A Sociology of Mystic Practices: Use and Adaptation in the Emergent Church

This book investigates the process of spiritual borrowing between the emergent church (EC) and the Christian mystical tradition. From its inception the EC has displayed interest in mystic practices but the exact nature of this interest or how these practices are appropriated and reinterpreted in the EC context has not been researched. My research shows that the emergent church is appropriating Christian mystic practices by investing these practices with their own theological content. The practices themselves are changed to fit in their new context showing that EC belief shapes EC behavior. My study adds a new case study perspective to the sociological examination of the process of spiritual borrowing especially through close inspection of how a spiritual practice changes to fit a new theological context. Additionally my book contributes to the study of the complex relationship between belief and behavior.