In the Five Perspectives on Emerging Churches, Mark Driscoll opens the book/debate format with a classy and strong affirmation of central biblical truths. His chapter is entitled The Emerging Church and Biblicist Theology. My own theological tradition has a lot in common with Driscoll’s perspective, since we are part of the larger Reformed world. Driscoll echoes themes that most, if not all (unfortunately, one can no longer trust the description reformed in this day) Reformed theologians and pastors would affirm, such as the atonement, a doctrine of a literal hell, the centrality of Scriptures (Mark calls himself a biblicist; perhaps following John Frame’s description), the God of Scriptures revealed in the Trinity, and a basic outline of the five points of Calvinism. Driscoll, in typical Framian fashion, bombards the reader (in a positive way) with biblical footnotes of biblical quotations. The section is saturated with biblical language, which differentiates Driscoll almost immediately from the other writers’ style. Mark believes that continuing to preach the same orthodox message in this generation still and will always bear fruit. As an example he offers his own situation (35), as he concludes:
Some people will argue that these traditional doctrines are no longer useful in our postmodern age of pluralism. Yet I can assure you that after preaching on these themes for ten years in one of America’s youngest, most liberal, and least Christian cities, that the unchanging gospel is still changing lives, especially those of young lost people. for example, I preached a three-month series on the atonement with the sermons lasting well over an hour, and I saw our attendance swell by over eight hundred in the first three weeks as people wept throughout the sermons, confessed their sins and gave their lives to Jesus (35).
Driscoll concludes with these words with evangelical zeal:
…a new theology does not need to emerge, but rather a renewed faith in and passion for the timeless truths of Scripture that empower us to live like Jesus for the benefit of other people (35).
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