Comments on: Lover’s Quarrel: A Book Review

By: Ben Sternke

Ben Sternke — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:51:35 +0000

Thanks for the comment, Warren. I think one of the problems with talking about “emerging” church is that it really is a kind of amorphous blob. I’ve generally stopped using the word because of that.

On “post-modernism,” Jim Belcher has shed light on how many times “emerging” and “traditional” churches end up talking past one another because of divergent definitions of the term. To one it simply means “hyper-modernism” (i.e. modernism taken to its logical extremes – ala Postman, ala everything you write against in your book). But there are others who talk about it as a break from modernism, as a kind of repentance for modernism – ala everything you advocate FOR in your book. If you haven’t read it, Deep Church would be worth your time, I think.

Another book that says many of the same things you’ve said, but from a more “anabaptisty” perspective, is David Fitch’s The Great Giveaway.

Again, Warren, I appreciate you taking the time to interact with my review of your book. Thanks for writing it! One other thing that I appreciated in the book was your distinguishing between the methods and ethos of the First Great Awakening and those of the Second. It was illuminating.

By: Warren Cole Smith

Warren Cole Smith — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:52:09 +0000

Thanks for this generous review. (And thanks, too, to Melissa, for her encouraging comment.) I’ll add two comments: FIRST, you’re right that I essentially reject the notion of post-modernism as something “new.” I have found no definition of, or differentiation of, post-modernism that I have found convincing, though I would agree with Neil Postman that the TV age has changed the way we communicate so that we now have significantly retarded our capacity for complex, abstract thought. Perhaps that will end up being a “new” thing, though it’s too early to tell. SECOND: You’re also right that I “lump” emergents and Osteen and Rick Warren and even the prosperity gospel guys together even though they are — I readily admit — very differrent on the surface. But they are the SAME in a few essential particulars that are central to “A Lover’s Quarrel.” Most importantly, they all succumb to sentimentality, which is to say: they are their own gods when it comes to defining how God works in the world.

I’m honored that you took so much time with the ideas in “A Lover’s Quarrel.” Thanks for your thoughtful and generous assessment.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:31:13 +0000

I read this book last month and I’m pretty sure God used it as a tool towards my ever-ongoing sanctification – not just as ammo for someone who would have otherwise mouthed off rashly against the evangelical church, but as an example for how anyone really seeking to follow Christ should act towards it. Warren Cole Smith sets an example as a thoughtful, educated, enlightened, patient, unhurried, trusting writer standing firm in the truth of God’s word. Thanks for the public recommendation. God bless.