{"id":29762,"date":"2019-03-06T10:42:43","date_gmt":"2019-03-06T17:42:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?p=29762"},"modified":"2026-07-07T20:34:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T03:34:55","slug":"leonard-sweets-more-magnificent-way-of-seeing-christ-and-what-this-really-means","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/leonard-sweets-more-magnificent-way-of-seeing-christ-and-what-this-really-means\/","title":{"rendered":"The Significance of Understanding Quantum Spirituality and Leonard Sweet’s “More Magnificent Way” of Seeing Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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LTRP Note:<\/strong> Over the past few decades, a number of New Age sympathizers have had a significant influence in the evangelical church. One of the chief is Methodist author, speaker, and teacher Leonard Sweet. Sweet openly calls the Father of the New Age Movement\u2014the late Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin\u2014\u201ctwentieth-century Christianity\u2019s major voice.\u201d Sweet also teaches the foundational New Age doctrine that God is \u201cin\u201d everyone and everything\u2014that God is embedded in all creation. Brought forward and popularized by Rick Warren, Leonard Sweet and his New Age sympathies have not been adequately addressed by today\u2019s pastors and church leaders. A look on Sweet’s website shows he has partnered with numerous popular figures such as Brian McLaren, Mark Batterson (Circle Maker<\/em>), Erwin McManus, Mark Driscoll, Frank Viola, and Karen Swallow Prior<\/a> (professor at Liberty University). The following booklet by Warren Smith reveals the “New Age Christianity” that Leonard Sweet has helped to bring into the church. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Warren B. Smith<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To survive in postmodern culture, one has to learn to speak out of both sides of the mouth<\/em>.1\u2014Leonard Sweet<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who is Leonard Sweet?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Leonard Sweet is an ordained Methodist minister who is presently the E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. He is also a visiting distinguished professor at George Fox University in Portland, Oregon. On his various websites, he is described as a \u201cscholar of American culture\u201d who has authored over 60 books and 200 articles and has published over 1500 sermons. A \u201cPhi Beta Kappa graduate,\u201d he is a \u201cfrequent speaker at national and international conferences, state conventions, pastor\u2019s schools, retreats\u201d and \u201cserves as a consultant to many of America\u2019s denominational leaders and agencies.\u201d Descriptive terms such as \u201cdistinguished,\u201d \u201cmost influential,\u201d \u201cwidely quoted,\u201d \u201chighly sought after,\u201d and \u201cthe Picasso of Preaching\u201d give visitors to his website the distinct impression that this is a man they should definitely pay attention to. And many people are doing just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day-to-day believers may or may not be familiar with Leonard Sweet, but many in Christian leadership are very<\/em> familiar with this self-described \u201csemiotician.\u201d According to his website, a semiotician is someone who \u201csees things the rest of us do not see and dreams possibilities that are beyond most of our imagining.\u201d And as a \u201ccultural futurist\u201d and \u201cChrist follower,\u201d he seems to be very comfortable assuming the role of a postmodern prophet who provides hip observations of what is and what will be. His mission is to help the church become more culturally relevant in the 21st century. However, as he attempts to walk the narrow line between the Gospel and the world, he frequently walks over that line into the false teachings of the New Age\/New Spirituality. When he does, legitimate questions need to be raised about what he is doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2010, Sweet became the object of a swirling controversy, and his name suddenly disappeared from the list of scheduled speakers at a National Worship Conference taking place in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The controversy centered around the New Age implications of many of the quotes and teachings found in his 1991 book Quantum Spirituality: A Post Modern Apologetic<\/em>. Prior to the conference, a number of people were starting to ask pertinent questions about Sweet and what he was teaching. In my 2009 book A \u201cWonderful\u201d Deception<\/em>, I wrote three chapters on Leonard Sweet and the obvious New Age implications of what he was teaching. In the first chapter on Sweet, I described some of my initial impressions regarding this man, and in particular, his book Quantum Spirituality<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highly intellectual and well-read, Leonard Sweet almost dares you to keep up with him as he charges through the spiritual marketplace. Operating at lightning speed and quoting from countless books and articles, he will impress many readers with his quick wit and spiritual insights. However, as he treacherously dives into New Age waters and challenges his readers to go there with him, serious problems arise within his \u201cpostmodern apologetic.\u201d<\/p>

In reading Quantum Spirituality,<\/em> I recalled the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus warned that you can\u2019t serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). Leonard Sweet may be a professing evangelical Christian, but he also simultaneously praises New Age authors and their teachings.2<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Sweet\u2019s \u201cResponse\u201d to Critics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Keenly aware of the controversy he has created, Sweet has a statement prominently posted on his present home website titled\u2014\u201cA Response to Recent Misunderstandings.\u201d <\/a>While his attempt to explain himself might satisfy the uninformed reader, his \u201cResponse\u201d does not address the specifics of what he has written and is actually teaching. His simplistic denunciation of the New Age is unconvincing. His statement that the \u201cNew Age rhymes with sewage\u201d and his encouraging the use of a \u201cdaily ritual of starting the day by standing in front of a mirror and saying: \u201cGod is God and I am not\u201d do not speak to the fact that he has never even addressed, much less renounced, the specific New Age teachings that he was otherwise appearing to deny and disparage. And his stating \u201cback when the New Age was a movement\u201d completely misses the fact that the New Age movement never went away. Those of us who came out of New Age teachings and have been observing the New Age over the past several decades know that contrary to Sweet\u2019s claims, the New Age movement has actually grown exponentially and is now mainstream and an inherent part of our culture. Due to its continued wide-spread growth and influence, the New Age threat to the church (and the world) is larger than ever before. But now it is just hiding in plain sight behind the facade of other names like \u201cNew Spirituality,\u201d \u201cNew Worldview,\u201d or in Sweet\u2019s case\u2014the \u201cNew Light\u201d teachings of a \u201cQuantum Spirituality.\u201d But by any other name a rose is still a rose and the New Age is still the New Age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because Sweet\u2019s \u201cA Response to Recent Misunderstandings\u201d left so many unanswered questions and because of his continued influence in the church, it seems imperative that thoughtful Christians take a deeper look at what Leonard Sweet is really<\/em> teaching. For starters, here are five immediate concerns to consider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FIVE IMMEDIATE CONCERNS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1) Leonard Sweet teaches the New Age doctrine of \u201cImmanence\u201d that would have the church believe God is \u201cin\u201d everyone and everything<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In her 1948 book The Reappearance of the Christ,<\/em> New Age matriarch Alice Bailey<\/a> and her spirit guide Djwhal Khul describe how the path to their New Age God will be based on an \u201cimmanent\u201d God that is \u201cwithin every form of life\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

. . . a fresh orientation to divinity and to the acceptance of the fact of God Transcendent and of God Immanent within every form of life<\/em>. These are the foundational truths upon which the world religion of the future will rest.3 (emphasis added)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, in his 1980 book, The Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters of Wisdom<\/em>, New Age channeler Benjamin Creme, states that the New World Religion will be based on the proposition that \u201cChrist\u201d is \u201cimmanent\u201d\u2014\u201cin man and all creation\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But eventually a new world religion will be inaugurated which will be a fusion and synthesis of the approach of the East and the approach of the West. The Christ will bring together, not simply Christianity and Buddhism, but the concept of God transcendent\u2014outside of His creation\u2014and also the concept of God immanent in all creation\u2014in man and all creation<\/em>.4 (emphasis added)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In Leonard Sweet\u2019s 1999 book SoulTsunami<\/em>\u2014with its front cover endorsement by Rick Warren\u2014Sweet introduces this same New Age idea of God not only being transcendent but also immanent. He writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To survive in postmodern culture, one has to learn to speak out of both sides of the mouth. It should not be hard, since Christianity has always insisted on having things both ways. Isn\u2019t it based on the impossible possibility of Jesus being \u201cbeyond us, yet ourselves\u201d (poet Wallace Stevens)? Biblical theological is not circular with a fixed center, but elliptical, revolving around the double foci of God\u2019s immanence<\/em> and God\u2019s transcendence.5 (emphasis added)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Sweet clearly spells out what he means by \u201cimmanence\u201d in his 1991 book Quantum Spirituality: A Postmodern Apologetic<\/em>. As a self-described \u201cradical,\u201d he presents his \u201cradical doctrine\u201d that God is immanently embodied \u201cin\u201d His creation. He writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quantum spirituality bonds us to all creation as well as to other members of the human family. . . . This entails a radical doctrine of<\/em> embodiment of God in the very substance of creation<\/em>. . . . But a spirituality that is not in some way entheistic (whether pan- or trans-), that does not extend to the spirit-matter<\/em> of the cosmos, is not Christian.6 (emphasis added)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

But Sweet\u2019s \u201cradical\u201d panentheistic doctrine is a key New Age teaching\u2014as is so much of what he wrote in Quantum Spirituality. In his \u201cA Response to Recent Misunderstandings,\u201d Sweet tries to dispel questions about Quantum Spirituality<\/em> by saying, \u201cWould I write the same book today? No. Would I say the same things differently? Yes. I started working on the book in my late 20s. I hope I\u2019m older and wiser now.\u201d But when it comes to the New Age implications of what he is teaching, he is not<\/em> any wiser in regard to his previously stated New Age doctrine. In several subsequent books, Sweet reintroduces his New Age doctrine of immanence\u2014that God is immanently embodied \u201cin\u201d His creation. For example, in his 1999 book Soul Tsunami<\/em>, Sweet writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Postmodern evangelism is first of all telling people how special they are, how much God loves them, how unique each and every one of them is. The fourth-century theologian Athanasius said in one of his letters that God became one of us \u201cthat he might deify us in Himself.\u201d Similarly, elsewhere he wrote that Christ \u201cwas made man that we might be made God.\u201d7<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In Sweet\u2019s 2010 book Nudge: Awakening Each Other to the God Who\u2019s Already There<\/em>, he expresses in different words what he wrote in Quantum Spirituality<\/em> about the \u201cembodiment of God in the very substance of creation\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An incarnational God means that God-stuff is found in the matter of the universe.8<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In this same book he also wrote, \u201cNudgers help people discover their inner Jesus.\u201d9 But God is not \u201cin\u201d everyone and everything. Jesus is not \u201cin\u201d everyone and everything. Sweet may seem<\/em> to denounce the New Age, but what he is teaching is<\/em> New Age. This is dangerous and unbiblical leaven. The apostle Paul lamented that it only took \u201ca little leaven\u201d to lure the Galatians away from the Gospel they once knew so well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?  This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. (Galatians 5:7-9)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

God states in the first commandment, \u201cThou shalt have no other gods before me.\u201d The New Age \u201cGod\u201d who is \u201cin\u201d everyone and everything is another \u201cGod\u201d and therefore a false God. Contrary to Leonard Sweet\u2019s teaching in Quantum Spirituality<\/em>, God is not<\/em> embodied in His creation. Contrary to his teaching in Nudge<\/em>, \u201cGod-stuff\u201d is not<\/em> found in the matter of the universe, and everyone does not have an \u201cinner Jesus.\u201d Scripture is very clear. Man is not God because God is not \u201cin\u201d everyone and everything. In Jeremiah 16:20, God warned: \u201cShall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?\u201d In Matthew 23:12, Jesus warned, \u201cAnd whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.\u201d For further scriptural references on why God is not \u201cin\u201d everyone and everything and how this false teaching has entered both the world and<\/em> the church, see my booklet Be Still and Know that You Are Not God<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) Leonard Sweet describes the \u201cFather\u201d of the New Age Movement\u201d as \u201cTwentieth-century Christianity\u2019s major voice\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Sweet describes heretical Jesuit Catholic priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin\u2014the \u201cFather of the New Age Movement\u2014as \u201cTwentieth-century Christianity\u2019s major voice.\u201d10 In her best-selling New Age classic, The Aquarian Conspiracy<\/em>, author Marilyn Ferguson describes Teilhard de Chardin as \u201cthe individual most often named as a profound influence by the Aquarian Conspirators who responded to a survey.\u201d11 He is also the most frequently referenced New Age leader in her book. The Teilhard quote \u201cThis soul can only be a conspiracy of individuals\u201d is found on the very first page of her book and inspired her to title her book The Aquarian Conspiracy.<\/em> Ferguson wrote that \u201cTeilhard prophesied the phenomenon central to this book: a conspiracy of men and women whose new perspective would trigger a critical contagion of change.\u201d12<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evident in his posted \u201cResponse,\u201d Sweet appears to be baffled by everyone\u2019s concern about some of the things he is writing. He seems to take any criticism as a personal attack. But this criticism, if you will, is not about him personally, it is about what he is teaching. Jesus didn\u2019t say \u201cGet behind me Satan\u201d to Peter because he thought Peter was Satan. He said \u201cGet behind me Satan\u201d because of what Peter was saying<\/em>. And because Sweet describes the \u201cFather of the New Age movement\u201d as \u201cTwentieth-century Christianity\u2019s major voice,\u201d I believe the Lord would tell Leonard Sweet the same thing today. This should become especially evident when you read the following unbiblical statements made by Teilhard de Chardin in his book Christianity and Evolution<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I am proposing to do is to narrow that gap between pantheism and Christianity by bringing out what one might call the Christian soul of pantheism<\/em> or the pantheistic aspect of Christianity<\/em>.13 (emphasis added)<\/p>

The cross still stands . . . But this is on one condition, and one only, that it expand itself to the dimensions of a New Age, and cease to present itself to us as primarily (or even exclusively) the sign of a victory over sin.14<\/p>

I can be saved only by becoming one with the universe.15<\/p>

I believe that the Messiah whom we await, whom we all without any doubt await, is the universal Christ; that is to say, the Christ of evolution.16<\/p>

[I]f a Christ is to be completely acceptable as an object of worship, he must be presented as the saviour of the idea and reality of evolution.17<\/p>

A general convergence of religions upon a universal Christ who fundamentally satisfies them all: that seems to me the only possible conversion of the world, and the only form in which a religion of the future can be conceived.18<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Teilhard Again?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sweet\u2019s affection for Teilhard de Chardin surfaced again in his 1999 book Aqua Church<\/em>. After quoting a strong Bible-based stanza from the hymn \u201cJesus Savior Pilot Me,\u201d Sweet follows it with a very revealing quote from Teilhard de Chardin. Teilhard stated that those who \u201csee\u201d Christ as he does understand Christ in \u201ca much more magnificent way\u201d than all those who went before him:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ is in the Church in the same way as the sun is before our eyes. We see the same sun as our fathers saw, and yet we understand it in a much more magnificent way.19<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Really? Teilhard and his followers understand Christ in a much more magnificent way than their \u201cfathers\u201d? More than all the martyrs? More than the original disciples? This seems to indicate that Teilhard and Sweet and their \u201csemiotic\u201d emergent postmodern \u201cChrist followers\u201d are \u201cseeing\u201d something about Christ that the rest of the church does not see. Would Sweet have the church believe that Chardin\u2019s seemingly<\/em> updated New Age \u201cChrist\u201d is the real<\/em> Christ? Is the \u201csemiotic\u201d Sweet trying to show us that if we adopt the New Age teachings of Teilhard, we, too, will \u201csee\u201d Christ in a \u201cmuch more magnificent way\u201d than the Christians who came before us? Sadly, it would seem that this is so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sweet seems to believe that with new understandings from quantum physics, a New Age\/New Gospel\/New Spirituality\/Quantum Spirituality would enable Christians to see Christ in a much deeper and \u201cmore magnificent way.\u201d The church would finally understand that the science of quantum physics proves that God is an energy force that interpenetrates and embodies His creation. Therefore, we are all \u201cconnected\u201d because we are all \u201cGod\u201d because God is \u201cin\u201d everyone and everything. Sweet argues that Christians of the past weren\u2019t ready to deal with things like quantum physics, quantum wavelengths, and the New Age implications of a Quantum Spirituality that would totally transform their faith and challenge everything they thought they knew about being a Christian. In his 2016 book Jesus Speaks<\/em>, Leonard Sweet writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Holy Spirit brings Jesus\u2019 voice to life through history, theology, science, and social experience. Jesus told the disciples, \u201cI have much more to say to you\u201d (John 16:12). In other words, Jesus was saying, \u201cYou can\u2019t handle everything I have to say to you right now. Some of my truth has a wavelength, and it needs time, maybe even centuries, to play itself out.20<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

But this implies that God\u2019s Word is incomplete and insufficient and therefore in need of new revelation<\/em>. This is simply not true. Besides, when Jesus said \u201cI have much more to say to you, He was talking to His disciples\u2014not to the church today. It is also important to notice how Sweet conveniently squeezed \u201cwavelength\u201d into his interpretation of Jesus\u2019 words to set up his Quantum Spirituality. But Jesus wasn\u2019t withholding spiritual insights that would have to be delivered to His people two thousand years later. This kind of false teaching is an inherent part of the New Age deception. The fact is Jesus has already given us everything we need to know in His Holy Bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus warned of false prophets who would come in sheep\u2019s clothing (Matthew 7:15). And there would be those who honor Him with their lips, but their hearts would be far from Him (Matthew 15:8). He also warned of those who serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). Psalm 144:11 warns of vain men who deceive with the \u201cright hand of falsehood.\u201d In Psalm 12:2, David warned of those who speak with a \u201cdouble heart.\u201d In James 1:8, James taught that \u201ca double minded man is unstable in all his ways. In 1 Timothy 3:8, Paul referred to these same men as \u201cdouble-tongued.\u201d For Leonard Sweet to exalt the \u201cFather of the New age movement\u201d\u2014Teilhard de Chardin\u2014and suggest that Teilhard\u2019s way of seeing<\/em> Christ is a \u201cmuch more magnificent way\u201d than our forefathers is to fall prey to our Adversary\u2019s deceptive devices. One thing is for sure: The New Age movement hasn\u2019t gone away\u2014it has entered the church through men like Teilhard de Chardin and those like Sweet who exalt him as \u201cTwentieth-century Christianity\u2019s major voice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(3) Leonard Sweet Praises New Age leaders as his \u201cHeroes\u201d and \u201cRole Models\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

While some Leonard Sweet defenders argue that his postmodern \u201cNew Light\u201d apologetic flies right over the heads of \u201cOld Light\u201d \u201cfundamentalist\u201d types, the facts tell a different story. But what one learns in reading Quantum Spirituality<\/em> is that Sweet wants to transform biblical Christianity into a Quantum Spirituality that is, in reality, a New Age\/New Spirituality. Without any apology, Sweet writes that he is part of a \u201cNew Light\u201d movement, and he describes those he especially admires as \u201cNew Light leaders.\u201d But many of Sweet\u2019s \u201cNew Light leaders\u201d are New Age leaders who are in the process of overturning biblical Christianity through obliging New Age sympathizers like Leonard Sweet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sweet\u2019s New Age \u201crole models and heroes\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the acknowledgments section of Quantum Spirituality<\/em>, Leonard Sweet expresses his deep gratitude and admiration to various \u201cNew Light leaders\u201d whom he openly praises as \u201cthe most creative religious leaders in America today.\u201d But many of these \u201cNew Light leaders\u201d are New Age leaders. Included in this group are a number of men I was very familiar with from my years in the New Age\u2014among them are Willis Harman, Matthew Fox, and M. Scott Peck. Sweet describes these three men\u2014along with numerous other New Age figures cited\u2014as \u201cextraordinary\u201d and \u201cgreat\u201d New Light leaders. He goes so far as to say that they are his \u201cpersonal role models\u201d and \u201cheroes\u201d of \u201cthe true nature of the postmodern apologetic.\u201d Sweet writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are my personal role models (in an earlier day one could get away with \u201cheroes\u201d) of the true nature of the postmodern apologetic. More than anyone else, they have been my teachers on how to translate, without compromising content, the gospel into the indigenous context of the postmodern vernacular.21<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

But many of the men and women Leonard Sweet cited have<\/em> compromised the \u201ccontent\u201d of the Gospel by translating it into the \u201cpostmodern vernacular\u201d of a New Age\/New Spirituality. For example, Willis Harman, Matthew Fox, and M. Scott Peck have all played leading roles in the initial establishment and popularization of today\u2019s New Age\/New Spirituality movement. But rather than commending<\/em> these New Age\/New Light leaders, a self-professing Christian leader like Sweet should be warning<\/em> the church about them. A brief look at these three \u201cNew Light\u201d leaders and their teachings will make this very clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willis Harman (1918-1997)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Willis Harman is listed as one of the most influential Aquarian\/New Age conspirators in Marilyn Ferguson\u2019s The Aquarian Conspiracy<\/em>. Harman was a social scientist\/futurist with the Stanford Research Institute and one of the chief architects of New Age thinking. He wrote the book Global Mind Change:The New Age Revolution in the Way We Think<\/em>. A review by The San Francisco Chronicle<\/em> on the front cover of the book reads: \u201cThere never has been a more lucid interpretation of New Age consciousness and what it promises for the future than the works of Willis Harman.\u201d22<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthew Fox (1940- )<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another one of Sweet\u2019s self-described \u201crole models\u201d and \u201cheroes\u201d is Matthew Fox, a former Catholic priest who was dismissed from the Catholic church for openly professing heretical New Age teachings\u2014teachings that include those of his revered mentor, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Fox, like Teilhard, teaches that all of creation is the \u201cCosmic Christ\u201d\u2014therefore the Cosmic Christ is \u201cin\u201d everyone and everything. In his book The Coming of the Cosmic Christ<\/em>, Fox writes: \u201cDivinity is found in all creatures.\u201d23 and \u201cWe are all royal persons, creative, godly, divine, persons of beauty and of grace. We are all Cosmic Christs, \u2018other Christs.\u2019 But what good is this if we don\u2019t know it.\u201d24 Leonard Sweet actually credits Fox in a footnote in Quantum Spirituality<\/em> for inspiring Sweet\u2019s own description of the \u201ccosmic body of Christ\u201d and actually refers readers of Quantum Spirituality<\/em> to Fox\u2019s New Age book The Coming of the Cosmic Christ<\/em>.25<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M. Scott Peck (1936-2005)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

M. Scott Peck, the late psychiatrist and best-selling author of The Road Less Traveled<\/em>, is another one of the \u201crole models\u201d and \u201cheroes\u201d that Leonard Sweet cites in his book Quantum Spirituality<\/em>. The Road Less Traveled<\/em> was on the New York Times<\/em> best-seller list for over ten years. In a subsection of his book titled \u201cThe Evolution of Consciousness,\u201d Peck describes God as being \u201cintimately associated with us\u2014so intimately that He is part of us.\u201d26 He also writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to know the closest place to look for grace, it is within yourself. If you desire wisdom greater than your own, you can find it inside you . . . .To put it plainly, our unconscious is God. God within us. We were part of God all the time.27<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

When Matthew Fox\u2019s The Coming of the Cosmic Christ<\/em> was published in 1988, the lead endorsement on the back of Fox\u2019s book was written by M. Scott Peck. Peck and Fox were obviously in New Age agreement. Peck, like Fox and Sweet, describes Pierre Teilhard de Chardin in glowing terms. He describes Teilhard as \u201c[p]erhaps the greatest prophet\u201d of the \u201cmystical,\u201d  evolutionary leap that will take mankind toward \u201cglobal consciousness\u201d and \u201cworld community.\u201d28 And it is this mystical New Age Christ of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Willis Harman, Matthew Fox, M. Scott Peck, and Leonard Sweet that challenges biblical Christianity today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4) Leonard Sweet thanks New Age Leader David Spangler for helping him develop his Quantum Spirituality\u2019s \u201cnew cell understanding of new light leadership\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

If we want to possess a magic crystal for our New Age work, we need look no further than our own bodies and the cells that make them up.29\u2014David Spangler, 1991<\/p>

I am grateful to David Spangler for his help in formulating this \u201cnew cell\u201d understanding of New Light leadership.30\u2014Leonard Sweet, 1991<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In his \u201cA Response to Recent Misunderstandings,\u201d Leonard Sweet states: \u201cBecause I quote someone does not mean I agree with everything that person ever wrote.\u201d He goes on to say that \u201cSome of the quotes I chose were meant to provide contrasting positions to my argument, some to buttress my argument, some even to mock my argument. The key consideration to whether I quoted someone was not \u2018Do I agree with them?\u2019 but \u2018Does this quote energize the conversation?\u2019 \u2018Guilt by association\u2019 is intellectually disreputable and injurious to the whole body of Christ.\u201d But there is a big difference between \u201cguilt by association<\/em>\u201d and \u201cguilt by promotion<\/em>.\u201d Leonard Sweet is praising, thanking, and glorifying many of these New Age leaders\u2014hardly guilt by association, especially when Sweet writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe these are among the most creative religious leaders in America today. These are the ones carving out new channels for new ideas to flow. In a way this book was written to guide myself through their channels and chart their progress. The book\u2019s best ideas come from them.31<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Ironically, one of the \u201cchannels\u201d guiding him was an actual New Age channeler\u2014David Spangler. A pioneering spokesperson for the New Age, Spangler has written numerous books over the years. His book The Revelation: The Birth of the New Age<\/em> is a compilation of channeled transmissions that he received from his disembodied spirit-guide \u201cJohn.\u201d At one point in the book, Spangler documents what \u201cJohn\u201d prophesied about \u201cthe energies of the cosmic Christ\u201d and \u201cOneness\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the energies of the Cosmic Christ become increasingly manifest within the etheric life of Earth, many individuals will begin to respond with the realization that the Christ dwells within them. They will feel his presence moving within and through them and will begin to awaken to their heritage of Christhood and Oneness with God, the Beloved.32<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In a postmodern-day consultation that bears more than a casual resemblance to King Saul\u2019s consult with the witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28), Leonard Sweet acknowledges in Quantum Spirituality<\/em> that he was privately corresponding with New Age channeler David Spangler. Sweet even thanks Spangler for assisting him in forming his \u201cnew cell understanding\u201d of \u201cNew Light leadership.\u201d33 But as believers we are to \u201chave no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.\u201d Rather than thanking them, we are to reprove and expose them (Ephesians 5:11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(5) Misapplication of Quantum Physics: Trying to Draw Spiritual Truth From Physical Theory<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Leonard Sweet\u2014just like New Age leaders\u2014tries to use Quantum Physics to prove that God indwells his creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The coming together of the new biology and the new physics is providing the basic metaphors for this new global civilization that esteems and encourages whole-brain experiences, full-life expectations, personalized expressions, and a globalized consciousness.34\u2014Leonard Sweet, SoulTsunami<\/em><\/p>

When we experience such a quantum of transformation, we may simultaneously feel that the whole of the New Age is happening right now, that we are on the verge of overnight transformation\u2014the fabled quantum leap into a new state of being.35\u2014David Spangler, Reimagination of the World<\/em><\/p>

We have the epitome of a great science . . . quantum physics . . . Everyone is God.36\u2014New Age Channeler J.Z. Knight, What the Bleep Do We Know<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In his book The Tao of Physics: An Explanation of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism<\/em>, New Age physicist Fritjof Capra describes the union of mysticism and the new physics. He wrote \u201cthis kind of new spirituality is now being developed by many groups and movements, both within and outside the churches.\u201d37 As an example of how this \u201cnew spirituality\u201d is moving into the church, he actually cites one of Leonard Sweet\u2019s \u201crole models\u201d and \u201cheroes\u201d\u2014Matthew Fox.38<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Sweet refers to the new biology and the new physics as metaphors, he stretches these \u201cmetaphors\u201d to the position of being actual fact. From his understanding of quantum physics, he asserts that all things are composed of energy and that this quantum energy must be God, hence God is embodied in all things. Yet, this metaphor falls on its face when we learn from Paul\u2019s writings that God and creation are two separate things as is illustrated in chapter one of Romans: \u201cWho changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator\u201d (Romans 1:25). Paul further exposes the error of spiritualizing physical creation showing that all things are not<\/em> God, nor are they even spiritual. As he points out, the \u201cearthy\u201d is only temporary and will<\/em> be done away with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption . . . There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. . . .  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. . . . Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. (1 Corinthians 15:42, 44, 48, 50)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Leonard Sweet and Rick Warren\u2019s \u201cNew Spirituality\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In their 1995 joint presentation The<\/em> Tides of Change<\/em>, Leonard Sweet and Rick Warren had a quantum conversation as they discussed \u201cwaves,\u201d \u201cquantum metaphors,\u201d \u201crevival,\u201d and what they were calling\u2014even back then\u2014a \u201cNew Spirituality.\u201d Sweet told Warren:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, this is a wave period. I really love that metaphor of the wave and the wavelength. First of all, it is a quantum metaphor. It brings us out of the Newtonian world into this new science.39<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Quantum waves, quantum wavelengths, quantum metaphors\u2014all leading to a universal Quantum \u201cGod\u201d and the Quantum New Age \u201cChrist\u201d of a New Spirituality, a New Worldview, and ultimately a New World Religion\u2014a New World Religion that will be based on New Age teachings that have been labeled scientific but are, in reality, \u201cscience falsely so called\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen. (1 Timothy 6:19-21)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Teilhard de Chardin, Leonard Sweet, and an ever-growing band of New Age sympathizers would have us believe that all those who preceded us in the faith were unable to \u201csee\u201d the big picture, because, after all, they didn\u2019t have access to all the new scientific discoveries that we have today\u2014scientific information that would have helped them gain the new spiritual understandings that Leonard Sweet claims to have acquired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that vein, Leonard Sweet, Rick Warren, and other Christian leaders are now teaching that God is in the process of bringing a new \u201cReformation\u201d40 and a \u201cgreat spiritual awakening\u201d to the church. Sweet writes: \u201cGod is birthing the greatest spiritual awakening in the history of the church.\u201d41 Yet this new reformation and great awakening Sweet heralds, is falsely founded on his hybridized New Age Christianity with its \u201cradical doctrine of embodiment of God in the very substance of creation.\u201d42 Ironically, while Sweet\u2014as previously mentioned\u2014encourages \u201ca daily ritual\u201d of standing in front of a mirror affirming \u201cGod is God and I am not,\u201d he at the same time tells people that, as a part of creation, God is embodied in them. He also encourages people to be \u201cnudgers.\u201d He says \u201cnudgers are not smudgers of the divine in people.\u201d43 \u201cNudgers help people discover their \u201cinner Jesus.\u201d44<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the true Christ was asked what will be the sign of his coming and the end of the world, He said, \u201cTake heed that no man deceive you.\u201d(Matthew 24:4)\u2014that many false prophets would arise and deceive many (Matthew 24:11). He specifically warned us to beware of false prophets who come in sheep\u2019s clothing. He said we would know them by their fruits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep\u2019s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? (Matthew 7:15-16)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

We must exhort one another daily. We must continue to preach the Word and not fall prey to those who would diminish the Word with their worldly wisdom, clever stories, metaphors, and false teachings. The Bible and our Lord Jesus Christ always have been and always will be sufficient for all our needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Timothy 4:2-4)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Regarding Leonard Sweet\u2019s \u201cradical doctrine of embodiment of God in the very substance of creation,\u201d Jesus warns:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.45 (Matthew 15: 7-9)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

To order copies of Quantum Spirituality and Leonard Sweet’s “More Magnificent Way” of Seeing Christ, click here.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Endnotes<\/strong>
1. Leonard Sweet, SoulTsunami: Sink or Swim in New Millennium Culture<\/em> (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1999), p. 28.
2. Warren B. Smith, A \u201cWonderful\u201d Deception: The Further New Age Implications of the Emerging Purpose Driven Movement<\/em> (Magalia, CA: Mountain Stream Press, 2009), p. 106.
3. Alice A, Bailey, The Reappearance of the Christ<\/em> (New York, NY: Lucis Publishing Company, Lucis Press, Ltd., 1948), 1996, p. 150.
4. Benjamin Creme, The Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters of Wisdom<\/em> (London, England; The Tara Press, 1980), p. 88.
5. Leonard Sweet, SoulTsunami<\/em>, op. cit., p. 28.
6. Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality: A Postmodern Apologetic<\/em> (Dayton, OH: Whaleprints for SpiritVenture Ministries, Inc., 1991, 1994), p. 125.
7. Leonard Sweet, SoulTsunami,<\/em> op. cit., p. 304.
8. Leonard Sweet, Nudge:Awakening Each Other to the God Who Is Already There<\/em> (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2010), p. 157.
9. Ibid., p. 40.
10. Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality<\/em>, op. cit., p. 106.
11. Marilyn Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy: Personal and Social Transformation in the 1980s<\/em> (Los Angeles, CA: J.P. Tarcher, Inc., 1980), p. 50.
12. Ibid., p. 25.
13. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Christianity and Evolution<\/em> (New York, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanivich, Inc., 1971), p. 56.
14. Ibid,. pp. 219-220.
15. Ibid,. p. 128.
16. Ibid,. p. 95.
17. Ibid,. p. 78.
18. Ibid,. p. 130.
19. Leonard Sweet, Aqua Church: Essential Leadership Arts for Piloting Your Church in Today\u2019s Fluid Culture<\/em> (Loveland, CO: Group Publishing, Inc., 1999), p. 39.
20. Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola, Jesus Speaks: Learning to Recognize & Respond to the Lord\u2019s Voice<\/em> (Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group, an imprint of Thomas Nelson, 2016), p. 85.
21. Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality<\/em>, op. cit., p. viii.
22. Willis Harman, Global Mind Change: The New Age Revolution in the Way We Think<\/em> (New York, NY: Warner Books, 1988), front cover.
23. Matthew Fox, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance<\/em> (San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row Publishers, 1988), p. 154.
24. Ibid., p. 137.
25. Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality,<\/em> op cit., pp. 124, 324.
26. M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth<\/em> (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1978), p. 281.
27. Ibid.
28. M. Scott Peck, The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace<\/em> (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1988), pp. 205-206.
29. David Spangler and William Irwin Thompson, Reimagination of the World: A Critique of the New Age, Science, and Popular Culture<\/em> (Santa Fe, NM: Bear & Company Publishing, 1991), p. 62.
30. Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality<\/em>, op. cit., p. 312.
31. Ibid., p. ix.
32. David Spangler, The Revelation: Birth of A New Age<\/em> (Elgin, IL: Lorian Press, 1976), p. 177.
33. Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality<\/em>, op. cit., p. 312.
34. Leonard Sweet, SoulTsunami<\/em>, op. cit., p. 121.
35. David Spangler and William Irwin Thompson, Reimagination of the World<\/em>, op. cit., p. 126.
36. What the Bleep Do We Know<\/em> (DVD) (20th Century Fox, 2004, http:\/\/www.whatthebleep.com), transcribed by author.
37. Fritjof Capra, The Tao of Physics: An Explanation of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism<\/em> (Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1999), p. 341.
38. Ibid.
39. The Tides of Change<\/em> (A 1995 audio presentation with Leonard Sweet and Rick Warren that was part of an ongoing series called \u201cChoice Voices for Christian Leadership,\u201d distributed by Abington Press). On file with publisher.
40. Leonard Sweet, SoulTsunami<\/em>, op. cit., p. 17.
41. Ibid., p. 34.
42. Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality<\/em>, op. cit., p. 125.
43. Leonard Sweet, Nudge<\/em>, op. cit., p. 31.
44. Ibid., p. 40.
45. Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality<\/em>, op. cit., p 125.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To order copies of Quantum Spirituality and Leonard Sweet’s “More Magnificent Way” of Seeing Christ, click here.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related Reading:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be Still and Know That You are Not God!\u2014God is Not \u201cin\u201d Everyone and Everything<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the past few decades, a number of New Age sympathizers have had a significant influence in the evangelical church. One of the chief is Methodist author, speaker, and teacher Leonard Sweet. Sweet openly calls the Father of the New Age Movement\u2014the late Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin\u2014\u201ctwentieth-century Christianity\u2019s major voice.\u201d Sweet also teaches the foundational New Age doctrine that God is \u201cin\u201d everyone and everything\u2014that God is embedded in all creation. Brought forward and popularized by Rick Warren, Leonard Sweet and his New Age sympathies have not been adequately addressed by today\u2019s pastors and church leaders. A look on Sweet’s website shows he has partnered with numerous popular figures such as Brian McLaren, Mark Batterson (Circle Maker), Erwin McManus, Mark Driscoll, Frank Viola, and Karen Swallow Prior (professor at Liberty University). The following booklet by Warren Smith reveals the “New Age Christianity” that Leonard Sweet has helped to bring into the church. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":21376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,573,54,1664,114,376,4252,25,95],"tags":[394,406,924,3280,4097,57,64,2928,126,130,198,204,234,297],"class_list":["post-29762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-new-spirituality","category-book-excerpts","category-interspirituality","category-booklets","category-churches-in-crisis","category-pantheism-panentheism","category-methodists","category-progressive-emerging-church","category-the-new-age-movement","tag-liberty-university","tag-pierre-teilhard-de-chardin","tag-frank-viola","tag-methodists","tag-karen-swallow-prior","tag-alice-bailey","tag-leonard-sweet","tag-the-new-age-movement","tag-brian-mclaren","tag-quantum-spirituality","tag-mark-driscoll","tag-erwin-mcmanus","tag-new-spirituality","tag-warren-smith","wpcat-63-id","wpcat-573-id","wpcat-54-id","wpcat-1664-id","wpcat-114-id","wpcat-376-id","wpcat-4252-id","wpcat-25-id","wpcat-95-id"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Significance of Understanding Quantum Spirituality and Leonard Sweet's "More Magnificent Way" of Seeing Christ - From the Lighthouse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/leonard-sweets-more-magnificent-way-of-seeing-christ-and-what-this-really-means\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Significance of Understanding Quantum Spirituality and Leonard Sweet's "More Magnificent Way" of Seeing Christ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Over the past few decades, a number of New Age sympathizers have had a significant influence in the evangelical church. One of the chief is Methodist author, speaker, and teacher Leonard Sweet. Sweet openly calls the Father of the New Age Movement\u2014the late Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin\u2014\u201ctwentieth-century Christianity\u2019s major voice.\u201d Sweet also teaches the foundational New Age doctrine that God is \u201cin\u201d everyone and everything\u2014that God is embedded in all creation. Brought forward and popularized by Rick Warren, Leonard Sweet and his New Age sympathies have not been adequately addressed by today\u2019s pastors and church leaders. A look on Sweet's website shows he has partnered with numerous popular figures such as Brian McLaren, Mark Batterson (Circle Maker), Erwin McManus, Mark Driscoll, Frank Viola, and Karen Swallow Prior (professor at Liberty University). 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