The Rising Popularity of Contemplative Gary Thomas

The author, Gary Thomas, has been around for a while now, but why the rising popularity? It doesn’t take much to figure out why… since he is a Contemplative author. One would suppose that before a Christian picks up a book to read, they would check out the authors beliefs? No? Yea, your right… no.  It takes about two minutes to look up any given author, but in many cases, people don’t want to know. This site and many others have addressed Gary Thomas and his writings about, “The Jesus Prayer,” “Secret Acts of Devotion,” “Dancing Prayer,” “Centering Prayer,” “Prayer of the Heart,” “Stations of the Cross,” “Meditative Prayer,” and his love for  Ignatius of Loyola and so forth.  As we see people being swiftly carried away by Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism, let us consider ANOTHER author that’s being (has been) touted in the Reformed circles as being a “good read’.

Will put up two articles to inform about Thomas, as they will give a good idea on what he teaches. I don’t recommend that Christians read ANY Gary Thomas books. (unless for research purposes!)
The first article deals with: 
‘…….Sacred Marriage, Sacred Parenting, and Sacred Pathways – Most likely, you have heard of at least one of these books. The author, Gary Thomas, is touted by Rick Warren, Focus on the Family, and a host of other Christian well-known ministries. Last year, Lighthouse Trails wrote a special report on Focus on the Family because of their promotion of Thomas and his book Sacred Parenting. FOF answered Lighthouse Trails stating that they saw nothing wrong with Thomas, and they were not interested in looking at the documentation that proved otherwise……’
As we have shown in the past, Gary Thomas is an advocate for mantra meditation. In his book, Sacred Pathways, he states:
‘It is particularly difficult to describe this type of prayer in writing, as it is best taught in person. In general however, centering prayer works like this: Choose a word (Jesus or Father, for example) as a focus for contemplative prayer. Repeat the word silently in your mind for a set amount of time (say, twenty minutes) until your heart seems to be repeating the word by itself, just as naturally and involuntarily as breathing’.(p. 185)
‘It is important to note here that Rick Warren also resonates with Thomas and his spirituality. Warren states: “Gary has spoken at Saddleback, and I think highly of his work … he tells them [readers] how they can make the most of their spiritual journeys. He places an emphasis on practical spiritual exercises.’
‘But more research has shown that Gary Thomas’ spirituality and his devotion to mystical practices delves into an area that could have significant ramifications on countless families. In his book Sacred Marriage (a book that FOF also stands by and sells on their website)3, Thomas introduces the reader to a woman named Mary Anne McPherson Oliver. It is Oliver’s book, Conjugal Spirituality, that Thomas favorably referencing several times throughout the book…….’
Read the full article Here

The second article:
…….’So now you have a much better idea of what Gary Thomas, recommended by neo-Reformed New Calvinist Mark Driscoll, is leading his readers into in his book Sacred Pathways (SP). As I’ve said before, I happen to have SP and, the fact is, that chapter 9 is a veritable ode of praise for contemplatives; speaking of which Thomas tells they:

simply want to bathe in the ocean of love God has for his children, while the rest of us seem unfortunately content to experience that love drop by drop. [6]

Thomas then continues on with his romanticizing of mystics as he tell us about the “Acts of Contemplatives,” which he calls “many forms of prayer and activities that contemplatives can make use of in addition to general contemplative prayer.” To read full article go Here