Getting a Brain for the Postmodern Straw Man...

It has been a while since I posted a blog... The following post was written as a response in the comment section of a recent post on author Peter Rollins' blog. Peter Rollins' Blog

I appreciate the provocative and unapologetically confrontational nature of Peter’s original post! As with others who replied, I immediately recognized the clearest example of who who the author was referring to in his critique of preachers who promote the idea of “a cage-fighting, bodybuilding Jesus” [ie. Mark Driscoll, whose podcast I enjoy despite significant doctrinal and ideological disagreement]…

Rollins direct refutation of such poorly crafted theological posturing is a beautiful thing and I hope we can see more of it in the future. I've run across too many examples in recent years of neo-Reformed Piper disciples spreading some truly toxic rhetoric to characterize the ideas of people like Peter Rollins, Brian McLaren, and Rob Bell [ex. Driscoll's unapologetic use of critical hyperbole in generalizing that McLaren's writings that are both heretical and “destructive to the church.”] I have been waiting for a long time for the the wrongly accused (or perhaps a few of their capable surrogates) to just the type of rebuttal Rollins gave in his blog to push back against the rampant straw man characterizations of postmodern and emergent theological ideas often being peddled in particular corners of the church (ex. Why We’re Not Emergent by DeYoung & Cluck and Becoming Conversant with the Emergent Church by D.A. Carson are some of the worst examples I've run across in recent years].

More of us must be willing to clearly articulate and defend genuine articulations of postmodern/emergent theology compared with the misrepresentations of our ideas by some in the conservative/evangelical/Reformed/fundamentalist camp that has risen up in recent years. The common progressive tendency is to search for the good in an opponent’s arguments and attempt to build a consensus on whatever points of agreement can be found. Unfortunately, the argument with Driscoll and the like are rarely made in good faith and often shift abruptly to a false categorization or misrepresentation of the true nature of the disagreement.

Can anyone actually point to a single example of even the most passionate emergent progressive who would actually describe their beliefs to include the theological caricature of Jesus of Nazareth bearing the slightest resemblance to the effete embarrassment Driscoll usually describes as the limp-wrist, feminine postmodern Jesus with "product in his hair? NO! This is a make-believe sketch Driscoll is projecting upon emergent/postmodern theology that has been created and repeated ad nauseum, despite bearing ZERO resemblance to any objective reality among REAL emergent/postmodern believers. It’s long past the time for more people to characterize such arguments as the misrepresentative mistakes they truly are.

Perhaps we can finally respond with a “Great Rebuttal” to this wave of false witnesses. I've got my finger's crossed!

- S.