I Am an Incarnational Christian: The Theology

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:57 pm By Tony Jones

Although, I confess, I liked the term “kerygmatic Christian” at first, I’ve come to see why “incarnational Christian” is the term that best suits us — those of us who would like to portray to the world something about the type of Christianity that we’re pursuing. What I will write below has already been articulated by earlier commenters on numerous posts. To use old categories, incarnational has both “vertical” and “horizontal” aspects to it. First, the vertical (although, of course,... Read more

What Gerardo Marti Says about The Church Is Flat

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:57 pm By Tony Jones

Gerardo Marti is the L. Richardson King Associate Professor of Sociology at Davidson College. “Tony Jones provides an insider’s perspective on the definition, growth, and ongoing challenges of the Emerging Church Movement. In classic Jonesian fashion, you’ll find savvy writing that combines theology, close observation, and a healthy dose of opinion. Jones takes us back through the history of the movement’s development, but the true significance of the work is how Jones pushes the movement forward, urging these religious innovators... Read more

I’m an Incarnational Christian: Some Initial Thoughts

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:57 pm By Tony Jones

As the results of last week’s poll, and lots of excellent commentary, I’m ready to commit to identifying myself as an “incarnational Christian.” In fact, I’ve already changed my status on Facebook. I’ll be trotting out my thoughts in a relatively unsystematic way in coming days, and I would welcome you to either leave comments here, on Facebook, or write a post on your own blog and leave the link in the comments below. This is not about not being... Read more

What Phyllis Tickle Says about The Church Is Flat

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:57 pm By Tony Jones

“Any serious student of, or participant in, Emergence Christianity is going to rejoice in the work contained here. Jones’s hard-core research is scholarly to a fault; but it is also permeated with the experiential knowledge and realistic assessment of one who has been in the movement from its inception in this country. So far as I know, this is the first vetted, validated, and comprehensive overview of what is happening and also of what that happening means, complete with a... Read more

What Brian McLaren Says about The Church Is Flat

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:57 pm By Tony Jones

“I had hoped to devote 30-45 minutes to a rapid skim of Tony Jones’s new book, The Church Is Flat. I looked up at the clock and two hours had passed. Now, after five hours, I can tell you that this book is as well-written as it is content-rich. You’ll gain substantive insights into the emerging church as a new social movement, scholarly reflection on the theory of practices, and critical engagement with the panentheist social trinitarianism of Jürgen Moltmann... Read more

The Church Is Flat – Now Available

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:57 pm By Tony Jones

My latest book, which is a lightly emended version of my dissertation, is now available. It’s called, The Church Is Flat: The Relational Ecclesiology of the Emerging Church Movement. In it, I take my research — both qualitative and quantitative — into eight emergent congregations and put it into conversation with the ecclesiology of Jürgen Moltmann. The Church Is Flat is available only in electronic form at this time. If you’re unfamiliar with ebooks, they’re quite easy to read —... Read more

Get Cheap Glasses

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:57 pm By Tony Jones

I read an column last week by a guy who was venting that his eyeglasses cost more than his HDTV. Unfortunately, I can’t find the article now, but it was by an economist. It turns out that most of the eyeglass companies are owned by one huge mega-company. They control like 80% of the market. It’s a near-monopoly, and it’s a scam. Which is why I feel compelled to once again share this link, where I buy glasses for $39:... Read more

Kevin Corcoran Weighs In

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:57 pm By Tony Jones

Over at Church and Pomo, David Fitch and I posted about Kevin’s book, Church in the Present Tense. I told David to get in line with the others who are disappointed with emergent. Jason Clark, a friend of mine and a contributor to the book, accused me of not reading the book. I didn’t deal with Jason’s chapters in my post, since I think Jonny Baker had done a good job of that some time back. Now, Kevin has responded... Read more

I’m an Incarnational Christian

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:57 pm By Tony Jones

Although the poll is still open, it seems that we have a clear winner in last week’s challenge to replace “Progressive Christian.” You chose Incarnational Christian. I think it’s a really good choice, and I’m going to post this week about what I think it means. But before I do that — and inevitably cloud the water — I’d like to hear what you think it means. So, even if you voted for one of the other choices, please leave... Read more

In Praise of Relativism

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:57 pm By Tony Jones

One of my favorite fellow relativists, Stanley Fish, recently took to the pages of the New York Times to defend relativism. First, he defines two different kids of relativism: There are (at least) two ways of denying moral absolutes. You can say “I don’t believe there are any” or you can say “I believe there are moral absolutes, but (a) there are too many candidates for membership in that category and (b) there is no device, mechanical test, algorithm or... Read more