Contemplative Spirituality: A belief system that uses ancient mystical practices to induce altered states of consciousness (the silence) and is rooted in mysticism and the occult but often wrapped in Christian terminology. The premise of contemplative spirituality is pantheistic (God is all) and panentheistic (God is in all). Common terms used for this movement are "spiritual formation," "the silence," "the stillness," "ancient-wisdom," "spiritual disciplines," and many others.
William Paul Young is the official author of The Shack, but Wayne Jacobsen is one of its editors. According to a New York Times article, Jacobsen spent 16 months helping to rewrite the first draft. This would leave the logical conclusion that Jacobsen had some significant influence on the final outcome of the book. And with that in mind, readers need to be aware that Jacobsen is a proponent of emerging and contemplative books and authors. It's an important thing to know because Christian figures are heralding the book, helping it to remain on the New York Times Best Seller list. Those that understand this book--its obvious and its not so obvious messages--know that it's important to issue a warning. And the fact that popular Christian authors like Eugene Petersen and Gayle Erwin (The Jesus Style) endorse the book means that unsuspecting, well-intentioned Christians will buy the book, and if they follow the advice at the end of the book, will buy other copies of the book and give them away to friends.
On Wayne Jacobsen's website, LifeStream, he carries a list of books he calls "Favorite Reading," which he says have "most shaped" his spiritual "journey." Of the twenty some books listed, there is a hodge podge of both contemplative authors and emerging church authors. These include Brennan Manning, Philip Yancey, Larry Crabb, Dallas Willard, Mike Yaconelli, Don Miller, Jim Palmer, and Anne Lamott.
Many of our readers may not be familiar with Jim Palmer and Anne Lamott. Palmer is the author of Divine Nobodies and is listed with Petersen and Erwin on The Shack website as an endorser. Publisher's Weekly says Palmer is an "emerging church leader" ... that "touched a nerve with readers who gravitate toward cutting-edge evangelical writers like Brian McLaren and Donald Miller." On Palmer's blog, under his links section, he has a link to contemplative activist Richard Rohr. Rohr's spirituality would be in the same camp as someone like Matthew Fox (author of The Coming of the Cosmic Christ) who believes in pantheism and panentheism. Rohr wrote the foreword to a 2007 book called How Big is Your God? by Jesuit priest (from India) Paul Coutinho. In Coutinho's book, he describes an interspiritual community where people of all religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity) worship the same God. For Wayne Jacobsen to say that Jim Palmer is one of the authors who "most shaped" his spiritual "journey" is very telling.
Anne Lamott is best known for her book, Traveling Mercies, and she resonates with Oprah's New Age meditation author, Elizabeth Gilbert (Lamott's endorsement of the book sits on the back cover of Eat, Pray, Love.
Jacobsen's open affinity with these contemplative and emerging authors may well have influenced the final draft of The Shack. The book refers to God as "the ground of all being" that "dwells in, around, and through all things--ultimately emerging as the real" (p. 112)--this is the ripe fruit of contemplative spirituality. One can find this language and definition of God in the writings of John Shelby Spong and Marcus Borg, and the concept overflows within the contemplative/emerging camp. This description of God does not mean that God upholds everything; it means that God is the essence of all that exists (in other words, He dwells in all humans and all creation). New Age sympathizer, Sue Monk Kidd, would agree with The Shack's definition of God--in her book, First Light, she says God is the graffiti on the building (p. 98), and so would John of the Cross who said God is the mountain, forest, rivers, etc. 4
The Shack's William Young also resonates with Anne Lamott. In the back of the book in the Acknowledgements, Young says he is "grateful" for Lamott.
Lighthouse Trails' concern is that the theology of The Shack is the Christianity of the future, a Christianity that has been defined and proclaimed by those such as Brian McLaren, Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, and many many writers who would share these spiritual propensities. For instance, Nouwen stated that:
Prayer is "soul work" because our souls are those sacred centers where all is one, ... It is in the heart of God that we can come to the full realization of the unity of all that is. (ATOD, chapter 3, endnote #41)
This is just another way of saying what Young says in The Shack that God is "the ground of all being" that "dwells in, around, and through all things."
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
4 comments:
Deception is everywhere and it is clothed in a "logical" and enticing ensemble. It's too bad that the world is full of "sheeple" that do not seek guidance from the Holy Spirit, but blindly follow that which sounds good. Thanks for speaking out on these things that easily distract us and get us off the path of truth just enough to seem right. Good blog.
Acts 17:25
And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
1 Corinthians 15:28
When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.
I guess i don't see the hysteria against. Young is sharing his own walk with God, and yes, the experiences will be different, and some of the lessons may be different than the ones i need to learn - but he's doing what we all need to do - share how God is working in our lives, tell each other as believers, and share with unbelievers how it works :)... it's not mystery cult, and it very much is a Way that subsists on stories and our Book...
Then again, i love Dallas Willard, so maybe you don't need to liste to me either :) - i think a lot of things are going off the rails with modern day churchianity, and anything that gets this much hype i'm wary of, but when i was given this book :) - although it was not well written, could have used a LOT of editing and rewriting - it still made me think and was part of opening a conversation that we have greatly dispensed with since giving "religion" into the hands of the "professionals". We need to share our own stories of what God has done - we need to recognize His relevance, power, beauty, transcendance. And the Shack i think was a good start :)
Hi mamazee, thank you for commenting.
I totally agree with you that we all need to share about our relationship with the Lord, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that at all, it actually should be a normal part of every true Believer's life.
The concern I have however, is when an individual goes beyond personal one on one "sharing", and begins to write so- called "Christian" books that twist what scripture says, and paints the character of God in an inaccurate light. THIS is what becomes an issue for me, not the particular person necessarily, but "the message" the person is promoting.
Now, I realize that 'The Shack' is a "fictional" (not doctrinal) work, but this does not take away from the fact that it will indeed STILL plant erroneous seeds of deception in people's minds when it comes to their perception of God. When one is spiritually searching and seeking to find the truth about God, asking themselves such questions as - Who is He really? What are His expectations of me? How does He really feel about me? Can He be trusted? What must I do to be in proper relationship with Him? These are extremely IMPORTANT questions that must receive an accurate answer which is founded in TRUTH, since it deals with a person's eternity.
We sometimes forget that when we are dealing with spiritual matters, we are dealing with spiritual LIFE and DEATH. We also sometimes forget, that we are in a spiritual war, and have an enemy who enjoys nothing more than leading people away from the truth and freedom that can be found in Jesus Christ, and His true UNCOMPROMISED Word alone.
Don't misunderstand, I'm not saying that it's wrong to read other books beside the Bible. I myself have many other books that I've read throughout the years that I enjoyed, and that were very helpful to me as well.
That said however, I do believe we must be very careful about the "other books" we choose to read and feed our spirit upon - we must make sure that they line up and agree with what THE Book says and teaches. If we measure everything against the Word of God, which is the ultimate authority in ALL things, we'll spiritually keep ourselves on safe and solid ground, and enjoy our walk with the Lord more than we can imagine.
Abundant LIFE is found in His Word, there's really no need to look to anything or anyone else. We don't need any "new" revelations, "new" teachers, "new" formulas, etc. Everything we'll ever need is found in the Lord Himself, and the infallible awesome Word He has so graciously given us! :-)
"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." (Jn. 6:63)
"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." (Isa. 8:20)
Be Blessed!
Thank you for your comment INSIDETHESHRINK, you are so right about this being a time of great deception! It breaks my heart to see people falling for the myriad of lies that are out there, many seeming and sounding sooooo spiritual, so good and "reasonable", but the Lord did warn us that the enemy will come as an "angel of light", didnt He?
Taking into consideration the Lord's warning, and the day in which we live, one would be very wise to consider the verse in Proverbs below when seeking to discern right from wrong, and truth from error. One key factor being, that's it's NEVER about "reasonings" and "feelings" - but it's always about TRUTH!
"There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." (Pr.16:25)
God Bless!
Post a Comment