Walton's Pendulum

[ted]

Well, truth to tell, after the (Azusa Assembly 1901-surge of) charismatic emphasis on the aforementioned Chart, I'd insert Bible-based EXPOSITION OF DOCTRINE as opposed to mainly PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. We're now past the "seeker-friendly" bit which sought to almost plead for sinners to 'come to church' (IE, "We're really friendly, you know, & besides that, we dress as for a rodeo or a hike in the woods so don't be afraid of us!') and we've now arrived at the "emerging church": IE, feelings dominate & essential biblical doctrine is really hardly all that necessary! Come, come, you'll feel good with us here! The Apostle's declaration to "Preach the WORD!" has never been rescinded. It's not mainly what we may feel; it's always what God has declared in His settled Word. AMEN & AMEN!

http://arthurdurnan.freeyellow.com

t.

[EricH]

Well, truth to tell, after the (Azusa Assembly 1901-surge of) charismatic emphasis on the aforementioned Chart, I'd insert Bible-based EXPOSITION OF DOCTRINE as opposed to mainly PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. We're now past the "seeker-friendly" bit which sought to almost plead for sinners to 'come to church' (IE, "We're really friendly, you know, & besides that, we dress as for a rodeo or a hike in the woods so don't be afraid of us!') and we've now arrived at the "emerging church": IE, feelings dominate & essential biblical doctrine is really hardly all that necessary! Come, come, you'll feel good with us here! The Apostle's declaration to "Preach the WORD!" has never been rescinded. It's not mainly what we may feel; it's always what God has declared in His settled Word. AMEN & AMEN!

http://arthurdurnan.freeyellow.com

t.

The problem with attempting to characterize any movement is that you must do so with a pretty broad brush. The "seeker sensitive" movement contained churches of every ilk. For some, being sensitive meant designing environments in which unbelievers would be comfortable enought to hear the message. It was not the message that was changed, it was the environment. Others took it too far and changed the message itself

The same can be said for the emergent church movement.

It has also been tru for conservative churches as well. Some have overdone it, making essentials out of things that are not truly Biblical essentials

[GeneV]

As most of you have expressed my sentiments so well there is hardly any need to comment further...

Just one thing that always bothered me about the central horizontal line on the pendulum was that some of the movements during the ages in question appeared to be closer to the central line than others.

For example Methodism - very close, Scholasticism also very close (but the alleged debate about how many angels could dance on the head of a pin - really) Montanism - very far (what could have been a prophetic ministry turned into a form of spiritualism) it is interesting to note that Tertullian (c155-220) who is credited with coining the word Trinity later became a Montanist.

I guess the problem is that in moving away from the Biblically based central line in either direction becomes extreme focus on just one area of what the Master taught to the detriment of ALL His teachings.

Ps One wonders if the Scriptures would have survived the dark ages without the Monastics and their prolific writings

Pps Further food for thought; did these movements benefit Christianity in some way? e.g. Luther was an Augustinian monk & Calvin was Catholic who trained as a lawyer and humanist