Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

to open a dialogue between modern and postmodern Christians, as well as between the Church and a
postmodern society. Because a majority of the current Western population has grown up in the shadow of
postmodernism, Emergents see the need to not only converse with the ideas of postmodernism, but
perhaps adapt to it as well. To go back to Tickle’s illustration of a “rummage sale,” opponents of the ECM
are apt to accuse Emergents of throwing everything away and making their own interpretation of scripture.
It is my opinion that what Emergents are saying is not really along the lines of “changing” scripture, but
rathe “responding” to it in a way that is relevant to the postmodern world in which we live. This is why,
from here on out, I will refer to the Emergent Church Movement as a “bridge” between the modern and
postmodern view of scripture. This bridge is constructed not to get modern Christians to cross over into
postmodernity, but rather it is created in order to receive ideas from either side. But, just as one cannot
build a city on a bridge, the ECM does not hope to create its denomination of Christianity. Rather, through
the exchange of ideas it hopes to create a new view of Christianity that engages scripture in a way that a
both a modern and postmodern believer can understand.
Emerging Story: Rob Bell’s Use of Scripture for Pastoral Authorship
One of the more prominent voices in the Emergent Church Movement is that of Rob Bell, Pastor
of Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Like the other author that will be examined in this report,
Rob Bell wouldn’t call his church an “Emergent Church,” but he falls under the blanket of Emergent
endorsement (“blanket of endorsement” is a term I will use for authors who do not label themselves as
Emergent, but are supported and praised by Emergent leaders like Brian McLaren and are thus aligned with
their way of thinking.) In his book, Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith, Bell writes about the Church’s
need to continue examining and reinterpreting scripture. Like an old “velvet Elvis” painting of years past,
what could be considered popular art of one time period, may not be appreciated or relevant in another
(like a modern view of scripture in a postmodern world.) Thus, Bell argues that doctrine and scripture
125