I really don't know much about the people involved here. I am not a person involved in the whole Emerging/Emergent Church thingy, and many of those involved in it are not known to me. Yet, it seems that some people just can't stand the idea of Christians actually trying to make sense of the faith in terms that are actually relevant and meaningful. At a recent conference at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, someone named Mark Driscoll called out several "prominent" members of the Emerging/Emergent Church movement, most clearly a pastor and author named Brian McLaren (whose book,
A Generous Orthodoxy my wife owns, and which I haven't read), as heretics. A good summary of the
contretemps can be found
here at Pomomusings. Adam highlights some of Driscoll's comments from an eighty-minute presentation, but there's one in particular that jumps out at me as particularly stupid:
Brian McLaren was asked this question: ‘What is your position on gay marriage?’ His answer was this: ‘You know what? The thing that breaks my heart is that there is no way I can answer it without hurting someone on either side.’ To which I would respond: ‘Now you have hurt God.’
With this kind of profound insight, it is no wonder that the church is held in contempt by so many people of intelligence. McLaren's response was pastoral; Driscoll's response was horrendous. "Hurt God" . . . Once again, saints preserve us.
