"...contemplative
prayer also stands on the threshold of exploding worldwide.
Dr. Larry Crabb, spiritual director for the 50,000 member American
Association of Christian Counselors, has written the foreword to
a recent book37 that expounds on the future of
spiritual direction in the evangelical church. The authors the book
promotes are ... Nouwen, Merton, Foster, Keating,
Pennington, etc. ...With that in mind, Dr. Crabb predicted: 'The
spiritual climate is ripe. Jesus seekers across the world are being
prepared to abandon the old way of the written code[does he mean
the Bible?] for the new way of the Spirit." from
A Time of Departing - page 137 37 -David
G. Benner, Sacred Companions: The Gift of Spiritual Friendship
& Direction, Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 2002,
p.9
Larry
Crabb interview: I have a lot of appreciation for Richard Foster and for Dallas
Willard. I think it was a really personal thing that I just
wanted to do. I pretty much gave up on insight as producing the
transformation that I really longed for. I had a greater interest
in spiritual formation. It had to be union versus your insight....
the whole idea of purgation, illumination and union. I became
aware of a tremendous hunger for knowing the Lord after being
a Christian all my life. So that was a personal reason why I moved
away from counseling to spiritual direction.
In
Their Own Words
Why
psychologist Larry Crabb believes spiritual direction should replace therapy.
Seearticle
Got
Your Spiritual Director Yet?
article in Christianity Today about Spiritual Directors and the
contemplatives who got this going.
Larry
Crabb and
the American Association of Christian Counselors
Leading
Christians Into
Contemplative Spirituality and Danger
50,000 Members,
But Where Are They Heading?
In
the AACC Code of Ethics, a clear connection to Richard Foster
(and his spirituality) has been determined:
"Although
rooted primarily in an orthodox evangelical biblical theology,
this Code is also influenced (according to the paradigm offered
by Richard Foster) by the social
justice, charismatic-pentecostal, pietistic-holiness, liturgical,
and contemplative traditions of Christian
theology and church history." p.3, American
Association of Christian Counselors, Code of Ethics
The
Papa Prayer
The book, The Papa Prayer (Integrity Publishers, 2006),
boasts that this new kind of prayer will "shatter your view
of prayer as it used to be" (back cover). The author, a board
member of the Spiritual
Formation Forum, does not hesitate to let readers know that,
while his Papa Prayer is something new and different, he also
currently practices both contemplative prayer and centering
prayer (which are really one and the same):
I've
practiced centering prayer. I've contemplatively prayed.
I've prayed liturgically....I've benefited from each, and
I still do. In ways you'll see, elements of each style are
still with me (The Papa Prayer, p.9).
And
then on page 22, Crabb says, "Other forms of relating to God
that have unique value in connecting us to Him include contemplative
prayer and centering prayer." Some may say that Larry Crabb
doesn't mean actual contemplative prayer or centering prayer,
that this is just a mix up of definitions. But in a 2003 Christianity Today article, it reveals Crabb's
sympathies towards contemplative spirituality:
Christian
counselor and popular author Larry Crabb took the trouble
to earn a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. But now he believes
that in today's church, therapy should be replaced by another,
more ancient practice--"spiritual direction."
This
"ancient practice" is the same ancient practice that Thomas
Merton and Thomas Keating teach - contemplative prayer.
A year before the Christianity Today article came
out, Crabb wrote the foreword for David Benner's book, Sacred
Companions: "The spiritual climate is ripe. Jesus seekers
across the world are being prepared to abandon the old way
of the written code for the new way of the spirit." Benner's
book is clear about what that "new way" is when he talks
about a "Transformational Journey" needed in the Christian's
life, which includes the teachings of Meister Eckhart, Thomas
Merton, Martin Buber, Richard Foster, Henri Nouwen, Basil
Pennington and several others, all of whom promote a panentheistic,
New Age view of God. For Crabb to write the foreword of
Benner's book, it leaves no speculation of his affinity
towards this same spirituality. His book, The Papa Prayer,
is no exception; and he comes right out and says so! The
Papa Prayer is nothing more than a union of mysticism
and psychology, and the insights of this "revolutionary"
prayer spring from Crabb's contemplative experiences. Excerpt
from, Trusted
Evangelical Leaders Endorse The Papa Prayer by Larry Crabb!
Quotes
of Importance
"Christian
counselor and popular author Larry Crabb took the trouble to
earn a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. But now he believes that
in today's church, therapy should be replaced by another, more ancient practice—'spiritual direction.' This is
one of the classical Christian spiritual
disciplines Crabb and others from a wide variety of Protestant,
Catholic, and Orthodox backgrounds are examining and recommending
anew in a biannual journal, Conversations: A Forum for Authentic
Transformation"
—Chris Armstrong and Steven Gertz
Larry
Crabb
—Connected to the contemplatives:
"Brennan
(Manning) is my friend, walking ahead of me on the path toward
home. As I watch him from behind, I am drawn to more closely
follow on the path, to more deeply enjoy Abba's love.
Thanks, Brennan."
—Dr. Larry CrabbseeA
New Code for an Emerging Profession
AACC Code of Ethics
see
page 1 "Although rooted primarily
in evangelical theology, this Code is also influenced by the
social justice, charismatic-pentecostal, pietistic-holiness,
liturgical, and contemplative traditions of Christian theology and church history."
Contemplative Spirituality: A belief system that
uses ancient mystical practices to induce altered states of consciousness
(the silence) and is rooted in mysticism and the occult but often wrapped
in Christian terminology. The premise of contemplative spirituality
is pantheistic (God is all) and panentheistic (God is in all). Common
terms used for this movement are "spiritual formation," "the
silence," "the stillness," "ancient-wisdom,"
"spiritual disciplines," and many others.
"Nor
is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name [Jesus
Christ] under heaven
given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4: 12
