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Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging And Traditional (2009)

by Jim Belcher(Favorite Author)

3.78 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0830837167 (ISBN13: 9780830837168)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

IVP Books

review 1: Belcher does a good job of cutting through confusion in the impasse over how Christians should worship and interact with their culture. I like his approach. He identifies the issues that create discord (truth, evangelism, worship, etc.) and solicits comments on the positions different theologians take from the movement leaders themselves. Then he looks at how they respond to each other and proposes his own middle ground. I now have a better understanding of the Emerging Church movement (it is really three different approaches on a conservative/radical spectrum of beliefs)and the strengths and weaknesses of the both the emerging and traditional worldviews. My favorite term in this book is cognitive humility: the awareness that no one group has all the answers to the total e... morexclusion of every other other group (my definition). My least favorite term is the overused syncretism--mashing together different religions, cultures and schools of thought. That's a big snowball to throw.
review 2: Excellent summary for grasping the issues that impact embracing an "emerging" perspective. Belcher is an emerging insider who sides with a more traditional Christian view in many cases. He presents a reasoned perspective from both side. He opts for neither, posing a mediating "deep church." Sometimes he came from a very "mainline" perspective--he is after all a Presbyterian minister. For example, his perspective on "deep evangelism" only viewed evangelism as attractive, drawing people into a building, ignoring altogether any sense that evangelism involves going out. Overall a very worthwhile, thought-provoking read. less

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