A while back Apprising Ministries told you that Rick Warren And Peter Scazzero Are Up To Monk-ee Business and also asked is: Tim Keller Endorsing Counter-Reformation Contemplative Spirituality? Briefly, Leadership Network’s propped up Purpose Driven Pope Rick Warren has actually been been up to spiritual monk-ee business for years now in opening the door for corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM) ala Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster—and his spiritual twin Dallas Willard—within the mainstream of evangelicalism.

You need to understand that this spurious CSM is basically reimagined Roman Catholic mysticism allegedly “discovered” by Foster, and now perpetrated within the mainstream of evangelicalism as supposed Spiritual Formation—with an able assist from his running mate Willard; both were key mentors of the sinfully ecumenical neo-liberal cult of the Emergent Church aka the Emerging Church. CSM was a core doctrine in the EC right from its hatching in Hell and plays a large part in the development of its postmodern Progressive Christian theology—a Liberalism 2.0—that they often refer to as “big tent” Emergence Christianity.

The truth is that the very rotten core practice of this CSM is Contemplative/Centering Prayer (CCP), which is sometimes referred to as practicing “silence and solitude” or by the ridiculous moniker “wordless prayer”; but it’s actually a type of meditation in an altered state of consciousness that’s virtually identical to that practiced in Eastern religions such as Zen Buddhism and the transcendental meditation of Hinduism. And yet this kind of spurious spiritual formation—so-called “Christian” mysticism, which really developed in the antibiblical monastic traditions of apostate Roman Catholicism, is now showing up in more and more evangelical churches.

With this in mind, in recent posts such as Acts 29 Network And Reformed Counter Reformation Spirituality? and Acts 29 Pastor Matt Chandler On Being A Reformed Charismatic I’ve shared some concern about so-called New Calvinism, which itself appears to be a postmodern form of Calvinism embracing both Reformation theology and the Counter Reformation spirituality of CSM. While openly recommending Foster-Willardism seems new, here you’ll see evidence from Tim Keller, one of New Calvinism’s most respected spokesman, that he was encouraging CSM at his Redeemer Presbyterian Church (RPC) circa 1998 around the time the EC was launching.

Back in September of last year in her post “The Way of the Monk” Class Schedule – Redeemer Presbyterian Church AM correspondent Christian Pack of Sola Sisters provided screen shots of the class schedule for something called The Way of the Monk at RPC put on April 28, May 5 & 12 of 2009 by Susan Castillo, who told us she likes “to embrace her ‘inner monk,’” where we supposedly would have been taught to have great theology become more real:

The first class was on CCP, meditation in an altered state of consciousness:

So we “long for the great theology in [our] head to be more real to [our] heart”; this begs the question: If one is actually in line with the theology of the Protestant Reformation, why then turn to apostate Roman Catholics to discover highly subjective experiences in CSM when the Reformers rejected it in favor the proper Biblical spirituality of sola Scriptura? Yet—even though this is no longer on the RPC website—you’ll see above, the May 5 session was on:

Prayer Rope
Finally…help for fidgety hands and distracted minds! In this session, we will focus on the use of a prayer rope, a practice of prayer that engages the whole person. We’ll begin by viewing a brief video that demonstrates the “Chaplet of the Divine Mercy,” a particular method of using a prayer rope. We will then do our own investigation of Scripture to determine the meaning and power of God’s “mercy” and the resulting implications for rich, yet highly accessible intercessory prayer. We’ll also cover history, purpose, technique, and devote ample time to actual practice and Q &A. (Online source)

Now you’re about to see Dr. Keller himself taught Roman Catholic mysticism to RPC long ago. The following comes from a series called Gospel Spirituality-MCM:

(Online source)

As you can also see in Meditation What it is? , “This talk was given during a leadership training session at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City” October 5, 1998:

(Online source)

I do wish to say that Dr. Keller’s definition of meditation, with “[i]ts essence [being] reading and reminding ourselves of the truths of God while dwelling in his presence, is adequate despite the Brother Lawrence-like dwelling in God’s presence. He’s responsible of the book The Practice of the Presence of God; however, the idea of “practicing the presence of God” is meaningless. Do we also practice the omniscience of God; or perhaps, we need to practice His omnipotence? You may recall that in Disciplines To Deception In The Southern Baptist ConventionI told you about this gentleman; you see, “Brother” Lawrence (born Nicholas Herman) was a mystic Roman Catholic monk; in fact, Lawrence was of the “Carmelite order mean[ing] his spiritual practices were derived from or heavily influenced by Teresa of Avila.”[1]

Dr. Keller tells us he’s talking about “levels of prayer,” by which he means “going far deeper into the presence and the reality of God.” Then sounding a bit Gnostic he explains that, “The reason that [meditation] is so critically important is because it is the gateway to prayer—to real prayer.  To prayer that gets beneath the surface.” Rather odd that Jesus never taught contemplative/centering prayer; nor did His Apostles, so were they not able go deeper into the presence of God to real prayer? Where do you suppose Dr. Keller derived some of his views; he’ll tell you by a certain Quaker mystic and the usual suspects when the subject of Roman Catholic mystics comes up:

we’ve got at least two other streams of that are filled with good, helpful material on meditation – the Catholic stream and the Quaker stream that are not primarily based on meditating on the Scripture.  There are a number of reasons why.  But just to give you an example, I read a book by a Quaker—ah actually the book is great, except for one part.  Some of you have heard of him.  His name is Richard Foster.  He wrote the book called Celebration of Discipline. (23:27-23:57)

Here’s Dr. Gary Gilley’s take on Foster’s “great” book Celebration of Discipline, which he refers to a virtual encyclopedia of theological error:

Celebration of Disciplinealone, not even referencing [Richard] Foster’s other writings and teachings and ministries, is a virtual encyclopedia of theological error. We would be hard pressed to find in one so-called evangelical volume such a composite of false teaching. These include faulty views on the subjective leading of God (pp. 10, 16-17, 18, 50, 95, 98, 108-109, 128, 139-140, 149-150, 162, 167, 182); approval of New Age teachers (see Thomas Merton below); occultic use of imagination (pp. 25-26, 40-43, 163, 198); open theism (p. 35); misunderstanding of the will of God in prayer (p. 37); promotion of visions, revelations and charismatic gifts (pp. 108, 165, 168-169, 171, 193); endorsement of rosary and prayer wheel use (p. 64); misunderstanding of the Old Testament Law for today (pp. 82, 87); mystical journaling (p. 108); embracing pop-psychology (pp. 113-120); promoting Roman Catholic practices such as use of “spiritual directors,” confession and penance (pp. 146-150, 156, 185); and affirming of aberrant charismatic practices (pp. 158-174, 198). (Mysticism – Part Two)

I guess other than that it’s a good book; as I close this out, for now, Dr. Keller also tells us that Foster has written another “book called Meditative Prayer and it’s very typical of the Quaker tradition.” He also shares, “The best things that have been written almost are by Catholics during the counter Reformation—Ignatius Loyola, Francis de Sales, John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila—great stuff.” Dr. Keller then continues on:

Meditation is sensing with the mind instead of just thinking.  Here’s what I mean – if I read a passage and I say, ‘that means that, that means that, that means that,’ I’m thinking.  But if I read a passage and I say, ‘that’s sweet’ or ‘that hurts’ or ‘that’s beautiful.’  What am I doing?  I’m using sensory language.  I’m talking about seeing even though I’m not seeing anything.  I’m talking about hearing.  I’m talking about tasting.  In other words, by letting your heart sense the truths rather than simply understanding them you’ve begun to meditate.  Meditation is to bring the truth in contact with the heart until the Triune God becomes so real to you that you seek Him with all your being. (32:44-33:28)

Here’s something to meditate on: If meditation is to bring the truth in contact with the heart so that you seek God with all your being, then how is it these vaunted Roman Catholic mystics never discovered the actual Gospel of Jesus Christ—salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in the finished work on the Cross of Christ alone—and remained servants to apostate Roman Catholicism, which Dr. John MacArthur rightly stated is, “Satan’s best front for the Kingdom of God.” The more time I spend contemplating the subject, it seems to me that, in my heart, I believe Jesus would say:

Let them alone; they are blind guides. (Matthew 15:14)

________________________________________________________________________________
Endnotes:

[1] http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/brotherlawrence.htm, accessed 1/27/10.

See also:

TIM KELLER AND CONTEMPLATIVE PASTRIX ADELE CALHOUN

WHAT’S GOING ON WITH DR. JOHN PIPER?

CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY OF RICHARD FOSTER ROOTED IN THE EASTERN DESERT AND THOMAS MERTON

DELUSIONS OF DALLAS WILLARD

MEDITATING ON CONTEMPLATIVE/CENTERING PRAYER

CONTEMPLATING THE INNER LIGHT OF THE QUAKERS

CONTEMPLATING THE INNER LIGHT OF THE QUAKERS (PT. 2)