Great Emergence, The: How Christianity Is Changing and Why (emersion: Emergent Village resources for communities of faith) | 
 enlarge | Author: Phyllis Tickle
Publisher: Baker Books
Category: Book
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Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 2450
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 176
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.8
ISBN: 0801013135
Dewey Decimal Number: 270.83
EAN: 9780801013133
ASIN: 0801013135
Publication Date: October 1, 2008
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Product Description
Rooted in the observation that massive transitions in the church happen about every 500 years, Phyllis Tickle shows readers that we live in such a time right now. She compares the Great Emergence to other "Greats" in the history of Christianity, including the Great Transformation (when God walked among us), the time of Gregory the Great, the Great Schism, and the Great Reformation. Combining history, a look at the causes of social upheaval, and current events, The Great Emergence shows readers what the Great Emergence in church and culture is, how it came to be, and where it is going. Anyone who is interested in the future of the church in America, no matter what their personal affiliation, will find this book a fascinating exploration.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 Noticed the serious problems with her thesis? November 26, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
There simply is no real evidence to support her thesis. Gregory the Great as the creator of a great emergence of monasticism? Nonsense. Monasticism emerged in the 3rd century and there was a slow but steady growth of the church and of monasticism throughout the first 1,500 years. Gregory the Great was famous for lots of things. But there was no Great Emergence.
And can the schism between the Latin and Eastern churches be called a "Great Emergence"? What the heck emerged? No theology, no new moral changes; indeed, many of the various Eastern churches quietly returned to full communion with the Roman church without any noticeable changes. So, mostly, it was a political spat.
No, there is only one era that could be called a "Great Emergence" and that was the Protestant reformation. And I cannot see how you can take that one instance and call it a trend for change every 500 years.
Moreover, although Tickle is a good writer and she posits a number of intriguing theories, she is crippled by her narrow viewpoint. Again and again she mistakes a small number of liberal believers in America for the world itself.
The growth in religion is in places like Africa and Asia. There, membership is extraordinary, an explosion unimaginable here in America or in the new dark continent for religion: Europe. And it is an explosion of traditional religion, conservative, orthodox religion.
Moreover, what emergence is even going on here? Liberal denominations are shrinking to size of peas and blowing away. Surely she can't think anything will come from the ranks of those ancient citizens--feminist nuns in their 70's, gay bishops lording it over nonexistent churchgoers, and hippie theologians no one reads anymore. Are you kidding?
No, what is emerging here in the US is...ta dum...no religion. If you look at the statistics for the young--that is, the future--you find a group of theological illiterates. Bookstores are stocked with books on wicca, psychics, magic crystals, revivals of pagan religions, and magical books on how to believe your way to great wealth.
A "Great Emergence" it is not.
 Great Springboard for Discussion November 18, 2008
Phyllis Tickle's books are always intelligent and thought-provoking. "The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why" is no exception. Following in the footsteps of the Papacy of Gregory the Great (@ 590), the Great Schism (1054) and the Great Reformation (1517), the Great Emergence refers to the massive changes going on in the Christian faith and society at large in our present day. As Tickle puts it, every 500 years the Church has a massive rummage sale during which the old ways are cast off and a new way of being Christian comes to the forefront. As Tickle emphasizes, however, "no standing form of organized Christian faith has ever been destroyed by one of our semi-millenial eruptions. Instead, each simply has lost hegemony or pride of place to the new and not-yet-organized form that was birthing."
Tickle offers a historical overview of the three previous upheavals, with a special focus on the Reformation as it is the transformation that immediately precedes our current era. There are parallels between the two, especially in that increased forms of communication made both possible. The invention of movable type made possible the widespread dissemination of ideas via the printed word. In many ways, this brought the Reformation into being. Everyone could now have a Bible. By the same token, modern communication advances such as the radio, television, and perhaps most importantly, the internet, have encouraged communication among different branches of Christianity and exposure to other faith traditions.
Tickle explores the many pivotal people, things, and ideas that have contributed to the Great Emergence. Among these were Darwin, Faraday, Freud, and Jung, new forms of communication, the increased use of the automobile, a rediscovery of the historical Jesus, communism, World War II, changing roles of women, the drug age and the birth control pill. Tickle doesn't pass judgment on any of these developments. She simply reports on the many changes they brought to society in general and Christianity in particular.
The last section of this book, "Where is it Going?" is the most speculative. Tickle divides Christianity into four main areas: Liturgicals, Social Justice Christians, Renewalists, and Conservatives. No one quadrant is the sole domain of any one denomination. Rather, there are Christians of many denominations in all four. In the middle is the convergence, the new way of being Christian, that is developing.
"The Great Emergence" is an excellent sociological and historical study of a Christianity in flux. It provides a springboard for much discussion.
Very Helpful, and Worthy of Vigorous Debate November 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Before The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why appeared on the shelves at the local bookstore it was on my radar screen. I've read Phyllis Tickle's work in the past and have been amazed at her command of the language. Her ability to translate complex ideas and vivid images into captivating prose is undoubtedly impressive, and her latest work is no exception. The ideas contained in The Great Emergence cannot be ignored, and will surely be of vast importance for "emergers," "emergents," and the "hyphenateds" (Presby-mergents, Metho-mergent, etc.) as the church charges into the future.
After naming the historical reality in which we stand "The Great Emergence," Tickle states her task as answering three questions, "What is this thing?", "How did it come to be?", and "Where is it going?" The church, according to Tickle, stands in the midst of a giant rummage sale. This rummage sale is not the first of its kind, as each of the great Abrahamic faiths have been through this before. These moments have come about in history at approximately five hundred year intervals. Quoting the Anglican bishop Mark Dyer, Tickle states, "about every five hundred years the empowered structures of institutionalized Christianity, whatever they may be at the time, become an intolerable carapace that must be shattered in order that renewal and new growth may occur." Now, Tickle believes, is one of those times. Tickle generalizes three results each time one of these historic shifts has occurred. According to her analysis: (1) a more vital form of Christianity emerges, (2) organized expressions are reconstituted into a more purified expression of the former self, and (3) the "the range and depth of Christianity's reach" expands.
To support her argument Tickle provides a broad historical sketch. Her markers in history include the rise of Gregory the Great and the monastic movement in the 500s, the Great Schism which occurred near 1000 AD, the Great Reformation of the 1500s, and, now, the Great Emergence. During each period she uses a tethered cable as a helpful analogy which consists of four components. The exterior of the cable is a mesh sleeve, represents the common imagination of the time. Once punctured, lying beneath that common imagination are three strands representative of the spirituality, corporeality, and morality of the age. Tickle's examination of each designated time period show how an individual, a group of individuals, or some historic event punctures the common imagination and brings about the reexamination of each of these three strands, raising new questions pertaining to authority, reality, and meaning in the world. When challenges arise, a new common imagination must be formulated which will guide existence within reality. As this occurs, the process can be painful and discomforting. Yet, purgation leads to purification.
According to Tickle, the two central questions of the Great Emergence are: "(1) What is human consciousness and/or the humanness of the human? and (2) What is the relation of all religions to one another--or, put another way, how can we live responsibly as devout and faithful adherents of one religion in a world of many religions?" Tickle further asserts, "the other great truth here is that we can not be said to have truly entered into any kind of post-Emergence stability until we have answered both of them." Interestingly for Tickle the question is one of plurality, or the truth of plurality. In order to negotiate this question one must wrestle with the location of authority. The dilemma of authority today is present not only in Christianity, but in the world at large. Tickle is right to point us in this direction.
In an attempt to explain how we got here, Tickle traces important philosophical, sociological, theological, scientific, and technological developments including Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, Einstein's theory of relativity, the advent of the automobile, the shifting relationship of families, the rise of the drug culture in the 1960s, the quest for the historical Jesus, and the rise of Pentecostalism. All of these factors, in a way, eroded the Reformation foundation of authority, sola Scriptura.
To address her final question, "Where is it going?", Tickle provides a quadrilateral to serve as a guide. In each of the four quadrants (moving from upper left, clockwise to lower left) she locates Christians on Liturgical, Social Justice, Renewalist, and Conservative terrain. The Great Emergence has brought about a stirring in each of these four quadrants, drawing leaders in each area in to a gathering center. As this gathered center begins to draw more and more people of like mind together the church becomes primed for renewal, though this new reality is turbulent and challenging. The church together must navigate these new frontiers, with traditionalists, re-tradition-ers, progressives, and hyphenateds engaging in constructive dialogue which paves the way forward.
As this pattern emerges, Tickle turns to the sources of authority in this new environment. Here she defines and explores two terms, "orthonomy" (correct harmony & beauty) and "theonomy" (only God can be the source of perfection in action or thought). Under this context she explores how Christians in the Great Emergence will define authority underneath these categories, offering that authority is established in Scripture and Community. Authority becomes a dynamic conception based on a network theory or crowd sourcing, and levels hierarchical structures which have carried the day in the past. Christian communities will become a centered set rather than a bounded set, will emphasize narrative, and will return to Hebraic roots of the Christian faith, purging Hellenistic influences which have defined certain aspects of Christian belief and doctrine. Tickle's ideas are complex and defy simplification. I recommend you read them.
Tickle's book is a good one. At times I found places where her argument could be strengthened, though not to the detriment of the whole. This book should be read by practitioners and church leaders seeking a way forward and then discussed with fervor. There will be moments when one may strongly agree or disagree with her argument, but Tickle must be contended with. We stand at the precipice of a new age, which in and of itself is not a new dilemma. Christian people must seek to be faithful in that age. A debt of gratitude is owed to Tickle for how her ideas might sharpen our thinking, strengthen our practice, and spur us on to greater deeds.
Read this book.
Keep moving October 31, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
To move is to emerge, and become what you are destined to be. HOORAY for writers like Tickle who amuse and amaze you with their insights on the church's future. Don't dispair, there is HOPE for the future if we go back to the basics and learn to love our neighbors and to care for the poor.
a better-than-average emergence October 29, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Much of what Tickle's book is can be summarized in her own statement capturing the sentiment of Anglican bishop, Mark Dyer: ". . . that the only way to understand what is currently happening to us as twenty-first-century Christians in North America is first to understand that about every five hundred years the Church feels compelled to hold a giant rummage sale" (16). Indeed, this is a more accurate reflection that might initially be recognized and Tickle's rendering of church and history follow along such lines.
The book itself is rather accessible, though most laity and less-than-averagely-interested clergy will find parts of it difficult to follow. This is a shame as much of this readership would otherwise be greatly interested in the material and could certainly benefit from understanding the current climate of the church a little bit better. So I will have to hesitate on where to recommend this as a read, though initially I thought it would be a book for many in such a position. Further, the overall structure of the book can become confusing to the reader, especially the large sweeps through history on a thematic level. Such a presentation lends itself to a back-and-forth telling of selective history and sometimes loses the reader (I found at certain points if I wasn't paying close enough attention I was mixing up time periods).
These critiques aside, what one does find in the book is an interesting presentation of the changing Protestant climate in North America. Further, the evaluation of the socio-religious climate is quite helpful in understanding the whys and whats of the *emerging* movement. Much of the bread and butter of this book is found in Part 3, where Tickle works on how the movement is working now and where it is likely to head as it unfolds. And while the rummage sale of the church does not render the previous forms of the faith useless, it does change up the in-house decorating of what this generation of believers look like.
Although the *great emergence* is a very uncertain and unsettling process for many, Tickle does well to remind the reader throughout that these movements are necessary and vital to the overall work of the church. She asserts that this leads to a "more vital form of Christianity" (17), that it breaks down the encrusted dogmatism of the previous generation, and that it energizes the church and leads to the spread of the gospel. And she backs these three assertions up with the great 500 year moments in the history of the church.
My primary caveat to a book like this is that it is quite difficult to understand and properly evaluate a movement which we are currently experiencing. With *emergent* Christianity, it seems that everyone is jumping ahead quickly to assert the significance of their approach to the faith and to be the first and best to characterize the movement itself. Although no book can critique the current landscape without hitting some of these snags, Tickle does a really good job at navigating away from such pitfalls (she comes close a few times, but that's my critique). It would do the *emergent* crowd well to move forward with great humility before God (some do and others don't), and not get ahead of themselves on their own impact.
In the end, this is a good book with a good message, though not without its own faults. How emergent of itself.
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