Faithful Reformation : the Importance of Apostolicity and Consensual Orthodoxy for Emerging Christian Expressions
type: CreativeWork
description: In this study, we have considered if, how, or to what extent emerging Christian expressions within the context of the Emerging Church (EC) movement, and related Emerging Missional partners and postcedents, might reform, contextualize, innovate, or revise Christian forms, language, practices, or doctrines to reform the church and inculturate the gospel in postmodern contexts, while retaining continuity and congruence with apostolicity and orthodoxy. We also wished to see if, how, or to what extent EC voices considered accountability to apostolicity and orthodoxy and, if not, to what they were accountable and also to what extent they remain authentically Christian. We have done so by examining the perspectives of leading EC authors, practitioners, and current and historical conversation partners including Vincent of Lérins and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, using historical, theological, ethnographic and narrative inquiry and analysis methods. Our review of literature from EC authors provides insights into debates that led to fracturing of the EC movement and that offer challenges to orthodoxy. Our analysis also reveals methods EC authors appealed to in order to justify their views, or defense or revisions of core historic doctrines. When they rarely appealed to orthodoxy, there were two common but divergent approaches in which orthodoxy was either viewed as a system of beliefs, in which one could treat orthodox doctrines trans-subjectively, or else as being subjectively grounded in the incarnate Christ, in which accountability to Christ was primarily evidenced in materialist acts. We also placed our analysis of key EC sources and their approaches to apostolicity and orthodoxy in conversation with the historical perspectives of Vincent of Lérins and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, as well as with current EC practitioners, via an ethnographic questionnaire. We found that Vincent’s method of consensual orthodoxy, instead of seeing orthodoxy as a system of universal beliefs, or as entirely s…
abstract: In this study, we have considered if, how, or to what extent emerging Christian expressions within the context of the Emerging Church (EC) movement, and related Emerging Missional partners and postcedents, might reform, contextualize, innovate, or revise Christian forms, language, practices, or doctrines to reform the church and inculturate the gospel in postmodern contexts, while retaining continuity and congruence with apostolicity and orthodoxy. We also wished to see if, how, or to what extent EC voices considered accountability to apostolicity and orthodoxy and, if not, to what they were accountable and also to what extent they remain authentically Christian. We have done so by examining the perspectives of leading EC authors, practitioners, and current and historical conversation partners including Vincent of Lérins and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, using historical, theological, ethnographic and narrative inquiry and analysis methods. Our review of literature from EC authors provides insights into debates that led to fracturing of the EC movement and that offer challenges to orthodoxy. Our analysis also reveals methods EC authors appealed to in order to justify their views, or defense or revisions of core historic doctrines. When they rarely appealed to orthodoxy, there were two common but divergent approaches in which orthodoxy was either viewed as a system of beliefs, in which one could treat orthodox doctrines trans-subjectively, or else as being subjectively grounded in the incarnate Christ, in which accountability to Christ was primarily evidenced in materialist acts. We also placed our analysis of key EC sources and their approaches to apostolicity and orthodoxy in conversation with the historical perspectives of Vincent of Lérins and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, as well as with current EC practitioners, via an ethnographic questionnaire. We found that Vincent’s method of consensual orthodoxy, instead of seeing orthodoxy as a system of universal beliefs, or as entirely s…
language: en
keywords: Apostolicity, Consensual Orthodoxy, Vincent of Lerins, Bonhoeffer, Emerging Church, UCTD
date published: 2018
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:52:53Z
provider: University of Pretoria
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Pretoria

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2263/66335