BOOK REVIEW - "Why We're Not Emergent"

Why We're Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be), by Kevin DeYoung & Ted Kluck. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2008.

This book has been reviewed quite extensively around the internet since it's publication last year. I bought a copy quite early, but had not gotten around to reading it.

The ideas postulated by the very nebulous group that come under the umbrella term of the "emergent church", is clearly nothing more or other than a regurgitation of the standard liberal theology that rose (and largely fizzled as a real force) in the 20th Century. Emergents claim to be a "revolution" in the church for a postmodern generation, but there is absolutely nothing new in what they are saying, so any thought of being revolutionary is quite ridiculous.

The authors of this book are far less blunt in their writing than I have been in the paragraph above, but their conclusion is the same. I should mention that they have a website where you can download a sample chapter.

This is a good read, and I believe every committed, Bible-believing Christian ought to know something about this movement. (If only to steer others from it, and back to orthodox Christianity.) It's written in a popular style, with the authors alternating chapters. DeYoung is the more pastoral and theological of the two; Kluck the more amusing and provocative. If you want a more scholarly treatment of the subject, D.A.Carson's contribution ("Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church") has been very well received.

My only complaint with the book is that I found it a little repetitive after the first few chapters, and was tempted to start skimming.

For me: 3 and 1/2 stars out of 5.

Phil