Some leaders in the emerging new spirituality call themselves "Red Letter Christians," referring to the red letters in some Bibles that signify the words of Jesus Christ. But these same leaders minimize or all together reject warnings in the Bible from the Lord about spiritual deception and the cost that goes with belonging to the Him. Listen to some of these red letters from our Lord in Matthew 10, and ask yourself, are these the kinds of words that the "Red Letter" emerging leaders such as Tony Campolo, Jim Wallis, and Brian McLaren are speaking?

And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;

And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.

For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.

And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Matthew 10: 11-22

By quoting this Scripture, we are saying that the new emerging spirituality does not talk about the cost of being a true believer. It talks about unity at all costs, but not truth at all costs. And yet Scripture, as this one above, clearly indicates that there is an antagonism between the Gospel and the precepts of this world.

Our recent article, "New Age Sympathizer Leonard Sweet To Speak at Pastor Skip Heitzig’s Calvary Chapel Church," illustrates clearly how deception has entered the Christian church and how "grievous wolves" are not "sparing the flock" (Acts 20:29). It is worth noting that many now are warning against popular New Agers such as Oprah and Eckhart Tolle, but some of those same warners are promoting New Age sympathizers that have come into the church. Alice Bailey, the occultist who coined the term New Age prophesied that the "Coming One" (really the false christ) could not come on the scene until humanity recognized its divinity (man is God, they will say). And she said that this "Age of Aquarius" will not come around the Christian church but rather through it. This is what we are witnessing today, and all believers should take note. Bailey called it the "rejuvenation" of the churches; Rick Warren, Leonard Sweet, and other prominent leaders call it a new reformation. But it is the same thing, and it will deceive millions.

For those who have not read our article on Sweet and Calvary Chapel, please do so (see article below this one). You will see where we have documented that Leonard Sweet clearly identifies with a number of prominent New Age authors and leaders, calling them role models and "New Light" heroes.

There is a stunning connection here. In A Time of Departing, Ray Yungen quotes Laurie Cabot, a witch, who states:

Mystics in every religious tradition speak of alpha states of consciousness and the lure of Divine Light, although they do so in their own metaphors and images. In their own ways they have learned how to enter alpha as they pray or worship. They learn how to become enlightened. (ATOD, p. 177)

She did not say many or most religious traditions; she said "every." This is what Lighthouse Trails is trying to bring to people's attention. This Christian new spirituality/contemplative tradition is not truly Christian and in fact opposes the Gospel by its implications that God is in everything.

Yungen explains:

In a book titled The Contemplative Experience, the writer presents the point of view that could be expressed by any of the contemplatives over the past 1,700 years. Speaking of Bernard of Clairvaux:

He realized that God permeates the whole of creation. His experience was that God is the “stone in the stones, the tree in the trees,” and in the same way, the center point of his own soul. God resides at the heart of all that exists. (ATOD, p. 177)

Clairvaux isn't making reference to the sovereignty of God over creation. He's making reference to what Leonard Sweet calls the "embodiment of God" in all creation. And this is why Sweet champions individuals such as David Spangler, Matthew Fox, and Ken Wilber, et al.

When Sweet says the following, he is echoing the very heart and soul of Cabot and Clairvaux:

Quantum spirituality [mysticism] bonds us to all creation as well as to other members of the human family. . . . This entails a radical doctrine of embodiment of God in the very substance of creation. (Quantum Spirituality, p. 125)

Is THIS the direction that Christian leaders are going to take the church? What detriment that would be!

Lighthouse Trails calls upon those who are bringing the false teaching of contemplative mysticism (i.e. occultism) and the "God is in everything" belief into the church to repentance. And we beseech those leaders (such as Calvary Chapel veteran pastor Skip Heitzig) who are giving credence to these false teachings by their support and associations with the New Spirituality leaders to stop turning a blind eye and begin warning the church. The church is supposed to be God's vehicle in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world, not a vehicle to bring to the world the mystery of iniquity!

"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ... Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first ... For the mystery of iniquity doth already work." (from II Thessalonians 2: 1-7)

 

Also read the related article from March 22nd. See third article below.

Tonight, March 30th, on Rapture Ready radio, Warren B. Smith, author of the new book, A "Wonderful" Deception will be interviewed. Smith will talk about the New Spirituality that has come into the church through leaders such as Leonard Sweet, Rick Warren, and others. You can listen to this live interview at 6PM Pacific Coast time by going to: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/rapturereadyradio/2010/03/31/special-easter-celebration-with-warren-smith

REPOSTED FROM MARCH 22ND:

LTRP Note: As the organized Christian church and church leaders continue in their plunge toward apostasy, turning their heads and ignoring the truth, all the while attempting to discredit those who are trying to warn, more and more people are being pulled into this tidal wave of deception. When Lighthouse Trails wrote a press release in 2005 showing that Rick Warren was planning on using New Age sympathizer Ken Blanchard to help implement his Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan and train leaders, attempts were made to discredit Lighthouse Trails.

Now, five years later, as various Christian organizations, denominations, and movements have spun out of control and hastened toward major spiritual deception through contemplative mysticism, kingdom-now (heaven on earth) theology, and emerging spirituality (all part of Satan’s Great Lie that started in the Garden of Eden), others have joined in attempting to discredit Lighthouse Trails and other concerned ministries.

In response to some of these attempts, Lighthouse Trails author Ray Yungen wrote an article in 2009 titled Is Lighthouse Trails haters? This stemmed from a Calvary Chapel event in 2009 called Movement 2009, in which a Calvary Chapel leader told thousands of youth that the haters tried to stop us but they didn’t. This was in reference to Lighthouse Trails previous reporting that Calvary Chapel was going to use emerging church author Mike Erre to address these youth at the Movement event. Erre’s book, Death by Church, is a primer on the “new” emerging spirituality.

As we witness the lacking of Christian leaders to warn against last days apostasy IN the church (not just secular deceptions in the world), we soberly continue to report on what is taking place. If your pastors and leaders are telling you NOT to listen to Lighthouse Trails and others who are critical of the evangelical church’s move toward a “new” Christianity, a paradigm shift they say, please do your own research before you take their word for it.

To illustrate just how far Christian leaders have slipped in contending for the faith and courageously standing against those who are bringing in dangerous false doctrines, in the summer of 2009, at a Greg Laurie Harvest Crusade, Calvary Chapel founder Chuck Smith introduced Rick Warren as his “good friend.” Warren, who was sharing the platform with Smith and Laurie that day, then addressed the crowd. Just a few years earlier, Calvary Chapel had publicly denounced the Purpose Driven teachings, saying: “The teaching and positions of Rick Warren have come into conflict with us at Calvary Chapel. Pastor Chuck has directed us to discontinue this product [Rick Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Life] effective immediately.”1

Today, as another illustration, a film called Riptide is about to be released by Solomon Productions.The film is hosted by Calvary Chapel pastor, Skip Heitzig, and features a number of Christian leaders, including contemplative proponents such as Rick Warren and Mark Driscoll. The film is about the 1970s Jesus Movement and the present and future of Christianity. Another example of more ground being furrowed for a further blending of truth and error.

Because of these things, it is becoming increasingly difficult for believers to identify and flee from deception.

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." I Peter 5:8

In 2009, Warren B. Smith wrote a book titled A “Wonderful” Deception: The Further New Age Implications of the Emerging Purpose Driven Movement. In this book, Smith tells the story of what happened after Lighthouse Trails wrote that 2005 press release on Rick Warren and Ken Blanchard. Today, we are presenting this section of the book in its entirety because we think people need to know what is going on behind the scenes and know that things are not always as they seem.

From chapters 4 & 5 of A “Wonderful” Deception by Warren B. Smith

In a May 31, 2005 midnight e-mail to Lighthouse Trails Publishing, Rick Warren made it clear that he was not happy with George Mair [author of A Life with Purpose] or with Lighthouse Trails regarding the subject of Ken Blanchard. With an apparent effort to take the spotlight off Blanchard’s New Age affinities, Warren attempted to place it on George Mair and Lighthouse Trails instead.–Warren Smith

In April 2005, a new book was published about Rick Warren. It was titled A Life With Purpose: Reverend Rick Warren: The Most Inspiring Pastor of Our Time. The book was an extremely favorable presentation of Warren and the Purpose Driven movement. Author George Mair genuinely liked and respected Warren as he described the Saddleback pastor’s life and ministry. Mair’s book was carried in major bookstores around the country—including Christian bookstores. The author’s high regard for Warren was evident throughout A Life With Purpose. Early on in his book, Mair writes:

I knew one thing for sure about Rick Warren: his is a fascinating story. A humble man with humble beginnings, he is changing America—and the world—“one soul at a time.”2

After hearing him preach and experiencing Saddleback Church, I understand why millions are listening to this man, and knew that the story behind the movement deserves to be told.3

His demeanor as the founder and pastor of one of the largest churches in the world reflects a man whose focus is on his mission to serve the Lord by bringing in the unchurched souls—the lost sheep—to embrace and celebrate the saving Grace of Jesus Christ.4

A Life With Purpose is filled with continuous praise for Rick Warren and his Purpose Driven ministry. Nothing George Mair said could be considered negative or critical about Warren. In fact, the rare comment of a critic is usually offset by the author himself. For example, Mair states:

Another thing those critics fail to take into account is the role that Rick himself plays in the phenomenal growth of his church. Rick Warren is a truly charismatic spiritual leader. It’s clear to anyone who experiences one of his Saddleback services that he truly loves what he does. He relishes standing up at the podium, looking out at the smiling crowd, and sharing the Good News of Jesus.5

There is no question that A Life With Purpose is an overwhelmingly positive account of Rick Warren and the Purpose Driven movement. However, at one point George Mair—in an almost naive and non-judgmental way—talks about Norman Vincent Peale and the New Age influence Peale had exerted on the Church Growth movement. Mair frames his remarks about Peale by writing:

The numbers speak for themselves. The Church Growth Movement has been wildly successful in Southern California . . . as well as in the rest of the country. Which prompts us to ask: what are the roots of this powerful movement? Rick Warren may be the foremost figure in the CGM today, but he’s only a piece—albeit an important one—of a greater development in the Christian Church. Who and what gave birth to this movement in which Rick would play such a vital role?6

Mair answers his own question by stating what other writers have known and also set forth—that it was Norman Vincent Peale who really provided the spiritual foundation of today’s Church Growth movement. In a sub-section titled “Laying the Groundwork: New Age Preacher Norman Vincent Peale,” Mair writes:

Reverend Norman Vincent Peale is, to many, the most prophetic and moving New Age preacher of the twentieth century. He is also the father of the self-help movement that formed the groundwork for the Church Growth Movement. Peale formed perhaps the most dramatic and meaningful link between religion and psychology of any religious leader in history. It is this same approachable, therapeutic brand of religion that many mega churches, including Saddleback, put forward today. It is this kind of religion that is so appealing to the masses of unchurched men and women that Rick Warren hopes to reach.7

George Mair goes on to state that Saddleback Church “distinctly bears the stamp of Norman Vincent Peale”:

Peale’s ministry was the first to raise the question that still faces mega churches today: is it spiritual compromise if a pastor simplifies his message in order to make it appealing to a huge number of seekers?8

His biographer, [Carol R.] George, says, “Norman Vincent Peale is undoubtedly one of the most controversial figures in modern American Christianity.” But no matter what people think about his theories, they have to acknowledge Peale’s remarkable unification of psychology and theology. Without that unification, mega churches wouldn’t exist today. . . . In that sense, Saddleback distinctly bears the stamp of Reverend Norman Vincent Peale.9

While Mair explains that it was Peale who laid the New Age “groundwork” for today’s Church Growth movement, he notes that it was Robert Schuller who helped to create the effectiveness of the megachurch movement on a national scale:

But it’s hard to argue that Schuller was not the first person to be effective on a national scale. He was unquestionably a pioneer in the Church Growth Movement and a major influence on Rick Warren.10

In his book, George Mair notes that Rick Warren had attended the Robert H. Schuller Institute for Successful Church Leadership.11 Then, after describing some of the various church growth leaders up to and including the 1980s, Mair writes:

But in the 1990s, following in the footsteps of Peale and Schuller, the leader of the next generation of Church Growth Movement pastors emerged. That man was none other than Rick Warren.12

In researching his book, George Mair had discovered the same Lutheran Quarterly article sent to me the month before by the Indiana pastor. Citing the article, Mair wrote how Norman Vincent Peale had been accused of plagiarizing material from an occult source:

Some of Peale’s former colleagues and another minister went so far as to accuse him of plagiarism. Writing in the Lutheran Quarterly, Reverend John Gregory Tweed of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Reverend George D. Exoo of Pittsburgh wrote that many of Peale’s uplifting affirmations originated with an “obscure teacher of occult science” named Florence Scovel Shinn. They based this charge on their comparison of words in Peale’s writings and those of Shinn’s book, The Game of Life and How to Play It, in which they found some identical phrases.13

In A Life With Purpose, George Mair also reveals that Norman Vincent Peale had been accused of using unattributed material from occult/New Age author Florence Scovel Shinn. From my own research that had been spurred by that same Lutheran Quarterly article, I learned that Peale had much more interest and involvement in the occult than I realized. He had openly endorsed the works of key New Age figures like Ernest Holmes, Eric Butterworth, and Bernie Siegel. Because questions had already arisen regarding Rick Warren’s undiscerning reference to Siegel and Warren’s use of unaccredited material from Robert Schuller in the The Purpose Driven Life, the very last thing Warren needed was a book—no matter how much it praised him—intimating a New Age link running from Peale to Schuller to Warren himself. In short, Warren did not need any more New Age implications arising that would cast further doubt upon his Purpose Driven movement. But ironically—at least on the surface—it wasn’t Mair’s remarks about Peale that stirred up concern at Saddleback Church but rather an offhand remark Mair had made in his book about author and businessman Ken Blanchard….

It was not until the release of George Mair’s book in 2005 that some people learned that Rick Warren had announced back in 2003 that Ken Blanchard would be working with him on the P.E.A.C.E. Plan. When Lighthouse Trails Publishing learned about Blanchard’s involvement with Warren, they were concerned. One of their authors, Ray Yungen, had been researching the New Age for many years and often came across Blanchard, who had been consistently endorsing and writing the forewords to New Age books and organizations. On April 19, 2005, Lighthouse Trails issued a press release, quoting George Mair’s book that Warren had “hired” Blanchard to work with him on the P.E.A.C.E. Plan.19 Lighthouse Trails warned of the serious New Age implications of allowing someone as undiscerning as Blanchard to teach Christians around the world how to “lead like Jesus.”The press release documented many of Blanchard’s New Age endorsements including Deepak Chopra’s book, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success and a book titled What Would Buddha Do at Work? for which Blanchard wrote the foreword. (To read all of chapter 4 and 5 of A “Wonderful” Deception and for endnotes, click here.)

by Warren B. Smith

A fractal . . . something considered simple and orderly that is actually composed of repeated patterns no matter how magnified. A fractal is almost infinitely complex. I love fractals, so I put them everywhere.1–Sarayu, The Shack

Fractals reveal a hidden “order” underlying all seemingly chaotic events. The fractals are intricate and beautiful. They repeat basic patterns, but with an infinity of variations and forms. The world-view emerging from this scientific research is new, and yet at the same time very very ancient.2–The Sovereign Court and Order of the Ancient Dragon

Shortly after writing the previous two chapters on Leonard Sweet and quantum spirituality, I spoke at a church in Southern California. I had been asked to speak at the two morning services and then again in the evening. In the second morning service, three women approached me and thanked me for warning about the New Age/New Spirituality and how it was working its way into the church. All three told me they formerly attended Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, but they had become dissatisfied and left. They said it had been difficult to leave because so many of their friends still went to Saddleback.

After the evening service, two more women approached me with similar stories. One left Saddleback the previous year and the other had left a church she had been attending for over thirty-seven years. This second woman, Jennifer, had left because her former church was introducing a mixture of Purpose Driven, church growth, and emerging church teachings. She was following up on comments I made about William Paul Young’s New York Times best-selling book The Shack. I had described how The Shack’s author had introduced New Age concepts into his emotional novel about a man’s supposed encounter with “God,” “Jesus,” and the “Holy Spirit” after the brutal murder of his daughter. In the midst of his story, Young suddenly introduces the foundational teaching of the New Age/New Spirituality/New World Religion–that God is “in” everything. The Shack’s “Jesus” told Mack–the distraught father and main character in the novel–that God is “in” all things:

God, who is the ground of all being, dwells in, around, and through all things.3

In speaking to the Southern California church, I had explained that the Bible makes it clear that God is not “in” all things. I explained that Satan–”the god of this world”–wants everyone to believe that God is “in” all things because then everyone would have reason to believe that they were God. When The Shack’s “Jesus” states that God is “in” all things, he actually reinforces what Rick Warren has already written in The Purpose Driven Life–that the Bible says God is “in” everything.4 In an online article I wrote titled “The Shack and its New Age Leaven,” I discuss this “God in everything” aspect.5

In our brief conversation, the second woman, Jennifer, told me she had discovered something interesting in The Shack and had written a short article about it. She asked if I would be willing to read her article. I told her I would.

Fractal Theory and The Shack
Back home a week later, I found Jennifer’s paper in my notebook. I was intrigued by the title–”Fractal Theory in The Shack.” In her article, Jennifer explains that during her research she had rented a DVD movie, which she had been told had New Age undertones. She then describes something she discovered in the movie:

In the movie The Seeker a young boy is a chosen one who is to find signs hidden throughout time, which will help fight against the encroaching darkness. I won’t go into the plot too much but what I will say is, in the movie, each sign that the boy is to find is known as a fractal. When I heard the term fractal, right away I realized that I had heard that same term somewhere else recently. Later on that day I remembered where I had heard it, The Shack.

Beginning in chapter 9 in The Shack which is titled, “A Long Time Ago in a Garden Far, Far Away,” we read about how Sarayu (who represents the Holy Spirit) has created a garden and we learn that the garden is a fractal. We learn about fractals from Sarayu when she says, “A fractal is something considered simple and orderly that is actually composed of repeated patterns no matter how magnified. A fractal is almost infinitely complex. I love fractals, so I put them everywhere.”6

Curious about the term “fractal” that was showing up in both The Shack and The Seeker, Jennifer did some research. What she discovered is that the term “fractal” is directly related to what are being called the “new sciences” of “Chaos Theory” and “Fractal Theory.” What was of particular interest to me was her finding that fractals are directly linked with the occult phrase “as above, so below”–the same occult/New Age term that Eugene Peterson had mysteriously inserted into his paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer. And now, here was Peterson’s endorsement prominently featured on the front cover of The Shack. Given my previously expressed concern about Peterson’s use of “as above, so below” in The Message, I found it interesting that “as above, so below” was apparently related to the term fractal in The Shack and that Peterson had so enthusiastically endorsed the book. (This is an excerpt from Chapter 12 of A “Wonderful” Deception.–To continue reading more of this chapter and for endnote material, click here.)

Reposted from Feb. 2010

by Warren B. Smith

The New Age/New Spirituality is already heralding quantum physics as a “scientific” basis for their contention that God is not only transcendent but also immanent—“in” everyone and everything. Physicist Fritjof Capra’s 1975 best-selling book on quantum physics—The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism—was the first to present this proposed scientific/spiritual model to a mass audience. In it, Capra explains that he gained new spiritual insights through a mystical experience he had sitting on a beach in Santa Cruz, California in 1969:

Five years ago, I had a beautiful experience which set me on a road that has led to the writing of this book. I was sitting by the ocean one late summer afternoon, watching the waves rolling in and feeling the rhythm of my breathing, when I suddenly became aware of my whole environment as being engaged in a gigantic cosmic dance. . . . As I sat on that beach my former experiences [research in high-energy physics] came to life; I “saw” cascades of energy coming down from outer space, in which particles were created and destroyed in rhythmic pulses; I “saw” the atoms of the elements and those of my body participating in this cosmic dance of energy; I felt its rhythm and I “heard” its sound, and at that moment I knew that this was the Dance of Shiva, the Lord of Dancers worshipped by the Hindus.1

Commenting on his experience thirty years later, Capra writes that back in 1970 he “knew with absolute certainty that the parallels between modern physics and Eastern mysticism would someday be common knowledge.”2 In 1999, in a twenty-fifth anniversary edition of his book, Capra reflects on the fact that The Tao of Physics had sold more than a million copies over the years and had been translated into at least twelve languages:

What did The Tao of Physics touch off in all these people? What was it they had experienced themselves? I had come to believe that the recognition of the similarities between modern physics and Eastern mysticism is part of a much larger movement, of a fundamental change of worldviews, or paradigms, in science and society, which is now happening throughout Europe and North America and which amounts to a profound cultural transformation. This transformation, this profound change of consciousness, is what so many people have felt intuitively over the past two or three decades, and this is why The Tao of Physics has struck such a responsive chord.3

Capra adds:

The awareness of the unity and mutual interrelation of all things and events, the experience of all phenomena as manifestations of a basic oneness, is also the most important common characteristic of Eastern worldviews. One could say it is the very essence of those views, as it is of all mystical traditions. All things are seen as interdependent, inseparable, and as transient patterns of the same ultimate reality.4

Fritjof Capra then describes the union of mysticism and the new physics as the “new spirituality” that is “now being developed by many groups and movements, both within and outside the churches.” As an example of how this “new spirituality” is moving into the church, he refers to one of Leonard Sweet’s “role models” and “heroes”—Matthew Fox:

On the other hand, I also believe that our own spiritual traditions will have to undergo some radical changes in order to be in harmony with the values of the new paradigm. The spirituality corresponding to the new vision of reality I have been outlining here is likely to be an ecological, earth-oriented, postpatriarchal spirituality. This kind of new spirituality is now being developed by many groups and movements, both within and outside the churches. An example would be the creation-centered spirituality promoted by Matthew Fox and his colleagues.5

A perfect example of Capra’s reference to how this quantum “new spirituality” is being developed in churches is exemplified by Margaret Wheatley’s appearance at the Leadership Network’s May 2000 “Exploring off the Map” conference with Leonard Sweet and others. As described in the previous chapter, Wheatley first encountered the “new science” in Fritjof Capra’s book The Turning Point, as noted in the updated introduction of her book Leadership and the New Science:

I opened my first book on the new science—Fritjof Capra’s The Turning Point, which describes the new world view emerging from quantum physics. This provided my first glimpse of a new way of perceiving the world, one that comprehended its processes of change, its deeply patterned nature, and its dense webs of connections.6

To further illustrate how pervasive this quantum spirituality has become in the church, consider an organization called VantagePoint3. This South Dakota-based group has developed a three-phase “spiritual formation” program called The VantagePoint3 Process (or L3), which incidentally is being used by a growing number of churches across North America. In the first phase—“Emerging Leaders”—a quote and summation of Margaret Wheatley is used to teach one of the points in that phase. The curriculum quotes Wheatley from her book Leadership and the New Science and emphasizes her view on “relationship” and “interconnection.”7 The fact that this program points to Wheatley demonstrates yet another way that quantum physics and quantum spirituality is already in the church. It is worth noting that this curriculum uses Galatians 3:27-28 to partially summarize what Wheatley has to say. But while Galatians 3 speaks of “Christ Jesus,” Wheatley’s quantum “Christ” is the universal “Christ” of quantum “oneness.” VantagePoint3’s use of Wheatley to teach about “Christ” is a perfect example of what Fritjof Capra described as this new spirituality being developed within the churches.
The VantagePoint3 Process also cites materials by Leonard Sweet, Peter Senge, and Ken Blanchard. All three were featured with Wheatley at the “Exploring off the Map” conference organized by Bob Buford and Leadership Network.

Another example of how quantum physics has already entered the church is through the ministry of Annette Capps—the daughter of best-selling author and charismatic pastor Charles Capps. There are over 100,000 copies of Annette Capps’ booklet Quantum Faith in print. In the booklet, she presents a Christian faith compatible with the so-called “scientific” principles of quantum physics and as such is also compatible with the so-called “scientific” principles of the New Age/New Spirituality. She even refers readers to New Age leader Gary Zukav’s book The Dancing Wu Li Masters—An Overview of the New Physics.8 In her booklet, she writes:

As I studied the theories of quantum physics, I was reminded of a prophecy given by my father, author and teacher Charles Capps, “Some things which have required faith to believe will no longer require faith, for it will be proven to be scientific fact.”9

Obviously, authors like Gary Zukav and Fritjof Capra have had a huge influence not only in the world, but also in the church. Capra, a New Age physicist and Aquarian conspirator, is mentioned frequently in Marilyn Ferguson’s book The Aquarian Conspiracy.10 In addition, countless books and articles have been written about the quantum aspects of the “new science” and the “new spirituality” since the publication of Capra’s The Tao of Physics and The Turning Point. Gary Zukav and his writings on quantum physics were praised and featured years ago by Oprah Winfrey on the Oprah Winfrey Show.11 William Young’s best-selling book The Shack is just the latest in a long line of books that deal directly or indirectly with quantum physics and quantum spirituality. And like Margaret Wheatley’s book Leadership and the New Science but on a much larger scale, Young’s book is also having great influence by subtly introducing quantum physics and quantum spirituality into the church. To top this off, a New Age movie on quantum physics [What the Bleep Do We Know] has greatly influenced many people and has already become an underground cult classic. (taken from A “Wonderful” Deception, pp.167-171)

Notes:
1. Fritjof Capra, The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism (Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1999), p. 11.
2. Ibid., p. 323.
3. Ibid., pp. 324-325.
4. Ibid., p. 330.
5. Ibid., p. 341.
6. Margaret J. Wheatley, Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World (San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Inc., 3rd ed., 2006), pp. 3-4, brought to my attention by Discernment Research Group.
7. Emerging Leaders: Relational Foundations of Leadership (Sioux Falls, SD, Vantage Point3, 2006, http://www.vantagepoint3.org/fileadmin/main/tour/EMS3%20WebSamples.pdf), p. 52; this information provided by Jennifer Pekich.
8. Annette Capps, Quantum Faith (England, AR: Capps Publishing, 2003, 2007), p. 4, booklet brought to my attention by Larry DeBruyn.
9. Ibid., p. 6.
10. Marilyn Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy, op. cit., pp. 145, 149-150, 152, 172, 261, 374.
11. Gary Zukav’s first appearance on Oprah was in October 1998. This propelled his book The Seat of the Soul to the top of the New York Times best-seller list for two years.