Concerning doctrine, Carson observes that both McLaren and Chalke deny the substitutionary nature of the atonement (Carson).

Carson writes, "The Gospel is deeply and unavoidably tied to truths, truths of various sorts. Our ability to know such truths (never exhaustively) and obey them turns on many factors: direct revelation from God (not least in matters concerning the nature and character of God), the illumination of the Spirit, and, for the ineluctable [not to be avoided] historical elements of the Gospel, on historical witnesses and the records they have left. And we increase such biblical faith by being crystal clear on the convincing nature of the evidence so graciously provided. Alternatively, the same presentation may simply repel some who hear us, precisely because it is truth itself that guarantees unbelief in the hearts and minds of some" (Carson).

The real question is this: will the future leaders of the Emerging church acknowledge that, while truth is always more than propositional, it is never less? Will they come to affirm that a core of non-negotiable doctrines constitutes a necessary set of boundaries to authentic Christian faith? Will they embrace an understanding of Christianity that reforms the evangelical movement without denying its virtues? (Mohler, "What Should We Think of the Emerging Church? Part 2," June 30, 2005, http://www.albertmohler.com/).

The ECM’s so-called spiritual renewal is nothing like the First and Second Great Awakenings, because those awakenings established Christian truth and biblical orthodoxy, while the EMC is, at best, indifferent to biblical truth, and very often hostile to it (David Wells, professor of theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Page Lectures at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, November 9 and 10, 2005. These lectures may be heard by going to http://sebts.edu/chapel/chapelMessages.cfm.

The Emergent church’s most distinctive characteristic voice is that it is spiritual, but not religious. The EMC is very superficial in the way it distinguishes modern from postmodern (David Wells, Page Lectures).

The EMC is very close to the postmodern sense of the loss of truth and meaning (David Wells, Page Lectures).

The EMC’s mood and attitude is contributing to the shaking of Christian orthodoxy, which is why Christian orthodoxy is fleeing the West (David Wells, Page Lectures).

As has so often been the case in the history of the church, what is essentially heretical is often initially accepted, applauded, and endorsed. This brings to mind the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s invitation to Brian McLaren to speak at the Kentucky Evangelism Conference in early 2005 (February 28 - March 1). Those who made the invitation, a year earlier, wanted a dynamic speaker, and they had been impressed with McLaren’s insights on reaching people in today’s postmodern culture. However, when they read A Generous Orthodoxy, and actually came to grasp some of McLaren’s real beliefs - particularly his position on salvation - the invitation was hastily withdrawn. As noted above (page 8), McLaren feels Christians should not jump to the conclusion that Jesus is the only way to salvation and, further, one can be a "follower" of Jesus and remain a Hindu or Buddhist. Remem-ber, often what appears to be attractive and desirable is actually evil. Even Satan can pose as an angel of light.