EVANGELICALS TURNING TO CATHOLIC "SPIRITUALITY"
Pastor Dale Morgan
EVANGELICALS TURNING TO CATHOLIC "SPIRITUALITY"*
By: David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service
Everywhere we look evangelicals are turning to Roman Catholic styles of
contemplative spirituality (which in many cases were borrowed from pagan
sources), such as ritualistic rote prayers, chanting, meditation,
mindless centering prayer, the use of prayer beads, the Stations of the
Cross, lectio divina, labyrinths, and "the daily office."
The cover story for the February 2008 issue of Christianity Today was
"The Future Lies in the Past," and it describes the "lost secrets of the
ancient church" that are being rediscovered by evangelicals. The ancient
church in question happens to be the Roman Catholic, beginning with the
so-called "church fathers" of the early centuries.
The article observes that many young evangelicals dislike both
"traditional" Christianity" and the seeker sensitive churches.
Traditional Christianity is described as too focused on "being right,"
too much into "Bible studies" and "apologetics materials." Instead, the
young evangelicals are lusting after "a renewed encounter with a God"
that goes beyond "doctrinal definitions." This, of course, is a perfect
definition of mysticism. It refers to experiencing God beyond the
boundaries of Scripture.
Christianity Today recommends that evangelicals "stop debating" and just
"embody Christianity." Toward this end they should "embrace symbols and
sacraments" and dialogue with "Catholicism and Orthodoxy"; they should
"break out the candles and incense" and pray the "lectio divina" and
learn the Catholic" ascetic disciplines" from "practicing monks and nuns."
Christianity Today says that this "search for historic roots" will lead
"to a deepening ecumenical conversation, and a recognition by
evangelicals that the Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox are fellow
Christians with much to teach us."
This is a no holds barred invitation to Catholic mysticism, and it will
not lead to light but to the same darkness that has characterized Rome
throughout its history, and it will lead beyond Rome to the paganism
from which Rome originally borrowed its "contemplative practices."
The January 2001 issue of Christianity Today contained a lengthy
description by Mennonite pastor Arthur Boers of his visit to four
ecumenical religious communities-Taize, Lindisfarne, Iona, and
Northumbria--and HIS INCREASING LOVE FOR LITURGICAL PRACTICES. Boers
testifies: "About two decades ago, on a whim, I bought a discontinued
book by a famous Catholic priest. As a convinced evangelical Anabaptist,
I was skeptical. But I was also curious. As it turned out, this book
became the starting point in my recovery of a fuller prayer life through
the daily office."
THE TAIZE APPROACH
The mystical movement is strongly influenced by Taize (pronounced
teh-zay). This is a religious community that was formed in southeastern
France during World War II by Roger Schutz, a Swiss Protestant pastor
who went by the name of "Brother Roger" and who led the community until
his death in 2005. Its goal is to work for world peace and ecumenical
unity. The Taize monastic order includes some 100 allegedly "celibate
brothers" from different countries and denominations, including Roman
Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, and Reformed. While the Taize community
itself is very small, the Taize philosophy has influenced churches
throughout the world.
Taize is a major force for non-doctrinal ecumenism. Thousands of people
per week make a pilgrimage to Taize. These include Christians, Jews,
Buddhists, and the unaffiliated. The Roman Catholic connection is very
strong. Schutz participated in the Catholic Vatican II Council, and Pope
John Paul II visited Taize in October 1986. Since Schutz's death, Taize
has been led by a Roman Catholic priest named Alois Loeser.
The Taize services are non-dogmatic and non-authoritative. There is no
preaching. "It does not dictate what people must believe. No confessions
of faith are required. No sermons are given. No emotional,
evangelical-style testimonials are expected. Clergy are not required."
Schutz described the philosophy of Taize as, "Searching together--not
wanting to become spiritual masters who impose; God never imposes. We
want to love and listen, we want simplicity" ("Taize," Religion and
Ethics Newsweekly, Sept. 20, 2002).
Taize's non-doctrinal ecumenical Christianity is fueled by mysticism. A
"shadowy medieval" atmosphere is created with the use of such things as
candles, icons, and incense (Vancouver Sun, April 14, 2000). The goal is
to bring the "worshipper" into a meditative state, "to a place beyond
words, a place of just being." There is a lot of repetition, with
"one-line Taize harmonies repeated up to 15 times each." The Taize web
site promotes the use of icons.
The Taize community is heavily involved in the same type of
"social-justice" issues that are popular with evangelicals today.
A DESCRIPTION OF ONE OF THE CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICES
To illustrate how unscriptural and spiritually dangerous the
contemplative practices are we will look at the most popular one called
Centering Prayer.
Centering prayer is also called centering down. It involves quieting the
mind and emptying it of conscious thoughts about God with the objective
of entering into a non-verbal experiential communion with God in the
center of one's being and thereby achieving direct revelation from God.
Thomas Merton, one of the modern fathers of centering prayer, claims
that "the simplest way to come into contact with the living God is to go
to one's center and from there pass into God" (Finding Grace at the
Center, p. 28).
Here is how he describes it:
"Then we move in faith to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, dwelling in
creative love in the depths of our being. This is the whole essence of
the prayer. ... All the rest of the method is simply a means to enable
us to abide quietly in this center, and to allow our whole being to
share in this refreshing contact with its Source" (Finding Grace at the
Center, 2002, p. 32).
"... savor the silence, the Presence..." (p. 35).
"As soon as we move in love to God present in our depths, we are there
... we simply want to remain there and be what we are" (p. 39).
"We might think of it as if the Lord Himself, present in our depths,
were quietly repeating His own name, evoking His presence and very
gently summoning us to an attentive response. We are quite passive. We
let it happen" (p. 39).
"... to enter into our Christ-being in the depths" (p. 42).
"... we want immediate contact with God Himself, and not some thought,
image, or vision of him..." (p. 42).
"... open yourself interiorly to the mystery of God's enveloping
presence" (p. 48).
"... interior silence is the proximate goal of this prayer" (p. 52).
"... our theme is the center, that is, the place of meeting of the human
spirit and the divine Spirit" (p. 80).
The practice is called "this union, this face-to-face encounter" (p.
15), "passive meditation" (p. 20), "a fourth state of consciousness" (p.
34), "savoring the silence" (p. 35), "this nothing" (p. 49), "the deep
waters of silence" (p. 52), "deep tranquility" (p. 54).
The practice of centering prayer requires entering into a non-thinking
mode. Basil Pennington said: "In a meditation like Centering Prayer, you
leave the rational mind and emotions behind, open yourself to rest in
the Divine. St. Thomas Aquinas says, 'Where the mind leaves off, the
heart goes beyond'" (interview with Mary NurrieStearns published on the
Personal Transformation website,
http://www.personaltransformation.com/Pennington.html).
In The Signature of Jesus, Brennan Manning says centering prayer
requires three steps.
The first step is to quiet down and "stop thinking about God" (p. 212).
The second step is to choose a "sacred word" and "without moving your
lips, repeat the word inwardly, slowly, and often" (p. 218). The word
might be "love" or "God" or something else. This is to be done until the
mind is dwelling upon that one word without distraction and is carried
by that practice into a non-thinking communion with God at the center of
one's being. The mantra is the key to entering the non-thinking mode.
Ray Yungen explains:
"When a word or phrase is repeated over and over, after just a few
repetitions, those words lose their meaning and become just sounds. ...
After three or four times, the word can begin to lose its meaning, and
if this repeating of words were continued, normal thought processes
could be blocked, making it possible to enter an altered state of
consciousness because of hypnotic effect that begins to take place. It
really makes no difference whether the words are 'You are my God' or 'I
am calm,' the results are the same" (A Time of Departing, p. 150).
The mantra, or repetition of a word, produces a mindless hypnotic state.
The actual meaning of the word quickly becomes lost to the mind, and
that is the objective. The mantra allows the practitioner to put aside
thinking in order to reach an altered state of consciousness called "the
silence place" in which one allegedly experiences God directly.
Practitioners of eastern religions recognize the power of the mantra in
entering this state. Deepak Chopra, for example, says:
"A mantra ... has little or no meaning to distract us. Therefore it is
an easier vehicle for going inward than prayer or verbal contemplation"
(How to Know God, p. 94).
Amazingly, Chopra, who is a New Age Hindu who believes in the divinity
of man, recommends the ancient Catholic contemplative manual The Cloud
of Unknowing. He considers the centering prayer techniques to be the
same as Hindu yoga.
"There is no doubt that people resist the whole notion of God being an
inner phenomenon. ... Yet its importance is stated eloquently in the
medieval document known as 'The Cloud of Unknowing,' written anonymously
in the fourteenth century. ... The writer informs us that ANY THOUGHT IN
THE MIND SEPARATES US FROM GOD, because thought sheds light on its
object. ... Even though the cloud of unknowing baffles us, it is
actually closer to God than even a thought about God and his marvelous
creation. We are advised to go into a 'cloud of forgetting' about
anything other than the silence of the inner world. For centuries this
document has seemed utterly mystical, but it makes perfect sense once we
realize that THE RESTFUL AWARENESS RESPONSE, WHICH CONTAINS NO THOUGHTS,
is being advocated. ...
"We aren't talking about the silence of an empty mind ... But the
thought takes place against a background and nonthought. Our writer
equates it with KNOWING SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE STUDIED. The
mind is full of a kind of knowing that could speak to us about anything,
yet it has no words; therefore we seek this knowingness in the
background" (Chopra, How to Know God, 2000, pp. 94, 95, 98).
In this same book, Chopra says, "I believe that God has to be known by
looking in the mirror" (p. 9). Thus Chopra is describing meditative
methods whereby the individual can allegedly come into contact with his
"higher self" or divinity, yet he is using Catholic mysticism to get
there! And the same manual, The Cloud of Unknowing, is one of the most
popular manuals among contemplative evangelicals. Chopra says that
mantra-induced mind-emptying centering prayer techniques result in
non-verbal revelation.
This is a loud warning to those who have ears to hear.
Richard Foster says repetitious prayers such as "breath prayers" "BIND
THE MIND" (Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home, p. 124).
Tricia Rhodes, in her book The Soul at Rest, which is "a step-by-step
journey of learning contemplative prayer, suggests:
"Make every effort to stop the flow of talking going on within you--to
slow it down until it comes to a halt" (The Soul at Rest, 1996, p. 28).
The third step is to return one's mind to the sacred word when
distractions come. Manning suggests ending the session by quoting the
Lord's Prayer in a rote manner. He recommends two 20-minute centering
sessions per day.
The result of centering prayer is supposed to be mystical knowledge
obtained through communion with God in one's being.
"For in this darkness we experience an intuitive understanding of
everything material and spiritual without giving special attention to
anything in particular" (The Cloud of Unknowing, chapter 68).
"To know God in this way is to perceive a new dimension to all reality"
(Finding Grace at the Center, p. 60).
"... we learn that our willingness to listen in silence opens up a quiet
space in which we can hear His voice, a voice that longs to speak and
offer us guidance for our next step" (Ruth Barton, "Beyond Words,"
Discipleship Journal, Sept-Oct. 1999).
CHRISTIAN BOOKSTORES
Christian and secular bookstores have begun carrying many books
promoting "this pre-Reformation form of spirituality." These include The
Cloister Walk, Book of Hours, The Soul Aflame, Evensong, A Book of Daily
Prayer, The Divine Hours, and The Prayer Book of the Medieval Era. There
are books by an assortment of Catholic "saints" and mystics, including
GREGORY OF SINAI and JOHN OF THE CROSS (early desert monastics who
believed salvation is by works), TERESA OF AVILA (who had visions of
Mary), JULIAN OF NORWICH (who walled herself off from society for 20
years in a tiny cell), IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA (the founder of the Jesuits
who were at the forefront of the brutal Counter-Reformation
Inquisition), AUGUSTINE (who claimed that baptism takes away an infant's
sin and claimed that Mary did not commit sin), MADAME GUYON (who
experienced what she thought was union with the essence of God), THOMAS
MERTON (a Catholic Trappist monk who called himself a Buddhist and died
in Thailand on a pilgrimage to Buddhist shrines), BASIL PENNINGTON (who
taught that man shares God's divine nature), THOMAS KEATING (who
promotes occultic kundalini yoga), John Michael Talbot (who prays to
Mary and calls Buddhist and Hindu gurus "our brothers and sisters"), and
HENRI NOUWEN (who taught that all people can be saved "whether they know
Jesus or not"). You will also find The Cloud of Unknowing, which was
written by an unknown 14th century Catholic monk who taught that the
meditation practitioner can find union with God by emptying the mind of
thoughts.
SOUTHERN BAPTIST SEMINARIES
On a visit to Golden Gate Theological Seminary (Southern Baptist) in
February 2000, I noticed that most of the required reading for the
course on "Classics of Church Devotion" are books by the aforementioned
Roman Catholic authors, including Spiritual Exercises by Ignatius of
Loyola, The Cloud of Unknowing, New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas
Merton, Confessions of Saint Augustine, The Imitation of Christ by
Thomas Kempis, Selected Works of Bernard of Clairvaux, and The Interior
Castle by Teresa of Avila.
VINEYARD CHURCHES
On August 31, 2003, I visited the Vineyard Fellowship in Anaheim,
California, for research, and the speaker, a Vineyard pastor, preached a
message on contemplative prayer that was deeply influenced by Roman
Catholicism. The speaker described contemplative prayer as "gazing at
length on something" and as "coming into the presence of God and resting
in the presence of God," as lying back and floating "in the river of
God's peace." The speaker described sitting on a couch "in the manifest
presence of Jesus." He quoted St. John of the Cross, "It is in silence
that we hear him." He recommended the writings of the late Thomas Merton
(a Catholic priest who converted from the Anglican Church), who wrote a
book on contemplative prayer and whose voice is influential in the
"centering prayer" movement. Merton spent the last 27 years of his life
in a Trappist monastery devoted to Mary (Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani
in Kentucky) and promoted the integration of pagan practices such as Zen
Buddhism and Christianity. The titles of some of his books are "Zen and
the Birds of the Appetite," "The Way of Chuang Tzu," and "Mystics and
the Zen Masters." For three years, Merton lived as a complete hermit.
The Vineyard speaker described personal revelations that he has
allegedly received from God, claiming that on one occasion Jesus said to
him, "Come away, my beloved," and he obeyed by staying in a monastery
for some days. He used several Catholic "saints" as examples of the
benefit of contemplative prayer, and there was no warning whatsoever
about their false gospel, their blasphemous prayers to Mary, or any
other error. In fact, he recommended that his listeners "read the lives
of the saints." He mentioned St. Catherine of Siena and said that Christ
appeared to her and placed a ring on her finger signifying her marriage
to Him, thus giving credence to this deception. He mentioned "St.
Anthony," one of the fathers of the deeply unscriptural Catholic
monasticism. Anthony spent 20 years in isolation, and after that,
according to the Vineyard pastor, the "saint's" ministry was
characterized by "signs and wonders."
CHRISTIAN ROCK FESTIVALS
One of the seminars advertised for the annual Cornerstone Festival in
Bushnell, Illinois, June 30 - July 3, 2005, was "Pilgrimage: Creativity
& Contemplative Prayer" led by Debra Strahan. The official program said:
"Debra will be speaking daily at the Prayer Tent on traditional methods
of prayer and the part creativity and art expression plays in breathing
life into worship. She will speak on Lectio Divina, or praying the
Scriptures, with an accompanying workshop using beads as a tool for
concentration. Also there will be direction in processing and meditating
on the installation pieces in the Pilgrimage."
RICK WARREN
Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church in southern California,
frequently quotes from Roman Catholics to promote meditation, centering
prayer, and other Catholic-pagan forms of spirituality. In The Purpose
Driven Church and The Purpose Driven Life, Warren advises his readers to
"practice his presence" as per Brother Lawrence (of the Roman Catholic
Carmelite Order), to use "breath prayers" as per the Benedictine monks.
Warren quotes from John Main (Benedictine monk who believes that Christ
"is not limited to Jesus of Nazareth, but remains among us in the
monastic leaders, the sick, the guest, the poor"); Madame Guyon (a Roman
Catholic who taught that prayer is not from the mind and does not
involve thinking); John of the Cross (who believed the mountains and
forests are God); and Gary Thomas (who defines Centering Prayer as "a
contemplative act in which you don't do anything; you're simply resting
in the presence of God").
Warren recommends mystic Richard Foster (The Purpose Driven Church, pp.
126, 127) and states that the contemplative movement will help bring the
church into "full maturity" and that it "has had a valid message for the
church." Warren also quotes from Mother Teresa and Henri Nouwen, who
were contemplative universalists that believed that men can be saved
apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ. Nowhere does Warren warn his
readers that these were dangerous false teachers.
Warren has yoked up with Ken Blanchard on various occasions. Blanchard
visited Saddleback in 2003 and Warren told the church that he had
"signed on to help with the P.E.A.C.E. Plan, and he's going to be
helping train us in leadership and in how to train others to be leaders
all around the world" (Ken Yungen, A Time of Departing, pp. 162, 163).
Warren teamed up with Blanchard and Bill Hybels in the Lead Like Jesus
conferences and audio series. Warren used Blanchard's materials in a
Preaching and Purpose Driven Life Training Workshop for Chaplains at
Saddleback in 2004 (A Time of Departing, p. 167). Warren endorsed
Blanchard's book Lead Like Jesus (---).
Blanchard, in turn, is a mystic with strong New Age associations. He
wrote the foreword to Jim Ballard's What Would Buddha Do at Work? He
wrote: "Our folks get to hear words of wisdom from great prophets and
spiritual leaders like Buddha, Mohammed ... Yogananda and the Dalai
Lama." Blanchard wrote the foreword to the 2007 edition of Ballard's
book Little Wave and Old Swell, which is inspired by Hindu guru
Paramahansa Yogananda. This book is designed to teach young people and
children that God is all and man is one with God. In the foreword
Blanchard makes the amazing statement: "Yogananda loved Jesus, and Jesus
would have loved Yogananda." I was a disciple of Yogananda before I was
saved, and there is no doubt that he did NOT love the Jesus of the
Bible! Blanchard has appeared on the front cover of Corporate Mystic.
His recommendation appears on the back cover of Deepak Chopra's The
Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. He wrote the foreword to Ellen Ladd's
book Death and Letting God, which promotes clairvoyance. Blanchard says
that he and his wife encourage the practice of yoga and mantra
meditation (Mair, p. 11). Blanchard's endorsement appeared on the back
cover of the 2005 book Zen of Business Administration, which is
subtitled "How Zen practice can transform your work and your life."
Blanchard joined members of the New Age occultic project The Secret in
January 2008 for a one-day seminar entitled "Your Best Year Ever" ("Ken
Blanchard Joins 'The Secret' Team," Lighthouse Trails, Jan. 14, 2008).
In her acknowledgements, the author of The Secret, Rhonda Byrne, thanked
"Esther Hicks and the teachings of Abraham." Abraham refers to a group
of spirit guides that Hicks channels. The Secret teaches the New Age
doctrines that man is god. "You are God in a physical body ... You are
all power ... You are all intelligence ... You are the creator" (p. 164).
Lighthouse Trails wisely observes:
"Did Rick Warren know of Blanchard's sympathies when he brought him in
to help at Saddleback? Of course he did. And do you think that Rick
Warren and Ken Blanchard are going to train their 'billion' soldiers for
Christ how to practice New Age mysticism and learn how to go into
altered states of consciousness? You bet. And that is definitely
something to be concerned about" ("Rick Warren Teams up with New Age
Guru," Lighthouse Trails, April 19, 2005).
Warren is also associated with New Age mystic Leonard Sweet. He teamed
up with Sweet in 1994 to produce the Tides of Change audio set published
by Zondervan. A photo of Warren and Sweet are pictured on the cover.
Warren endorsed Sweet's book Soul Tsunami, the endorsement appearing on
both the front and back covers. In this book Sweet promotes the use of
the labyrinth and visiting meditation centers. Warren invited Sweet to
speak at the 2008 Saddleback Small Groups Conference called Wired.
Sweet promotes a New Age spirituality that he calls New Light and "the
Christ consciousness." He describes it in terms of "the union of the
human with the divine" which is the "center feature of all the world's
religions" (Quantum Spirituality, p. 235). He says it was experienced by
Mohammed, Moses, and Krishna. He says that some of the "New Light
leaders" that have led him into this new thinking are New Agers Matthew
Fox, M. Scott Peck, Willis Harman, and Ken Wilber, plus
Catholic-Buddhist Thomas Merton. In his book Quantum Spirituality Sweet
defines the New Light as "a structure of human becoming, a channeling of
Christ energies through mindbody experience" (Quantum Spirituality, p.
70). He says humanity needs to learn the truth of the words of Thomas
Merton, "We are already one" (Quantum Spirituality, p. 13). Toward this
objective, Sweet draws heavily from Catholic mysticism. He says:
"Mysticism, once cast to the sidelines of the Christian tradition, is
now situated in postmodernist culture near the center. ... In the words
of one of the greatest theologians of the twentieth century, Jesuit
philosopher of religion/dogmatist Karl Rahner, 'The Christian of
tomorrow will be a mystic, one who has experienced something, or he will
be nothing'" (Quantum Spirituality, 1991, p. 11).
Observe how close the ties are between "Christian" contemplative
spirituality and the New Age!
BILL HYBELS AND WILLOW CREEK COMMUNITY CHURCH
Willow Creek has jumped onboard the mystical bandwagon, and Willow Creek
is not only one megachurch that is located west of Chicago but it is
also a network of more than 12,000 churches that hold the same
philosophy. The Fall 2007 issue of Willow magazine contained the article
"Rediscovering Spiritual Formation" by Keri Wyatt Kent. It is a glowing
recommendation for mystical practices, including monastic communities.
She cites Richard Foster and other contemplative mystics. While noting
that some conservatives are suspect of the new mysticism, she says that
the practices have largely become mainstream.
Willow Creek's Leadership Summit in August 2006 introduced Jim Collins
to the 70,000 participating Christian leaders. He became a disciple of
New Ager Michael Ray after taking his Creativity in Business course in
1982. The course "takes much of its inspiration from Eastern philosophy,
mysticism and meditation techniques" and promotes tapping into ones
inner wisdom. It describes an "inner person" called "your wisdom keeper
or spirit guide" that "can be with you in life." Collins wrote the
foreword to Michael Ray's 2005 book The Highest Goal: The Secret that
Sustains You in Every Minute, which claims that man is divine and
recommends Hindu mind emptying meditation. The book quotes Hindu gurus
Ram Dass, Jiddu Krishnamurit, and Swami Shantananda. Yet Collins calls
it "the distillation of years of accumulate wisdom from a great
teacher." Following is a quote from the book:
"I attended a meditation-intensive day at an ashram [Hindu spiritual
center] to support a friend. As I sat in meditation in what was for me
an unfamiliar environment, I suddenly felt and saw a bolt of lightning
shoot up from the base of my spine out the top of my head. It forced me
to recognize something great within me ... this awareness of my own
divinity" (Michael Ray, The Highest Goal, p. 28; the foreword is by Jim
Collins).
Again we are reminded that the evangelical-emerging church contemplative
movement has close and growing ties with the New Age.
CHUCK SWINDOLL
In his book "So, You Want to Be Like Christ? Essentials to Get You
There," Chuck Swindoll promotes Roman Catholic style contemplative
spirituality disciplines. He favorably quotes Richard Foster, Henri
Nouwen, and Dallas Willard. He calls Foster's work "Celebration of
Discipline" meaningful and has an entire chapter on Silence and
Solitude. There is no warning about the false doctrine of the men he is
quoting and whose disciplines he is recommending. Dave and Deborah
Dombrowski of Lighthouse Trails testify of their efforts to warn
Swindoll: "In September 2005, we were informed that Chuck Swindoll was
favorably quoting Henri Nouwen and Richard Foster on his Insight For
Living program. We contacted Insight for Living and spoke with Pastor
Graham Lyons. We shared our concerns, then later sent 'A Time of
Departing' [by Ray Yungen] to him and also a copy to Chuck Swindoll. In
a letter dated 10/3/05 from Pastor Lyons, we were told, 'With his
schedule I doubt he will read it.' We are sorry that Chuck Swindoll has
time to read Henri Nouwen and Richard Foster but no time to read 'A Time
of Departing,' especially in light of the fact that thousands of people
will read Chuck Swindoll's book, listen to his broadcasts and now
believe that the contemplative authors are acceptable and good.
Incidentally, Swindoll quoted these men, not just a few times, but many
times throughout the book."
The Lord Jesus Christ warned about repetitious prayers, and He gave no
liturgy to the churches apart from the simple ordinances of baptism and
the Lord's Supper. There is no New Testament pattern for the use of rote
prayers, chanting, ringing bells, wearing special clothes, prayer beads,
lighting candles, and such things.
Rome replaced New Testament spirituality, which is a living relationship
with Jesus Christ through the new birth and the guidance of the
indwelling Holy Spirit and the study of Scripture, with its false
traditions and dead liturgy and sensual worship. It is sad to see men
who profess to be "anabaptists" and evangelicals going back to this
empty ritualism.
DAVID JEREMIAH
"In his 2003 book Life Wide Open Jeremiah favorably quotes the following
New Agers, Buddhists and contemplatives ( i.e. mystics): Sue Monk Kidd,
Peter Senge (Buddhist), Jim Collins, Calvin Miller, Erwin McManus, St.
John of the Cross, Brother Lawrence, David Seamands, Eugene Peterson,
Rick Warren. Jeremiah's church, Shadow Mountain, encourages their men to
become involved with contemplative spirituality. Currently, Pastor John
Gillette of Shadow Mountain encourages the use of Richard Foster's book,
Celebration of Discipline. In 2006 Jeremiah signed on with Ken Blanchard
and Laurie Beth Jones in the Lead Like Jesus conference. Jeremiah's 2006
book, Captured by Grace, discusses Henri Nouwen and includes endorsement
by Ken Blanchard" ("David Jeremiah Quotes New Ager," Lighthouse Trails,
Nov. 19, 2007).
PRAIRIE BIBLE INSTITUTE
"In Mosaic (a Prairie student run paper that shows how the students at
Prairie have been very affected by contemplative/emerging
spiritualities) in a December 2006 article titled 'The Arrogance of the
Evangelical Church,' Morgan Mosselman (listed as the Commissioner of
Spiritual Life and officer of the Prairie Student Union in the 2005-2006
Chapel handbook) suggests we can 'learn from our Catholic friends' in
the area of spiritual life. Mosselman then favorably refers to a man
named Simon Chan. Chan is described as 'the world's most liturgically
minded Pentecostal.' His book Liturgical Theology is a primer for the
Catholic Eucharist and other Catholic means of spirituality. In that
same issue of Mosaic, there is an article by contemplative writer Lauren
Winner (Girl Meets God). And in other issues, regular columnists write
about and quote from other mysticism proponents such as Erwin McManus.
Prairie Bible Institute's textbook lists have authors that include
contemplative proponent John Ortberg, mystic promoter Jim Collins, and
Richard Foster's colleague, Dallas Willard (Renovation of the Heart).
They also have textbooks by Ruth Haley Barton (trained at the
interspiritual Shalem Institute), as well as Gary Thomas (Sacred
Pathways where he says to repeat a word or phrase for twenty minutes)
and Rick Warren (both whom avidly promote contemplative)" ("Will Prairie
Bible Institute Ignore Contemplative Problem?" Lighthouse Trails, Nov.
18, 2007).
RADIO BIBLE CLASS
The June 6, 2006, entry for the Radio Bible Class's Our Daily Bread is
built around the book The Return of the Prodigal Son by the late Roman
Catholic Henri Nouwen. Not only was Nouwen a Roman Catholic priest but,
as we have already documented, he believed that men could be saved apart
from Jesus Christ.
Ken Silva writes:
"I strongly admonish you in the Lord to stay away from contemplative
spirituality. This is a deadly deception which originated within the
apostate Church of Rome and is being spread by her daughter the
Ecumenical Church of Deceit. Contemplative spirituality (transcendental
mediation in Christian terms) will only lead you into a false sense of
our true depraved nature and into the love of man" (Slice of Laodicea,
June 6, 2006).
BIOLA UNIVERSITY
J.P. Moreland and Klaus Issler, professors at Biola, have coauthored The
Lost Virtue of Happiness: Discovering the Disciplines of the Good Life
(NavPress, 2006). Consider the following quotes:
'Go to a retreat center that has one of its purposes the provision of a
place for individual sojourners. Try to find a center that has gardens,
fountains, statues, and other forms of beautiful artwork. In our
experience, Catholic retreat centers are usually ideal for solitude
retreats. Š We also recommend that you bring photos of your loved ones
and a picture of JesusŠ Or gaze at a statue of Jesus. Or let some
thought, feeling, or memory run through your mind over and over again"
(The Lost Virtue of Happiness, pp. 54-55).
"We recommend that you begin by saying the Jesus Prayer about three
hundred times a day. ... When you first awaken, say the Jesus Prayer
twenty to thirty times. As you do, something will begin to happen to
you. God will begin to slowly occupy the center of your attention" (The
Lost Virtue of Happiness, pp. 90, 92).
LABYRINTHS ARE INCREASING IN POPULARITY AMONG EVANGELICALS TODAY
Even though labyrinths have their roots in pagan "spirituality" and
Roman Catholic Church, they are increasing in popularity among
evangelicals today.
On October 13, 2007, Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisburg,
Virginia, dedicated its new labyrinth. It was the fulfillment of a
15-year dream by Wendy Miller, professor of spiritual formation
("Following the Path of Prayer," Mennonite Weekly Review, Oct. 24, 2007).
The Weatherly Heights Baptist Church (Southern Baptist) in Huntsville,
Alabama, has a permanent labyrinth of stones on its grounds. Simpson
University in Redding, California, associated with the Christian and
Missionary Alliance, has a labyrinth. Bethany Mennonite Church,
Bridgewater Corners, Vermont, has a labyrinth in its lawn. Michele
Hershberger, chair of the Bible department at Hesston College
(Mennonite) uses labyrinths. The latter contacted me and protested that
they do not use their labyrinth for any pagan or Roman Catholic
purposes, but the fact remains that this is the background of the
practice. There is not a hint of support for such a thing in the New
Testament Scriptures.
The labyrinth is a circular pattern with a path that winds its way to
the center and which is used as a tool for prayer and meditation. Used
by pagan religions for thousands of years, the labyrinth was borrowed
from paganism and "Christianized" by the Roman Catholic Church as part
of its desperate search for spirituality apart from the Bible.
God forbids His people to adopt things from the devil's program and to
associate with pagan things such as pagan meditation practices and
labyrinths.
"Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen..." (Jeremiah 10:2).
"And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that
believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God
with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I
will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye
separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will
receive you" (2 Cor. 6:15-17).
"Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such
turn away" (2 Timothy 3:5).
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but
after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having
itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and
shall be turned unto fables" (2 Timothy 3:3-4).