As man-centered new evangelicalism , as belched forth by semi-pelagian posers like Erwin McManus and Rob Bell, more fully embraces Gnostic mysticism-thereby distancing itself from the authority of Scripture-the doctrine of universalism will find its way further into our Lord’s Church. “Kingdom Now/Dominion” theology and the false view of universal atonement of the creation by Christ on the cross has already opened up the door to an inclusivism. One could even say a “generous orthodoxy.” Because of a fear about what it really means to “be continually being filled with the Holy Spirit” a new and false spirituality has now become a fully Emergent Church.

Virtually all of the influential leaders in new evangelicalism are already practicing some form of meditation through Contemplative/Centering Prayer. The result of this “spiritual discipline” always leads to a false twist in the inderstanding of God’s “unconditional” love. This is why you see Rick Warren teaching that people can indeed be saved without the Gospel and Brian McLaren is leading the charge of these man-lovers to find “common ground” for worship with other religions. Soon you will see more and more people coming forth with the belief that God is also providentially working through the various pagan world religions.

You can see in Doctrines of Demons, The Emerging Church and “Open Christianity” that this is already happening. And following on the heels of this apostasy will be those who arise within the ranks of new evangelicalism who will openly teach that all mankind will be saved or have already been saved. We already have seen this with Carlton Pearson and the spirit of this age we live in will cause for more and more within Christian circles to abandon the doctrine of Hell altogether. If you are interested I have covered this in Everyone’s Going To Be Saved Eventually, Aren’t They?

Long story short the seeds for this universalism have already been planted in the new Contemplative Spirituality espoused by Living Spiritual Teacher Richard Foster and which forms the core doctrine of the Emergent Church. In Running Against The Wind Brian Flynn informs us Foster “considers Thomas Merton his mentor” (142). And here in black and white from my personal copy of Merton’s Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander is the future of new evangelical soteriology: “At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth” (158)

Here revealed in these words by Merton, the late Roman Catholic Monk, we have his affinity with eastern religions with their concept of maya-the material world is only an illusion. This is actually a resurrection of first century Gnosticism, and where Merton says this “point of nothingness” is “untouched by sin” we have the outright denial of the doctrine of original sin. Once we have “erased” the sinful nature of man we have now done away with any need for the vicarious penal substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ on the Cross. And now we are ready for the universalism Merton found in his contemplative/centering prayer (aka transcendental meditation).

Merton finishes by referring back to this “point of nothingness” and informs us: “This little point” as “the pure glory of God in us. It is in everybody.” (ibid., emphasis added) And then Merton even goes on to contradict Jesus Christ by saying “the gate of heaven is everywhere.” So now you know why the Emergent Church along with all of these disparate religious groups that practice contemplative prayer/meditation can work together by seeking this spiritual “discipline” as their “common ground.” And this is also why teachers of semi-pelagian counterfeit Christianity like Rick Warren can teach that there is even salvation for those who die without believing in Christ. According to the beliefs of new evangelicalism as expressed this way on the website of Warren’s Saddleback Church:

A person who trusted in God without hearing the name of Jesus would be of the heart to immediately recognize that Jesus was the name of the one they believed in if they were ever to hear His name and story… Someone who has begun to walk in the light is always able to recognize a brighter light…

You see in their twisted self-centered love focused on created things rather than the Creator-Who is forever praised (see-Romans 1:25) and the spiritual “enlightenment” (aka-transformation) which takes place through meditation those practitioners of the new spirituality understand the creation to actually be a part of God Himself. This would mean that the glory of God “is in everybody” already. As such then mankind is “in the light.” However, Christ Jesus-Who is the Light-clearly had a diametrically opposed view – “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3).

Because the truth is there is no common ground. Rather for each of us on this earth the issue is remains the same: choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. It’s either the LORD God Almighty or Satan. For you see, there also happens to be no middle ground…

See also:

BLINDED BY “THE INNER LIGHT”

CONTEMPLATING THE INNER LIGHT OF THE QUAKERS

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