In the December 24, 2007 issue of US News & World Report, the cover story reads: “A Return to Tradition – a new interest in old ways takes root in Catholicism and many other faiths.” The article illustrates the move by many (in different religions and denominations) toward “traditional practices.” Some of these practices include liturgical services and the Catholic eucharist.* Calling this a shift in thinking, the article states:
“But this shift extends beyond the Roman Catholic Church. In Richardson, Texas, the congregation of Trinity Fellowship Church participates in something that would have been considered almost heretical in most evangelical Protestant churches five or 10 years ago: a weekly Communion service…. Trinity Fellowship is not the only evangelical congregation that is offering a weekly Eucharist, saying the Nicene or Apostles’ creeds, reading the early Church Fathers, or doing other things that seem downright Roman Catholic or at least high Episcopalian….
“Something curious is happening in the wide world of faith, something that defies easy explanation or quantification. More substantial than a trend but less organized than a movement, it has to do more with how people practice their religion than with what they believe, though people caught up in this change often find that their beliefs are influenced, if not subtly altered, by the changes in their practice.”
In other words, there is a move toward practices that supersedes the beliefs of those faiths. And the article suggests that those performing these practices may end up with changed views and beliefs because of the practices.
Carl Anderson, the senior pastor of Trinity Fellowship Church, explained that while he had depended on the seeker-friendly programs to build his congregation, his church was hoping to “reconnect with the historical church.” Regarding Andersen’s church, the article states:
Not surprisingly, that move [to the traditional] was threatening to church members who strongly identify with the Reformation and the Protestant rejection of Catholic practices, including most liturgy…. Trinity reshaped its worship practices in ways that drove some congregants away. But Anderson remains committed [to traditional practices].
With the emphasis on Catholic practices, it is not surprising that the US News article brings in the emerging church:
You see this at work quite clearly in the so-called emergent communities … Brian McLaren, the popular author and a founder of Cedar Ridge Community Church in Spencerville, Md., recently left the pastorate to talk and write about the emergent movement and other developments in Christianity. While at Cedar Ridge, … McLaren instituted a Eucharistic liturgy and contemplative prayer retreats. And he appreciates the role of tradition in the new self-organizing communities that are sprouting up around the country.
Like McLaren, Tony Jones, author of The New Christians: Dispatches From the Emergent Frontier [March 2008] and national coordinator of Emergent Village, talks about the postmodern aspects of the new traditionalism. People of the postmodern mindset … search for new forms of community. [Jones says] “We are going to live in reconciliation with each other, and traditional practices are what restore us and hold us together.”
The significance of the US News & World Report article is the fact that a major news magazine identifies this move by most major religious groups today as mystical. But many readers may not catch this because mystical practice is never discussed in the article beyond the mention of McLaren’s contemplative prayer retreats. However, subtly it is. When it refers to “traditional practices,” ones that Carl Andersen admits have driven some congregants away, he isn’t referring to evangelical or Protestant tradition. And when the article says McLaren “appreciates the role of tradition,” McLaren has proven time and again that he isn’t referring to biblical tradition when he says “tradition.” And when the article says that emergent leader Tony Jones speaks of “postmodern aspects of the new traditionalism,” he isn’t talking about evangelical or biblical traditions. What are these traditional practices? The article certainly leaves much to be desired in coming up with an answer to that, but there are some key phrases in the article that shed some light. Some of those phrases are:
* A “resurgent interest in traditional monastic and religious orders”
* “Reading the early Church Fathers [which includes the Desert Fathers and monastic mystics]”
* A growing appetite for something more than “worship that is a glorified Bible class in some ways”
* Drawing on deep traditional resources
* Ancient liturgical practices
* Recapturing those traditions that modernizers dismissed as relics
* reviving the old stuff and traditions in a creative way
* active spiritual formation
Anyone who has studied contemplative spirituality will recognize these phrases as part of that belief system, referring largely to drawing on the mystical practices of the desert fathers and other mystical sources. This “new traditionalism” is the framework for bringing in liturgy, contemplative prayer, mysticism, and the Eucharist, all of which, at the very least, point practitioners to Catholicism and ultimately an interspiritual body. A key statement in the article is when it says that “it has to do more with how people practice their religion than with what they believe.” As is so prevalent within the emerging church (including Purpose Driven), there is a de-emphasis on doctrine and theology, and an emphasis on the experiential and contemplative practices.
As evangelical Christianity tears down historical barriers to Catholic practices and beliefs, these elements will burst forth into our churches unhindered and unrestricted. And the results will be devastating.
Just four miles from the Lighthouse Trails office, there is a Catholic spiritual direction center. Their bookstore is ample evidence of their outright New Age affinity. A good example would be the book titled Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav, which is consistently sold there. The book advises its readers to dwell in the presence of their non- physical guides and teachers (familiar spirits). Other Catholic retreat centers reflect this view as well. One trappist abbey features numerous titles – one called Living Buddha, Living Christ.
Our concerns are not based on anti-Catholic bigotry or hyper-legalistic misinterpretations. We believe anyone who takes the time to investigate these things will come to the same conclusions.
So much is at stake here. In addition to doctrinal conflict, it is an issue regarding a massive opening to the realm of familiar spirits (Lev. 19:31). What really is alarming is that the emerging church shares the exact same mystical approach that produced the outright New Age acceptance one finds in these Catholic retreat centers.
It is very noteworthy that Tony Jones is mentioned in the US News article; in Jones’ book, The Sacred Way, Jones takes a strong stand for eastern/New Age style religious practices. Jones believes that the “new Christians” will be mystics. This will fulfill the words of mystic Karl Rahner who said the Christian of tomorrow will be a mystic … or he will be nothing. (1) And if the article in US News is any indication, Rahner’s vision of the future Christian will come to pass as evangelicals and mainstream Christians fall in step with this paradigm shift toward the “new traditionalism” and a mystical spirituality.
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*The Eucharist refers to the height and focus of the Catholic Mass in which it is believed that the sacraments become the actual body and blood of Jesus.
Related Stories:
Evangelical Christians Combine Contemplative Mysticism with Catholic Eucharist
THE EMERGENCE OF THE EUCHARIST IN THE EMERGING CHURCH
Also read A Time of Departing and Faith Undone to understand this situation more fully.
