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Celebrity Pastors, Bloggers, and Questions of Authority

The Elephant Room highlights the problem of authority in the contemporary church.

Shoot the Wolves from Harvest Bible Chapel on Vimeo.

Above is a video from last year's Elephant Room. The clip highlights a panel of popular pastors discussing the behavior of perceived "wolves" in the church and in Christian media.

During the first minute and thirty seconds, several members of the group react harshly against Christian bloggers as sources of doctrine or opinion. Painting them as limpwristed, "loving, inclusive guys" living "in their mom's basement," the group dismisses Internet-based writers as legitimate sources of doctrinal opinion or interpretation.

This dismissive response of a panel of high profile pastors to the general blogosphere garnered a sharp reaction by bloggers like Zack Hunt over at The American Jesus.

The small spat raises big questions. How does the church view authority in a digital environment? How do we determine if a given voice – whether blogger or pastor – is reliable to shape our theology ...

April
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