What's So Dangerous About the Emerging Church?

By Justin Edwards

As we continue defining the Emerging Church (EC), the following interview between John MacArthur and Phil Johnson helps explain how destructive this movement is. MacArthur begins by explaining that the Emergent Church is an amorphous, loose-knit association of churches that have decided there is value and virtue in uncertainty of Scripture. He further says the Emergent Church believes we are not even suppose to understand what the Bible says, and that it is an attack on the clarity of Scripture.

As MacArthur explains in the interview, this movement is another form of liberalism. Where at one time human reason reigned supreme during the era of modernism, mystery reigns supreme in this era of post-modernism, and both philosophies are an outright assault on the Word of God. The EC sanctifies modern culture and seeks to become like them. They want to conform to the world which is a blatant contradiction to what the Bible tells us in Romans 12:2 and 1 John 2:15-17. They claim that the culture should define Christianity and remain relevant to the current trends - basically that means it should adapt to society and accept sin.

The interview gives great insight on the three philosophical periods of pre-modernism, modernism, and post- modernism. Essentially pre-modernism is the time from the beginning of humankind until the Enlightenment where man understood that truth came from a supernatural source. Modernism came along and sought to remove God or supernatural force, and claimed that truth could be found through human reason. Science became god and the world deteriorated to its worse condition. Fascism and communism rose out of modernism, and of course this led to the millions and millions of lives massacred. When the Berlin wall fell, we essentially entered into the era of post-modernism. This philosophy states that there might be truth, but we cannot know it. Some might even say there is no absolute truth, but at the minimum they will say that no universal truth can be known. Ambiguity is considered a good thing, and mystery is embraced with open arms. Moral relativism becomes god, and you are free to invent your own religion. The Emergent Church LOVES post-modernism.

Post-modern thought allows you to sin without guilt. It operates outside the realm of Scripture like all man-made philosophies do. And the Emergent Church capitalizes on this relevant culture and it deconstructs the only Gospel that saves, thus leading people away from the cross of Jesus Christ.

The following link will take you to an hour interview between MacArthur and Johnson. It is well worth your time to listen and it really helps explain this cultish movement in layman's terms. The second link provides you with the transcript from the interview if you are unable to listen to the podcast. I encourage you to listen or read this material and arm yourself for the defense against the most dangerous movement in the church today.

Audio - What's Do Dangerous About the Emerging Church?

Transcript - What's So Dangerous About the Emerging Church?