In the second half of her essay on the Emergent Church (EC), Eileen Lindner takes up the question of the EC’s relationship to the (1) megachurch and (2) seeker-friendly movements that grew up during the 1990s.
She says that the relationships are variously interpreted as “a reaction to, a continuation of, or the interior church version” of the two earlier attempts to bring Christian faith and contemporary culture together. On the negative side, the EC has been criticized by some for its distance from propositional theology and its apparent flirtation with religious syncretism.
When it comes to the place of blogging, Lindner points out that since the EC often portrays itself as an ongoing “conversation,” it’s no mystery why blogs have been so important. “Shaped by today’s media and more at home with blogs than books, the EC is nothing if not collaborative and dialogical,” she says.
Finally, the author deals with the question that a lot of people have asked: Will the EC “become an enduring topographical feature of the American religious landscape or prove to be a transitory place of Christianity’s long trajectory”? In other words, is this more flash in the pan or wave of the future? “Our guess,” she writes, “is the emergent church, in all its dimensions, is a harbinger of things to come in 21st century Christianity.”
One last quote from Lindner: “Given the low cost, the limitless ways religious experience can be articulated, we might expect blogging to remain a persistent feature of the religious landscape, one to be rediscovered by new generations of seekers and believers, who will preserve a religious voice on the Internet so long as questions remain about faith, and people ponder the ultimate questions of life.”
The following are the two blog sites listed by the author; sites that convey "the range of religiously-oriented blogs":
www.englishbibles.blogspot.com
www.bibchr.blogspot.com
Well, of course, I'm very pleased to be on the opposite end from that other blog. But is there any more context? I gather the article is not available online. You actually paid money for this? I'm surprised to be mentioned in an EC context in any way. Did she say more?
ReplyDeleteHi DJP.
ReplyDeleteTo answer some of your questions, I don't recall what else Lindner might have said about yours or other blogs, and I don't have access to the article right now.
A lot of religious and general public libraries will have the Yearbook in the reference collection, which is where I go to see it.
As I recall, Lindner didn't necessarily say that your blog was connected to the EC. I think she was wanting to indicate that there are a big bunch of religious blogs, and then she pointed to two, including yours.
Well... it's nice to be distinguished in some way, I suppose.
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