As part of our online apologetics and discernment work Apprising Ministries has has told you that apostatizing pretending to be Protestant evangelicalism is paying a heavy price for its foolish embrace of the sinfully ecumenial Emergent Church aka the Emerging Church—which has grown into a full-blown neo-liberal cult operating within its walls. AM continues making you aware of the blossoming of the now upgraded Emerging Church 2.0 with its newer, more clearly delineated, postmodern form of Progressive Christian theology—a Liberalism 2.0—that these rebels against God’s Word often refer to as “big tent” Emergence Christianity.

When we look at the bio on his personal website, we find that Samir Selmanovic has “been integral to the birth of the emerging church movement, serving as a member of the Coordinating Group of Emergent Village, as well as representing emergents at the Interfaith Relations Commission of the National Council of Churches.”[1] So, as one of the leaders within this EC—seeker driven for the “counter-culture”—movement he’s a primary source as to what its warped and toxic theology is all about: The love of the self (cf. 2 Timothy 3:2), i.e. mankind in love with its own kind. We may indeed be living in the time when we’ll at least see the beginning of the end of the Age of Grace.

If so, we may also be witnessing the birth of the Global Faith and its One World Religion; that’s why I’ve constantly reminded you that a core doctrine of the Emergent Church from its hatching in Hell has always been the corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM)—deadening one’s critical thinking kills—and which is now being perpetrated throughout evangelicalism as so-called Spiritual Formation (SF) e.g. by Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster along with his spiritual twin, SBC minister Dallas Willard. The crown jewel of this spurious CSM is a form of meditation in an altered state of consciousness commonly known as Contemplative/Centering Prayer (CCP).

The neo-Gnostics who are pushing their TM-lite CCP know that there’s a very real “transformation” which occurs after its prolonged practice. I first covered this a couple of years ago in Thomas Keating On Contemplative/Centering Prayer;  in his writings Living Spiritual Teacher and Roman Catholic mystic Thomas Keating tells us openly that this CCP:

is a process of inner transformation, a conversation initiated by God and leading, if we consent, to divine union. One’s way of seeing reality changes in the process. A restructuring of consciousness takes place which empowers one to perceive, relate and respond with increasing sensitivity to the divine presence in, through, and beyond everything that exists.[2]

By definition CCP, a form of transcendental meditation, absolutely does involve us in some kind of a “transcending” or i.e. an alleged awakening ; a going beyond perceived reality. It’s very real; and it’s deadly dangerous, as it is written:

The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)

Note that it is God Himself Who, somehow, sends a strong delusion—singular—so that such as these will end up following the lawless one. However, that they may believe what is false shows us that there are many different avenues upon which people arrive at the wide gate into the broad path. Those who practice meditation in altered states of consciousness know very well it will unite mankind in disobedience to Christ. In fact guru Keating’s late friend, supposed Spiritual Master, M. Basil Pennington has written:

In the course of the years, sitting in silent prayer [i.e. meditation] beyond where words can interfere, men and women of many diverse traditions have come together. In that deeper place a oneness is experienced that gives assurance and heart to our feeble ecumenical efforts and interreligious dialogues. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has said that if one percent of the people would meditate we will have peace. Jesus spoke of the leaven that will leaven the whole.[3]

You’d do well to realize that mysticism actually acts like a spiritual GPS giving the rebellious directions from whatever avenue they’re currently on over to the wide gate leading onto the broad path that Jesus Himself said “leads to destruction” (Matthew 7:13). Now I point you to the following tweet from Samir Selmanovic today:

(Online source)

The link takes us to The Non-Religious Join In Interfaith Work by Christopher Stedman over at something called The New Humanism. If you don’t know, Stedman:

 is the Managing Director of State of Formation for The Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue™ and the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions. Chris recently received an MA in Religion from Meadville Lombard Theological School at the University of Chicago, for which he was awarded the Billings Prize for Most Outstanding Scholastic Achievement. (Online source)

By his own words we see that Stedman is the very definition of an apostate as he tells us, “I stopped believing in God.” Stedman also points out:

Most self-declared nonreligious people have little in common, save one thing–that we do not believe in God. There is, however, a growing population of nonreligious individuals united by another belief: that religion is the root of all evil. By positioning themselves in stark opposition to religion and the religious, the so-called New Atheists have managed to dominate the public discourse on nonreligiosity. (Online source)

The problem with humanists claiming to be nonreligious is they are mistaken; humanism is itself a religion, it just happens to be devotion to a godless system of beliefs and practices:

 
(Online source)

Now, as to how unbelievers like Christopher Stedman can be recommnded by, and work with the interfaith/interspiritual advocates in the Emerging Church like Samir Selmanovic is simple. When you serve the slightly bigger than human deity of process/open theism, the mystic mush god with a man-shaped hole in his/her/its heart, and when your “gospel” is he/she/it became one with humanity (somehow) in the incarnation, so at the cross Jesus identified with human suffering, then it goes without saying that we should all work together to bring about God’s dream for the world to be a better place.

And so, because he/she/its “salvation” is universal, then everything goes; everyone’s already included.

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Endnotes

[1] http://www.samirselmanovic.com/about/, 2/16/11.

[2] Thomas Keating, Open Mind, Open Heart [New York: Continuum, 2006], 4, emphasis mine.

[3] M. Basil Pennington, Thomas Keating, Thomas E. Clarke,  Finding Grace at the Center: The Beginning of Centering Prayer [Woodstock: Skylight Paths Publishing, 2002], 10,11, emphasis mine.

See also:

BIG TENT PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY AS LIBERALISM 2.0

THE EMERGING CHURCH AND THE NEW PROGRESSIVE THEOLOGY ON OTHER RELIGIONS

THE EMERGING CHURCH AND THE NEW PROGRESSIVE THEOLOGY ON CHRIST