CSM is a repackaged Roman Catholic mysticism, taught by the dubious duo of Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster along with his spiritual twin Dallas Willard under the guise of so-called Spiritual Formation.

That’s why the below tweet a bit ago by Dr. John Piper caught my eye:

(Online source)

God be praised, AM also happens to be a leading work exposing the sinfully ecumenical neo-liberal cult of the Emerging Church aka the Emergent Church—with its circus “big tent” Progressive Christianity aka Emergence Christianity.

So, I thought you might want to be aware of this tweet from Dr. Piper. I told you via a footnote in Tony Jones Worships A Demon that Lauren Winner is teaching “The Doctor of Ministry cohort in Christian Spirituality” (i.e. CSM) at Fuller Theological Seminary.

As you’ll see below she’s doing so along with Jones and the Empress of Emergence herself Phyllis Tickle:

(Online source)

This earlier piece from FTS, Lauren Winner, Tony Jones and Phyllis Tickle Discuss Emergence Spirituality, shows you we’re headed directly into spurious CSM: 

Lauren Winner, author of Girl Meets God and professor at Duke University Divinity School, observed that in the last five years she has experienced in her own life and seen among many Christians an effort to achieve a balance between active and contemplative spirituality.

“I’m not sure I can say that’s a trend in North American spirituality,” said Winner, “but I hope that it is.” (Online source)

Any doubt concerning contemplative teachings from Lauren Winner, a professor at the liberal Duke University Divinity School, is dispelled from the very book recommended today by Dr. John Piper. Note her praise for the cult of Foster-Willardism:

The language of spiritual discipline, an ancient idiom of the church, has come into vogue again. In the 1970s and’80s, two books on spiritual disciplines, now rightly now rightly considered modern-day classics, were published: Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline and Dallas Willard’s The Spirit of the Disciplines.

Foster and Willard called readers to deepen their Christian lives by incorporating ancient practices of the church. These books struck a tremendous chord, and Christians of all stripes began exploring habits and structures like liturgical prayer, fasting, solitude, simplicity, and tithing. The spiritual disciplines are things that we do; they are things that we practice.

They are ways we orient our whole selves-our bodies and minds and hearts, our communities and rhythms and ways of being in the world-toward God. Thinking of spirituality as something we practice or do strikes some people as odd-isn’t the point of Christianity that Jesus saves you regardless of what you do?[1] 

That last sentence is unclear, at best, and smacks of the universalism of Emergence Christianity at worst. No, Jesus doesn’t save you “regardless of what you do.” The Gospel is conditional upon one’s acceptance of it; the Love Wins mythology of former EC rock star pastor Rob Bell is a fable.

In closing this, for now, Dr. Gary Gilley has rightly pointed out that “Celebration Of Discipline” By Richard Foster An Encyclopedia Of Theological Error. When it comes to Foster-Willardism, Christian apologist Bob DeWaay is dead on target when he says:

The spiritual disciplines are not taught in Matthew 11:29, 30 (Willard’s primary proof test), and even Willard admits they cannot be found elsewhere in scripture… As with most unbiblical approaches, the spiritual disciplines are based on the idea of innate human powers that can be harnessed for good. Holding a false concept of sin as a “disruption of that higher [spiritual] life,” Willard looks for a solution through finding our true potential, individually and corporately, through spiritual disciplines that will enable us to reconstruct the rule of God now…

These ideas are more akin to Eastern Religion than Biblical Christianity. Our problem is not the need to suck in more “unembodied personal power” by techniques to contact God. We are dead sinners facing God’s wrath unless we repent and believe the gospel. Willard’s concepts are foreign to the Bible… The idea of practicing spiritual disciplines was imported to the text, not found there. We live in an age of mysticism. People lust for spiritual reality and spiritual experiences.

The danger is that unbiblical practices will give people a real spiritual experience, but not from God. Deception is the likely outcome. God puts a boundary around the means by which we come to Him and grow in Him for our own protection. If we ignore the boundary set by Biblical guidelines, there is no telling were we will end up. If however, we come to God on His terms, knowing that we have a High Priest who is at the right hand of God, and that we have access through His blood into the holiest place, we can be assured we cannot be any closer to God this side of heaven. (Online source)

I talked about this earlier in John Piper, Rick Warren & Foster-Willardism. Yet right now in the library of Bethlehem Baptist Church (BBC) where John Piper is pastor we find Richard Foster, Prayer Finding the Heart’s True Home:

(Online source)

Here, from my personal copy, is a little sample of what we learn about “prayer” from CSM guru Foster:

Contemplative Prayer immerses us into the silence of God. How desperately we in the modern world need this wordless baptism… Contemplative Prayer is the one discipline that can free us from our addiction to words. Progress in intimacy with God means progress toward silence… It is recreating silence to which we are called in Contemplative Prayer…

A Warning And A Precaution

At the outset I need to give a word of warning,… Contemplative Prayer is not for the novice. I do not say this about any other form of prayer… Contemplative prayer is for those who have exercised their spiritual muscles a bit and know something about the landscape of the spirit. In fact, those who work in the area of spiritual direction always look for signs of a maturing faith before encouraging individuals into Contemplative Prayer…

I also want to give a word of precaution. In the silent contemplation of God we are entering deeply into the spiritual realm, and there is such a thing as a supernatural guidance. While the Bible does not give us a lot of information on that, there are various orders of spiritual beings, and some of them are definitely not in cooperation with God and his way! … But for now I want to encourage you to learn and practice prayers of protection.[2]

As I pointed out elsewhere, this couldn’t be clearer that what we’re actually dealing with here is a new form of Gnosticism; i.e. it’s hostile to the proper Christian spirituality of sola Scriptura. At BBC we also find the book Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives.

It’s Willard’s ode to asceticism and the very same book which DeWaay discussed above:

(Online source)

In the end, I think we need to ask a few questions. Why would Dr. Piper wish to expose his flock to sinfully ecumenical Foster-Willardism? Why would Dr. Piper recommend Lauren Winner’s book when it specifically encourages this Foster-Willardism?

Or are we to think that Dr. Piper didn’t know what was in Lauren Winner’s book when he recommended it?

___________________________________________________________________________
End notes:

[1] Lauren F. Winner. Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity (p. 124). Kindle Edition.

[2] Richard Foster, Prayer: Finding The Heart’s True Home [New York: Harper Collins, 1997], 155, 156, 157.

See also:

IS THIS DOCTRINAL AND SOUND DR. JOHN PIPER?

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

DEBUNKING DALLAS WILLARD AND BEING WORTHY TO BE SAVED

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Keep in mind that Scazzero is a perfect illustration of the spiritual damage done by  CSM gurus SBC minister Dallas Willard and his spiritual twin Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster with their sinfully ecumenical Foster-Willardism.

No light matter when you consider what I showed you in Peter Scazzero Introducing Enneagrams Into Mainstream Evangelicaslism; not only has he all but left the Christian building, he’s making a train wreck of the theology of tons of evangelical pastors. Remember, guru Scazzero is partnered with the leadership of Bill Hybel’s warped Willow Creek Association (WCA).

WCA “is regarded as the most influential ministry to evangelical pastors in the U.S”[1] and Scazzero’s CSM materials are being used within WCA to teach Contemplative/Centering Prayer (CCP), which is meditation in an altered state of consciousness. Purpose Driven Pope Rick Warren also had him in to the first Radicalis conference to teach CSM there.

Guru Scazzero also comes highly in the New postmodern Calvinist camp as well, which you’ll see in Tim Keller Recommended Peter Scazzero Spreading Spurious Centering Prayer. We have reason for serious concern here because therein you’ll see Scazzero pushing the exact same CSM gurus as Living Spiritual Teacher and Emerging Church leader Brian McLaren.

To paraphrase a famous line: Church, we have a problem. New Calvinists, evangelicals, and Emergents, beginning to go to the same apostate gurus; but here we are. Well, guru Scazzero’s at it again as he tweets:

(Online source)

O lovely; prayer with, and recommending the work of Roman Catholic mystic Henri Nouwen (1932-1996) who died a universalist. But wait; I guess I need to cut guru Scazzero slack as a couple of high profile Southern Baptists are also being molded by Nouwen e.g. Setting Kay Warren Straight About Roman Catholic Mystic Henri Nouwen and Rick Warren Wants Us To Learn From Roman Catholic Mystic Henri Nouwen.

After-all, even highly respected evangelical apologist Ravi Zacharias has said, “One of the greatest saints of recent memory was Henri Nouwen.” Such is the sorry state of spiritually spineless evanjellyfish so scared of its own spiritual shadow. Scazzero also tweeted today about yet another upcoming conference:

(Online source)

Well, since the sappy sentamentalism and psuedo-psychology of CSM guru Peter Scazzero is becoming all the rage, let me give you a quick look at what its new leaders are being taught. The link takes us to:

(Online source)

You’ll be noticing an increase of pastrixes so the wording is likely intentially vague concerning the gender of “pastors and leaders” who’re embracing the “Revolutionary New Paradigm” of Scazzero

(Online source)

So our Scazzero Emotionally Healthy He/shes will seek a “deep interior life,” which is mystic-speak for the meditation in an altered state of consciousness of CCP. That’s why there will be a:

(Online source)

2 and 3 are made up of more of the squishy psychobabble that’s at the heart of guru Scazzero’s centered on the self CSM stylings. However, what should make you stop dead in your tracks is Scazzero’s He/shes are out to spread as spores in the wind throughout Christendom “for the transformation of the wider church culture.”

And the truth be told, such as these have already captured more of the church visible than you may even know.

___________________________________________________________________________
End notes:

[1] http://www.willowcreek.com/about/, accessed 1/20/12.

See also:

RICK WARREN WANTS US TO KNOW PETER SCAZZERO

MOODY PUBLISHERS PUBLISHES BOOK ON CONTEMPLATIVE/CENTERING PRAYER

GOSPEL COALITION CONTRIBUTOR MIKE COSPER DEFENDS RETREAT WITH ROMAN CATHOLICS

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by Rev. Jeffrey W. Ware

Presented to the Circuit 33 Meeting / Texas District Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, 11-7-07

Introduction

An age old devotional technique called Lectio Divina is gaining popularity  again here in the 21^st Century. Its growing popularity has made it the subject of lay and clergy studies,  retreats, and literature, not only within Roman Catholicism but also in wider  Protestantism including the Lutheran church. But what, exactly, is Lectio  Divina and does it have a place within confessional Lutheranism?

Lectio Divina is “divine reading” or “holy reading.”  In its most basic form Lectio Divina  is simply a technique for learning, meditating upon, and praying the Holy  Scriptures.  Various other  definitions shed light upon the contemplative aspect that is most usually  thought of as the goal of Lectio Divina.

Lectio Divina… represents an early monastic technique of  prayer which continues in practice though less widely, intended to achieve  communion with God as well as providing special spiritual insights and peace  from that experience.  It is a way  of praying with Scripture that calls one to study, ponder, listen and, finally,  pray from God’s Word (Wikipedia).[Lectio Divina is] a slow, contemplative praying of the Scriptures which enables the Bible, the  Word of God, to become a means of union with God (Dysinger).

History ofLectio Divina

It was most likely Origin (185-232) who laid the groundwork  for Lectio Divina as he put forth the  idea of reading to discover a deeper meaning that lay beyond the literal sense  of the biblical text.  “He used the  Greek phrase thea anagnosis to  describe scriptural reading for the purpose of finding a hidden message from  God” (Hagan).  This tradition  continued into monasticism where it became an important part of the daily  horarium. “It was, by the 5^th century pretty well an institution of  all monasteries.” (Hagan)

Benedict (480-543) extolled the value of “divine reading” in his Rule, making it a part of the  daily ritual of monks in the Benedictine Order.

Benedict envisaged his monks making about three hours a day  available for personal lectio. He  sees reading as one of the sources of spiritual energy, something that puts us  into contact with grace and thus makes possible an enhanced level of fervor and  unselfishness in daily living.  It  is clear that what Benedict has in mind is a very existential, life-related  reading and not just mindless paging through any volume that comes to hand  (Casey, 5).

He makes extensive mention of the specific times, during  each season of the church year, which are to be devoted to reading. Throughout the year he has at least two hours a day set aside for such  reading (Benedict).

Guigo II (1140-1193) was  the first to systematize Lectio Divina  into four steps or moments: reading, meditation, prayer, and contemplation. Sometime around 1150 he wrote his famousScala Claustralium, “The Monk’s  Ladder.”  In this writing uses the  image of a ladder, reminiscent of Jacob’s ladder (Gen. 28) stretching from earth  into heaven.

This spiritual ladder is the means by which people “can climb from earth to heaven. It is a  marvelously tall ladder, but with just four rungs, the one end standing on the  ground, the other thrilling into the clouds and showing the climber heavenly  secrets.  Understand now what the  four staves of this ladder are, each in turn.Reading.   Lesson, is busily looking on Holy Scripture with all one’s will and wit.  Meditation is a studious insearching with the mind to know what was before  concealed through desiring proper skill. Prayer is a devout desiring of the heart to get what is good and avoid  what is evil.  Contemplation is the  lifting up of the heart to God tasting somewhat of the heavenly sweetness and  savour. Readingseeks, meditation finds, prayer asks,  contemplation feels.  The first  degree is for beginners, the second for those profiting from it, the third for  those who are devout, the fourth for those who are holy and blessed of God  (Guigo).

Guigo understands the four moments as a progression whereby  one ultimately achieves contemplative union with God. He “affirms that simple dedication to God’s word, if carried to its  logical conclusion, will conduct us to the lofty zones of contemplative intimacy  with God.  Thus it can be said that  the ultimate goal of lectio divina is  contemplation” (Casey, 59).

The Goal ofLectio Divina

Most understand the goal ofLectio Divina to be contemplation. That is to say, Lectio Divina  is radically different from the kind of reading that we commonly engage in  today.  “One does not engage in  Lectio Divina to acquire disinterested, intellectual knowledge. The intent of  Lectio Divina is to make the reading of Scripture a prayer, to create a two way  street for God and us” (Hagan).  This is a spiritual reading that has as its chief characteristic an attitude of  surrender to the word of God rather than the restless attempt to “get something” out of the text.

The gratuity of Lectio Divina is different from the utility of study. Study endeavors to master the word,Lectio Divina surrenders and yields  before it.  Lectio Divina also differs from  spiritual reading.  The last can  have as its end the acquisition of knowledge, the formulation of convictions or  the stimulus for generous self-giving. The aim of the former is union with God in faith and love (Olivera).

The four moments in Lectio Divina are to be seen as a progression. “What begins as reading becomes reflection or meditation; this leads to  prayer and ultimately to contemplative union with God. The Latin terms used traditionally arelectio >meditatio >oratio >contemplatio” (Casey, 57). However, this progression is by no means a rigid “method” of prayer  intended to be mechanically performed in one session. Neither is it a progression in the chronological sense.

Sometimes the steps of the ladder are not chronologically  connected. The prayer latent in  meditation on Scripture is released unpredictably later when engaged in an  entirely different activity.  Some  people combine reading, reflection, and prayer in a single ‘exercise’; others  separate them in time and space.  Many experience a delayed reaction.  The impact of their lectio may strike  months later.  There is a lot of  flexibility here that takes seriously different characters, different vocations,  different opportunities, and the changing seasons of life (Casey, 59).

A Deeper Look at  Lectio Divina

The selection of reading material is very important inLectio Divina. “The earliest interpretations, and some current ones, see Lectio Divina  limited exclusively to Holy Scripture” (Hagan). This is the most conservative position. Most modern practitioners would include other Christian writings. For the purposes of this paper, however, we will limit our discussion to  the application of Lection Divina in  the reading of Holy Scripture.

It is also important to set a definite time for reading  each and every day.  Lectio Divina requires a time  commitment each day from as little as a half hour to three or four hours a day. “Saint Benedict insists that the monk’s day includes definite times for  reading.  This is to say that such  periods are known in advance they are not subject to whim…” (Casey, 23). Location is also important.  Lectio Divina should take place in an  area that is free from distractions. It also helps if the location has some kind of spiritual significance.

Engaging in Lectio  Divina should not be taken lightly. Commitment is key. “Spasmodic periods of a few minutes of spiritual  reading may be of very positive value, but it is notLectio Divina. Lectio Divina as a formal discipline contemplates reading an entire  book from beginning to end.  Not at  one sitting, but from beginning to end” (Hagan). The importance of this fact will be discussed later.

It is also important to prepare the heart and mind. Modern practitioners of Lectio  Divina stress the importance of engaging in “transitional activity” prior to  reading in order to achieve the proper state of mind.  Deep breathing, proper posture, and prayer prior toLectio Divina helps to give the  reader focus helps the reader prepare for the encounter with God.

Now that we have a general idea of what is involved in  Lectio Divina let’s take a closer look at what takes place in each moment. Casey  shows that behind the four moments of Lectio Divina lies the ancient teaching that there are multiple “senses” of  Holy Scripture.  Each sense is  apprehended with a different faculty of human consciousness.

The Four Moments of Lectio Divina (Casey, 57).

Lectio engages  the literal sense of Holy Scripture by use of the human intellect in order to  understand the “historical” meaning of the text. This moment of Lectio Divina  is characterized by study of the text. This may range from a mere reading of the selection multiple times to  full blown exegetical study. Of key  importance is the reading of complete texts rather than mere selections of  texts.  This helps to avoid  misinterpretation.  As one appliesLectio Divina to Holy Scripture this  means reading whole books of the Bible. However, there is an aspect of this kind of complete reading that may be  unfamiliar to our western mindset.

Lectio Divina is not reading in the sense that our society  has educated us to understand reading. Our western culture has taught us to consider reading as a purely lineal  progression.  We start on page 1 and  proceed consecutively to ‘the end.’ Lectio Divina does in fact begin at the  beginning and end at the end, but it presumes much wandering in between. Repetition is critical to Lectio Divina. Back and forth, up and down, savoring and balancing what is presently  being read with what was recently read (Casey, 7).

Another aspect of properlectio is an attitude of passive,  silent receptivity.  One is to  become quiet during the reading in order to hear the voice of God.

Lectio is reverential listening; listening both in a spirit  of silence and of awe.  We are  listening for the still, small voice of God that will speak to us personally – not loudly, but intimately.  In  Lectio we read slowly, attentively, gently listening to hear a word or phrase  that is God’s word for us this day” (Dysinger).

A sense of expectation accompanies this receptive attitude. The Bible was written for salvation, therefore, we approach the text  expecting to hear from God.

However, we also recognize that God works in ways that we  often do not expect.  “What we  sometimes forget is that this gift of salvation often runs counter to our own  perceptions and expectations.  The  disposition that makes us capable of receiving salvation includes a willingness  to be guided and to be changed” (Casey, 6). Submission is an important aspect ofLectio Divina. We are to approach the  reading defenseless and ready to be changed and influenced. “We open ourselves to the text, we approach it in a spirit of faith and  obedience, ready to perceive in what we read the word of God, the will of God,  the action of God coming to save us.… We approach our reading as a disciple comes  to a master: receptive, docile, willing to be changed” (Casey, 6).

The lectio inLectio Divina lays the groundwork for  the three moments which follow and yet it is only the beginning. “The literal meaning of the text is always the point of departure: the  letter reveals the deeds and presents the persons, history is the foundation. The Spirit takes us beyond the letter, our theological life opens the  door of meaning to us” (Olivera). Meditatio  naturally flows from this first moment.

Meditatio  engages the Allegorical sense of Holy Scripture by use of the human memory in  order to contextualize the meaning of the biblical text. In this moment human memory is used to discover Christ and the Church  within and behind the biblical text in order to build faith.

In its most basic sensemeditatio could be described as  reflection and application. “We must take in the word – that is, memorize it – and while gently repeating it to ourselves, allow it to interact with our  thoughts, our hopes, our memories, our desires” (Dysinger). The individual engages the biblical text in a new way by beginning to  focus on a word or words that are of particular import. These words are repeated multiple times in order to commit them to  memory.  In the process the memory  is used to call forth prior knowledge and experiences. The individual applies the text to himself as he begins to see himself  within the context of Christ’s passion and as a member of the Church.

Meditation is not to be confused with exegesis. Rather, it is an intensely personal reading of Holy Scripture with  application to one’s own life. “To meditate is to chew and ruminate, for it is  to: repeat, reflect, remember, interpret, penetrate… One who thus meditates on  the Word is transformed according to the Word and becomes a mediator of the  Word.  When the text speaks to your  heart, you have reached and received a precious fruit of meditation” (Olivera).

This personal application of scripture inmeditatio serves two purposes. It effects both moral and experiential change.

Memory is more than the ability to recall information. In the traditional sense it involves living in the presence of what is ‘remembered,’ just as mindfulness of a loved one may accompany all our  activities.  This is what Jesus  meant when he spoke about ‘abiding’ or ‘remaining’ in his word (John 8:31; 15:7). To live in the presence of God alters our behavior and also effects a  qualitative change in our experience. It is a dynamic element in ongoing conversion.” (Casey, 72).

Oratio engages  the Tropological or behavioral sense of scripture by use of the human conscience  as the individual begins to live out the meaning of the text. The first expression of this is prayer. Oratio may simply be described  as praying the text, using the words of the text itself to form the words or  theme of one’s own prayer.  It has  also been described as opening one’s heart to God or even as conversation with  God. “Prayer understood both as dialogue  with God, that is, as loving conversation with the One who has invited us into  His embrace; and as consecration, prayer as the priestly offering to God of  parts of ourselves that we have not previously believed God wants” (Dysinger).

The application of the text to oneself inmeditatio reveals our lowly sinful  condition and creates in us a desire for a clean heart that we might know God. In this situation the heart itself is enflamed and led to pray for these  things.  In the midst of such prayer  God grants contemplatio.

What does God then, whose help is ever upon the righteous  and our ear at our prayer?  He  doesn’t wait until the prayer is fully ended, but he pierces in the midst of the  burning desire of that thirsty soul, and with a secret balm of heavenly  sweetness softens the soul and comforts it, and makes it be so overcome with  delight and joy that it forgets all earthly things for that hour, and he makes  it to lose itself in wonder, as if it were dead from knowing ourself. And as in fleshly works we are so overcome that we lose the guidance of  reason and so become all fleshly, right so in the ladder of contemplation our  fleshly stirrings are so cancelled out that the flesh does not win over the  spirit but is become all spiritual” (Guigo).

Contemplatio  engages the Anagogical or mystical sense of scripture by a special gift of the  Holy Spirit applied to the spirit of man such that God is met and personally  experienced as one reads text.  Contemplatio has been described in  various ways.  Central for most  authors is the concept of subjective experience of the divine. It is sometimes described as mere listening to God as one gains freedom  from one’s own thoughts as one’s mind, heart, and soul is opened to the  influence of God.  The idea of “resting” in the presence of God is also a common theme. It is perhaps best thought of as an indescribable experience of the  divine characterized by silence and feelings of delight, thirst, knowing, etc. The following two definitions attempt to get at the heart ofcontemplatio:

What is contemplation? It is a change in the consciousness  marked by two elements.  On the one  hand, there is a recession from ordinary sensate and intellectual awareness and  all the concerns and programs that depend upon it. At the same time, more subtly, it is being possessed by the reality and  mystery of God.  Having emptied  oneself in imitation of Christ (Philippians 2:7), one is filled with the  fullness of God. ‘Of his fullness we have all received, grace for grace’ (John  1:16).  The endowments of Christ  become ours – in particular his relationship with the Father. In graced living Christ becomes the doer of our actions; in contemplation  we become the subject of Christ’s prayer. There is a mysterious interpenetration of subjectivity in the realm of  supernatural existence.” (Casey, 39)To contemplate is to take silent delight in theTemplewhich is Risen Christ.  To  contemplate is to encounter the Word, beyond words. To contemplate is to live in the Risen One, rooted in the now of this  earth, reaching out to the beyond of the heavens. Contemplation is vision.  The  contemplative sees the resurrection in the cross, life in death, the Risen One  in the Crucified. Contemplation is the thirst caused by the seeming absence or  the satiety of mutual presence.  The  contemplative is at a loss for words, simply because he knows (Olivera).

Contemplation is, therefore, the final goal. Incontemplatio the individual finally  makes actual contact with the divine by ultimately transcending the text itself. “He who has revealed truth engraven in the innermost depths of his heart,  does not depend on the sacred text and is for others a living Bible” (Olivera).

Luther andLectio Divina on the Word of God

John Kleinig has shown that Luther’s life in the monastery  most certainly exposed him to the practice ofLectio Divina.

“Luther distinguished his own practice of spirituality from  the tradition of spiritual foundation that he experienced as a monk. This tradition followed a well-timed, ancient pattern of meditation and  prayer.  It’s goal was ‘contemplation,’ the experience of ecstasy, bliss, rapture, and illumination  through union with the glorified Lord Jesus.” (Kleinig, 4-5)

This “pattern of meditation and prayer” was none other thanLectio Divina. Luther’s reformation discovery of the Gospel led him, finally, to reject  this brand of spirituality.

Oswald Bayer shows how Luther’s “reformation discovery” led  him to a new understanding of Language. In his early years Luther dealt with the Word in terms of Augustinian and  Stoic theology, namely, that “language is a system of signs that refer to  objects or situations or of signs that express an emotion. In either case the  sign is – as a statement or as an expression – not the reality itself” (Bayer,  76).  In the case of holy absolution,  for instance, the word of absolution was understood to be a declaration of that  which has already happened in heaven. The absolution, in this case, is not the reality itself, rather, the  words signify or point to a reality that already exists.

Luther’s theological breakthrough was his discovery that  the word of God is the reality in itself. “That the linguistic sign is itself  the reality, that it represents not an absent but a present reality, was  Luther’s great hermeneutical discovery, his ‘Reformation Discovery’ in the  strict sense” (Bayer).  Luther had  discovered that the word “does what it says” and “says what it does” (Bayer).

It is clear that Luther’s fully developed understanding of  the word would have conflicted with the basic premise of Lectio Divina. Kleinig proposes that Luther’s Oratio, Meditatio, Tentatio was his corrective toLectio Divina.

In contrast to this rather manipulative method, Luther  proposed an evangelical pattern of spirituality as reception rather than  self-promotion.  This involved three  things: prayer (oratio), meditation (meditation),  and temptation (tentatio). All three revolved around ongoing, faithful attention to God’s word” (Kleinig,  258).

It has already been demonstrated that the ultimate goal ofLectio Divina is contemplation  whereby one comes into an experiential encounter God. In this encounter one is enabled to transcend the text of scripture and  achieve direct communion with the divine. The fundamental presupposition behind this is the idea that the word is  merely a sign.  The word is a  mediator between God and man which, while certainly important and useful, is not  the thing in itself.  True, actual,  communication with God cannot take place until one, by prayer and meditation, is  finally by God’s grace, enabled to go beyond the text to establish mystical  communion with God.  It is for this  reason that, in Lectio Divina the  word can only be the point of the departure or necessary beginning which leads  ultimately to the true goal of true communion with God on a purely spiritual  level.

In Luther’s Oratio,  Meditatio, Tentatio there is no room forContemplatio. The direct encounter with God happens in the word itself. The word does not merely signify God’s speaking to us. The word is, in fact, God speaking to us. There is no reality to be sought beyond the word of God.

Therefore if you want to be certain what God in heaven  thinks of you, and whether He is gracious to you, you must not seclude yourself,  retire into some nook, and brood about it or seek the answer in your works or in  your contemplation—all this you must banish from your heart, and you must give  ear solely to the words of this Christ; for everything is revealed in Him  (Luther, AE 24:257).One thing, and only one thing, is necessary for Christian  life, righteousness, and freedom. That one thing is the most holy Word of God,  the gospel of Christ, as Christ says, John 11[:25], “I am the resurrection and  the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live”; and John  8[:36] (Luther, AE 31:345).

The order in oratio,  meditatio, tentatio is important. In contrast to Lectio Divina  which sees the word as a means to an end, Luther’s list continually leads one  back to the word.  Oratio, meditatio, tentatio “describe  the life of faith as a cycle that begins with prayer for the gift of the Holy  Spirit, concentrates on the reception of the Holy Spirit through meditation on  God’s word, and results in spiritual attack. This in turn leads a person back to further prayer and intensified  meditation” (Kleinig, 258).

For Luther everything is focused on the word. Prayer does not stand above the text as a more spiritual exercise  divorced from the word.  Luther does  not see the believer seeking for something beyond and above the text in prayer. Rather, true prayer (oratio)  directs believers toward the Scriptures. In prayer the believer asks for understanding and steadfastness as he  approaches God’s word.  Furthermore,  the very words of scripture form the language of prayer itself.

Luther also completely redefinesmeditatio. Whereas in Lectio Divina  meditation is focused on the human memory and its ability to make the text  personal through the recollection of past events, Luther’s understanding of  meditation focuses on God’s word.  For Luther, meditation is simply the continual study of scripture. God’s word is not a mere sign that needs to be internalized in order to  be heard properly, it is the very voice of God that comes with power both to  kill and make alive.

Finally, Luther replacesLectio Divina’scontemplatio withtentatio. The goal is no longer subjective, experiential contemplation with God. Rather, in his addition of tentatio he refocuses our attention on the word as the goal. Tentatio (sufferings and  temptation) is a form of spiritual attack which drives the believer away from  the internalized self to the external word. Tentatio is not a goal. It is not the highest rung on a spiritual ladder to heaven. It is God’s way of turning self-seeking men back to the word and  therefore back to himself.

Conclusion

We must applaud Lectio Divina for its high respect for the word of God and for it’s many  helpful suggestions on how to approach it’s study. However, we have seen that, in the final analysis,Lectio Divina merely pays lip service  to the word in favor of its much loftier goal, namely, contemplation. It was finally unable to stand up to Luther’s full blown theology of the  word and was therefore rejected by him in favor of a new approach that kept the  word as the focal point and goal.  Lectio Divina’s growth in popularity  seems to be in line with certain trends within pop-Christianity that focus on  subjectivism and experientialism.  Luther’s oratio, meditatio, tentatio  is deserving of a much greater hearing in our Lutheran churches as a truly  faithful substitution and corrective for the kind of spirituality being promoted  in the church today.

Bibliography

Bayer, Oswald, “Luther as Interpreter of Holy Scripture,”TheCambridge Companion to Martin Luther, Edited  by Donald K. McKim,CambridgeUniversity Press, 2003.

Casey, Michael, Sacred Reading: The Ancient Art of Lectio Divina,Liguori,MO, Ligouri/Triumph Publications,  1996.

Dysinger, Luke Fr., “Accepting The Embrace of God: The  Ancient Art of Lectio Divina,” St.  Andrew’s Abbey [website]; http://www.valyermo.com/Id-art.html; Internet;  accessed 22 December 2006.

Guigo II, “The Ladder of Four Rungs,”U.M.I.L.T.A [website];  http://www.umilta.net/ladder; Internet; accessed 22 December 2006.

Hein, Steven A., “Tentatio,”Logia (Eastertide, 2001), 33-41

Kleinig, John, “Meditation”Logia (Eastertide, 2001), 45-50.

Kleinig, John, “Oratio,  Meditatio, Tentatio: What Makes a Theologian?”Concordia Theological Quarterly; Vol.  66:3 (July, 2002), 255-267.

Luther, M. (1999, c1961). Vol. 24: Luther’s  works, vol. 24 : Sermons on the  Gospel of St. John: Chapters 14-16 (J. J. Pelikan,  H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther’s Works.Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

Luther, M. (1999, c1957). Vol. 31: Luther’s  works, vol. 31 : Career of the Reformer I (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H.  T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther’s Works.Philadelphia: Fortress  Press.

Luther, M. (1999, c1960). Vol. 34: Luther’s  works, vol. 34 : Career of the Reformer IV (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H.  T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther’s Works.Philadelphia: Fortress  Press.

O’Hagan, John, “Lectio Divina,”Monastery of the Ascension [website];  http://www.idahomonks.org/sect810.htm; Internet; accessed 22 December 2006.

Olivera, Bernardo, “Bernardo Olivera on Lectio Divina,”The Order of St. Benedict [website];  http://www.osb.org/lectio/olivera.html; Internet; accessed 22 December 2006.

Wikipedia, “Lectio Divina,”Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia  [website]; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lectio_Divina; Internet; accesses 22  December 2006

Republished with permission. The original appears at Sound Witness.org right here.

See also:

MARTIN LUTHER ON CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICES LIKE LECTIO DIVINA

BETH MOORE AND JOHN PIPER LEAD LECTIO DIVINA-LITE AT PASSION 2012

DANGERS OF CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY/MYSTICISM: LECTIO DIVINA

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A major factor contributing to this pathetic compromising is the spread of Counter Reformation spirituality and Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM) ala gurus Dallas Willard and his spiritual twin Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster.

There’s no excuse; for example, two years ago I warned you that Rick Warren Now Openly Promoting Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism as he brought Protholic CSM guru Peter Scazzero in to the first Radicalis conference. Sadly however, as you can see in John Piper, Rick Warren & Foster-Willardism and Tim Keller And Contemplative Spirituality CSM has now infected the Reformed community.

You need to know that Scazzero is partnered with the leadership of Bill Hybel’s warped Willow Creek Association(WCA), which extends from another notorious man-centered Church Growth Movement mega-church Willow Creek. We’re told that WCA “is regarded as the most influential ministry to evangelical pastors in the U.S”[1] and Scazzero’s CSM materials are being used within WCA to teach Contemplative/Centering Prayer (CCP), which is meditation in an altered state of consciousness:

(Online source)

Guru Scazzero is so far gone now that he recently wrote Centering Prayer: Entering the Apophatic Prayer Tradition detailing what he taught the staff of his New Life Fellowship Church, which includes Jacqueline Snape as his Assistant Executive Pastrix; though her title has now been amended to “Elder In Residence.” As all so-called Christian mystics Scazzero begins referencing, out of context, Psalm 46:10 — “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Note carefully the sordid spiritual sources from which he draws this information as guru Scazzero then tells us:

(Online source)

I seriously don’t know what it’s going to take to awaken evangelical leaders from their dead-on impression of Rip Van Winkle. This CSM nonsense has absolutely no place in the Protestant Christian community; and it isn’t even being taught by Protestants. Jesus never taught it and neither did His Apostles. Living Spiritual Teacher Thomas Keating and the late Spiritual Master Basil Pennington are apostate Roman Catholic monks and mystics.

You’ll see in Mainstream Evangelicalism Embracing Contemplative Mysticism that the “Rev.” Cindy Bourgeault, who’s a dutiful disciple of Keating, comes highly recommended by Brian McLaren. As a matter of fact, guru Bourgeault’s recently lead an online spiritual retreat along with the unbelieving Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat—with whom I’ve had personal run-ins—for a whacked New Age website called Spirituality & Practice; which is the seedy spiritual source for that Living Spiritual Teachers Project.

In Peter Scazzero Bringing Rome Home To His Church I gave you another indication of just how far off track spiritually he is becoming. There you’ll see that “Protestant” aspiring monk and guru Peter Scazzero brought in a Roman Catholic to teach Roman Catholic theology to his *cough* Protestant church. Here’s yet another pathetic illustration of compromise as the other day Scazzero tweeted:

(Online source)

The link takes up to something called The Enneagram Institute World Headquarters. Wonderful; CSM now has led guru Scazzero right into the neighborhood of universalist Emerging Church pastor Doug Pagitt, part of the Emerging Church trinity along with his equally heretical progressive theologian in residence Tony Jones along with Living Spiritual Teacher and EC guru Brian McLaren.

See for yourself in Doug Pagitt Excited About Events Through The Lens Of The Enneagram. However, far more than a mere “personality test” the Enneagram, which to no real surprise is also pushed by Red Letter Christian and Roman Catholic mystic Richard Rohr, originates in the mystical strain of Islam known as Sufism (see below). In Enneagram system: Alternative Health Dictionary on Enneagram system we’re told it’s a:

System of spiritual psychology based on an ancient Sufi [Islam] typology of nine (ennea in Greek) personality types or primary roles (Online source)

This is confirmed in The Enneagram where we read:

The roots of the enneagram can be traced to two men: George Gurdjieff and Oscar Ichazo. Both men were involved in occultic pursuits. Guurdjiieff learned of the enneagram from a sect of Sufis (mystical Islam). The Sufis used the enneagram for numerological divination. Oscar Ichazo later developed a personality theory around the enneagram and added it. (Online source)

In Sufism the goal is to use mystical practices such as transcendental meditation and altered states of consciousness to make oneself whole in union with God, which is thought to be “redemption.” And toward the path of this redemption, with its own version of “the true self,” the enneagram chart is thought to assist this process. Christian apologist Mike Oppenheimer of the fine online apologetics and discernment ministry Let Us Reason explains:

The Enneagram symbol is a nine-pointed, star-like figure. The nine lines comprise a perfect triangle and a twisted hexagon contained within a circle. This is a New Age type mandala, a mystical gateway to personality classification. The drawing is based upon a belief in the mystical properties of the numbers 7 and 3.

There are lines that connect some of the points on the circumference of the circle, an arrangement based on what are taken to be the mystical and cosmological properties of the numbers three and seven. Mixtures with numerically adjoining types are particularly frequent, called “wings.” A 5′s wing will either be type 4, or type 6 (or occasionally both). A 9′s wing will either be type 8 or 1.

The Enneagram is chart or diagram with many points and lines inside and touching a circle. The enneagram symbol itself is a circle along whose circumference appear nine equally spaced points marked by the numerals 1 through 9 in succession. The chart purports to describe nine different personality types, and a automatic or mechanical response to life. (Online source)

By the way, the aforementioned George Ivanovich Gurdjieff (1866?-1949) was:

considered by some to be the greatest mystical teacher of all time, and by others to be a fraud. His liberation philosophy, commonly called “the Work,” set occultism on its ear in the 1920s and paved the way for now-conventional techniques of group and encounter therapy. [1]

So practicing CSM is leading Peter Scazzero in the same direction as Doug Pagitt and now right into lock-step spiritually with Gurdjieff’s “work” of the Fourth Way where:

one may pass from the darkness of this world with its wars, hatred and confusion to the inner sanctuary of the heart where one can discover what Gurdjieff calls “Real I”, whereby a man or woman can develop the wish, as the Gospels instructs, to “Love God with all your heart, all your strength, and all your mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself.”…

If more of us could consciously live the ideas contained in Psychological Commentaries on the Teachings of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky we would, indeed, guarantee entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven for every man, woman and child on the planet… (Online source)

Yet another reason to avoid practicing CSM and CCP. In closing this, for now, the point is Peter Scazzero’s not a minor player and he has the ringing endorsements of both CGM gurus Rick Warren and Bill Hybels. He’s infecting scores of evangelical pastors with this foolishness. Finally, Scazzero’s compromised protholic CSM also comes highly recommended by New Calvinist mentor Tim Keller, an ostensibly Reformed Gospel Coalition Council Member, as well:

(Online source)

Dr. Keller then tells us in his endorsement within The Emotionally Healthy Church (EHC) itself:

Such is the state of the church visible when TGC has members openly, and highly, recommending the perverted practices of Counter Reformation spirituality…and now you can see…even worse…

___________________________________________________________________________
End notes:

[1] http://www.willowcreek.com/about/, accessed 1/16/12.

See also:

TIM KELLER RECOMMENDED PETER SCAZZERO SPREADING SPURIOUS CENTERING PRAYER

RICK WARREN AND PETER SCAZZERO UP TO MONK-EE BUSINESS

PETER SCAZZERO TRY SILENCE

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[Y]our assertion that Focus on the Family is “promoting” contemplative prayer and spirituality is neither fair nor accurate.  Yes, we have occasionally referenced speakers and authors who deal with subjects of this nature – individuals such as Richard Foster, Larry Crabb, and Beth Moore.  But none of this, in our opinion, amounts to “promoting” contemplative prayer.  The truth of the matter is that we have far too much else on our plate to become involved in any such activity.  The heart of our outreach is practical family ministry.

That said, we also find it hard to understand why any particular method of prayer should be regarded as “a dangerous deviation from sound Bible practices.”  After all, there are probably as many different ways of praying as there are people offering prayers.  Besides, there is nothing unbiblical or anti-Christian about solitude, silence, and contemplation.  Far from it!  After all, it was not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire that the Lord spoke to Elijah, but rather in the “still, small voice” of intimate, personal communion…

David highlights the value of this type of spiritual discipline in Psalm 4:4, where he writes, “Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still.”  Another Psalmist similarly represents the Lord as exhorting His people to “be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).  And Jesus Himself, who lived and breathed the Old Testament Scriptures, often retired to quiet, secluded spots in the wilderness or on the mountain where He could converse with His Father apart from the noise and distraction of the crowd (see Mark 1:35).  In time, His disciples learned to follow His example in this regard.

On the basis of this firm biblical foundation, a strong tradition of Christian contemplation and mysticism has grown up within the church over the past 2,000 years – a tradition that has nothing whatsoever to do with “dangerous” New Age spirituality.
(Online source, bold and underlining mine)

Timothy Masters, Focus on the Family

See also:

PSALM 46:10 DOES NOT TEACH CONTEMPLATIVE/CENTERING PRAYER

BETH MOORE THE MYSTIC

“CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE” BY RICHARD FOSTER IS ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THEOLOGICAL ERROR

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God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah  

Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”  The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah (Psalm 46:1-11)

Be Still, Use Your Mind, And You’ll Know You’re Being Mislead By Contemplative Gurus

The heart of this article here at Apprising Ministries is to bring to your attention that it’s quite common for those Protholics and Narcigetes who are teachers of the corrupt Contemplative/Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM) of so-called Spiritual Formation (SF) to appeal to verse 10 of the above Psalm 46 in an attempt to justify their unbiblical practice of Contemplative/Centering Prayer (CCP), which is a type of meditation in an altered state of consciousness—i.e. transcendental meditation for the “Christian.”

For example you’ll definitely see this in this teaching of Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic “Roshi” Richard Foster as well as that of his spiritual twin ordained Southern Baptist minister Dallas Willard. Perhaps the best recent example would be the DVD Be Still And Know, an actual ode to CCP in which that dubious duo also appear. The “Bible Study Guide” that comes with it informs us:

Be Still is an interactive film that provides a contemplative look at the history, importance and power of prayer from a cross-denominational point of view… demonstrat[ing] contemplative reflection as a vital part of our everyday lives… featur[ing] some of today’s most highly respected Christian authors, educators, speakers and ministers including Dr. Henry Cloud, Richard Foster, Max Lucado, Beth Moore, Priscilla Shriver and Dallas Willard.[1]

Sure enough on page 9 under the subheading “Contemplative Prayer” we’re told that, “The Bible speaks specifically about being quiet and still before the Lord.” And the first verse used to support their contention that Scripture is speaking about being “quiet and still” in preparation for CCP meditation is Psalm 46:10. In Prayer: Finding The Heart’s True Home the aforementioned Richard Foster writes:

So many passages of Scripture provide a touchstone for Meditative Prayer: “Be still and know that I am God”; “Abid in my love”; “I am the Good Shepherd”; “Rejoice in the Lord always.”[2]

Then we have Ruth Haley Barton, a spiritual director, teacher ,and retreat leader trained through The Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. Co-Founder & President of The Transforming Center Barton has also been a featured speaker and teacher at Zondervan’s National Pastors Conference for the past couple of years heading up their Pastor’s Retreats. Her book Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God’s Transforming Presence, and by the way you can purchase her books right from Lifeway Christian Stores of the “Protestant” Southern Baptist Convention,[3] has a foreword from Dallas Willard and an endorsement from Tilden Edwards who heads the interspiritual Shalem Institute.

In her chapter ”Beyond Words” where she describes her “journey” (I’m coming to hate that word) into the “silence and solitude” of CCP Barton opens with a quote from apostate Roman Catholic monk and mystic Richard Rohr and explains that “help came from a spiritual director” whom Barton met when she “sought her out for therapy.” Barton then tells us that:

this wise woman said to me, “Ruth, you are like a jar of river water all shaken up. What you need is to sit still long enough that the sentiment can settle and the water can become clear”… well, that image called to me with the hope of peace, clarity and a deeper level of certainty in God than I had ever known. In the desire [which] this image stirred up, I recognized an invitation to be still and know beyond my addiction  to noise, words, people and performance-oriented activity.[4]

What Is The Lord Telling Us When He Tells Us To Be Still And Know He’s God?

All of this sure sounds pleasing and it most certainly is the prevailing postevangelical view of Psalm 46:10 — “Be still, and know that I am God.” The huge problem for the growing band of evangelical CSM supporters in the Emerging rebellion against sola Scriptura is that this verse has nothing at all to do with the subject of prayer as the context should make clear. Taken in the context of this Psalm, an exclaimation of praise for the glorious absolute sovereignty of the LORD God Almighty, we have a reminder that those who belong to Him should “cease striving”; stop worrying, “be still,” rest quietly, in any kind of situation because the LORD is your God.

Yet how odd that evangelical and Emergent Church contemplatives content to embrace mystery ala Rob Bell will tell me that I can’t know for sure verse 10 really means what I just told you it does. However, in a perfect demonstration of double-mindedness these same wannabe Christian mystics are then certain that they know this verse is, in fact, teaching their spurious spirituality. Even so, the fact remains it’s these neo-Gnostics—with their supposedly superior understanding of the “real” meaning of Scripture—who’ve wrested this verse out of its context. Um, the Scriptures where out of the other side of their mouths they still tell us can’t be clearly understood.

As to a proper view of Psalm 46:10 in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary series Dr. Willem A. VanGemeren is right when he points out that:

the psalmist encourages the godly to “know” that the Lord is God. Though it was tempting to ally themselves with foreign powers, to rely on military strength, or to give themselves over to idolatry and pagan ways, the godly must learn to persevere to the end. The exhortation “be still” calls on them to stop doing one thing in favor of something else. What their temptation was may be implied from v.2: “Therefore we will not fear.”

Throughout the history of Israel and Judah, severe national distress brought the temptation to abandon true religion for the ephemeral security of political alliances, military strength, and worldly paganism (Realpolitik). Instead of choosing a negative option, the people of God distinguish themselves by the pursuit of godliness: “Know that I am God.” The “knowledge” of God includes a factual knowledge about him, his past acts, and his promises. But in this context the psalmist calls on them to commit themselves to the Lord and to seek his “refuge,” “strength,” and “fortress” (vv.1, 7, 11).[5]

Then in his own classic The Treasury of David Charles Spurgeon quotes Jonathan Edwards as teaching the following concerning Psalm 46:10:

Verse 10. Be still, and know that I am God. The great works of God, wherein his sovereignty appeared, had been described in the foregoing verses. In the awful desolations that he made, and by delivering his people by terrible things, he showed his greatness and dominion. Herein he manifested his power and sovereignty, and so commands all to be still, and know that he is God. For says he, I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. In the words may be observed,

A duty described, to be still before God, and under the dispensations of his providence; which implies that we must be still as to words; not speaking against the sovereign dispensations of Providence, or complaining of them; not darkening counsel by words without knowledge, or justifying ourselves and speaking great swelling words of vanity. We must be still as to actions and outward behaviour, so as not to oppose God in his dispensations; and as to the inward frame of our hearts, cultivating a calm and quiet submission of soul to the sovereign pleasure of God, whatever it may be. (Online source)

Next pastor Larry DeBruyn will now give us a good working knowledge of the Hebrew which underlies the English ”Cease striving”, “Be still”:

the verb “Be still” (Hebrew, rapah) is used 46 times in the Old Testament with meanings everywhere from describing laziness to ordering relaxation. Though the majority of versions translate the injunction “Be still”, other meanings are “Cease striving ” (NASB), “Be quiet” (NCV), “Desist” (Young’s), or “Calm down” (CEV). In no biblical usage or context does the Hebrew verb enjoin God’s people to meditate or contemplate. Rather, believers are to rest and trust in God. (Online source, emphasis his)

And in closing, if you are someone who has found themselves attracted to these seducing spirits and their doctrines of demons in CSM and CCP I will now leave you to contemplate the following sound advice and stern warning from Christian apologist Bob DeWaay in his article Contemporary Christian Divination: The False Claims and Practices of Christian Mystics:

I have debated people about these techniques many times. They often say, “God can do anything and use anything, you are tying to put God in a box.” You probably have heard that argument. When I was doing my research on divination for the previous issue of CIC, I thought about the “putting God in a box” accusation. The Biblical record shows that it is God who purposely limits the ways we can come to Him. If there is a “box” God made it. I think a better analogy than a box, is a sheepfold. It is a Biblical analogy.

Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber” (John 10:1). The true sheep enter the sheepfold through the door, Jesus Christ (John 10:7). He as the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep (John 10:11). He protects His sheep from the wolves, gives them pasture, and abundant life (John 10:10-15). Being in the sheepfold may seem restrictive compared to the adventures of exploring the bigger world out there unencumbered by the guidance of the Shepherd. However the restrictions are there to save our spiritual lives.

The restrictions God places on how and by what means we may legitimately come to Him and receive spiritual truth are for our own good. The spirit world that Christian mystics like Morton Kelsey want to explore is far more complex than even Jung and Kelsey give it credit for being. The dangers of deception are far more real. In fact, if we journey into the world of the spirits by means other that what God has ordained, we will be deceived, not may be deceived. The spirits who inhabit that world have been there for many thousands of years practicing the art of deception. They willingly give people whatever experience they would tend to think is from God. Jose Silva, who is Catholic, when he went into his alpha level to gain guides received Jesus and Mary. The spirits will give you what you would expect is from God in your own context. They will provide any experience that serves their deceptive purposes, including sending a spiritual “Jesus” (see 2Corinthians 11:4). The prohibitions on divination are there to protect us from these malicious entities.

So we are not putting God in a box, God is putting us in a sheepfold if we are willing to be there. The practices of “thinking outside the box” that are so popular today are fatal when it comes to spirituality. God has not left access to spiritual truth in the hands of innovative thinkers who like pioneers blaze new trails. God has given access to Himself, once for all, through Jesus Christ who is our heavenly High Priest. The truth is revealed once for all in the Scriptures. (Online source, emphasis his)

___________________________________________________________________________
End notes:

[1] Be Still (DVD © 2006 Twentieth Fox Home Entertainment LLC).

[2] Richard Foster, Prayer: Finding The Heart’s True Home [New York: Harper Collins, 1997], 149.

[3] http://www.lifeway.com/Keyword/barton+ruth+haley?Ntk=Author, accessed 1/16/12.

[4] Ruth Haley Barton, Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God’s Transforming Presence [Downers Grove: IVP Books, 2005], 29, 30.

[5] Frank E. Gaebelein, ed., Expositor’s Bible Commentary: With the New International Version of the Bible [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1976-92), in Zondervan NIV Study Bible Library, limited ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001), CD-ROM, Psalm 46.

See also:

PRISCILLA SHIRER AND CONTEMPLATIVE/CENTERING PRAYER

“CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE” BY RICHARD FOSTER AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THEOLOGICAL ERROR

SPIRITUAL FORMATION IS PIETISM REIMAGINED

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See also:

SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION USING MORE COUNTER REFORMATION CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY

ALABAMA BAPTIST CONVENTION (SBC) ENCOURAGES YOU TO LEARN LECTIO DIVINA FROM APOSTATE TONY JONES

BETH MOORE RECOMMENDS “JESUS CALLING” BOOK CLAIMING DIRECT DIVINE REVELATION

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By Apprising Ministries special correspondent Daniel Neades of Better Than Sacrifice

We all want to hear from God.

Now you can share the secret closely guarded by our forebears in the faith.

This simple yet ancient formula will enable you to experience the voice of God speaking directly into your life:

1. Get hold of a reliable translation of the Bible, such as the NKJV or the ESV. (Sorry, no, The Messagedoesn’t work for this spiritual discipline.)

2. Open it.

3. Read.

The original appears complete with a comments section for you to weigh in on the discussion right here.

See also:

BETH MOORE THE MYSTIC

BETH MOORE SEEKING DIRECT REVELATION FROM GOD AT PASSION 2012

SBC’S BETH MOORE MERELY PRETENDING TO BE PROTESTANT

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PLURA SCRIPTURA  ([ploo r-uh ] [skrɪpt ər’ uh])

[(1350–1400; Middle English  < Latin plūrālis,  equivalent to plūr-,  stem of plūs plus  + -alis -al); (1250–1300; Middle English  < Latin scrīptūra  writing. See script, -ure) ((Latin ablative, “by Scripture plus more”)*

1. Consisting of, containing, or pertaining to more than the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments; the Scriptures plus something else.
2. The doctrine that the Bible contains knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness, and that superior spiritual insight may be found through the supplementation of revelations, dreams, impressions, experience, contact with the afterlife, voices, signs and wonders, psycho-social constructs, new theory, new thought, etc.
3. The idea that the doctrines to be admitted or confessed in the Christian faith are found directly within Scripture, as well as in other authorities considered co-equal, co-relevant, and or sublimely inspired, thus creating new revelation.
4. The doctrine of the authority of the personal witness of the Holy Spirit or spirit to the heart of each man as a necessary embellishment to the Biblical text.
5. The teaching that all things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all; and that only the learned, the elect, or the leadership elite, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them.
6. The evolutionary philosophy that the positive future of man, including world peace, is predicated upon the unity of world religious beliefs; syncretism.

*Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sola_scriptura and www.dictionary.com

See also:

PROTHOLIC

REFORMERGENT

DOMYSTIC

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John Piper…seems to be on a mission of inclusivity that has caused him a great deal of trouble in the recent past. The latest issue connected to his name is the issue of Lectio Divina.

On his website Piper endorses this as a method of prayers [sic] and Bible study… I think that the real problem here is not that Piper is engaging in some Catholic/mystical form of worship and prayer, but that he is engaged with people that are without drawing a dividing line for those that follow him and others…

[Lectio Divina] is dangerous because it takes the person outside of the Scriptures as they wait for God to speak directly to them through the Holy Spirit.

In my view, John Piper knows better then [sic] this… In fact in his book “Think”, which is that latest one I have read, he confronts postmodernism, subjective thinking, and anti-intellectualism. This does not sound like a guy who spends his time waiting for the Spirit to put his imagination to work.

Yet there he is on the stage with people who are most definitely [are] caught up in this mystical world of God-speak. He reads the Bible and tells people to then listen for Christ’s words. I have no doubt that he means listen to them from the scripture and gain your knowledge that way, if not then he has contradicted his own writings and articulated beliefs. However that is not all his stage partners did…

[P]eople out in the audience [at Passion 2012 were told] that God is speaking to them, and if they don’t hear it and raise their hand then they are less then the person next to them that did. There was no preparation or serious study that led to a deeper knowledge of the scripture that I know Piper wants people to have. It is an appeal to emotion and extra-biblical feelings that is nothing like what Piper or his contemporaries support or write about.

So here is the problem. It is not that Piper is joining the emergent movement, or that it discounts all of the great preaching and teaching he does like some in the reformed faith have charged him with. It is that Piper does not repudiate a practice that he has to know is not Biblical…

With all do [sic] respect to Piper who I have learned a great deal from, he seems to be on a mission to bring all forms of faith together by participating in events like these, sitting down with Rick Warren, and not drawing the lines where they are needed. This causes great confusion with his own flock and others that listen to him that now think that in order to be spiritual they have to hear the voice of God after reading a passage at a conference. He does a disservice to those he disciples by not calling these things out, but instead propping them up in the name of friendship.

This is not an attempt to bash John Piper, there is enough of that going on, but if he is going to continue down this road of “finding common ground” then he needs to point out the areas where the ground is not so common and repudiate error and false teaching when he interacts with it. Anything less then that is irresponsible on his part. (Online source)

llondy

See also:

BETH MOORE AND JOHN PIPER LEAD LECTIO DIVINA-LITE AT PASSION 2012

DANGERS OF CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY/MYSTICISM: LECTIO DIVINA

WHAT JOHN PIPER AND JIM WALLIS HAVE IN COMMON AND WHY THE POPE WILL BE DELIGHTED

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