In response to my postings on propositions taken as simple statements of fact, one objection was raised that wondered who on earth would think that emergent leaders would challenge “statements”? Well, if we are talking about statements that are true, I do. They do, and their books are full of such questioning.
Emergent writers are not primarily reacting to what is going on in analytic philosophy departments. They are revolting against certainty in pulpits. In the background is an assumption that the only way preachers could be certain is by borrowing epistemic certainty from the philosophers. Some orthodox apologists influenced by modernity have done this, and I would urge them to quit it. But there is another issue, and another source of certainty. The Bible demands that preachers speak the very oracles of God. The pulpit is required to be the place where we hear “thus says the Lord,” and not, “it seems to me, at least for now.” The beginning of McLaren’s book A New Kind of Christian revolves around his rejection of this very point. The pastor in transition is exasperated by certainty in a fellow minister. The whole point is any kind of certainty.
And the whole emergent project is not simply saying that this certainty is based on a false and idolatrous foundation, a foundation laid by Descartes, and the way for us to find true certainty is “the following.” Rather, the move is to say that because certainty is built on this Cartesian foundation (and it is assumed that this is the only possible foundation that “certainty” could ever have), that therefore our task of ministry in the postmodern world is to urge humility, with that humility understood as some form of principled uncertainty. This is a snare and delusion. It is epistemology straight from the Pit.
Emergent thinking, as such, is simply another form of unbelief, being peddled to us by the ever subtle enemy of our souls. One of the principle qualifications for a minister and Christian shepherd is the ability to detect the presence of wolves. And I am saying that they are here in the sheepfold, now. Lest I be misunderstood, I am not saying that all those participating in the emergent movement, taken distributively, are wolves. There is a difference between a wolf and a sheep in a wolf’s jaws. Every bogus movement in the history of the church has suckered some of the faithful into thinking it is not that big a deal, at least for a time. This happens because wolves are a threat to sheep. But this particular stew is being cooked up in old Slewfoot’s kitchen. I’m not having any, and I am urging all Christians anywhere, all those who love Jesus, to put down their spoons. There is death in the pot.