Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why
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Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Phyllis Tickle (Author), Pam Ward (Narrator), christianaudio.com (Publisher)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 412 ratings
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Rooted in the observation that massive transitions in the church happen about every 500 years, Phyllis Tickle shows readers that we live in such a time right now.

She compares the Great Emergence to other "Greats" in the history of Christianity, including the Great Transformation (when God walked among us), the time of Gregory the Great, the Great Schism, and the Great Reformation.

Combining history, a look at the causes of social upheaval, and current events, The Great Emergence shows readers what the Great Emergence in church and culture is, how it came to be, and where it is going. Anyone who is interested in the future of the church in America, no matter what their personal affiliation, will find this book a fascinating exploration.

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  1. Listening Length
    5 hours and 11 minutes
  2. Author
    Phyllis Tickle
  3. Narrator
    Pam Ward
  4. Audible release date
    February 11, 2009
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    christianaudio.com
  7. ASIN
    B001SSV1BA
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 5 hours and 11 minutes
Author Phyllis Tickle
Narrator Pam Ward
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date February 11, 2009
Publisher christianaudio.com
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B001SSV1BA
Best Sellers Rank #142,527 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#65 in Christian Historical Theology (Audible Books & Originals)
#260 in History of Christianity (Audible Books & Originals)
#528 in Christian Church & Church Leadership

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
412 global ratings
500 Year Increment Cycles
5 Stars
500 Year Increment Cycles
I have posted as images what the author is talking about as far as her "500" year cycles that God as moved His people into a new direction. The authors history is correct, her subjective outcome as to where she believes God is taking us is way off base. Look at the authors background. She is a progressive Christian who like her and others wish to abolish the authority of the scriptures. The fruit she is (or lack of) offering is corruption. Yes the church is in a "kairos moment" and God is pressing the saints to walk in the light not the darkness that the author is sitting in. I would advise us all to be circumspect and walk circumspectly (Ephesians 5:15) as the Apostle Paul warns us to walk in. Let us walk in wisdom choosing to express the fruit of the spirit in all our actions.
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Top reviews from the United States

Christopher Aune
5.0 out of 5 stars Great survey of Christianity lending perspective to the current religious chaos, and an intelligent read
Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2014
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I especially recommend this book for those who have become dissatisfied with religious Christianity, and instead describe themselves as “spiritual, not religious.” It brings some perspective to the current chaos and competition among the Christian religions, and helped me gain some clarity as to my own position within the milieu.

Phyllis Tickle’s The Great Emergence is a broad-strokes description of how the Christian religion has gotten to where it is today and how it is currently going through another historical transformation. Tickle uses sophisticated language and some lite references to roughly survey of the evolution of changing authority behind Christian beliefs, including the authority of the Emperor Constantine to form a Bible and clear doctrines, of monasteries which preserved the Bible and doctrines through the Dark Ages and thus anchored them in culture, of the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch and the Roman Pope, and of the Bible as the “Word of God.” She also goes about briefly showing how Christianity debunks its own authorities about every 500 years (not on a strict schedule, but as cultural conditions change and in unison with cultural changes). She concludes with some very specific formative points of the new Emergent and Emerging Christianity, which is in process, but sadly those points get smothered in a lot of other discussion unless one is paying close attention.

Somewhat wordy, but well worth reading. Tickle’s book helps me to get a handle on the history of church and institutionalized religion and their relationship to several elements of current culture that are changing both church and religion. She also gave me some very specific ideas of some forces that are clearly influencing and forming the Christianity of the next 500 years.

This is a great book for the sincere spiritual seeker coming out of the Christian tradition. www.ChristopherAune.com
15 people found this helpful
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K. Franke Hill
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Emergence is a Great Read
Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2015
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The world is changing rapidly -- politically, culturally, religiously, economically, and philosophically. Living through these enormous shifts can be bewildering. Phyllis Tickle explains what is going on, how it fits a pattern in Western history, and give some thoughts on what the future may hold for us. Every 500 years Western, Latinized society goes through a huge shift. During these periods we wonder anew what it means to be human, where authority now lies, and how to function as a people; we lose aspects of life that have been meaningful to us even as new ways of living emerge. This book helps the reader understand what is going on and why. Very well written, engaging and easy to understand, The Great Emergence is a fine work that helps its audience find their footing in these challenging times.
8 people found this helpful
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Jim in NC
4.0 out of 5 stars The Church Cleans Out Its Attic
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2013
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Every 500 years or so, according to Phyllis Tickle, the Church "cleans out its attic." Five centuries ago, there was the Great Reformation. Five hundred years prior to the Reformation was The Great Schism. Five hundred years before the Great Schism takes us to the 6th century and the Fall of the Roman Empire as well as the time when Pope Gregory, building on the work of Benedict, guided Western Christianity into the monasticism that would characterize it for the next 5 centuries. NOW we find ourselves in the 21st century and The Great Emergence. If things happen as Tickle suggests, The Great Emergence will lead to an upheaval that will included a rethinking of the past 1500 to 1800 years of the Church's theology. The Western Church will become more Jewish and less Hellenistic. The author predicts, if I remember correctly, that there will come a time when 60% or more of North American Christians will be "emergent" and those who remain in the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches will have to adapt to the shifts. The book is thought-provoking and well worth reading, if also a bit unsettling for traditional Christians. Time will tell if its suggestions and visions of the future are accurate.
5 people found this helpful
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Jonathan L. Brink
5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Book For Understanding Emergence In The Church
Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2008
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Summary: Phyllis Tickle's, The Great Emergence is my choice for book of the year in 2008. Tickle carefully crafts the historical shifts and tipping points leading up to what she calls a rummage sale on the church. She answers three questions: What Is It, How did it come to be, and Where is it going? The defining question of all reformations is clear: Where is our authority? The book takes an important look at the events leading up to Sola Scriptura and the current events leading away from it.

The value of this book cannot be understated. It helps us understand not just what is happening but also why it is happening within our previous history and current social-religious systems. It's much more than a history book. It's a clear and concise look into the strings that moved and are moving the system.

The book breaks down three sections: What Is It, How did it come to be, and Where Is It Going? Each section builds on each other. The first gives the metaphor for understanding what is happening. The second gives us the nuts and bolts of why. This fifth chapter could easily be expanded and become a book in itself. If you read one chapter, let it be that. The diagrams Tickle uses are some of the best I've seen to really explain what is happening.

Jonathan Brink, author of  Discovering The God Imagination: Reconstructing A Whole New Christianity
7 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Account of the Present Day
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2021
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I have skimmed the first part of this book, and it truly appeals to my love of history and how history impacts the current day. This book seems to do all of that. Also, I received the shipment in plenty of time to prepare for our small group's first meeting coming up in two days. Thank you!
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Top reviews from other countries

John Goddard
5.0 out of 5 stars How Christianity is changing and why...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 14, 2015
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This is a really helpful, well-written, relatively brief overview and evaluation of some of the changes effecting the Christian Church in the early 21st century. Whilst clearly written in and for the North American context, The Great Emergence deserves a much wider readership and was largely relevant to the UK scene as well.

Phyllis Tickle's thesis is that every 500 years or so something occurs in Church history which effects a change so profound that a new era can be discerned. She refers to events in the 6th century, culminating in Pope Gregory the Great's support and encouragement for Monasticism - arguably Christianity's lifeline through the Dark Ages. The Great Schism of 1054 is the 11th century's defining moment, as the Western Catholic Church separates from the Eastern Orthodox Churches, The 16th century Great Reformation produces the seemingly never-ending variety and diversity of the Protestant traditions, as well as a renewed and reformed Roman Catholicism. And, so our author contends, the early 21st century is witnessing The Great Emergence of new ways of being and doing church. Sometimes referred to as Emerging Church or Emergent Church, these alternatives to the inherited structures of the existing churches and denominations are seen as offering hope for a new kind of church, as well as offering the prospect of a form of renewal and reformation of the inherited structures from which they have come.

The overview of church history was simple without being simplistic, and maintained a hopeful and optimistic outlook throughout. This will not be the only book you will need to read on the subject, but would make a good starting place for many.

Phyllis Tickle was an experienced and respected academic, writer and publisher, and was the founding editor of the religion department of Publishers Weekly. In 2015 she was diagnosed with lung cancer, and died in September 2015.
3 people found this helpful
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Richard
5.0 out of 5 stars Religion and Social Change
Reviewed in Canada on June 24, 2011
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I'm finding Phyllis Tickle's book, "The Great Emergence," difficult to put down and yet one that I want to have last as an experience. A difficult bind, especially given the fact that this is a relatively short and easily read book.

"The Great Emergence" views Christianity as a part of our culture that undergoes cyclical change about every five hundred years. She discusses the precursors of Christianity, earlier times of change, possible precipitants of a current and coming change, and likely outcomes. A fascinating point of view that leads to intellectually provocative conclusions.

I'll certainly recommend it to many people---including you.
One person found this helpful
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Julie Spence
5.0 out of 5 stars 5 star service
Reviewed in Australia on July 18, 2014
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Excellent service 5 star. Will use you again as local people didn't do so well with another book i wanted.
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Norman
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 22, 2016
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Not an easy read if you've not seen utube videos of Phyllis Tickle lecturing in Toronto and UK
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Trinity Essential Oil
4.0 out of 5 stars This book is starting out to be an interesting and ...
Reviewed in Canada on September 28, 2014
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This book is starting out to be an interesting and enlightening read. I'm motivated to become more knowledgable on the history of religions and especially the church.
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