell everyone that this is God’s creation and to point out its beauty during the process? W...

“Postmodern churches are both Catholic and evangelical” (49). “[W]e welcome people from all faith backgrounds to come alongside us in Christ, whether their heritage is Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, or other” (Michael Slaughter and Warren Bird, Unlearning Church, 9). This type of church is very appealing to a postmodern culture. It holds theology, exclusive truth claims, and individual doctrine very loosely and prefers to emphasize community and good works. But how can community and go...

“We need to seriously get over Christendom’s theological cringe factor regarding the value of human goodness (dualism again?). We don’t have to denigrate genuine goodness in order to glorify God. James says that all good things come from God and have their source in God (1:17) and so it does not denigrate God when we say that some human acts are good. If someone sacrifices his or her life or possessions to help someone else, then we must affirm that it is in itself a good act. It has intrinsic ...