Archive for the ‘Contemplative Spirituality’ Category

“Not one of the students [at the symposium at Bethel University] standing up refuted biblically what they these … Zen Buddhists were saying.” –Ingrid Schlueter

by CrossTalk with Ingrid Schlueter

Recently, Bethel University in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, area held an interreligious symposium that was titled: Meditation–Buddhist and Christian: Is There Common Ground?

Pastor Bob DeWaay of Twin City Fellowship appeared on Crosstalk to discuss this symposium, a gathering that sought to explore how much common ground there is in both Christian and Buddhist meditation.

Just how dangerous is the belief that Christians can gain insight into themselves by practicing Buddhist approaches to meditation? Pastor DeWaay presents the Bible truths that speak directly to this issue on this edition of Crosstalk.  To listen to this interview, click one of these links: (mp3), (Windows media). You may also order the tape by clicking here.

Related Information:
Bethel University (MN) Throws Students to Interspiritual Wolves
Richard Foster’s Contemplative Prayer or Terror?

by Finding the Truth in Jesus

Lighthouse Trails recently reported on the fact that Joel Rosenberg and Frank Peretti have been slated to speak at the upcoming Break Forth conference in Alberta, Canada. They will be sharing the stage with New Age sympathizers, and mystic/emerging proponents, such as William Paul Young (The Shack), Leonard Sweet (Quantum Spirituality), and contemplative proponents such as Duffy Robbins (Enjoy the Silence) and Brad Jersak.

Their participation in the conference has concerned Lighthouse Trails, as to how followers of these prominent Christian figures will come to view emerging contemplative/mystical spirituality, and rightly so.

Following their initial report, Joel Rosenberg released a public statement explaining his participation in the conference. This led Lighthouse Trails to write another report questioning the wisdom, of such prominent evangelical leaders sharing the stage with prominent mystic/emerging proponents. I have to say my sentiments resonate completely with Lighthouse Trails.

I have nothing to add or take way from their latest posts regarding this issue, and I certainly appreciate them raising this voice of concern. I would simply like to share a couple of observations I had while reading this latest post. Click here to continue reading.

“More Proof — The East is Seducing the West”

By Jan Markell
www.olivetreeviews.org 

RADIO: Catch last weekend’s (November 14) archived program with a Bethel University professor. This is a spirited debate concerning a potential “common ground” Christianity could have with Buddhism.

On Saturday I had a spirited on-air discussion with a Bethel University professor who acted as spokesman for the college regarding its recent interfaith symposium. As I wrote last week, Buddhism was featured and there was a suggestion that there just might be “common ground” with Buddhism and Christianity when it comes to “meditation.” Hear the program at this link. The potential “common ground” regarding meditation would be an eastern-style mystical meditation. I saw once again how the East has been seducing the West for nearly 50 years.
 
When I came home from the radio studio I had more e-mails that brought the total to about 15 in two weeks on the issue of “spiritual formation.” It is hitting Christian universities and churches like Hurricane Katrina. Bad metaphor, you say. Not really. It is causing real destruction. And since spiritual formation, too, deals heavily with the mystical, I thought I would take time to give a brief overview of this topic. I know many of you feel nothing unsound as this could walk in the door of your church, but don’t be so sure!
 
Roger Oakland explains, “As the Word of God becomes less and less important, the rise in mystical experiences escalates, and these experiences are presented to convince the unsuspecting that Christianity is about feeling, touching, smelling, and seeing God. The postmodern mindset is the perfect environment for fostering spiritual formation.

 “This term suggests that there are various ways and means to get closer to God and emulate Him. Thus, the idea is given that if you do certain practices, you can be more like Jesus. Proponents of spiritual formation erroneously teach that anyone can practice these mystical rituals and find God within.  Some even say that having a relationship with Jesus Christ is not a prerequisite.”
 
Oakland continues, “The spiritual formation movement is widely promoted at colleges and seminaries as the latest and the greatest way to become a spiritual leader. It teaches people that this is how they can become more intimate with God and hear His voice. Even Christian leaders with long-standing reputations of teaching God’s Word seem to be succumbing. In so doing, many Christian leaders are frivolously playing with fire, and the result will be thousands, probably millions, getting burned.”
 
The proponents of the spiritual formation would tell you the Christian life is always a process of spiritual formation.  We are always in transition, becoming more and more spiritual. But they seem to suggest that it would be helpful if we had some gimmicks to help us speed this up.
 
In 2008, Christianity Today online gave the term of spiritual formation credibility by interviewing the man most prominent in this movement, Richard Foster. They said to Foster, “Evangelicals have been reading your book, A Celebration of Discipline, for 30 years. What is the discipline you think we need to be exploring more at this point?” Foster then promoted “solitude.” But over time we have learned that once again those in this movement are borrowing from Hinduism, Buddhism, and Catholic mystics to perfect a practice for the 21st century.
 
Promoters of Emergent conversation say we are on the verge of an era that promises renewed spiritual awareness. “Spiritual disciplines” are being touted as the avenue to a spiritual reformation that will take Christianity to a new and higher level of spirituality, drawing all participants closer to God.  The problem is that the means to attain this are not godly!
 
Pastor Bob DeWaay writes in his Critical Issues Commentary, “I met a lady who attends a Christian college. As part of her study program, she was required to take a course on spiritual formation. Spiritual formation in her class also concerned the study of Roman Catholic mystics and the search for techniques to help those who implement them feel closer to God. This study also explored ’spiritual disciplines’ which promised to make those who practiced them more Christlike.  After she finished the class, she shared her text books with me.”
 
He continues, “To hear evangelicals like Dallas Willard and Richard Foster tell us that we need practices that were never spelled out in the Bible to become more like Christ or to get closer to God is astonishing. What is more astonishing is that evangelical colleges, seminaries, and church denominations are requiring their students and members to study practices that are relics of Medieval Rome, not found in the Bible, and closely akin to the practices of many pagan societies.”
 
So while the term spiritual formation sounds like a good concept as we all want to grow spiritually, it comes with questionable baggage that is, once again, mystical and hardly sound. Ask questions of your church leadership or college staff. Challenge the issue by pointing out that much of this foundation has been laid by mystics and Catholicism – and throw in some Buddhism and Hinduism as well.  You will then conclude that when the term spiritual formation comes up as it does more and more frequently, it should have a “buyer-beware” label on it. If you see your church bulletin announcing its arrival, don’t just sit there — do something. Confront your leadership!
 
Such things as the Bethel University symposium on “meditation” and the spiritual formation movement are driven by what is known as “contemplative prayer.” Contemplative  (mystical spirituality) is the heartbeat of the spiritual formation movement.  It is more likely to derail you spiritually than draw you closer to God.  Don’t believe them when promoters of spiritual formation tell you that this will take you to a higher level of Christianity and to a new level of spirituality. New spiritual programs aren’t necessary;  rather, hearts yearning to grow in the knowledge of the Lord simply from reading the Bible. We cannot get any “closer to God” than Jesus Christ indwelling us through His Holy Spirit!
 
So, Isaiah had it right when he wrote, “For you have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influences from the east, and they are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they strike bargains with the children of foreigners” (Isaiah 2:5, 6).

Spiritual formation is just another “tickle the ears” effort drawing on experience rather than the Bible.

To help you better understand the dangers of this kind of prayer and the spiritual formation movement, check out the two items: Roger Oakland’s book Faith Undone and Ray Yungen’s DVD, The Face of Mystical Spirituality. Also visit the “Spiritual Deception” category at my Web site. 

Awaiting His return, 

Jan Markell 

Olive Tree Ministries, Inc.
Box 1452
Maple Grove, MN 55311

763-493-3010 or 763-210-8291

by Jan Markell
Olive Tree Ministries

“When Students Are Left for the Wolves”

I wasn’t prepared for what I was about to hear the evening of November 3. My alma mater, Bethel University in St. Paul, MN, sponsored an Interreligious Symposium promoting some kind of “common ground” between Buddhism and Christianity. One would think if a Christian had an ounce of discernment, they would deduce that Christianity has nothing to do with Buddhism and such unions are playing with fire. But a panel concluded that there was “common ground” when it came to “meditation.”  Granted, this kind of meditation could put one in a dangerous altered state of consciousness, but maybe that’s ok as long as we can find a bit of unity here! Some would call this common bond of meditation “contemplative prayer.”
 
About 200 students and a few adults were crammed into the symposium auditorium. Attendance by the students was mandatory. The three main presenters were Buddhist monk Witiyala Seewalie from Sri Lanka, Bethel professor Paul Reasoner who is a part of the “Christian Zen” movement, and Ted Meissner, an active Buddhist layman and meditator in Zen, although he grew up in a Christian home.  Please click here to read this entire article.

In these new YouTube video clips, Mike Oppenheimer (Let Us Reason Ministries) and author Ray Yungen (A Time of Departing) discuss mysticism, the emerging church, and contemplative spirituality and how they relate to God’s Word. In essence, contemplative spirituality says, “The Gospel gets in the way.”

Below is part one.  Click here for part two. Filmed in Idaho by Candlelight Productions for Concerned Nazarenes. Used with permission. YouTube Video clips compiled by “Luke.”

LTRP NOTE: According to the following news report, Focus on the Family founder, James Dobson, has stepped down from his long standing, popular radio program. Lighthouse Trails has reported on a number of occasions regarding Focus on the Family’s promotion of contemplative spirituality. The question must be asked, will Focus on the Family’s vision turn toward the new spirituality that incorporates a contemplative, mystical, emerging spirituality? Time will tell.

“Focus Takes Next Step in Leadership Transition” 

COLORADO SPRINGS, Nov. 2  /Standard Newswire/ — Focus on the Family Founder and Chairman Emeritus James C. Dobson, Ph.D., will leave the ministry as its primary radio voice at the end of February, the ministry announced Friday.

Dr. Dobson’s departure from the radio program and from official affiliation with the organization he founded in 1977 is just the “third chapter in a transition that began in 2003,” when Dr. Dobson stepped down as Focus president, said Jim Daly, the ministry’s president and CEO. It was a mutual decision between Dr. Dobson and the ministry’s board of directors, which Dr. Dobson left in February of this year, Daly added. Click here to read the rest of this news story.

Related Stories:
Serious Concerns for Focus on the Family’s Marriage Conference

by Ray Yungen

Contemplative advocates propose that there has been something vital and important missing from the church for centuries. The insinuation is that Christians have been lacking something necessary for their spiritual vitality; but that would mean the Holy Spirit has not been fully effective for hundreds of years and only now the secret key has been found that unlocks God’s full power to know Him. These proponents believe that Christianity has been seriously crippled without this extra ingredient. This kind of thinking leads one to believe that traditional, biblical Christianity is merely a philosophy without the contemplative prayer element. Contemplatives are making a distinction between studying and meditating on the Word of God versus experiencing Him, suggesting that we cannot hear Him or really know Him simply by studying His Word or even through normal prayer—we must be contemplative to accomplish this. But the Bible makes it clear that the Word of God is living and active, and has always been that way, and it is in filling our minds with it that we come to love Him, not through a mystical practice of stopping the flow of thought (the stillness) that is never once mentioned in the Bible, except in warnings against vain repetitions.

In chapter three [of A Time of Departing] I quoted Thomas Merton’s statement that he saw various Eastern religions “come together in his life” (as a Christian mystic). On a rational, practical level Christianity and Eastern religions will not mix; but add the mystical element and they do blend together like adding soap to oil and water. I must clarify what I mean: Mysticism neutralizes doctrinal differences by sacrificing the truth of Scripture for a mystical experience. Mysticism offers a common ground, and supposedly that commonality is divinity in all. But we know from Scripture “there is one God; and there is none other but he” (Mark 12:32).

In a booklet put out by Saddleback Church on spiritual maturity, the following quote by Henri Nouwen is listed:

Solitude begins with a time and place for God, and Him alone. If we really believe not only that God exists, but that He is actively present in our lives—healing, teaching, and guiding—we need to set aside a time and space to give Him our undivided attention.1

When we understand what Nouwen really means by “time and space” given to God we can also see the emptiness and deception of his spirituality. In his biography of Nouwen, God’s Beloved, Michael O’ Laughlin says:

Some new elements began to emerge in Nouwen’s thinking when he discovered Thomas Merton. Merton opened up for Henri an enticing vista of the world of contemplation and a way of seeing not only God but also the world through new eyes. . . . If ever there was a time when Henri Nouwen wished to enter the realm of the spiritual masters or dedicate himself to a higher spiritual path, it was when he fell under the spell of Cistercian monasticism and the writings of Thomas Merton.2

In his book, Thomas Merton: Contemplative Critic, Nouwen talks about these “new eyes” that Merton helped to formulate and said that Merton and his work “had such an impact” on his life and that he was the man who had “inspired” him greatly.3 But when we read Nouwen’s very revealing account, something disturbing is unveiled. Nouwen lays out the path of Merton’s spiritual pilgrimage into contemplative spirituality. Those who have studied Merton from a critical point of view, such as myself, have tried to understand what are the roots behind Merton’s spiritual affinities. Nouwen explains that Merton was influenced by LSD mystic Aldous Huxley who “brought him to a deeper level of knowledge” and “was one of Merton’s favorite novelists.”4 It was through Huxley’s book, Ends and Means, that first brought Merton “into contact with mysticism.”5 Merton states:

 He [Huxley] had read widely and deeply and intelligently in all kinds of Christian and Oriental mystical literature, and had come out with the astonishing truth that all this, far from being a mixture of dreams and magic and charlatanism, was very real and very serious.6

 This is why, Nouwen revealed, Merton’s mystical journey took him right into the arms of Buddhism:

 Merton learned from him [Chuang Tzu—a Taoist] what Suzuki [a Zen master] had said about Zen: “Zen teaches nothing; it merely enables us to wake and become aware.”7

Become aware of what? The Buddha nature. Divinity within all.

That is why Merton said if we knew what was in each one of us, we would bow down and worship one another. Merton’s descent into contemplative led him to the belief that God is in all things and that God is all things. This is made clear by Merton when he said: “True solitude is a participation in the solitariness of God—Who is in all things.8

 Nouwen adds: “[Chuang Tzu] awakened and led him [Merton] . . . to the deeper ground of his consciousness.”9

This has been the ploy of Satan since the Garden of Eden when the serpent said to Eve, “ye shall be as gods” (Genesis 3:4). It is this very essence that is the foundation of contemplative prayer.

In Merton’s efforts to become a mystic, he found guidance from a Hindu swami, whom Merton referred to as Dr. Bramachari. Bramachari played a pivotal role in Merton’s future spiritual outlook. Nouwen divulged this when he said:

Thus he [Merton] was more impressed when this Hindu monk pointed him to the Christian mystical tradition. . . . It seems providential indeed that this Hindu monk relativized [sic] Merton’s youthful curiosity for the East and made him sensitive to the richness of Western mysticism.10

Why would a Hindu monk advocate the Christian mystical tradition? The answer is simple: they are one in the same. Even though the repetitive words used may differ (e.g. Christian words: Abba, Father, etc. rather than Hindu words), the end result is the same. And the Hindu monk knew this to be true. Bramachari understood that Merton didn’t need to switch to Hinduism to get the same enlightenment that he himself experienced through the Hindu mystical tradition. In essence, Bramachari backed up what I am trying to get across, that all the world’s mystical traditions basically come from the same source and teach the same precepts . . . and that source is not the God of the Old and New Testaments. That biblical God is not interspiritual!

Evangelical Christianity is now being invited, perhaps even catapulted into seeing God with these new eyes of contemplative prayer. And so the question must be asked, is Thomas Merton’s silence, Henri Nouwen’s space, and Richard Foster’s contemplative prayer the way in which we can know and be close to God? Or is this actually a spiritual belief system that is contrary to the true message that the Bible so absolutely defines—that there is only one way to God and that is through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice on the Cross obtained our full salvation? If indeed my concerns for the future actually come to fruition, then we will truly enter a time of departing. (from chapter 9 of A Time of Departing – for more about Ray Yungen’s work, visit: www.atimeofdeparting.com).

Endnotes:

1.. Henri Nouwen, cited in Saddleback training book, Soul Construction: SolitudeTool  (Lake Forest, CA: Saddleback Church, 2003), p. 12.

2. Michael O’ Laughlin, God’s Beloved (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2004), p. 178.

3. Henri J.M. Nouwen, Thomas Merton: Contemplative Critic (San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row Publishers, 1991, Triumph Books Edition), p. 3.

4. Ibid., pp. 19-20.

5. Ibid., p. 20.

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid., p. 71.

8. Ibid., pp. 46, 71.

9. Ibid., p. 71.

10 . Ibid., p. 29.

In November 2004, Lighthouse Trails Research issued its first alert to Christian colleges that are promoting contemplative spirituality. The four colleges listed in that alert were San Fransisco Theological Seminary, Biola University, Bethel University, and Lincoln Christian College and Seminary. Since then, several other alerts have been issued. What has become all too painfully clear is that the majority of Christian colleges in North America have in varying degrees begun to incorporate contemplative spirituality into their colleges. It is not just a few schools – it is most, and for those who understand the dangers of contemplative (and emerging), it is obvious that Christian colleges are in a crisis of faith.

The following is a list of the articles we have written on the college situation. Is your child’s school listed here? It’s worth checking out:

Biola University – January 2005

Dallas Theological Seminary – April 2005

Assemblies of God Theological Seminary – May/June 2005

Assemblies of God Theological Seminary – Article #2 – November 2005

Wheaton College Promoting Contemplative Spirituality – March 2006

Christian Colleges – A Dangerous Place For Young Christians - June 2006

Azusa Pacific University

Wheaton College

Back to School – Is Your College Student Safe? – August 2006

The Shape of Things to Come – Biola University – September 2006

Moody Bible – September 2006

Cedarville University – October 2006

Trinity Western University – December 2006

Liberty University – February 2007

A Glimpse of the Future of Christian Higher Education – March 2007

Prairie Bible Institute – August 2007

Liberty University – Article #2 – August 2007

Moody Bible Institute – Article #2 – September 2007

Briercrest College – September 2007

Southwest Baptist University – October 2007

Baylor University – November 2007

Belmont University – November 2007

Moody Bible Institute – Article #3 – November 2007

Prairie Bible Institute – Article #2 – November 2007

Southeastern University (AOG) – December 2007

Moody Bible Institute – Article #4 – January 2008

Palm Beach Atlantic University – January 2008

Cedarville University – January 2008

Nazarene Universities – February 2008

Liberty University – Article #3 – February 2008

University Student Stands Alone Against Emerging Spirituality – February 2008

Mount Vernon Nazarene – March 2008

Moody Bible Institute Looks for New President - August 1, 2008

Cedarville University – Article #3 – March 2008

Bethel University New President: “Catholic friends taught me about contemplative prayer.” - July 3, 2008

Jonathan Falwell Becomes Vice-Chancellor at Liberty University - September 11, 2008

Ambrose University (CMA & Nazarene) Full Speed into Contemplative/Emergent - October 12, 2008

Biola University Student Reports on Contemplative Chapel Services – Warns Parents to Avoid Biola - October 20, 2008

Biola University Contacts Lighthouse Trails – Accuses of Libel - October 21, 2008

Non-Contemplative Pillsbury Baptist Bible College to Close - November 24, 2008

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary May Be Heading into Troubled Contemplative Waters - January 12, 2009

Keri Wyatt Kent Continues Leading Women Toward Contemplative – Moody Bible Institute Helps - February 12, 2009

Trevecca Nazarene University Promoting Contemplative Spirituality in No Small Way - February 18, 2009

Emergent/Mystical Leaders at Baylor University - April 13, 2009

Point Loma Nazarene University Welcomes Brian McLaren and Embraces Contemplative Spirituality - April 19, 2009

Gordon College in MA Brings Emerging Contemplative Spirituality to Students June 19, 2009

For more information:

Our database of Christian colleges using contemplative materials

Some Christian colleges that DON’T promote contemplative spirituality

According to a Christianity Today article, Biola University professor J.P. Moreland says evangelical Christians are too committed to the Bible. His talk at a recent Evangelical Theology Society meeting was titled “How Evangelicals Became Over-Committed to the Bible and What Can Be Done About It.” Quoting Moreland, the article states:

“In the actual practices of the Evangelical community in North America, there is an over-commitment to Scripture in a way that is false, irrational, and harmful to the cause of Christ,” he [Moreland] said. “And it has produced a mean-spiritedness among the over-committed that is a grotesque and often ignorant distortion of discipleship unto the Lord Jesus.” The problem, he said, is “the idea that the Bible is the sole source of knowledge of God, morality, and a host of related important items. Accordingly, the Bible is taken to be the sole authority for faith and practice.”

While Moreland gives examples such as non-charismatics who steer clear of any and all venues such as “impressions, dreams, visions, prophetic words, words of knowledge and wisdom,” there may be more behind his statements than meets the eye. This idea of “bibliolatry” (the idolizing of the Bible) did not originate with Moreland. Several years ago contemplative Brennan Manning (who gets many of his ideas from panentheist mystics like Thomas Merton and William Shannon (Silence on Fire) said this:

I am deeply distressed by what I only can call in our Christian culture the idolatry of the Scriptures. For many Christians, the Bible is not a pointer to God but God himself. In a word–bibliolatry. God cannot be confined within the covers of a leather-bound book. I develop a nasty rash around people who speak as if mere scrutiny of its pages will reveal precisely how God thinks and precisely what God wants.”–Brennan Manning, Signature of Jesus, pp. 188-189

Some may agree with Manning and Moreland by saying that we should not worship a leather bound book but rather the One who the book is about. But few “over-committed” Bible-believing Christians would argue with that. Christians who believe the Bible is the actual inspired word of God know that it is the Jesus Christ proclaimed in that Bible that is to be worshiped. But they also know that within the pages of the Bible are the holy words, ideas, and truths of God. So for Moreland and Manning to suggest that these types of Christians don’t really worship God but rather pages in a book is a complete misrepresentation of Bible-believing Christians.

There may be a logical reason why Moreland and Manning condemn those who adhere to the Bible too strongly. Both have something in common – their promotion of contemplative spirituality. And those who turn to contemplative mysticism, often shift their focus from the moral (doctrine) to the mystical (as Henri Nouwen suggested). J.P. Moreland is in the same camp as Manning. In Moreland’s 2006 book, The Lost Virtue of Happiness, he talks about rediscovering important spiritual principles that have been lost. Roger Oakland explains:

Two of the spiritual disciplines … are “Solitude and Silence” (p. 51). The book says that these two disciplines are “absolutely fundamental to the Christian life” (p. 51)…. Moreland and Issler [co-author] state:

In our experience, Catholic retreat centers [bastions of mysticism] are usually ideal for solitude retreats… We also recommend that you bring photos of your loved ones and a picture of Jesus… Or gaze at a statue of Jesus. Or let some pleasant thought, feeling, or memory run through your mind over and over again (pp. 54-55)….

Moreland and Issler provide tips for developing a prayer life. Here are some of the recommendations they make:

[W]e recommend that you begin by saying the Jesus Prayer about three hundred times a day (p. 90).

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 begin to occupy the center of your attention (p. 92).

Repetitive use of the Jesus Prayer while doing more focused things allows God to be on the boundaries of your mind and forms the habit of being gently in contact with him all day long (p. 93).

Moreland and Issler try to present what they consider a scriptural case that repetitive prayers are OK with God. But they never do it! They say the Jesus Prayer is derived from Luke 18:38 where the blind man cries out, “Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me,”(p.90) but nowhere in that section of the Bible (or any other section for that matter) does it instruct people to repeat a rendition of Luke 18:38 over and over. (from Faith Undone, pp. 117-119)

In a four-part article written by Moreland on Focus on the Family website, Moreland encourages the spiritual disciplines. In Part II of Moreland’s article he says, “A spiritual discipline is a repetitive practice.” Moreland favorably references contemplative-promoter Dallas Willard to describe the importance of silence and solitude. He adds: “People are coming to see that repeated bodily practice in the form of spiritual exercises/disciplines is at the heart of spiritual transformation.” 1Moreland’s recent release, Kingdom Triangle, is also quite telling. Dallas Willard wrote the foreword, and in an Amazon book review, the reviewer states:

On page 159, Dr. Moreland encourages the reader to participate in an unbiblical form of meditation which is more akin to the religious practices of Yoga and Eastern mysticism than orthodox Biblical Christianity where he details a 2-step process first alluded to in the Lost Virtue of Happiness book. In step one, he tells the reader to “[f]ocus the center of your attention on your physical heart muscle.”(2)

Moreland recommends Richard Foster and Henri Nouwen, which makes sense – he co-authored a book with Dallas Willard ten years ago; thus, he has been dancing in contemplative circles for sometime. That being the case, it makes sense that he would say some Christians are over-committed to the Bible. And that’s something to think about.

To understand more about the contemplative idea of moving from the moral (doctrine) to the mystial, read chapter 4, section 1 of Faith Undone, “Experience over doctrine” and chapter 3 pages 61-64 (about Nouwen) of A Time of Departing.