Beyond the Emerging Church: The End and the Beginning of a Movement (Paperback)

by Thomas Hohstadt (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Damah Media (May 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967294428
• ISBN-13: 978-0967294421
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,054,363 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Futurist Looks at Emergence, May 22, 2007

By	John La Grou - See all my reviews

Defining `religious emergence' is dicey and Hohstadt never attempts to categorically explain his notion of EC. Rather, he guides the reader with a continuous stream of inferences (vs. exposition) which allow his ideas and vision to unfold like a detective story. It's clear that Tom is writing to specific readers - those somewhat familiar with the concept of emergence in Xn faith, practice, and community. The reader may not always agree with the book's insight or conclusions, but anyone with a basic familiarity with the "emerging conversation" will find an immediate connection with this book.

While Hohstadt - a Fulbright scholar with four advanced degrees - possesses stellar academic credentials, his writing style is far from dry academia. Instead, this book is a synergy of conversation, information, inspiration, and the prophetic. Tom's writing is almost holographic in style: often non-linear, multi-dimensional, poetic. The reader will find a strong affinity with the work of Stan Grenz in BEC's observation that the ancient text "speaks for itself." That the Spirit speaking through text "transcends both interpreters and interpretations." That scripture "speaks only through the voice of the Spirit."

The Hebrew "damah," says Hohstadt, is poetic metaphor, or a 'way of knowing' that transcends normal religious logic and linear thinking. While he asserts the necessity of 'grounded knowing' he challenges us to move beyond static images: "...knowing is a cycle of grace, an ongoing rhythm of repentance - revelation - and interpretation... In this perpetual dialogue, [we] weave in and out of having answers and not having answers. Because our world is not so much a `Creation' as a `Creating'."

Hohstadt calls on the emerging movement to rediscover its damah, its poetic transparency, by pointing "beyond itself" - to remain free from static identities and tribal partitions. To become a clean slate "where events write on us rather than us writing on events.

He continues, "...behind the scenes, a new laity [is emerging]. They are spiritually yearning - yet institutionally alienated - trailblazers... they won't wait... they're moving beyond the religious sector. They're discovering the power of widespread creative networking... they're becoming inspired participants in the real world... they are leading Christianity into lands where old maps no longer work."

BEC reminds us that "rational knowledge was never the main power of Xnty"; that the "literal world was never the main reality"; that the "lecture hall was never the main Word".

Emergence describes a "living system, not a man-made institution" - an "organism, not an organization... it's still too soon to describe `what is.' We must instead allow the virtual conversation to emerge organically - always pointing to "what is coming to be."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poet - Prophet, May 23, 2007

By	Rex Miller "Rex Miller" (Dallas) - See all my reviews

I love reading Tom's books and especially this one. Tom's offers the insight of both a scholar and a poet. He reminds me of literary Bob Dylan. His ability to rip away the veneer of our practices and poetically penetrate my conscience make his books a delightful confrontation of my assumptions and motivations.

Tom also reminds me of a contemporary William Stringfellow. Tom provides a social conscience to our well intentioned enterprises - a compass to keep the main thing the main thing.