In August 2007, Lighthouse Trails wrote a College Alert about Alberta, Canada’s Prairie Bible Institute. The article documented numerous scenarios at Prairie that show the college is being influenced by contemplative spirituality. However, in the most recent issue of Servant (Prairie’s magazine), Prairie president Jon Ohlhauser discussed Lighthouse Trails’ article (not mentioning LT directly).1 Ohlhauser stated:
Unfortunately, the problem with Christians acting out of mistaken perceptions still exists as a significant stumbling block in the Body of Christ today…. This past summer we received notice that a Christian organization had come to the erroneous conclusion that Prairie had departed from our solid, historic commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the authority of his Word.
While Lighthouse Trails did not come to that conclusion, what was said was that Prairie is “showing strong signs that it is going in a contemplative direction.” The Lighthouse Trails article gave several examples where the college is promoting or incorporating contemplative spirituality, but Ohlhauser did not address any of them, referring to them vaguely as “misperceptions.” Ohlhauser did what many in the Purpose Driven, contemplative/emerging camps do when confronted by concerned believers. He basically said that Lighthouse Trails (and those who do likewise): damage God’s purposes, accomplishe the work of God’s archenemy, and defame the name of God. In other words, believers who are challenging contemplative spirituality and the emerging church are abetting Satan.
What Olhauser did not do in his rebuttal though is speak about the issues we laid out in our report. Here is a synopsis of the situation at Prairie with regard to contemplative:
1. Quoting New Ager/goddess worshipper Sue Monk Kidd in their magazine from her pro-Thomas Merton book God’s Joyful Surprise.
2. Featuring a favorable story in their magazine about globalist/emerging leader Bill Hybels and mystic promoter Philip Yancey.
3. A list of writers by Professor Ritchie White that includes: Eugene Peterson, Annie Dillard, and Henri Nouwen (link now removed from website)
4. Prairie music instructor Vernon Charter using textbook by the late emerging leader Robert Webber and a Supplementary Book list that includes emerging leader Dan Kimball.
5. Prairie Christian Academy (a ministry of PBI) teacher and former PBI instructor Dr. Steven Ibbotson teaches on the spiritual disciplines (ala John Ortberg, et. al) and includes the discipline of “Silence and Solitude.” 2 (link removed by Prairie)
6. In Mosaic (a Prairie student run paper that shows how the students at Prairie have been very affected by contemplative/emerging spiritualities) in a December 2006 article titled “The Arrogance of the Evangelical Church,” Morgan Mosselman (listed as the Commissioner of Spiritual Life and officer of the Prairie Student Union in the 2005-2006 Chapel handbook) suggests we can “learn from our Catholic friends” in the area of spiritual life. Mosselman then favorably refers to a man named Simon Chan. Chan is described as “the world’s most liturgically minded Pentecostal.2His book, Liturgical Theology 3 is a primer for the Catholic Eucharist and other Catholic means of spirituality.
7. In that same issue of Mosaic, there is an article by contemplative writer Lauren Winner (Girl Meets God). And in other issues, regular columnists write about and quote from other mysticism proponents such as Erwin McManus. (see our August article for more)
8. Prairie Bible Institute’s textbook lists have authors that include contemplative proponent John Ortberg, mystic promoter Jim Collins, and Richard Foster’s colleague, Dallas Willard (Renovation of the Heart). They also have textbooks by Ruth Haley Barton (trained at the interspiritual Shalem Institute), as well as Gary Thomas (Sacred Pathways where he says to repeat a word or phrase for twenty minutes) and Rick Warren (both whom avidly promote contemplative).
Ohlhauser said: “If only they had checked their perceptions before sharpening their swords, the entire misunderstanding could have ben avoided.” But we must ask the question, why didn’t Ohlhauser address any of these issues in his rebuttal? If he doesn’t understand what contemplative spirituality is, wouldn’t it be a good idea for him to learn about this so he can protect the precious minds of so many young people? And if he does know what it is, then how can he say that Prairie is staying the course of the biblical Jesus Christ while following the contemplative/emerging path?
We humbly offer free copies of A Time of Departing and Faith Undone to any professor at Prairie Bible Institute who would like to read them.
Related Stories:
College Alert (August 2007): Prairie Bible Institute
College Alert: Briercrest College (Canada) Presses Forward into Contemplative/Emergent
