Thanks for writing this, great illustrations and great explainer. I think I would put Mark Driscoll more to the left, just my observation:)

[...] March 5, 2010 by Gregg Caruso I found this to be an interesting depiction of the various components of Christian orthodoxy in the 21st century (of course everyone THINKS they’re orthodox!). I came across this recently in  a post by C. Michael Patton. [...]

Wow, what a great exposition of a very slippery topic. Just one thing I’ll ding you for: you couldn’t think of a single phundamentalist who falls outside orthodoxy? Big chicken!

Thanks for the words on MacArthur’s “Truth War” book. It was sorely unthoughtful, totally unhelpful, poorly written, and deliberately divisive, and epistemologically absurd. Proof that there is a big difference between what a man know and what he only THINKs you knows.

Thanks for this post! You helped me to minister to those I serve through this post. Thank you for your investment of time, energy, and focus. Thanks!

Hi,

Wow, that was a huge writing project. I got into it, but must come back later to glean from the rest.

I attended the Emergent Village Conf. in Albuquerque in March, 2009.
I had a number of questions, as many others do. This conference was helpful and there was the sweet Spirit of Jesus among the almost 1000 attending. It was a great learning opportunity for everyone.

It was a joint Protestant/Catholic event; age range 15-85 years. There are several websites that have described how meaningful this event was for those who attended.

One person to check out is Dr. Phyllis Tickle. She has some online videos.
Her theological/historical look at history and the church is most helpful in beginning to understand what she has termed: ‘Emerging Christianity’.
Her book: The Great Emergence might be helpful to many as well.

Thanks for your effort here.

Keep at it–in Him!

I’ve been meaning to get around to reading this for some time. Thank you, Michael…for such a clearly-written series. It has helped me sort through an issue I have struggled to understand for some time. It has also helped me get over the anxiety attached to needing to know which labels apply to me as a Christian and how important (or unimportant) those labels may be.

[...] 25 Micheal Patton wrote a very long blog post in which is draw a diagram where different people were put in a line [...]