About book The Great Emergence: How Christianity Is Changing And Why (2008)
I picked this up at the local library and was intrigued by its subtitle. I was disappointed by the book, however. The trends she noted within Christianity seem best suited for the "west", neglecting the slow march of progressive trends in Africa and South America. Throughout the book Christianity is almost always synonymous with Protestantism, as Orthodoxy and Catholicism received scant mention. (Discrediting sola scriptura would seem to have less importance in non-Protestant Christianity.) The Great Emergence, then, might be limited to mainline Protestant denominations within the United States, Canada, and Western Europe, making "great" somewhat of a misnomer. An excellent and very readable study of the huge transition we are in the middle of within Christianity. Phyllis Tickle sets The Great Emergence of today in its historical context, indicating other previous major transitions. The author provides a fascinating outline of the varied factors contributing to this paradigm shift. Although essentially written from an American perspective the book provides scenarios that can be mirrored in other Western Christian contexts. Further to reading this book I watched a number of Phyllis Tickle 's YouTube presentations on this topic.
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Tickle does a great job of putting the 21st century emergence into a historical perspective.
—Towel
Very thought provoking although I don't agree with her conclusive predictions.
—stephanie
This will be a study in our Episcopal Church in WA during Lent 2009.
—mairead
