{"id":3023,"date":"2007-07-03T22:26:26","date_gmt":"2007-07-04T02:26:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?p=3023"},"modified":"2026-07-19T14:11:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T21:11:18","slug":"respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\/","title":{"rendered":"Respected Ministries Say OK to Contemplative J.P. Moreland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">J. P. Moreland is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Talbot (Biola) School of Theology. He has written numerous books and has spoken at over 200 colleges. He has many academic credentials and honors such as: Outstanding Young Men of America, 1981 and Senior Class Professor of the Year, Biola University, 1992-93. But Moreland has another credential that is not being discussed in evangelical circles &#8211; he promotes contemplative spirituality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last year, in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/newsletters\/2006\/newsletter052506.htm#article9\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\">an article<\/span><\/strong><\/a> titled &#8220;Focus on the Family Continues its Dive into Contemplative,&#8221; Moreland was discussed. On the FOF website, he wrote a four-part article titled &#8220;How Spiritual Disciplines Work.&#8221; (<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20090412200741\/http:\/\/www.trueu.org:80\/Academics\/LectureHall\/A000000423.cfm\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\">1<\/span><\/strong><\/a>) Part III of Moreland&#8217;s article is called Solitude and Silence as Spiritual Disciplines. Moreland writes a disclaimer for the article stating:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As we dive into the disciplines of solitude and silence, I need to make a very important qualification. While some of the things in this article may, at first, sound like something you&#8217;d hear from a New Age guru, these ideas are, in fact, based on Scriptural principles and practices.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moreland is concerned that his instructions may sound New Age or Eastern. We have noticed that usually when something <em>sounds<\/em> New Age or Eastern, that&#8217;s because it is. There is no instance in the Bible where Jesus or the apostle Paul made such a disclaimer, nor did they ever <em>sound<\/em> that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Part II of Moreland&#8217;s article he says, &#8220;A spiritual discipline is a repetitive practice.&#8221; Moreland favorably references contemplative-promoter Dallas Willard to describe the importance of silence and solitude. He adds: &#8220;People are coming to see that repeated bodily practice in the form of spiritual exercises\/disciplines is at the heart of spiritual transformation &#8221; (Part II). Moreland says, &#8220;Catholic retreat centers are usually ideal for solitude retreats,&#8221; which are bastions for contemplative spirituality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In <em>Faith Undone<\/em>, Roger Oakland addresses Moreland&#8217;s instructions on repetitive prayer. Oakland quotes Moreland from his book <em>The Lost Virtue of Happiness <\/em>where Moreland tells readers to say the &#8220;Jesus Prayer&#8221; three hundred times a day. His new release, <em>Kingdom Triangle<\/em>, should be viewed with caution. Dallas Willard wrote the foreword, and in an Amazon book review, the reviewer states:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On page 159, Dr. Moreland encourages the reader to participate in an unbiblical form of meditation which is more akin to the religious practices of Yoga and Eastern mysticism than orthodox Biblical Christianity where he details a 2-step process first alluded to in the <em>Lost Virtue of Happiness <\/em>book. In step one, he tells the reader to &#8220;[f]ocus the center of your attention on your physical heart muscle.&#8221;(<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Kingdom-Triangle-Recover-Christian-Renovate\/dp\/031027432X\/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1\/104-5244870-0831903?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1183471970&amp;sr=8-1\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\">2<\/span><\/strong><\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moreland recommends Richard Foster and Henri Nouwen, which makes sense &#8211; he co-authored a book with Dallas Willard ten years ago; thus, he has been dancing in contemplative circles for sometime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While it is quite obvious that Moreland is a promoter of contemplative prayer, what isn&#8217;t so clear is how Christian ministries are viewing Moreland as a trustworthy source. For instance, in the recent Summit Ministries (Dr. David Noebel) student conference, Moreland was a featured speaker. (<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20080108223723\/http:\/\/www.summit.org:80\/conference\/student\/faculty.php\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\">3<\/span><\/strong><\/a>) And in an apologetics book on the emerging church, <em>Reclaiming the Center<\/em>, Moreland was a contributing writer. That book is being recommended by Christian colleges, even ones that have in the past said no to contemplative, such as Corban College in Salem, Oregon. <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20100527122508\/http:\/\/www.corban.edu\/alumni\/corbanmag\/summer07\/corbanmagSum07.pdf\">(<strong><span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\">4<\/span><\/strong><\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our concern is that contemplative spirituality will further seep into Christianity through the acceptance of Moreland&#8217;s spiritual disciplines. The fact that he has spoken at over 200 colleges, shows that his audience is largely the younger generation. Corban College&#8217;s promotion of his book as well as Summit&#8217;s student conference are points in fact. Once again, Satan is going after the minds of the youth. But it is tragic when it happens through respected ministries. We pray and hope that Summit Ministries and Corban College will make clear statements to their students that Moreland&#8217;s repetitive prayer instructions are unbiblical and dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some people might criticize us for coming on so strong against organizations like Summit and Corban. But we are compelled to do so. What we are concerned about is that ministries that have not gone the contemplative way but have been reticent to strongly stand against it and speak out against it often have succumbed to it. If we truly believe that contemplative spirituality (i.e., mysticism) is the driving force behind a great falling away, then boldness is absolutely required, and to do less could have serious implications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>For related information:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/spiritualformation.htm\"><span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\"><strong>What is Spiritual Formation?<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/newagethinkaboutthat.htm\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\">The New Age &#8230; Why Should I Think About That?<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>J. P. Moreland is Distinguished&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[167],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-contemplative-denominations","wpcat-167-id"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.4 (Yoast SEO v28.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Respected Ministries Say OK to Contemplative J.P. Moreland - 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\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Respected Ministries Say OK to Contemplative J.P. Moreland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"J. P. Moreland is Distinguished...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"From the Lighthouse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LighthouseTrailsResearch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-07-04T02:26:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-19T21:11:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lighthouse Trails Editors\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lighthouse Trails Editors\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lighthouse Trails Editors\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a36b703d7722ce85599858df8bacc0a5\"},\"headline\":\"Respected Ministries Say OK to Contemplative J.P. Moreland\",\"datePublished\":\"2007-07-04T02:26:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-19T21:11:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":755,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Contemplative Denominations\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\\\/\",\"name\":\"Respected Ministries Say OK to Contemplative J.P. Moreland - From the Lighthouse\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-07-04T02:26:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-19T21:11:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a36b703d7722ce85599858df8bacc0a5\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Respected Ministries Say OK to Contemplative J.P. Moreland\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"From the Lighthouse\",\"description\":\"&quot;A Light Shining in the Darkness&quot;\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a36b703d7722ce85599858df8bacc0a5\",\"name\":\"Lighthouse Trails Editors\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5b0734c3bb2300379e17b3ec5e7fd8bf9b7ce024b5c81e38e411fc7b63e9b332?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5b0734c3bb2300379e17b3ec5e7fd8bf9b7ce024b5c81e38e411fc7b63e9b332?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5b0734c3bb2300379e17b3ec5e7fd8bf9b7ce024b5c81e38e411fc7b63e9b332?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lighthouse Trails Editors\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/lighthouse-trails-editors\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Respected Ministries Say OK to Contemplative J.P. Moreland - From the Lighthouse","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Respected Ministries Say OK to Contemplative J.P. Moreland","og_description":"J. P. Moreland is Distinguished...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\/","og_site_name":"From the Lighthouse","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LighthouseTrailsResearch","article_published_time":"2007-07-04T02:26:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-19T21:11:18+00:00","author":"Lighthouse Trails Editors","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@LTrails","twitter_site":"@LTrails","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lighthouse Trails Editors","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\/"},"author":{"name":"Lighthouse Trails Editors","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a36b703d7722ce85599858df8bacc0a5"},"headline":"Respected Ministries Say OK to Contemplative J.P. Moreland","datePublished":"2007-07-04T02:26:26+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-19T21:11:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\/"},"wordCount":755,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Contemplative Denominations"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\/","name":"Respected Ministries Say OK to Contemplative J.P. Moreland - From the Lighthouse","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2007-07-04T02:26:26+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-19T21:11:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a36b703d7722ce85599858df8bacc0a5"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/respected-ministries-say-ok-to-contemplative-j-p-moreland\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Respected Ministries Say OK to Contemplative J.P. Moreland"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/","name":"From the Lighthouse","description":"&quot;A Light Shining in the Darkness&quot;","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a36b703d7722ce85599858df8bacc0a5","name":"Lighthouse Trails Editors","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5b0734c3bb2300379e17b3ec5e7fd8bf9b7ce024b5c81e38e411fc7b63e9b332?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5b0734c3bb2300379e17b3ec5e7fd8bf9b7ce024b5c81e38e411fc7b63e9b332?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5b0734c3bb2300379e17b3ec5e7fd8bf9b7ce024b5c81e38e411fc7b63e9b332?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Lighthouse Trails Editors"},"url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/author\/lighthouse-trails-editors\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3023"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44762,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3023\/revisions\/44762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}