Previously in “Biola University Now Drifting from Evangelical Protestant Roots?” (links below) Apprising Ministries brought to your attention a letter from a student at Biola University published at From the Lighthouse… blog which informs us:

Biola’s entire chapel has been reformatted to become a totally postmodern way of doing things. Any time the Bible is pulled out it is simply just read, about 1 verse or maybe a couple in a passage. There is no expository preaching or much explanation. The new Chapel director is a total emergent, postmodern embracing person who leads the entire student body through the motions of contemplative prayer.

Last chapel the entire session was dedicated to being silent and listening to the Bible being read slowly, then having people focus in on it and do the entire contemplative prayer thing. This was Lectio Divina, which was mentioned by name… (Online source)

And then in “Biola University Contacts Lighthouse Trails – Accuses of Libel” we also pointed out that:

On October 21st, someone from the Media Relations department at Biola University contacted Lighthouse Trails because of articles we have posted about Biola’s promotion of contemplative spirituality. The person, who asked not to be identified in our articles, said that statements Lighthouse Trails has made are libelous. Upon asking for examples of libelous statements, none were given. Biola’s media person did say that our definition of contemplative spirituality (eastern-style mysticism) is not what they mean by contemplative. (Online source) 

Well today I was led across a post from twenty-five year-old Brett McCracken who tells us he “currently works full-time for Biola University as managing editor for Biola magazine” (Online source). And now we can put to bed any alleged “libelous” statements supposedly made by Lighthouse Trails because his piece comprised of eyewitness testimony completely confirms “Biola’s promotion of contemplative spirituality” and the eastern-style “spiritual formation” as espoused by what is literally becoming a cult growing up around the quasi-Christian/Buddhist teachings of the highly ecumenical Richard Foster.

McCracken begins by whining about a so-called “smear campaign against ‘spiritual formation’ at Biola University.” He then tells us:

An organization called Lighthouse Trails teamed up with Apprising Ministries to unleash a torrent of criticism and insults about Biola, claiming that Biola is drifting from its strong biblical roots and embracing “apostate Roman Catholic mystical spiritual formation”…

they are worried about Biola possibly being apostate because in chapel we dare to introduce students to ancient methods of contemplative, meditative prayer. We dare to engage the students in Lectio Divina, an ancient method inherited from the Desert Fathers of deeply reading and meditating upon a scripture. It’s not new-agey or mystical; it’s simple, quiet, and meaningful. The bible takes center stage. What is wrong with that?

Evidently these critics of Biola are worried that by having an entire chapel service of silent meditation, there is somehow a movement of apostasy being birthed in the students’ minds. It’s wrong, they suggest, to have a scripture read without a pastor or speaker there to unpack it and give it some context.

Todd Pickett, Associate Dean of Spiritual Development at Biola, has a different opinion. He believes that students today are “over-messaged” and need more time to just contemplate what they’ve already been hearing, learning, experiencing in Christ… (Online source)

So let’s not hear any more talk from Biola trying to deny their repudiation of Sola Scriptura in favor of their open embrace of existential practices which McCracken correctly attributes to desert hermits circa 350 AD. The point here is really rather simple; I’ve pointed this out before and I’m glad to point it out again. Jesus in His humanity was a practicing Jew so we know from history He would not have been involved with the type of meditation those apostate hermits would later glean from interspiritual dialogues with practicing Sufis, Buddhists, and Hindus.

The burden of proof is upon those practioners of corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism e.g. Foster’s friend Dallas Willard to show you from any reliable historic sources that their form of “Christian” transcendental meditation aka Contemplative/Centering Prayer (CCP) was ever practiced by orthodox Jews at the time of Christ. For this CCP is the type of “prayer” these neo-Gnostics are talking about when they yammer on and on about contemplative “silence and solitude” wherein they supposedly journey within to find their “authentic self” and have “personal union with God.”

And they can’t produce such sources concerning this altered state of consciousness within Judaism or the teachings of Christ’s Apostles because they don’t exsist. 

See also:

BIOLA UNIVERSITY NOW DRIFTING FROM EVANGELICAL PROTESTANT ROOTS?

BIOLA UNIVERSITY CONTACTS LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS – ACCUSES OF LIBEL

THE CULT OF GURU RICHARD FOSTER

ORIGIN OF CONTEMPLATIVE/CENTERING PRAYER