Resources for Evaluating the "Emergent Church"

The following resources from pastors and theologians such as Albert Mohler, John M. Frame, Mark Dever, D. A. Carson and others should help to get an overview of Brian McLaren, Rob Bell and the “emergent church”.

You will find here short videos (some are brilliantly done), articles, books and audio (MP3) files.

SHORT VIDEOS

The above video is Rob Bell’s “Bullhorn Guy”, which get the discussion started.

The next four videos are a response to Bell’s “Bullhorn Guy”.

“Bullwhip guy” (satire of Rob Bell’s “Bullhorn Guy”)

Bullhorn Response 1

 Bullhorn Response 2

Park bench guy

Video clip of Rob Bell’s teaching on Peter walking on water and a response

Brian McLaren and the Dangers of the Emergent Church from “Thinking Biblically Radio”. The heresy of Socinianism.

ARTICLES

The following articles are by Dr. Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky:

• “A Generous Orthodoxy”–Is It Orthodox?
• What Should We Think of the Emerging Church? Part One
• What Should We Think of the Emerging Church? Part Two

Other articles:

• Balanced review of Brian McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy by John M. Frame, professor of theology at Westminster Theological Seminary.
• A Review of Brian McLaren’s A New Kind of Christian by Mark Dever, Mark Dever serves as the senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. A Duke graduate, Dr. Dever holds a M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, a Th.M. from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in Ecclesiastical History from Cambridge University.
• “Everything Must Change” by Brian McLaren by Tim Challies, author of The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment. “Conclusion: It seems increasingly clear that the new kind of Christian McLaren seeks is no kind of Christian at all. The church on the other side of his reinvention is a church devoid of the glorious gospel of Christ’s atoning death. It is a church utterly stripped of its power because it is a church stripped of the gospel message. McLaren’s new gospel is a social gospel, a liberal gospel and, in fact, no gospel at all.” This Emerging Church has managed to do something remarkable—it has emerged into something the church has already seen, has already wrestled with, and has already defeated. The Emerging Church has gone suicidal.
• Rob Bell’s Unbiblical Views. Note, for example, his comments on the virgin birth of Christ which he totally undermines.
• Pastor’s and Theologian’s Forum on the Emerging Church
  D. A. Carson, Mark Driscoll, Michael Horton, Mike McKinley, Daniel Montgomery, Brent Thomas, Carl Trueman, and Jonathan Leeman.
• The Emerging Church, by D. A. Carson

BOOKS

• D. A. Carson’s Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications should be helpful.
• Another book that should be helpful is Why We’re Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be.

Sam Storms reviews D. A. Carson’s Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 250 pp:

• D. A. Carson Critiques the Emerging Church Part I
• D. A. Carson Critiques the Emerging Church (Part II)
• D. A. Carson Critiques the Emerging Church (Part III)
• D. A. Carson Critiques the Emerging Church (Part IV)
• D. A. Carson Critiques the Emerging Church (Part V)
• D. A. Carson Critiques the Emerging Church (Part VI)
• D. A. Carson Critiques the Emerging Church (Part VII)

AUDIO/MP3

About a year and a half ago I have listened to the following three helpful lectures by Carson:

• Emergent Church – Part 1
  D. A. Carson (MP3) – A Description of the Movement with a Focus on Its Strengths
• Emergent Church – Part 2
  D. A. Carson (MP3) – The Movement Evaluated More Critically
• Emergent Church – Part 3
  D. A. Carson (MP3) – An Exposition of Scripture on the Relationship Between Experience and Truth

Here’s another one by Carson:

• Is the Emergent Church Biblical? MP3 lecture given at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

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