Monday, October 22, 2007
Is Josh McDowell Emerging?
So, according to Bob Robinson, Josh McDowell (Christian apologist and author of "Evidence that Demands a Verdict") now believes that truth is relational, wants to substitute the phrase "universal truth" for "absolute truth", and calls McLaren and Bell out for assuming that he is a Modern (though I can't recall when Brian or Rob said anything about McDowell directly).Maybe Josh McDowell is emerging after all? Or perhaps these are at least the first baby-steps on his way to a new epistemology. He ought to sit down and chat with my friend John Armstrong about all this. John's been through a similar journey into postmodern epistemology.
Anyhow, I define the emerging church as that relational space where one has the freedom to question and rethink these kinds of questions. So Josh, welcome to the conversation. :)
via Emergent Village
Tags:
Labels: emerging church
Y'know, until I started seriously questioning my beliefs in college, Josh McDowell was a key source of my "Intellectual Proofs". Needless to say I lost ample respect for him when I started thinking that Absolute Truth could be unknowable and started critically examining his apologetics.
Then I read this:
the younger generation says, “If it works, it is true.”
Well damn. He sure hits the nail on the head. Sure, he seems to disagree with this thinking but at least he seems to understand it, and he does seem to say that the importance of truth is secondary to that of love.
I'm glad an influential evangelical is getting up there and reminding people that the message of the gospel is one of love and not so much what score you're going to get on your Theology final when you shuffle off the mortal coil.
Maybe if more pastors thought like this then more churches would stop making it their top priority to make sure you're "in" before moving on to anything else.