Mike Wittmer

Category: Emergent Church

  • conversation with Kevin

    Kevin: I will try not to repeat the questions and comments from Bill and Doug, which I agree with, but will attempt to respond to your points and concerns with a few observations.  Thanks again for indulging us and our questions.  Your responses have helped me to better appreciate your perspective and what you heard in…

  • my question answered

    Yesterday Kevin Corcoran, a philosophy professor at Calvin College, kindly responded to my previous post about my unanswered question at the Symposium of Worship’s Emergent panel.  I think that his long and thoughtful response deserves its own page rather than to be buried in the comments section, so I am reposting it here, along with…

  • my unanswered question

    Yesterday I had the privilege of being a respondent on the “Exploring the Emerging Church” panel at Calvin’s Symposium on Worship.  The presenters were three emergent leaders:  Jason Clark, a Vineyard pastor in England; Peter Rollins, the leader of an emergent gathering (Ikon) in Ireland; and Kevin Corcoran, a philosophy professor at Calvin College.  These…

  • the vital spot

    A self-described emergent Christian wrote a guest editorial in today’s Grand Rapids Press about me and a certain retired pastor.  I won’t respond to it because a) I said I wouldn’t; b) there is nothing to comment on, as there is no issue or controversy between us; and c) I don’t trust people not to…

  • real conversation

    Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit a Cornerstone class that is role playing its way through Don’t Stop Believing.  Four people address the topic of each chapter, with two representing a modern conservative viewpoint and two arguing for a postmodern innovator perspective.  They looked like they were having fun, and it was a special…

  • evangelical universalism?

    Here is a book review that I published in the current issue of the Calvin Theological Journal (November, 2008).  I do not think that it is available online, and I suspect that most of you don’t subscribe to CTJ.  But since you may be interested in the subject, I thought that I would post it…

  • “as much” or “more than”?

    This week I had a conversation with a friend who is somewhere in the Emergent field.  At one point in our discussion he said, “You probably aren’t going to like this, but I value the conversation more than being right.” What troubles me about his comment is the phrase “more than.”  If “conversation” reflects the…

  • the charity of clarity

    My class on the Reformation wrapped up today with a look at the Baptist denomination, which arose from within the Puritanism of 17th century England.  Near the end of the class we peeked ahead to the GARBC split from the Northern Baptists in 1932.  As I prepared for the class, I was struck again by…

  • the bottom line

    My new book, Don’t Stop Believing: Why Living Like Jesus Is Not Enough, examines the most hotly contested issues of our day:  Is it possible to know anything?; Does the kingdom of God include non-Christians?; Is hell for real and forever?; Must you believe something to be saved?; Can you belong before you believe?; Is…

  • emergent christians and sexual ethics

    Here is a recent blog post from Tony Jones, the director of Emergent Village.  Any thoughts on his newfound view?  The post can be accessed at http://blog.beliefnet.com/tonyjones/2008/11/same-sex-marriage-blogalogue-h.html.