Mennonite Brethren Herald Gives Okay to Emergent Bible ‘The Voice’

There was a surprise in a recent MB Herald (April 2012) in the form of a review of a new Bible version called The Voice New Testament (by Ecclesia Bible Society). The Crosscurrents crtique, called New Translation Hits Some High Notes, seemed to base its criteria on personal preference and layout more than on who the voices are behind this retelling of Scripture. Although there was some hesitancy to give The Voice a full stamp of approval, the reviewers pointed out its many positive points: it reads as a play, makes dialogue acceptable, simplifies stories, is helpful, gives the occasional “aha!” moment, and fills a niche (somewhere between the NLT and The Message). They then concluded that it is “certainly a useful translation for newcomers or alongside other more standard versions,” giving it 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

But here’s what the MB Herald has not told its readers about The Voice:

Unfortunately, the project turns out to be an emerging church creation, thus the foundation of it is marred from the beginning. Because mysticism, New Age ideology, and a return to Rome, are the building blocks of the emerging church, The Voice is going to be a spiritually dangerous conduit for adherents. Some of the emergent leaders involved in the project are Chris Seay (project founder), Brian McLaren, Lauren Winner, Leonard Sweet, and Blue Like Jazz author, Donald Miller.

Of monumental concern is Brian McLaren’s contribution to The Voice and his work on improving the books of Luke and Acts. It’s not surprising that McLaren’s approach to God’s written Word is so lighthearted that he thinks it is a production of man and therefore is open for upgrading. As he wrote in one of his many controversial books:

“Scripture is something God had ‘let be,’ and so it is at once God’s creation and the creation of the dozens of people and communities and cultures who produced it.” (Brian McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy, p. 162)   Continue at Menno-Lite

Interview on Christian Universalism

Thank you to Linda Harvey of Mission America for recently having me on her radio program.  We discussed a recent article that ran on Sola Sisters which exposed a new heretical teaching - "Christian Universalism" - that is literally sweeping through today's church under names such as "the Wider Mercy Doctrine" and "Universal Reconciliation."  We also discussed how this teaching has even become prevalent in Missions. "Christian Universalism" is being taught by very popular and prominent writers, teachers and pastors today, among them:

Leonard Sweet (Jesus Manifesto) 

Rob Bell (Velvet Elvis, NOOMA videos) 

Dallas Willard (The Spirit of the Disciplines)

William P. Young (The Shack)

Continue reading HERE

What Is A "Christian Universalist?"

Let's start with Dallas Willard who is a prolific writer and is well-regarded in evangelical circles. Dallas Willard, though he is identified as an evangelical, is anything but orthodox in his views.  In fact, Willard's own words prove that he is far outside of orthodoxy in his views.  In a recent interview, Willard made some shocking statements which I have highlighted below, along with the correct Biblical teaching:

Willard: “Now, I believe that everyone who deserves to be saved will be saved no matter where they are or what they do.”

Truth: None of us 'deserve' to be saved.  There is no-one who seeks after God, no-one who is righteous. (Romans 3:10-11)

Willard: "(God) is open and in touch with everyone in the world, and for all who seek them with all of their heart—and that is defined in terms of coming to love Him, and not just have the right beliefs about Him—but coming to love Him, and loving their neighbor as themselves." 

Truth:  Everyone who is saved may not have every i dotted or every t crossed on a fancy doctrinal statement, but they WILL have right beliefs about God, including comprehension of and humble acknowledgement to the belief that Jesus is the ONLY way to God, and that no-one comes to the Father but by him. (John 14:6)

Willard: "I am not going to stand in the way of anyone whom God wants to save. I am not going to say ‘he can’t save them.’ I am happy for God to save anyone he wants in any way he can. It is possible for someone who does not know Jesus to be saved.  But anyone 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.’"

Truth:  What an odd statement this is.  It sounds both Christian and Universalist at the same time.  Here is the Christian part:

"(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.’"

and now for the Universalist part:

"It is possible for someone who does not know Jesus to be saved."

Here are some of Sweet's teachings from Quantum Spirituality, along with my commentary:

"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

"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

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?

Read the whole article HERE