Thursday, July 28, 2005

McLaren and Carson

Brian McLaren posted a review of Carson's Becoming Conversant with Emergent in order to clarify some things regarding him and Carson and to answer the question of whether or not the two of them are in dialogue. Here is an excerpt:

Although I had not attempted to contact Dr. Carson before the Cornerstone Festival, I have attempted to contact him since, and I'm glad to say that he responded promptly and has expressed willingness to converse further. I am hopeful that these conversations will remove misunderstandings and make points of agreement and disagreement more clear. . . .

In order to post this correction, I need to offer a rating. I've given the book 3 stars because, although I believe the book misinterprets my friends and me on some important points, it opens up important space for dialogue - and it offers some criticism which will be constructive and helpful. The book concludes with the hope that those of us in the emergent conversation will be open to correction, and I hope readers will be assured that we welcome critique, and will seek to learn from it all we can.