Without equivocation or hesitation I fully and completely admit that I deny the resurrection of Christ. This is something that anyone who knows me could tell you, and I am not afraid to say it publicly, no matter what some people may think…

I deny the resurrection of Christ every time I do not serve at the feet of the oppressed, each day that I turn my back on the poor; I deny the resurrection of Christ when I close my ears to

the cries of the downtrodden and lend my support to an unjust and corrupt system.

However there are moments when I affirm that resurrection, few and far between as they are. I affirm it when I stand up for those who are forced to live on their knees, when I speak for those who have had their tongues torn out, when I cry for those who have no more tears left to shed.

Peter Rollins on his blog.

Shane Claiborne

I have been asked a few times about the connection between Shane Claiborne and the Emerging Church. Now th at m

ay also be a new questio

n to some, but an interesting one none the less. Claiborne recently visited Gothenburg and is becoming a well known personality also on this side of the Atlantic. So how can one answer the question? Well first of all it is hard to define the emerging church. How can one take a whole movement and then put Claiborne in it. So lets forget about emerging church and look at Shane Claiborne and emerging church personalities.

Brian Mclaren and Rob Bell

Brian Mclaren writes the following in his lastest blog post for sojourners:

“That prayerful hope came back to me the other day when I read a post by a good friend. He suggested we should advise everybody and endorse nobody.”

The good friend he is referring to is Shane Claiborne.

Lets look what Rob Bell says concerning Shane Claiborne. In his book SexGod, Bell writes the following in the footnotes:

“I call him for my friend, but he is also a hero and a profet. Shane Claiborne lives in Philadelfia and wrote a book called “the irresistable revolution.” (my translation from the Swedish edition)

So just based on these two examples from two of the most influential Emerging Church Leaders, we see the freindship between Claiborne and emerging church.

The same theology

If we look at the theology emerging in Claibornes two books; Jesus for presisdent and Irresistable revolution, it is clear that it has its roots in Brian Mclarens and Rob Bells theology. I could also draw the similarities between Claiborne and other Emerging Church personalities such as Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones. But that I will in some other post.

If familiar with Claiborne what are your thoughts on his theology and do you see the connection to Emerging Church?