Emerging Spirituality--Something New? Not At All.
There
is a lot of talk today about emerging
spirituality. By listening to the media and well-known evangelicals,
one would think that Brian
McLaren and other emerging leaders created this concept themselves.
This could not be further from the truth.
The
concepts of ancient wisdom and new frontiers (better known as
emerging spirituality) have been used for a very long time, and
many of those using them are anything but Christian. On the contrary
they oppose the very foundation of Christianity and deny the essence
of who Jesus Christ really is.
Spend some time looking around on the Internet and at your local
Christian bookstore. You will see titles such as: The Emerging
Church, Emerging Worship (both by Dan Kimball), Church in Emerging Culture by
Len Sweet, Alternative Worship: Resources for and from the
Emerging Church by Sally Morgenthaler, and Becoming Conversant with the Emerging
Church by D.A. Carson. With titles like these, and more coming
on the scene every week, the average Christian would have no trouble
believing that this emerging spirituality is absolutely Christian
and Christian originated.
But
with a little study we can see this emerging spirituality has
roots that we cannot ignore any longer. I would like to first
draw your attention to a book called As Above, So Below,
written by Ronald S. Miller and the editors of New Age Journal.
The book discusses, in a most positive note, the ancient wisdom that is so prevalent in the emerging church movement. Shamanism,
Feminine Spirituality and interspirituality are promoted heartily. But it is the first chapter we must now
look at. The chapter title? "Emerging Spirituality."
The author quotes Aldous Huxley who says the "highest common factor"
which links the world's religions is metaphysical (contemplative),
which helps everyone to recognize the divinity within all humans
and creation (p. 2). Miller's emerging spirituality is referring
to the emerging of all religions and the understanding that man
is Divine.
Catholic
Monk and contemplative Thomas Keating would
agree with Huxley, I am sure, for he believes it is the contemplative
dimension that will bring
the world into harmony and oneness.
Barbara
Marx Hubbard, author
of Emergence: The Shift from Ego to Essence, and a present
day mystic, publicly despises Bible- believing Christians and
believes we are coming into a time period of the emerging human
who finally recognizes his own Divinity.
She
states: "You and I are sitting at the hub of the emerging
world.... now actually evolving our human species and our world
itself.... we are living through an evolutionary crisis, a crisis
of the birth of something new. It is vital now that what is emerging
converges, ... so that as the structures in the old system destabilize,
elements of the emerging system self-organize as the new culture cocreated by a more conscious and empathetic
humanity." Interview with Andrew
Cohen and BMH
The
ancient wisdom and the emerging human that McLaren and other emerging
church leaders are seeking is none other than the emerging spirituality
that Barbara Marx Hubbard, Thomas Keating and other New Agers
practice and promote. McLaren and these "Christian"
leaders will be greatly disappointed in the end and will lead
thousands, possibly millions, astray. These concepts date back
long before this "new" emerging church movement began.
Barbara
Marx Hubbard and Brian McLaren are wrong when they teach that
we as humans are emerging into something great and much better
than where we are presently at. The Bible says there is nothing
new under the sun. While "Christian" emergers think they are onto something totally different, totally unique,
they will find that they are walking right into a trap, a trap
that will hinder them from running into the arms of the only Savior
and hope for man.
Contemplative Terms
Recognize these "inside"
terms used by contemplatives:
|
|
Many of these terms are considered "inside" terms according to many contemplatives, such as Youth Specialties writer, Michael Perschon. On April 16th, 2006, Youth Specialties issued a new article by Perschon that coincidentally illustrates the very thing we are saying here. "Fitness buffs have an inside language. The really serious ones like to use proper anatomy terms, like gluteus maximus instead of bum. They still mean bum but, like most experts, enjoy having some special knowledge others don't have. People who practice contemplative prayer are often no different. Like any other practice, contemplative prayer has its own inside language, which is clear to the initiated but means little to outsiders. Much of the writing on contemplative prayer uses this inside language."—Michael Perschon, Contemplative Prayer Practices See Perschon's other articles on contemplative prayer. |
|
