So I always wondered what someone might really have to say as far as a well formed, critical argument opposing the emergent church. I have been extremely interested in what has been posted on a blog by Matt Pritchard, an old friend who tends to do an excellent job of chronicling his journey. I found this http://www.apprising.org/archives/2006/1... on one of his blog posts. I haven’t had enough time to really formulate a response yet, though initially I see Ken Silva’s argument as having a narrow perspective of the emergent church, as is defined by the community I am a part of. We feel that the greatest incarnational work of Christ is that which is done to “the least of these” (see Matthew 25), and though Jesus claims to be “the way, the truth, and the life” (see John 14), I understand that to be the description the Jews of the Old Testament held for the Torah. You might consider this to be a “social” gospel, however to limit the revolutionary, redemptive, restorational, relational message of Christ as I understand it to solely this one aspect is similar to those who abide in a “once saved/always saved” mindset that states that since they have affirmed their belief in Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, that they can then live their lives with reckless abandon, which I am certain is just as much of a misrepresentation of Calvinist and reformed theology as limiting emergent culture into a “social gospel” is.
Well I suppose I had more to say than I thought, though I must say that in order to truly hear my response to this argument, or even to comprehend my understanding of the gospel, you must build a relationship with me, and be willing to build a relationship with Christ, the living breathing Word of God. For as any true “emergent” leader will tell you, it is only in an intimate community that challenges what we believe, that we can begin to discover the meaning of the gospel.

I’ve been studying his work for months now. Here is my Rob Bell archive and perhaps this will help you see what he teaches more clearly:

http://www.apprising.org/archives/rob_bell/index.html