impleri

Scot’s last question:

#5: Has the emergent movement understood culture accurately? Does it appeal to Scripture accurately?

Given the previous posts, the first quesion is simple to answer: yes. “Emergent” has arisen as a means to reach today’s culture. It even draws from the culture.
The second question, though, requires more. Too many movements in history claimed to interpret and appeal to Scripture correctly. We first need to understand what the “Emergent church” sees as good hermeneutics. It appears that most in the movement want the interpretation of Scripture to be fluid. That is, instead of defining a rigid and exhaustive system defined as “orthodoxy,” many in “Emergent” want to define some borders which one cannot cross and remain “orthodox” but allows room for some variations on interpretation. In some ways, this is a move from trying to “be right” to “not being wrong.” Many groups of Christians have equated the two, but “Emergent” appears to dissociate the two and even allow some generosity and humility in the interpretation game.
So, does “Emergent” appeal to Scripture accurately? It depends. If one maintains a very strict interpretation of Scripture, then nobody besides that one is accurate. But, in today’s society, strict interpretation has become a rather quaint peculiarity of true fundamentalists. “Emergent” has been pretty vocal in not becoming such. And so have i. So, for me, “Emergent” has generally appealed to Scripture in acceptable ways. Accuracy still implies a single correct answer; and that is something postmodernism rejects as a human possibility. It may very well be true that there is only one answer, but we humans are incapable of reaching it…and we haven’t been promised it.