Why We're Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be - A Literary Review

Over the next few weeks you will probably see a number of literary reviews. One of the differences between a literary review and a straight up book review is that literary reviews are written to help with future research. So I am writing with the idea that this will guide me to what I want to go back and study.  There are various approaches to literary reviews, but here will be mine.

LITERARY REVIEW
I basically start with my sense of the author's thesis, followed by a general overview of the book, and then I focus on themes that are pertinent to my research. With that said, here is my review.

THESIS
DeYoung and Kluck in Why We're Not Emegent: By Two Guys Who Should Be contend that the Emerging Church needs to have a vision for the church that not only speaks about the kingdom of God, but also one that addresses the problems of over-tolerance and under-defined doctrines.

GENERAL OVERVIEW   
Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck team up to address the Emerging Church in specific areas with different approaches.  DeYoung approaches each of his chapters as a theologian and pastor who is concerned about what is true.  He addresses emerging church authors in areas that he has deep questions and concerns about.  His chapter titles, which are quite clever, reveal his concerns: Journey: Are the Pilgrims Still Making Progress?; Bible: Why I Love the Person and Propositions of Jesus; Doctrine: The Drama Is in the Dogma; Modernism: The Boogeyman Cometh; Jesus: Bringer of Peace, Bearer of Wrath; and Listening to All the Churches of Revelation.  Kluck gains his understanding of the emerging church through conversations, books, conferences and church visits, and then shares his opinion as if you were sitting with him at a sports bar.  DeYoung calls for some in the emerging church to repent of false doctrines and others to step up and clarify what they believe.

THOUGHTS TO CONSIDER 
I get the sense that both DeYoung and Kluck have a genuine and loving concern about what they are seeing and hearing in emerging church world. Kluck shares his perspective as a fellow traveler while DeYoung is much more forceful, speaking as a teacher who confidently confronts specific statements that have been written by emerging authors. His critique is more severe for some than others.  If I had to list the people he critique's from those who received the most severe critique to the least it would go something like this: Spencer Burke and Barry Taylor, Peter Rollins, Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt, Rob Bell, Tony Jones, Erwin McManus, Dave Tomlinson, Donald Miller, Dwight Friesen and Dan Kimball.  DeYoung focuses on authors who flow in the stream of the Emerging church, whether or not they self-identify with the movement.  DeYoung had no critique for Scot McKnight, a self-identified emerging author.  In fact, he praises McKnight for critiquing those in the movement and quotes McKnight’s critique on a number of occasions.

These guys approached their critique with a loving attitude.  They are forceful on doctrines that they consider more vital, and ask for clarification where questions remain.  Many times I joined them in their critique.  At other times I felt that DeYoung would pull out a passage from someone’s writing, analyze and critique it, without understanding the nature of what was said nor the context in which it was stated.  DeYoung critiques the movement for being on a journey without wanting to arrive at a destination.  I don’t think that is accurate for a number of these authors.  I also think a number of emerging authors have sparked some much needed theological discussion that is causing us to reflect more deeply on how modernity has shaped our epistemology and in turn our hermeneutics.   

Throughout the book DeYoung de-emphasizes the epistemological affects of the cultural changes that we are undergoing.  And while he rightly points out how some overly accommodate to postmodernity or ultra-modernity, my sense is that he under-contextualizes the good news, or overly accommodates to modernity. With that said, I am glad that these guys have joined the conversation. I believe that they raise important issues that we need to continue to discuss in a spirit of love and unity.

I'd encourage you to read the book and join the conversation as well.  You can download chapter one for free.  DeYoung's description of the Emerging Church in this chapter is great.  He's a clever writer.