Contemplative prayer traces its roots to a
group of monks called the Desert Fathers. The Desert Fathers taught that it did
not matter what method one used to seek God. They claimed all methods were good—regardless
of origin—and they unashamedly sought and incorporated unscriptural, eastern,
methods of meditation into their spiritual practices.
The prophet Isaiah did not agree with the
Desert Fathers and warned against seeking eastern spirituality when he wrote:
“O
house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be
replenished from the east….(Isaiah
2:5-6).”
Mantra
meditation is 100% New Age Eastern mysticism and has no place in the life and
habits of Christians.
Modern Roots
During the 1960’s and 1970’s, Episcopalians,
Lutherans, and several non-denominational groups offered a program called
Cursillo. The first Cursillo weekend in the Episcopal Church was conducted in
the early 1960's with help from Roman Catholic sponsors in the Diocese of Iowa.
The doctrine taught in Cursillo was traditional Catholicism.
This was part of the ecumenical movement of which,
as we will show, the eastern practice of contemplative prayer [mantra
meditation] is integral.
The United Methodist denomination was an
eager participant in the Vatican plan. And in 1978, The Upper Room, which is
the Spiritual Formation unit of the General Board of Discipleship of the United
Methodist Church, adapted the Catholic program for a primarily Protestant
audience and began to offer it under the name, “The Upper Room Cursillo.” The
name was later changed to the more ecumenical, “Upper Room Walk to Emmaus ”
Scripture
commands us to not only meditate upon something, the Written Word
of God , but to
also refrain from adopting the spiritual practices of unbelievers . Jesus clearly spoke against mantra meditation when he
said, “But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do…”
Contemplative prayer is derived from
Hinduism. Christian contemplatives do not
deny this. It is diabolically opposed to the scriptural form of meditation
as described in Psalms chapter one verse two.
There is little argument that spiritual
formation programs and contemplative prayer, in one form or another, go hand in
hand. Spiritual disciplines, taught in spiritual formation programs, are not
limited to mantra meditation but also include yoga and labyrinth walking. Just
because a local congregation may not, as yet, be familiar with these terms or
practices is no reason to assume that the congregation or denomination has not been
affected by spiritual formation.
The list of denominations which have instituted
these programs in their theological seminaries and churches is extensive. Below
are just a few schools with spiritual formation programs. The list includes
every major denomination:
- Andover
Newton Theological School
- Assemblies
of God (AG Theological Seminary)
- Baptist (Baylor
University & Dallas
Theological Seminary)
- Church
of God (Mount Paran)
- Methodist (Dubuque
Theological Seminary)
- Moody
Bible Institute
- Nazarene Theological Seminaries
- Presbyterian Theological Seminaries
- Wheaton
College
This is
just a partial list, fractional compared to the total number of Bible colleges
and churches that push contemplative spirituality on their students and
congregations.
This has been going on for decades. In 2008 this
author was contacted by the Dean’s office at the United Methodist University of
Dubuque Theological Seminary, requesting information concerning labyrinth walking.
They had our ministry confused with a
prominent Presbyterian spiritual formation outreach with a similar name. They
wrote requesting permission to use a certain newsletter article in training
their seminary students to facilitate labyrinth walking as part of their
spiritual formation program [labyrinth walking is an occult practice, and all
occult practices are forbidden to God’s people]. Below is a copy of that
correspondence:
“The University of
Dubuque Theological Seminary located in Dubuque, Iowa would like copyright
permission to reproduce "Labyrinth" from the summer 2000, Vol. 8, No.
2 edition of Hungry Hearts.
The purpose is for use in our Spiritual
Formation Group class. We are seeking permission to use as part of our
curriculum for several years. Is there a one-time copyright fee that would
cover us for several years? We have approx. 30-40 students in the class per
year.
Thank you for your assistance.”
Herein lies the danger of contemplative
spirituality (or any spiritual practice forbidden by the Bible): All who embrace contemplative
spirituality, at some point, experience an ecumenical paradigm shift where an
idea forms that God is in everyone and everything.
This is called panentheism.
The doctrine of panentheism is in direct
conflict with the word of God, which teaches that God indwells only those who belong to him through
faith in his risen son, Jesus the only Christ. Only those who have been born
again through the Spirit of God can be called the children of God .
All humans are not children of God.
Once panentheism takes hold, basic Christian
beliefs, such as searching the scriptures to prove all things, begin to take a
back seat to experiential Christianity. Examples will be given to illustrate this.
To the committed contemplative, beliefs such as the authority of the Bible and
the importance of preaching the gospel in soul winning become signs that a
Christian is merely religious rather than spiritual.
Contemplative spirituality is an experiential spirituality. Best-selling contemplative
author and pastor, John Piper, writes that if we don’t feel our faith we may not be saved. He advocates emotion and the
experiential in refuting the clear scriptural teaching of faith and assurance
contained in Romans 10:9-13 and 1 John 5:11-13.
Piper is wrong.
The Written Word of God assures us that if
we call on the name of the Lord to be saved, then we will be saved and that His Word
assures us of eternal life if we
have the Son (if we are born again).
That is faith.
Faith is often felt but not always.
Former Sunday school worker/now
contemplative author, Sue Monk Kidd, is an example of what happens when faith
in the written Word of God is rejected in favor of experiential Christianity.
Within the familiar confines of her Baptist Church, she came to the unfortunate
conclusion that her ultimate spiritual authority was not the Bible at all, but
rather the “divine voice of her own soul.”
How can Christians listen to this woman when
the Word of God tells us just the opposite ? Kidd now
boasts that she has moved past the traditional to the sacred “feminine.”
With unscriptural concepts such as those
promoted by Piper and Kidd going largely unchallenged within the Body of Christ . it is
becoming increasingly easier for unsaved persons to obtain church membership
and lead active “Christian” lives, when no saving conversion has ever taken
place.
Bill Hamon, called the Father of The Prophetic
movement, promotes contemplative spirituality and viciously attacks biblical
beliefs and practices in just about every area.
Hamon had this to say about the amazing fact
that 20,000 new believers per day were
being won to Jesus in China, he wrote, “…that sounds great, but…. ."
How can anyone who is truly born again add a
“but” to the fact that 20,000 people a day in any single country are being saved
from the Lake of Fire?
Bill Hamon does it because he claims that
signs and wonders are the primary proof that God is validating his ministry and
that these are the definitive fruits of God’s blessing on any ministry. In his view, the fact that souls may be won to Christ
is merely collateral blessing, of secondary importance to the manifestation of signs
and wonders.
Experiences,
signs, wonders, and our own inner voices do not supersede the authority of the
written word of God and the amazing miracle of the salvation of a soul.
Rick Joyner is another prophetic leader who
promotes contemplative prayer and emphasizes the experiential in place of the
authority of the Bible.
Joyner claimed he had lots of scripture to
back up the things he wrote in his anti-Bible, anti-soul-winning, book, The Harvest, but that he was not going
to use much of it as he wanted his readers to “commune with the spirit” about whether what he had written was
true.
One wonders what spirit Joyner communes with,
that objects to scripture being used as a standard for truth or that denigrates
the practice of soul-winning.
Jesus was not ashamed of the written Word of
God. He boldly proclaimed, “It is written!”
when Satan attempted to commune with
him concerning “truth.”
The Bible clearly states that “They that win
souls are wise.”
Who will we believe, those who denigrate soul
winning, or the Bible?
In a later book, Joyner shared a vision he
received where he saw a holy mountain. On this mountain, Christians who focused
primarily on soul winning were portrayed as being at the bottom of the
developmental heap. According to Joyner, his vision of the “holy mountain”
showed him that ardent soul winners are the least spiritually developed and
most pathetic of all Christians .
Here lies the crux of the whole matter, all
who embrace experiential spirituality, sooner or later, begin losing respect
for the written word of God. And their burden for soul-winning is often
superseded by a zeal for promoting contemplative spirituality instead.
Aggressive evangelism by preaching the
gospel becomes discouraged, even ridiculed. Bible believing Christians with the
ministry gift of evangelism and ardently preach the gospel in soul-winning are often
libeled as being “judgmental” and called Pharisees. Relationship or prophetic
evangelism is encouraged to replace it. That may sound good on the surface, and
of course there is a place for relationship evangelism, but wholly rejecting
the one in favor of exclusively embracing the other denies the biblical fact
that it is the gospel of Jesus Christ—both written and spoken—that is the power
of God unto salvation .
No
church fellowship is immune to the influence of contemplative spirituality.
Spiritual Formation programs are taking root
within every denomination and belief system
of Christianity. Southern Baptist Life
Way Bookstores has been confronted by concerned Christians about their
promotion of contemplative books and authors who promote contemplative
spirituality .
Although contemplative spirituality is
obviously rooted in pagan religious systems, such as Hinduism, the modern-day
contemplative movement, promoted within Protestant Christianity through
spiritual formation programs, descends directly from Roman Catholic mystics who
adopted it directly from non-Christian eastern mystics .
It is commonly acknowledged among contemplative
leaders that contemplative prayer cannot be fully embraced without referencing,
at some point, the Roman Catholic mystics. Madame Guyon, Saint Teresa of Avila,
Saint Ignatius, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, and the Desert Fathers are just a
few of these. However, this fact may not be revealed—at first—while introducing
spiritual disciplines to non-Catholic believers.
Mike Bickle, a leader in the prophetic
movement who heavily promotes contemplative prayer, boldly proclaims that if
you want to go “deeper into God,” you must embrace both contemplative prayer
and the Roman Catholic mystics .
Bickle unashamedly admits that contemplative
prayer cannot be found in scripture nor can it be found anywhere in protestant tradition. It can only be found within
eastern religions (Hinduism and Buddhism) which passed it on to Christianity
via the Roman Catholic mystics.
Most leading contemplatives have no problem
agreeing with Mike Bickle on this.
Some (but by no means all) descriptive terms
used by those who promote contemplative spirituality are:
- Going deeper into God
- Experiencing the
presence of God
- Meditation
- The Silence
- Soaking Prayer
- Soaking
- Quiet
- Being “Quiet” before
God
- Solitude
- Reflecting /
Reflection
- Lectio Divina
- Spiritual disciplines
- The Secret Place
As stated, one of the fruits of
contemplative spirituality is an ecumenical mindset which fails to discern between
who is a child of God and who is not, this extends to important doctrinal
differences between Protestant and Roman Catholic beliefs and practices.
The differences begin with how a person is
saved.
Roman Catholicism teaches that a person is
fully incorporated into the Body of Christ when they participate in their first
mass, at the time of their first communion . personal
faith, being born again, and calling on the name of the Lord for salvation plays
no part in the Roman Catholic belief system. According to the documents of the
Vatican II, no one is born again, and there is no assurance of salvation for
any believer.
Belief in the sacraments of the Church and in
the Priest’s authority to administer them is paramount.
Can such a doctrine be found anywhere in
scripture?
Nevertheless, all Christians who experience paradigm shifts by means of contemplative
“spiritual disciplines” become enamored with both eastern culture and Roman
Catholic mystics.
Despite the ecumenical nature of their
rhetoric with regards to Protestants and Catholics, the contemplative
Christian’s love affair with eastern spirituality, almost without exception,
eventually finds expression in words and writings that are polarizing within
the protestant camp, peppered as they are with frequent references to the un-spirituality
of the “western” church.
Unity, peace, love, and “Don’t Judge!” are
words of the day. “Judgmental” is one of the most frequently used words in the modern
spiritual vocabulary (towards Bible believing Christians) with “Pharisee”
running a close second. But those whose conversation is so liberally sprinkled
with the words unity, peace, love, and don’t
judge, seem to have no problem with criticizing and judging—often viciously—those
with more “traditional” beliefs.
They are hypocrites who do not practice what
they preach.
What kind of fruit is that? Jesus said, “You shall know them by their fruits…”
The process takes time, but eventually all
committed contemplatives experience a failure to understand why there are
religious differences… at all… between anyone… in any religion.
A widely publicized 2007 document entitled, “A
Common Word Between Us and You,” is supported by Rick Warren and many other
prominent Christian leaders. The document calls for a common understanding
between the Christian faith and the Muslim faith based on the Quran commandment
“O People of the Scripture! Come to a common word as between us and you: that
we worship none but God.”
Prominent Christian leaders, in a show of
solidarity with Muslim leaders, signed their names to that document, despite
the fact that the Christian scriptures and the Muslim Koran are not the same
and are indeed incompatible with one another. The Christian God and the Muslim
Allah are not even the same God. Ask any Muslim and they will tell you that
Allah and Yahweh are not the same God. Ask any Muslim and they will tell
you that Allah, the moon god of Mecca, has no son.
Rick Warren subtly promotes, among other
questionable things, contemplative spirituality. His book, The Purpose Driven Life, is full of eastern thought. So it
should come as no surprise that he would be listed as a signatory of such a
nefarious document as, “A Common Word Between Us and You.”
When contemplatives say, “Seek God. It does
not matter how you do it—just do
it—he will accept you regardless,” they really mean to start seeking a
trance-like state of mindlessness only achieved through mantra meditation.
It
does not matter how we seek God? That is not what the Bible says. We are instructed in scripture to seek God according to His methods
which are outlined clearly in His Word. Jesus Christ, the Jesus of the Bible, is the only way, the only truth and the
only life .
Far too many have fallen in love with
another Jesus. A Jesus they will find out—unfortunately when it is too late—who
cannot save .
When unscriptural spiritual disciplines are
adopted, and the biblical doctrine that God only indwells those who are saved
by faith in the shed blood of Jesus begins to be replaced with the false notion
that God is in everything and everyone, the very word doctrine (which simply means teaching or instruction) eventually becomes
a dirty word with the superior truth of scripture becoming subordinate to deceitful
human feelings .
The experiential aspect of contemplative
prayer means that during the course of practicing this spiritual discipline the
person experiences something.
That is the whole purpose of it, to experience something.
It is sometimes called “Experiencing God” or
“Experiencing the Presence of God.”
Only it is not the God of Heaven, the
creator of Heaven and earth, who is experienced.
The God of the Bible does not operate that
way. His presence cannot be conjured using any ritual or meditative practice.
Contemplative prayer is dangerous.
In his book, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, Richard Foster warns his
readers that they may receive guidance
during contemplative prayer that is not divine guidance. He
warns that the person entering into such meditation may not be safe from “dark
and evil” spirits.
Yet he
encourages the pursuit of it anyway.
Brian Flynn, a former New Age medium who now
exposes new age practices within the church, suggests that Christians pursue
this unscriptural, dangerous, form of meditation, because they become
infatuated with the seductive feeling that accompanies it. While
introducing the subject to potential victims, Mike Bickle strongly emphasizes
the experience contemplative prayer
produces.
A few well-known authors who are now
promoting contemplative spirituality are :
- Beth Moore
- Bill Hamon
- Brennen Manning
- Chuck Swindoll
- C. Scott Peck
- David Jeremiah
- Father Thomas Keating
- Henri Nouwen
- Max Lucado
- Nancy Leigh DeMoss [if
not overtly teaching the spirituality herself, is allowing the concepts to
be taught by others on her website. This is a favored method used by those
who know a doctrine is controversial but want to keep their own noses
clean]
- Richard Foster
- Rick Joyner
- Rick Warren
- Sue Monk Kidd
- Thomas Merton
This is a comparatively short list that highlights
the pervasiveness of this movement and the diversity of religious affiliations
and backgrounds of those who promote contemplative spirituality. Virtually all
Bible colleges and seminaries now have Spiritual Formation departments.
It is a frightening fact that the list of
former evangelical/now contemplative authors is growing daily.
The dangers of contemplative, experiential,
spirituality are strong enough that Bible believing Christians should give anyone promoting these beliefs a very
wide berth, no matter how biblical their doctrine has been in the past.
When allowed to run its course, the end
result of embracing contemplative spirituality is a complete paradigm shift, not
only away from the simplicity found in Christ, but altogether away from the
fact that Jesus Christ, the Jesus of the Bible, is the only way, the only truth, and the only life.
To a man, all evangelical contemplatives
profess belief in Christ, despite the fact that he condemns their heathenistic
practices in no uncertain terms when he forbids vain repetitions in prayer.
All prominent contemplatives, all, as
in every… single… one… are panentheists who claim to have
finally come to the understanding that God is in all things.
Where
in scriptures is such a thing even hinted at, that God is in all things as
opposed to the Biblical teaching that he resides, not in all things, but only
within those who belong to him through faith in Jesus, his risen son ?
This is an admission, whether they own up to
it or not, that in their revised contemplative opinion, Jesus is no longer the
only way to eternal life.
There is no way God can be in everything and
only in those who belong to his risen Son at the same time. The two ideas are
mutually exclusive and in opposition to each other. The evidence is
overwhelming that the end result of contemplative spirituality is Panentheism.
What kind of fruit is this? Jesus said, “You shall know them by their fruits…”
Participants in the Walk to Emmaus retreats and
Chrysalis Walks (Chrysalis Walk is the youth version of Walk to Emmaus) are
introduced to the concept of the Fourth Day. Fourth Day living includes
follow-up with ongoing small group get-togethers and resources that Upper Room
Spiritual Directors hope will continue to provide “spiritual guidance and
nurture” to Chrysalis and Walk to Emmaus initiates. Recommended follow-up
resources include authors who are Roman Catholic mystics such as St. Teresa of
Avila and the Desert Fathers (known as the Fathers of Contemplative Prayer).
Books by Evelyn Underhill are also recommended as nurturing and guiding resources.
Underhill was an Anglican mystic who believed that mysticism
(meditation/contemplative prayer also known as “The Silence”) was the vehicle
in which all religions could come into contact with the "Absolute"
(God) however one perceived him to be—clearly
not a concept found in scripture nor compatible with the exclusive gospel of
Jesus Christ as the only way to the Father and to eternal life.
Apostles Prophets and
the Coming Moves of God, 1997
“You’re going to have
to open your heart to Teresa of Avila…,” Mike Bickle, Contemplative Prayer,
2001
The Protestant church
must become students of contemplative prayer, and to do that, you have to go
across that great, horrible divide, and you have to drink from Catholic
history. Mike Bickle, Contemplative Prayer, 2001
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