Some leading contemplative proponents say that a loving God would not send His son to a violent death on a Cross. Brennan Manning, in his book Above All states:
[T]he god who exacts the last drop of blood from his Son so that his just anger, evoked by sin, may be appeased, is not the God revealed by and in Jesus Christ. And if he is not the God of Jesus, he does not exist (p. 58).
Although Manning takes credit for penning these words, they are actually the words of panentheist mystic, William Shannon, from his book Silence on Fire, who wrote them several years ago. Shannon stated:
He is the God who exacts the last drop of blood from His Son, so that His just anger, evoked by sin, may be appeased … This God does not exist. This is not the God whom Jesus Christ reveals to us” (p. 110).
What are the implications of Shannon’s statement? Basically, making someone suffer a violent death to save others is not something a loving God would do. Shannon believes such a sacrifice is unnecessary because he believes all creation (all people) are already connected to God:
The goal of all true spirituality is to achieve an awareness of our oneness with God and with all of God’s creation … and with all that is (p. 160).
Shannon says that we are all “contemplatives” (“mystics”) and that “God is the Hidden Ground of Love,” and we are “all one in that Ground” and “contemplative prayer [is] becoming conscious of what is already there [God]” (p. 22, 154, 160). That is why Thomas Merton said if we knew what was really inside of each other, we would fall down and worship one another – Merton’s biographer totally agreed with this.
Manning, Shannon and Merton are not the only ones who downplay the doctrine of the Cross. Alan Jones, in his book Reimagining Christianity, says that “Jesus’ sacrifice was to appease an angry God. Penal substitution was the name of this vile doctrine” (p. 168). Brian McLaren suggests that the doctrines of the Cross and of Hell are “false
advertising for God.” 1
If it were true, that Jesus Christ suffering a violent death on the Cross was unnecessary for man to be saved, then Scripture becomes invalid for in Hebrews it says that “the Mediator [Jesus Christ] of the new covenant” had to die before the covenant could take effect (Hebrews 9). If Christ had not died a sacrificial death, the new covenant of grace would be non-existent, and there would be no means in which anyone could be saved.
Contemplative spirituality ultimately rejects the gospel message, and those who continue in its path will eventually follow after other gods and be led away from the salvation freely given to all who will believe. Henri Nouwen, one of the most prominent figures in the contemplative movement, said that Buddhism and Hinduism offered many spiritual treasures to contribute to the life of the Christian(Disciplines for Christian Living – Ryan). What do Buddhism and Hinduism offer? Panentheism (God in everything)
If Manning, Shannon, Merton, McLaren and Jones are right, then there is no need to preach the gospel to the lost, for there are no lost – they are already connected to God and they just need to be made aware of that. But if Scripture is correct, then believers are compelled to defend and preach this
message that we are reconciled to God through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
