A couple of years ago I drew attention to a discussion on Grace-Centred Forums about the manifest demerits (‘Makes Leonard Sweet look like Splenda!’, ‘open sores theology’, ‘They think Jesus is the Penguin, not the Lamb, Who was slain from the foundations of the world’) and rare merits (thank you, ellisadam) of Open Source Theology and about the tendency for it to be confused with Open Theism. The thread was recently revived: ‘two years have gone by and I still have no idea 1) what Open Source Theology is 2) what the “emergent church” means 3) if is on the increase or decrease now?’ So I thought I would take the risk of addressing the matter directly on the forum, and since there is an ever-present need to clarify the nature and purpose of the whole ‘emerging church’ phenomenon, I have attached my posts below. I would be interested to hear how others see things.

Open Source Theology is mentioned in an article by Eric Krangel at newassignment.net along with a number of other open source religions. I think we just about get differentiated from Yoism, The Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn, and Discordianism.

This thread seems to be circling around some very important issues of first principles in the formation of Christian communities. I’d like to sketch out what I see to be these first principles.

Blessings through the Blood of Jesus Christ. Blood of Jesus Christ brings us victory. Lev 17:11 for the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you

There’s an article about open source religion and Open Source Theology by Tina Gasperson on NewsForge here.