8
01
2007
For a bit of lighthearted fun, I came across this quiz at Paul’s blog, to test your theological worldview. So here are my results:
You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don’t think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this.
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Emergent/Postmodern
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93% |
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Neo orthodox
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79% |
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Classical Liberal
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64% |
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Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan
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61% |
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Roman Catholic
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54% |
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Charismatic/Pentecostal
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50% |
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Modern Liberal
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29% |
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Fundamentalist
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11% |
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Reformed Evangelical
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7% |
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The description for my second place is:
You are neo-orthodox. You reject the human-centredness and scepticism of liberal theology, but neither do you go to the other extreme and make the Bible the central issue for faith. You believe that Christ is God’s most important revelation to humanity, and the Trinity is hugely important in your theology. The Bible is also important because it points us to the revelation of Christ. You are influenced by Karl Barth and P T Forsyth.
Both descriptions are interesting - McLaren (yes that is him in the picture) is one of the authors I am reading and hugely enjoying at the moment, and Karl Barth has also been very influential from my theological study. Not sure the results totally accurate, but actually not a bad stab from a short quiz (and we all know what quizzes can be like …). All the categories are characterisations (I do have emerging sympathies, but don’t feel alienated from older forms of church), and the questions can be pretty ambiguous (I don’t think that “speaking in tongues is one of the most important parts of being saved”, but that doesn’t mean I am abandoning my charismatic roots).
I am surprised that classic liberal is so high as I don’t identify with the description at all (I guess there are some questions that I agree with that mark me high on this, but are ambiguous - “Jesus is a great moral teacher, whose example we should follow” - but that doesn’t mean he isn’t other things too …):
You are a classical liberal. You are sceptical about much of the historicity of the Bible, and the most important thing Jesus has done is to set us a good moral example that we are to follow. Doctrines like the trinity and the incarnation are speculative and not really important, and in the face of science and philosophy the surest way we can be certain about God is by our inner awareness of him. Discipleship is expressed by good moral behaviour, but inward religious feeling is most important.
So what is clear: I am not a fundamentalist, or in the way that this quiz is using the term, a reformed evangelical. Well it got that right!
Anyone else want to give this a go, and let us in on your results?
not bad for a quizz i thought
I enjoyed doing it! Thanks for posting on your site, and popping into mine! I have enjoyed lurking on yours a bit, trying to learn a bit about this blogging lark!
ah the lark of blogging… best tips I knicked from Mr Clark
http://paulmayers.blogs.com/my_weblog/2006/11/healthy_blog_co.html
and then hung around for awhile to learn how he put them into practice… in fact I’m still learning
Thanks Paul. They are some great tips on blogging, in my very limited experience! I enjoy hanging round Jason’s blog too … in fact my “blogs i am slalking” list is growing, so must update on my blog…
here are my results:
emergent/postmodern 79%
classical liberal 68%
evangelical holiness/wesleyan 68%
charismatic/pentecostal 64%
modern liberal 57%
It feels funny being labelled as emergent/postmodern when i dont have a flipping clue what that means! To be honest, i didnt really understand a lot of the questions! still, quite fun.
Hey James - thanks for posting your results. Not sure there is an easy or quick answer to that … have you read any of Brian McLaren?
Postmodernity is a cultural change happening in society from the certainly and rationality of modernity. Emerging church is a very diverse movement, but at it its best is an attempt to contextualise church in this new emerging culture … to make church relevant to that culture.
right here you are then:
emergent/postmodern 93%
evangelical holiness/wesleyan 64%
classical liberal 50%
neo orthodox 50%
modern liberal 43%
hey anna,
glad to see you are as dodgy as me!
Thanks for posting your results.
Emergent/Postmodern 86%
Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 79%
Neo orthodox 57%
Classical Liberal 57%
Modern Liberal 39%
Charismatic/Pentecostal 36%
Reformed Evangelical 29%
Fundamentalist 11%
Roman Catholic 11%
Pastor, can you explain ot me what Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan means? I like the sound of neo-orthodox. Amused that I’m not charasmatic after all . . . what a relief!
Hey Dan … everyone seems to be emerging / postmodern. Interesting eh? Not sure i like being called pastor, and am thinking about some form of excumincation (just joking!), but i suppose i should answer!!!
So Evangelical / Wesleyan … still evangelical, but more armenian, than Calvinist (reformed evangelical). In practice this means a much greater emphasis on free will and choice, the gospel available for all people (rather than just the chosen) etc.