LTRP Note: As we reported two years ago, Ann Holmes Redding was an Episcopal priest who came forth, announcing that while practicing spiritual formation exercises, she had been visited by “Jesus” who led her to become a Muslim while remaining Christian. Later we reported that she was eventually defrocked by the Episcopalian church because of her claims. In a recent ABC interview, Holmes Redding talks about the mystical practices (Sufism), which gave her the experience that led her to become Muslim. see interview Holmes Redding said that becoming Muslim has made her a better Christian. This echoes the sentiments of mystic and panentheist Thomas Merton. As Lighthouse Trails has often pointed out, the “fruit” of contemplative practices is interspirituality. Those who enter mystical states through mantra-type meditation will ultimately embrace the view that God is in all religions and in all people. We believe this happens because the mystical realm entered is a realm of familiar spirits that draws practitioners away from the Gospel and into an interspiritual belief system that negates the view that Jesus Christ is the only path to God and salvation. Ann Holmes Redding is a perfect example of what happens when someone begins to embrace contemplative spiritual formation – the same spiritual formation that is heartily endorsed and promoted by major Christian figures (Richard Foster, Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Leonard Sweet, etc.)
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