Additional Resources
Order the full length movie Luther at Amazon
The Reformation: Post Tenebras Lux
The Reformation (a short paper written by my oldest son)
After The Darkness, Light (a short paper written by my youngest son)
Leonard Sweet (Jesus Manifesto)
Rob Bell (Velvet Elvis, NOOMA videos)
Dallas Willard (The Spirit of the Disciplines)
William P. Young (The Shack)I also briefly gave my testimony and discussed one of the main reasons that we write the Sola Sisters blog, which is that our greatest desire is to protect the purity of the gospel. After all, it is the gospel message that has the power to save (Romans 1:16). Both of us who write Sola Sisters were saved out of the New Age, and we view the New Age to be, in many ways, a very clever "counterfeit Christianity," which uses lots of out-of-context Scripture to "prove" its core teaching. So in a sense, it can be argued that the New Age functions somewhat like a Christian cult (i.e., Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, etc.).
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.' " (John 14:6)
"And he said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.'" (Mark 16:15)
"Isn't it a pity that people are going into LSD to have spiritual experiences, when we have a tradition in the Church [contemplative prayer] which no one knows anything about?" (Thomas Merton, from a letter he wrote to fellow mystic Matthew Fox)Now, you might be wondering why the opinion of a deceased Roman Catholic mystic on an obscure sounding practice should matter to us today. It is for this reason: Contemplative Spirituality Mysticism, as noted above, is literally flooding into today's churches through practices that have positive sounding names, like "Spiritual Formation" and "Spiritual Disciplines." Spiritual Formation is being promoted in many of today's evangelical churches as a way for Christians to draw closer to God. Christian leaders who are teaching Spiritual Formation often understand that the word "mysticism" has a negative, eastern connotation, and try to draw a distinction between "bad" (eastern) mysticism and "good" (Christian) mysticism. Obviously, to those pleading this case, "bad" mysticism would be occultic, and eastern in origin. But "good" mysticism (like Spiritual Formation, say its proponents) would be a type of mysticism that is Christian, biblical, and necessary for spiritual development. They make this distinction between "good" and "bad" mysticism based on a quote by the founder of the Spiritual Formation movement, Richard Foster, who said in his 1978 book Celebration of Discipline that "Eastern meditation is an attempt to empty the mind. Christian meditation is an attempt to fill the mind"(Celebration of Discipline, p 20).
"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner."or they might repeat a short Scripture.....
"Be still and know that I am God."or they might simply repeat one name.....
"Jesus" or "Yahweh"But it is not the words or phrases themselves in so-called Spiritual Formation that somehow magically switches the dial from being "occultic" to being "Christian." Nor does the intention of the practictioner somehow magically protect one from danger. The words or phrases used are completely irrelevant...they are merely the device by which one corrals one's thoughts for the purpose of entering into an altered state of consciousness (among those who would claim to be "Christian mystics," this altered state of consciousness is known by many different names: "the Silence," "practicing the presence of God," "the cloud of unknowing," etc.)
"When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD.” " (Exodus 32:5)And God saw this, and was very pleased? Not exactly. This is what the Bible records:
"Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.' 'I have seen these people," the LORD said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.'" (Exodus 32:7-10, my emphasis)God was not pleased - and only Moses' intercession on their behalf saved them from being completely destroyed by God. As if that weren't a clear enough warning against mixing pagan worship practices with worship of God, we are also warned in Deuteronomy against spiritual syncretism:
"The LORD your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, 'How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.' You must not worship the LORD your God in their way..." (Deut, 12:29-31a, my emphasis)God is quite clear on how we are to worship and approach him - and it is not through blending our worship of him with pagan practices. But this is exactly what Spiritual Formation is: a blending of Christian terminology with occultic mysticism, and calling it Christian. I recognize that it is very popular in today's global, syncretized culture to meld different things together. We are most certainly an experience-driven culture, always seeking the fresh, exciting, "new" thing. And we also like our smorgasbord religions, with a little of this, a little of that. But we have clear mandates from Scripture about how we are to worship and approach God. We are to be set apart from the world - not syncretized with it - so that God's truth will shine like a beacon in the darkness.
"When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it." (Exodus 32:19-20)If you yourself have done these things at the leading of your pastor or church group, I urge you to repent so that you do not find yourself drinking ground calf juice - or whatever the modern equivalent of that judgment might look like today. Innocence concerning the "pagan-ness" of a practice will not protect a believer, especially when it comes to the area of the occult. This is Satan's domain, and we must flee from it. Those "ecstatic experiences" reported by mystics of other faith traditions? Having once been a mystic myself, I can attest that the mystical experiences may start out this way, but if continued, will lead to a very dark place. The Bible speaks about those who practice occultism as starting out seeking knowledge, but ending up in a place of distress, darkness and anguish:
"And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness." (Isaiah 8:22)My heart is broken for those who have been led into these unbiblical practices through church leadership, but it is never too late to fall at the foot of the Cross. The Lord is mighty to forgive and restore.
"(A)nyone who is going to be saved is going to be saved by Jesus: ‘There is no other name given under heaven by which men can be saved.’"
"It is possible for someone who does not know Jesus to be saved."
The "Wider Mercy doctrine," in a slightly revised form, has been the main creed of Universalist belief for centuries. Universalism teaches that all religions are the same and that all beliefs are ultimately pointed toward the one true Deity. It does not matter which religion is accepted or practiced, they are simply different roads that ultimately lead to the same destination. (online source, my emphasis)
"The first of these five untheorized observations is that New Light embodiment means to be "in connection" and 'in-formation' with other Christians. Deeper feeling and higher relating go together. The church is fundamentally one being, one person, a comm-union whose cells are connected to one another within the information network called the Christ consciousness." p 122
"The power of small groups is in their ability to develop the discipline to get people "in-phase" with the Christ consciousness and connected with one another." p 147
"New Lights offer up themselves as the cosmions of a mind-of-Christ consciousness. As a cosmion incarnating the cells of a new body, New Lights will function as transitional vessels through which transforming energy can renew the divine image in the world, moving postmoderns from one state of embodiment to another." p 48
MY COMMENTARY: "Christ consciousness" was - and still is - a very prominent New Age Spirituality term used to describe a Christianized form of panentheism, which is the belief that God is "in" all things.
"A surprisingly central feature of all the world's religions is the language of light in communicating the divine and symbolizing the union of the human with the divine: Muhammed's light-filled cave, Moses' burning bush, Paul's blinding light, Fox's "inner light," Krishna's Lord of Light, Bohme's light-filled cobbler shop, Plotinus' fire experiences, Bodhisattvas with the flow of Kundalini's fire erupting from their fontanelles, and so on." p 235
MY COMMENTARY: Sweet is attempting to show here that the "light" of God has manifested itself in many different ways through many different cultures. This is contrary to the teaching of the Bible, which is that God chose to reveal truth ("light") through the Jews in the Old Testament times, with Christ being the culmination of this revealed truth in the New Testament. Born-again believers also have the privilege of bearing this light in a dark and fallen world. But, was there real "light" (i.e., truth) coming from "Muhammed's light-filled cave?" Or from the Universalist Quaker George Fox's mystical "light" experiences? Or from the "flow of Kundalini's fire" which was said to be the awakening of "serpent power" in the Hindu tradition? If so, then the Cross was a mockery, for what God would let his own Son die such a wretched, torturous death if all other paths to God were acceptable?
"For in Christ all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross." (my emphasis)
"Jesus is the stone which was rejected by the builders, but which became the chief cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:11-12) MY NOTE: This verse says that salvation comes through Christ alone, and clearly expresses that others are NOT saved if they reject Christ.
"All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." (Acts 10:43) MY NOTE: This verse says that a person can't be saved without understanding and believing that their forgiveness and salvation comes exclusively through the person and work of Christ.
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) MY NOTE: Again, this verse teaches that a person cannot be saved without understanding and believing that their forgiveness and salvation comes exclusively through the person and work of Christ. Perhaps the strongest expression of the exclusivity of Christ in the Bible.
"For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Tim 2:5) MY NOTE: Exclusivity again, boom.A "Christian Universalist" would say, according to the Colossians verse, everyone ultimately gets saved through Christ. But given the verses I've posted above, is this not universalism? Because the idea is that all faith traditions have some version of the "light" that is in Christ (i.e., "Muhammed's light-filled cave," the "kundalini's fire," the mystic Quaker's "inner light," etc.) and all people will eventually be reconciled to God through this "light."
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)
"Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent—the LORD detests them both."
"Well, sure, Jesus is important, but couldn't other ways be possible too?"
"Don't put God in a box."
"Who am I to say that God couldn't save someone in any way He wants?"
"Jesus is the only way that we know of."We must not allow the salvific power of the gospel message to be adulterated with today's easy-going universalist thinking. We must not let this idea of all-paths-lead-to-God infiltrate our own thinking or the gospel message that we proclaim. It is the gospel that saves, and we must not be ashamed of it to the point of watering it down, or worse, denying its exclusivity. God will save all who come to him...BUT, everyone who comes to him must come on the terms God has set forth.
Dr. Schuller begins by speaking to Billy Graham:
Dr. Schuller: "Tell me, what is the future of Christianity?"
Dr. Graham: "Well, Christianity and being a true believer, you know, I think there's the body of Christ which comes from all the Christian groups around the world, or outside the Christian groups. I think that everybody that loves Christ or knows Christ, whether they're conscious of it or not, they're members of the body of Christ. And I don't think that we're going to see a great sweeping revival that will turn the whole world to Christ at any time."
"What God is doing today is calling people out of the world for His name. Whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world, or the non-believing world, they are members of the body of Christ because they've been called by God. They may not even know the name of Jesus, but they know in their hearts they need something that they don't have and they turn to the only light they have and I think they're saved and they're going to be with us in heaven."
Dr. Schuller: "What I hear you saying is that it's possible for Jesus Christ to come into a human heart and soul and life even if they've been born in darkness and have never had exposure to the Bible. Is that a correct interpretation of what you're saying?"
Dr. Graham: "Yes it is because I believe that. I've met people in various parts of the world in tribal situations that they have never seen a Bible or heard about a Bible, have never heard of Jesus but they've believed in their hearts that there is a God and they tried to live a life that was quite apart from the surrounding community in which they lived."
Dr. Schuller: "This is fantastic. I'm so thrilled to hear you say that. There's a wideness in God's mercy."
Dr. Graham: There is. There definitely is."It is not particularly surprising that Robert Schuller would agree to the "Wider Mercy Doctrine" since his definition of sin is, "...any act or thought that robs myself or another human being of his or her self-esteem." Given that theological slant, Robert Schuller is far away from any orthodox belief.
Dear Gary: Thank you for your email. We appreciate your interest and concern about an interview with Mr. Graham that was conducted by Rev. Robert Schuller. Mr. Graham has faithfully and clearly preached the Gospel for over 50 years, and since the interview he has reaffirmed his belief in Christ as the only way of salvation: "In all our Crusades we place a prominent banner with Jesus' words, 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.' We put that verse there because people live in a confused world, with so many competing religious voices calling men and women to follow them. But Christ is distinctive and exclusive about the way to God. There can be no true Christianity apart from Him. While some of the ethics and idealism of other religions may run parallel to Christian teachings, the fact remains, as stated by Jesus Christ, 'No Man cometh unto the Father but by me' (John 14:6, KJV). "Over the years I have met people with many religious and philosophical views. Many of them have had deep commitment to their beliefs. But I have become even more convinced of the uniqueness and the truth of Christ and His Gospel. And I want to continue preaching it as long as possible." We trust that you will pray that Mr. Graham will always correctly interpret God's Word and be sensitive to the Spirit's leading in every situation. Sincerely, Jamie Andrews Administrative Services Supervisor Billy Graham Evangelistic Association |
1. God is calling a people for his name out of every nation in the world.The reasons start very well, but quickly deteriorate into a litany of errors.
2. People are saved because they are called.
3. People are saved because they know that they need something in their life.
4. People are saved because they turn to the light that they have, EVEN IF THAT "LIGHT" IS A FALSE BELIEF.
5. People are saved because they realize a need and have tried to live a better life than the people around them.
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'" Matthew 21-23 (NAS)There appear to be many people on the Day of Judgment who believed sincerely that they were saved, and even claimed to have worked miracles in the name of Jesus, but Jesus did not know them as His own and they were rejected by Him. Sincerity of belief does not seem to be one of the criteria for acceptance, if one does not believe the proper gospel.
"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day." John 6:44 (NAS)
"I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!" Galatians 1:6-8 (NAS)Apparently the Apostle Paul taught only one gospel....and it was not the "Wider Mercy Doctrine." If sincerity of belief is the criteria for acceptance with God, why was Paul so concerned with the purity of the doctrine that was being taught?
"Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of god, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus form all eternity..." 2 Timothy 1:8-9 (NAS)Why preach salvation through Jesus Christ when a person can be saved by believing in any other religion in the world, justifying that belief as a turning to the only "light" that a person has? What is being said is that a person gets to heaven by sincerity. If one is "sincere" in their attempt to find light, then they will obtain heaven even if they sincerely believe a false doctrine.
"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. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." John 10:1-5 (NAS)It is abundantly clear from the words of Jesus Christ, that the hallmark of the Christian is that they must know, and do know, Jesus Christ. They cannot claim another shepherd and be considered part of the flock of Jesus Christ. Therefore, another religion or another gospel is not an acceptable substitute for a knowledge of and belief in Jesus Christ. To accept another gospel or another religion in place of Jesus Christ is to accept that which is a thief and a robber; that which claims the soul in a false belief and robs the individual of entrance into heaven.
"I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. John 10:9 (NAS)
"I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd." John 10:14-16 (NAS)