Emerging — Missiology or Epistemology

I’ve been spending some time lately hanging out at The Ooze, which has been fun and fascinating. There seem to be two related by different strands in the “Emergent” movement. One is missiological: an effort to relate to the “heart language” of post-modern people. The other epistemological: an effort to reenvision theology in light of post-foundationalist epistemology.

The latter trend is the most interesting, but also the most dangerous. Christianity has always adapted to shifts in epistemology: from “authority” based, to “rationality” based, and now to post-foundationalism. The difficult trick is to treat epistemology as simply a tool for understanding truth, rather than an ideological fortress. This is true not only of “modernists” who cling to the notion that reason provides a universal foundation for truth claims, but also to post-foundationalists who reject anything “modernists” say because of their foundationalism. It’s fascinating to see this process in development at sites like The Ooze.