New Age spirituality is essentially the belief that all the world’s religions are identical at the mystical level and therefore there can be unity among them. It is based on the lie that in the “center of your being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin … a point of pure truth …(which) is the pure glory of God in us”, and that it in everybody, according to a popular and well know Roman Catholic mystic, Thomas Merton. [Ray Yungen, Time of Departing (Silverton, OR: Lighthouse Trails Publishing Company), p. 58-59. ] In all his best-selling books and on his web site, Rick Warren endorses those who promote and practice New Age spirituality, such as pantheism (God is in all things), mysticism, centering prayer, contemplative prayer, and spiritual formations/disciplines (New Age prayer techniques). For example, in The Purpose Driven Church, Warren refers to many questionable movements as having a “valid message” for the church that God has used to be a “wake-up call” for the church. In The Purpose Driven Life Rick Warren enlarges his endorsement of New Age spirituality by citing a Roman Catholic mystic and Carmelite monk named Brother Lawrence as a person we should emulate in prayer. [Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), p.88,] Brother Lawrence used a form of prayer that made him “dance violently like a madman” when he went into the “presence.” The Carmelite order of monks was heavily influenced by Teresa of Avila whose own thinking was affected by Jewish Kabbalistic mysticism. Warren recommends reading another Roman Catholic priest and mystic, Henri Nouwen, by promoting his books on his web site. Henri Nouwen teaches: “The God who dwells in our inner sanctuary is also the God who dwells in the inner sanctuary of each human being.” [Roger Oakland, Faith Undone (Silverton, OR: Lighthouse Trails Publishing Company), p. 89-90.] At the end of his life, Nouwen taught that “all paths lead to God.” [Ibid, p. 100.] At a recent seminar held at Saddleback where New Age spiritist/guru’s (Dr’s. Daniel Amen, Mark Hyman & Mehmet Oz) were brought in for a seminar promoting the kick-off for Saddleback’s new church-wide “health and diet plan” called the Daniel Fast. This so-called “God’s prescription plan for your health” takes quite a perversion of its namesake’s narrative to be legitimized as “biblical”. In reality this event was more than merely about a “diet and health plan”, deceptively so. Warren knows the accepted terminologies expected among Christians. He knows when and where to use it, and where not to. Whether he has an audience of one or of 10,000 he says what it wants to hear. In an article on his website entitled “Pastors need Solitude, Refreshment to Prepare for Ministry,” the author quotes Thomas Merton, who is a clear practitioner of New Age spirituality, and then he gives very clear New Age advice for prayer: “The power of silence and solitude has been recognized throughout the history of spiritual formation. It is the purposeful separation of ourselves from the world in order to place ourselves with God. The evil one assaults our senses with the material world to drown out the distant chords of eternity’s symphony. Only in silence can we move past the deafening roar of the world and hear the music of God.” [Accessed July 1, 2008 from an article entitled, “Pastors Need Solitude and Refreshment,”] Some of these expressions like “power of silence and solitude” and “spiritual formation” seem innocent, but they are phrases straight out of the New Age lexicon. The New Age movement teaches that God is in everyone and everyone is in God, and through silence, meditative trances, mystical experiences, breath prayers, centering prayers, and contemplative prayers, you can find what Thomas Merton himself said is that “point of nothingness which is untouched by sin” where “the pure glory of God (is) in us. It is in everybody.” That is a lie of the deceiver that undermines the truth of God, the Person, and work of Jesus Christ to redeem us on the cross. Galatians 1:6-9 clearly tell us to not give honor to anyone who preaches another Gospel. “As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:9).
Posted on: Sun, 18 Jan 2015 20:38:51 +0000
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