Product Description

What the "Emergent Church Movement" is all about-and why it matters to the future of Christianity

Following on the questions raised by Brian McLaren in A New Kind of Christian, Tony Jones has written an engaging exploration of what this new kind of Christianity looks like. Writing "dispatches" about the thinking and practices of adventurous Emergent Christians across the country, he offers an in-depth view of this new "third way" of faith-its origins, its theology, and its views of truth, scripture and interpretation, and the Emergent movement's hopeful and life-giving sense of community. With the depth of theological expertise and broad perspective he has gained as a pastor, writer, and leader of the movement, Jones initiates readers into the Emergent conversation and offers a new way forward for Christians in a post-Christian world. With journalistic narrative as well as authoritative reflection, he draws upon on-site research to provide fascinating examples and firsthand stories of who is doing what, where, and why it matters.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #150838 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780470455395
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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From Publishers Weekly
Jones (The Sacred Way) provides the single best introduction to the Emergent Church movement, of which he is a prominent leader. The mainline denominations are dying, and the hyperindividualism of evangelicalism is unsatisfying, so many young evangelicals, Jones explains, have decided to recreate church for postmodern times. Jones credits Brian McLaren's A New Kind of Christian with raising important questions about sounding the Gospel in an era beset by questions about foundationalism, epistemology and how to read Scripture. He passionately defends the emergent movement from criticism. In particular, critics are wrong to claim that emergents don't really believe in the Bible; emergents passionately love the Bible, says Jones, but also know that finite human beings cannot definitively articulate truth. The strongest sections put flesh on these theoretical bones by taking readers into actual emergent churches, like Jacob's Well in Kansas City, Mo., where the pastor draws on Catholic practice, engages the visual arts and sees the church's job as assisting people on their pilgrimage of faith. Jones's writing is brisk and conversational, but the book gets poor marks for design. Call-out boxes, pull quotes and frequent font changes, which might be thought to appeal to a younger audience, in fact make for distracting and disjointed reading. (Mar.)
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Review
"This intelligent and informative book is the only insider story from one of the leading lights of the more progressive wing of the emerging movement, the former national coordinator of Emergent Village." -Christianity Today (October 2009)

From the Inside Flap
"No one is better placed than Tony Jones to offer an insider's view of the emergent conversation in the United States. His clear and engaging writing style, his wide-ranging and incisive mind, and his extensive personal involvement make him the ideal person to tell his story and invite others to be part of it. The New Christians is instructive, inspiring, enjoyable, and a milestone in the development of this important young phenomenon."
—Brian McLaren author and speaker (brianmclaren.net)

The New Christians

What is the "emergent church movement" all about and why does it matter to the future of Christianity? Following on the questions raised by Brian McLaren and others about faith in a postmodern age, Tony Jones has written an engaging exploration of the emergent church movement that points the way toward a new kind of Christianity.

Through story and "dispatches" about the many adventurous communities and practices of emergent Christians around the world, Tony Jones offers an in-depth view of this new "third way" of faith between religious conservatism and religious liberalism. Jones examines its origins; its values; its theology; its views of truth, scripture, and interpretation; and the movement's hopeful and life-giving sense of community. With the depth of theological expertise and broad perspective he has gained as a pastor, writer, theologian, and leader of the movement, Jones initiates readers into the emergent conversation and offers a new way forward for all Christians. Written with a journalist's flair and a participant's studied reflection, this fascinating book draws upon years of research to provide compelling examples and first-hand stories of who is doing what, where, and why it matters.

The New Christians provides yet another voice in the ongoing conversation that is Christianity, always emerging.

Customer Reviews

History & perspective
This has been a fun, challenging, insightful read for me. As one who's been reading and thinking and messing people up with "emergent" dialog, Tony Jones' The New Christians (copyright 2008, Jossey-Bass Publishers) gets into the nitty gritty history and thoughts behind the movement in a way that's accessible and personal.

I found "the emergent church" folks about ten years ago, reading some of their forebears and thinking new thoughts that scared me, to be frank. I attended a couple of seminars, traveled to Maryland for one of the Off The Map conferences, and read through alot of books. I put this new work right up there with the most meaningful of my library - good for anyone looking for someone "on the same page as me", and detrimental for anyone wanting to just keep the status quo religiously.

It's into this mess of paradox, oxymorons and mystery that Jones and others have sought to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling".

What I like about Jones' prose is that he doesn't water anything down. There are problems on both sides, there are misunderstandings all over, and there's a need for forgiveness and mercy and grace from each corner. He does this with the historical potions of the story, and then does much the same with the theological discussion of truth, the Bible, interpretation, missiology. There's a flow that's working for me, like a primer on what I've been reading from my own vantage point that's developed over the same passage of years.

A Needed Perspective
In my opinion The New Christians is a needed and welcomed contribution at this stage in the emerging church conversation. This is the book to read to understand the history of this thing called emergent and the passions of those of us drawn to it. To list a few of the reasons why -

First, to be completely narcissistic, I enjoyed reading Tony's story of his journey into Emergent because it echoed so much of my own experience. I know that he has received criticism for not being inclusive enough of various forms of emerging thought in this book, but he makes it clear in the book that he is telling the story of his own experiences, the groups he has encountered, and the friends he has made. He gives snapshots of where he has encountered the conversation and summarizes the trends he is witnessing. Some people may not see themselves reflected in this book, but for those of us who have trod similar paths as Tony, it is affirming to have part of our story told. This book represents our reality - from the questions, to the conferences, to the online emphasis, to the conversations.

I also like that Tony isn't afraid to tell the truth about the messy parts of Christianity and emergent. The messy parts exist and many in this conversation have experienced pain because of them. So I appreciate Tony's willingness to say that yes Emergent has critics, yes there have been falling outs, and yes some people have refused to play ball with us. It's reality and hiding from it won't help resolve differences. And it's high time, imho, the truth was told that its not just emergents causing the problems.

I appreciated the way Tony dealt with the issues of homosexuality and women in ministry. Instead of dealing with each as "issues," he just told the stories of real people. He was inclusive and affirming in practice while not alienating in dogma. Of course this could just mean he pisses off everyone on both sides of these issues, but I thought he was fair in how he approached such controversial topics.

I enjoyed his affirmation of how popular culture shapes our reality. There are streams in the emerging church that refuse to condescend to popular culture. One often feels like one needs to apologize for watching TV or for listening to mainstream music around other emergents. I liked how Tony used popular culture as metaphors and as keys to understand the forces shaping the conversation. I prefer this thoughtful engagement to the snobbishly turning up of the noses I often expect in emergent circles.

There were of course other stories and ideas throughout the book that I enjoyed, just as there were a few things I questioned and a couple of things that I found annoying (the layout). But this is a good book, well worth the read. If you want to know more about emergent, understand where it came from, or just hear the stories of real people who are a part of it - read this book.

Solid, thoughtful, engaging.
TNC is a really good book, and a huge contribution to the conversation about the new ways of doing church and the new ways of being Christian that are all around us, as well as an insightful look at the impending collapse of liberal vs. conservative polarities in politics, religion, and society in general. Part sociological study, part theological exploration, part peripatetic travelogue, part exegetical exploration, part personal observation, and part fresh hermeneutical method, it is one of the best books I've read in years. In particular, it provides a wonderfully helpful history of the group of thinking practitioners now known as 'emergent village', and will no doubt give great confidence to those who are beginning to explore fresh methods, philosophies, and theologies of living in the way of Jesus.

Among many other highlights, Tony brings to light Sheryl Fullerton's brilliant insight that such expressions of Christianity are 'feral', as those freed from the strictures of conventionality explore new ways of being followers of Jesus in our ever-changing world. And, to prove the point, Tony offers several insightful looks at individuals and groups who are embodying these ideas.

One of my favorite features of the book is one that I'm afraid might be detrimental to its reception: it is wonderfully blustery. Tony writes with a friendly swagger that is not unlike another favorite author of mine, Tony Bourdain. Interestingly, it is an opinionatedness that is-- quite paradoxically-- borne out of a profound sense of humility. When one is sure that one cannot be too certain, that one is too limited in wisdom and intelligence to be right about everything, one finds a new freedom to pursue understanding of a few things, and a willingness to be appended and corrected. Tony does this, and does it well, but I'm afraid some of those who are unfavorably disposed toward this project won't see the nuance.

Too, I wish it included a little gem that I found buried in a random podcast recently: in the early days of this generative friendship now called emergent village, Tony was a lonely voice for renewal of the larger church. Where most of these upstart entrepreneurs were pronouncing the death of the mainstream church and advocating pioneering efforts of church planting, Tony was arguing for patience and reinvestment in the larger structures-- he thought the giant ocean liner could be steered in a different direction. All of which sheds a world of light onto Tony's current impatience with conventional expressions of church, and which fact would endear him to many mainliners who find resonance with this idea of renewal, and who seem to be generally frustrated with Tony's cynicism.