Friday, January 11, 2008

An Emergent Manifesto of Hope

I just finished reading An Emergent Manifesto of Hope, edited by Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones. It is a fascinating collection of articles written by people who in some sense are regarded as part of the "emerging church". Some of the articles were good and some were so so. Over all I think this book gives a good picture of the emerging church and what its passions and hopes are.
One of things that stands out in reading this is book is how hopeful these people are. Doug in the conclusion states "We must see the world as hopeful even when it is hurtful." (page 306) Hope and love underline almost everything written in this book. One gets the sense from this book that the people in the emerging church are looking forward to what God is going to do in the world. I have to say, Amen! Lord open my eyes so that I may see (and be part of) the amazing things you are going to do.
Now the problem with this book is that the articles raise some interesting questions but they lack a certain of depth. This lack of depth seems to be the result of a lack of space. The articles are thought provoking and good but I often ended the chapter wanting more. I should mention that in the introduction Doug says that the articles "should be considered discussion starters." However I do wish there was more unity from the writers. Each writer seemed to have freedom to write on whatever they want which meant that each chapter would often move to an entirely new thought.
Over all I found book thought provoking and good.

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