What Did the Priest Say?

Abby Monastery in Mission

I have raised the topic of the 'Emerging Church' with many people and I get a lot of blank stares. At best, they will say that they have heard the expression but admit that they do not know what it is . If one is not a Christian, and does not attend church, then it does not have any meaning or significance and is not an issue. For those of us who are Christians and do attend church, it is an issue of major significance and will sooner or later influence our thinking and our way of understanding the gospel, if it has not already.

I certainly do not claim to be an expert on this topic but it is of enough concern to me that I have been prompted to look into it. In my previous post, I made reference to the conversation I had on this topic as a result of a CD that was loaned to me. The Catholic monk (on the CD) was describing the emerging church and indeed promoting it. There is too much information to cover in a simple blog post, but it seems to be evident that two of the pillars of the new face of Christianity are universalism and ecumenism. For the uninitiated, universalism is the idea that all religions are true, valid, and lead the seeker to God. Ecumenism is the movement to amalgamate all denominations into one unified body, in particular, protestant and Catholic. The objective of promoting these two pillars of faith is to create a heaven on earth for all, through our accomplishments as a united front.

This movement is gaining momentum and is fraught with dangers. It is cloaked in well meaning sentiments and the familiar language of 'Christian speak' and its effects are being felt world wide. My personal belief is that there will be few Christians who will not succumb to its subtle apostasy because of its lofty ideals and because of the powerful and influential people it has drawn into its leadership.