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Part 6: The Emerging
Envisioning
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Emphasis added |
“…[T]he vision that God reveals is
likely to evolve and become clearer
over time…. We are all called to
be open to God’s leadership, to
respond even when the pathway to the
destination is unclear, and to be
prepared for God to reveal more of
his plans as the journey continues.
In the context of developing a
vision, congregations need to be as
clear as possible in their
understanding of God’s vision,
but they also must be willing to
reexamine the vision throughout the
change process.”
Early futurist Kenneth Cauthen
focused on a utopian
New Age as the ideal future in his 1971 book
Christian Biopolitics: A Credo &
Strategy for the Future. He proposed that utopian thinking
be based on a common eschatological vision an image of the
future (p. 60), citing
Frederick L. Polaks two-volume work
The Image of the Future.[12]
Cauthen suggested that to dream new dreams, to
create new utopias of the mind, and to project new images of the
future appropriate to the emerging conditions of the year 2000 may
indeed beas Polak claimsour one best hope
(p. 67). To dream dreams became Cathens
rallying cry throughout the book, and he even hearkened back to
Martin Luther Kings famous speech (pp. 70,
145). He linked such dreams to the birth of a
new vision, a new consciousness (p. 149)
in the
Teilhardian sense of a collective dawning (emerging)
cosmic consciousness of mankind.Fast-forward to 2009. Dreams, images, icons, symbols, meditations,
chantings, labyrinths anything but Gods Word have become fully
operational in the modern Emergent movement. All serve as a means to
an end. Mysticism and experientialism do not simply
supplement Scripture, they
replace it. This mystical
theology is a denial of the fallen nature of man, notes Bob DeWaay
in his new book
The Emergent Church: Undefining
Christianity, and mysticism suggests that all humans can
find God by engaging in these extra-biblical activities
(p. 125).The modern Emergent movement has adopted the idea of a common
dream for the future. Many leaders use the motif of
Gods Dream for describing this future utopian
kingdom of God on Earth that they are trying to
co-create. This is another point of convergence with the New Age
movement, which has used the term
Gods Dream in the same way. Evangelicals and New Agers using
this theme include
Lou Engle,
Robert Schuller,[13]
Desmond Tutu,
Sri Chimnoy,
Sun Myung Moon,
Shane Claiborne,
Delirious?,
Leonard Sweet, and many others.[14]
(By the way, DeWaay offers his readers an excellent theological
refutation of this extra-biblical concept of Gods Dream.)
Experientialism is the foundational principle behind all of this
dreaming and visioning. The purpose of an experience-focused faith
is to change values and attitudes, and open up the believer to an
acceptance of new truths. This was well articulated in 1971 by
Cauthen. His own brand of the theology of hope was rooted
in clarifying images which illuminate experience as it is
critically interpreted by reason (p. 113).
What he meant is that feeling and intuition
(p. 150) should take precedence over rational
thinking, reason and biblical Truth.He wrote
that the Bible is not to be regarded as an arbitrary dictator of
dogma, nor as an infallible source of truth but, rather, that the
final test of religious truth is the intuition of the individual
person (p. 114).
He recommended that there is a particular need at the present to
focus attention on utopian dreaming as a way of shaking us loose
from obsolete ways of thinking and opening us up to those ideas,
attitudes, and values that are appropriate for the future
(p. 122).
He suggested that people who hold to these powerful visions of a
utopian future are the probable agents of redemptive social
change (p. 132).
He called for a theology of the Spirit which would
emphasize freedom, the creation of the new, and the
fulfillment of the creative process
(p. 138).
Such a theology of freedom looks with radical openness to
the future for new truths and values
(p. 138).
Cauthens experience-based theologies bear remarkable resemblance to
the postmodern Emergent Church of our era.
Deconstruction
Pastor DeWaay does an excellent job of scouring the Emergent
chronicles for evidences of deconstruction. Deconstruction is a
philosophy that de-emphasizes the Word of God, and claims that no
one can really know the Truth. It fits hand-in-glove with mysticism.An excellent analysis of deconstruction was written by
Samuel Blumenfeld in 1995, as part of his scholarly refutation
of the whole language style of teaching reading that resulted in
illiteracy. Blumenfeld explained how deconstruction obliterates
the fact that words have meaning, de-emphasizes written language by
claiming that there is no truth in it, and declares the
impossibility of determining absolute meaning[15]
in a text. He wrote:
“But not only do the
whole-language deconstructionists reject the concept of the
absolute wordthe logosbut
they reject the very system of logical thinking that made
Western civilization possible. They not only reject the Bible,
they reject Aristotles A is A. Their new formula is A can be
anything you want it to be, which can only be the basis of a
pre-literate or non-literate culture in which subjectivism,
emotion and superstition prevail as the means of knowing.
That, of course,
is simply a form of insanitythe inability not only to deal with
objective reality but to recognize and admit that it exists. A
mind so inclined is a mind that will lead its owner to
destruction.“[16]The Emergent
Church is at the vanguard of this type of deconstructionism. It
discounts the Word of God, mocks exegetical preaching and
teaching, and emphasizes
dialogue
(conversation), mysticism, symbology, community (relationships),
and various spiritual disciplines. A recent, related fad in the
evangelical mission world is
orality,
which is
telling stories about the Bible instead of teaching Scripture
itself. This cheats the listener out of the precious ability to hear
or read Gods Word.
“The foundation of this new heresy
is said to originate from
Walter J.
Ong, who wrote a book
entitled
Orality & Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word
(Methuen & Co., Ltd., 1982) .
The premise behind this book is that humans need to return to
their earlier (evolutionary) primitive heritage of myth, fable,
story, image, symbols, icons, etc. The written word is degraded.
The spoken word and image are said to be more closely connected
to the human “consciousness.” This author means “consciousness”
in the sense of Carl Jung’s pagan pseudo-science of “collective
unconscious.” Story, myth and image are therefore seen as closer
to pagan spirituality. The author notes the “magic power”
inherent in the written word and states that “Literacy can be
restricted to special groups such as the clergy.”
[17]Indeed,
Carl Jung and his concept of a
collective unconscious is often invoked by Emergent leaders as
justification for their use of mythologies and imagination. But,
they are also seeking a new revelation.
The Great Emergence credits
Jungs popular disciple,
Joseph Campbell, for his disestablishment of what is called
the Christian doctrine of particularity and Christian
exclusivity. Author
Phyllis Tickle explains, That doctrine and principle, in duet,
hold that Jesus and Jesus only is God-among-us and that there is no
salvation for humankind anywhere anytime independent of belief in
Jesus (p. 67).This open-ended, Christ-denigrating view of redemption is not new.
Cauthen had already suggested in 1971 that there may be other sons
of God in and through whom supplementary or corrective revelations
may come (p. 134-135).
This is a classic New Age teaching that Jesus is just one of many
cosmic christs. In the Emergent
eschaton
there is an open
pantheon
room for any new revelation, and even a
new Jesus.[18]
Deconstruction ensures that there is a
deliberate dumbing down of the people in the pews so that no one
can know the Way, the Truth and the Life.DeWaay places the Emergent focus on mysticism into the theological
context of undefining grace. In this new worldview, personal
revelation or spiritual experience become predominant since one can
no longer determine the content or meaning of what they are reading
in Gods Word. Taking this to its logical conclusion, the Emergents
teach that all paths lead to God in a saving way
(p. 133). DeWaay expresses the
grave concern that the result is that they lack the fear of being
deceived by spirits “When
they use breathing techniques or other means of altering their
states of consciousness, whereby one is open to the world of
spirits, their naïve assumption is that if the resulting
experience makes one feel closer to God, the worshipper must
therefore be closer to God.”
(p. 133)He warns
that the
Emergent Church has no defense against these spirits because
they have no authoritative Bible to guide them to true beliefs
and practices where they would meet God on His terms.
(p. 134)
To be continued… (We missed Part 5, so that will be posted
next)
The Truth:
“If there arise
among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth
thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come
to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying,
‘Let us go
after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us
serve them;’ Thou
shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet,
or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth
you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all
your heart and with all your soul.”
(Deuteronomy 13:1-3)
Endnotes:
12. See the brief description here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Polak
13. See this Herescope post:
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2008/07/gods-dream.html
14. See this Herescope post:
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2008/08/gods-dream-peace.html
Ex-New Ager Warren Smith first observed this Gods
Dream phenomena and wrote a chapter about it in his book
Deceived on Purpose: The
New Age Implications of the Purpose-Driven Church.
15. Samuel Blumenfeld, Whole Language: Deconstruction in
the Primary School, excerpted from
The Whole Language/OBE
Fraud (The Paradigm Company, 1995) pp. 149-166.
Posted with permission of the author at
http://www.discernment-ministries.org/content/whole-language-deconstruction-primary-school-0
The whole language method of teaching reading is not based
on phonics, sounding out letters. Rather, it is based on
images, symbols and pictures. It results in rampant
illiteracy. See
http://www.deliberatedumbingdown.com for exhaustive
historical documentation pertaining to this topic.
16. Ibid.
17. Orality is connected to deconstructionism. See
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2006/03/newest-heresy-of-nar-orality.html
18. See this herescope post:
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2008/02/reframing-jesus.html
and note that Emergent leader Brian McLaren has openly
associated with the World Future Society
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2008/03/brian-mclaren-to-speak-at-world-future.html
Part 1: The Emerging Church – Circa 1970
Part 2: Early Experimental Emergents
Part 3: Retro Emergent*Part 6 is
excerpted from the
Discernment Newsletter,
July/August 2009 (Vol. 20, No. 4). Herescope is posting the
entire article as part of a series. The Herescope version
includes additional documentation in the form of links added
to the text and its quotations. The text has been slightly
altered.**Leading Congregational
Change: A Practical Guide for the Transformational Journey
by Jim Herrington, Mike Bonem and James H. Furr, is a key
book published in 2000 (Jossey-Bass) that articulated how to
manipulate congregations for transformational change.
“Visions” were a significant component of this strategy.
This book includes a workbook for training purposes. It was
interconnected with Leadership Network, Rick Warren’s
Purpose-Driven plan. See
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/04/3-purpose.htm for
more details. Emphasis added.
© 2009 by Discernment Group
Source article:
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2009/07/envisioning-emergence.html
* *
*Index to other articles by Discernment Group
See
Part 1,
Part 2,
Part
3,
Part 4,
Part 5