It Has a Name: Mystical Deception Project.

Yes, I chose a name (although I found another website by this same name today,sigh ! :( Already a correction needed. Apparently I left the word Trails out of the LighthouseTrailsResearch link (to the left). I hope that no one was confused if they found lighthouses instead of info on Contemplative Spirituality (thanks Carol).

Ok, time to “get to it”!!

The Mystical Deception that concerns me begins with some practices that have gradually been creeping into the Christian church over the last decade or so. Some of these practices you might be familiar with, others not. Spiritual formation, contemplative or centering prayer and solitude/silence are the topics I will define today. I will also define Christian meditation and show how it differs from contemplative prayer. There are some other terms included in this post that will be defined in the next one (New Age, mantra, altered state of consciousness, false-self, breathing exercises, visualization, as well as more terms, lectio divina, breath prayer, Jesus prayer)
Negotiating the blog (the links within the post are not working, so I have disabled them. The definitions above are at the end of the post)
((Any word or phrase that is underlined and a different color of text is (hopefully, if I’ve done it right) a hyperlink. When you point your mouse and click on that word, the link will take you first to the short definitions I have included in the post/blog, or to a much longer description in a different location on the web, eg. Wikipedia. And in some cases, it will take you to an article in someone else’s blog or website. My goal is to give proper references to any information that is quoted or extracted from books or articles.))

How big is the problem?
These practices are found in many secular and Christian settings. They are not unChristian in and of themselves. In fact, many of these definitions seem just fine on the surface.
However, if an unsuspecting or undiscerning young Christian, new believer, or even someone seeking a deeper relationship with God, comes upon these teachings, they can be misled into dangerous places. I believe, along with a growing number of Christians, that contemplative meditation is dangerous, and I want to warn others of its similarity to mysticism and New Age practices:

“Mystical practices are now widely embraced and taught in secular and professed Christian seminaries, colleges, universities, organizations, ministries and seminars, etc. throughout the United States. Academic promoters have introduced these practices into the fields of medicine, business and law while countless secular and Christian books, magazines, seminars, and retreats are teaching lay people how to incorporate them into their daily lives. Promoters promise physical, mental and spiritual benefits desiring to bring about positive social change.”
http://www.earnestlycontend.com/cp.html

“Many people would be quite surprised to find that meditation has made its way into both Catholic and Protestant churches on a large scale. Although some would argue that it is not New Age meditation but rather a form of prayer, I would beg to differ. Upon close examination, the methods used (mantra, breathing) are identical to New Age techniques. Only the connotation is changed.” http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/newagereligionray.html

“Many people assume centering prayer is compatible with Catholic tradition, but in fact the techniques of centering prayer are neither Christian nor prayer. They are at the level of human faculties and as such are an operation of man, not of God. The deception and dangers can be grave." http://www.saint-mike.org/Library/Occult/CenteringPrayer.html

CP is Dangerous!

As you can see, these writers who oppose Contemplative Prayer (CP) believe that it is dangerous, mystical, like New Age, and not of God. What do they see that is wrong? To begin with, the definitions don’t tell the whole story. (Although even these definitions from Wikipedia are suspect since they imply unBiblical concepts).
One writer believes it is NOT prayer but mystical meditation producing bodily sensations:

“Contemplative Prayer is not Biblical prayer at all, rather it is a type of mystical meditation leading the mind into an altered state of consciousness. It goes beyond thought, providing an experiential union with so-called God or with nature producing body sensations, feelings, images, and reflections.
It is based on “experiences” rather than sound doctrine.
http://www.earnestlycontend.com/cp.html

There is even a warning!!!
One of the proponents, Richard Foster, warns that this practice is not for the novice and that one should pray a prayer of protection before attempting it because, “there is such a thing as supernatural guidance that is not divine guidance. Some spiritual beings are not in cooperation with God and His way.” Richard Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home (NY: Harper Collins, 1992), 156-157

So, CP has some features or practices that are mystical in nature, focus on “experiences” and lead the mind into an altered state of consciousness (this will be defined the next time). There are things happening with CP that are dangerous and not for the novice, yet it is being taught to people of all ages, including youth and young children. What are some of the other things included in CP?

“Themes that one finds echoed in the CP movement include the notions that true prayer is silent, is beyond words, is beyond thought, does away with the “false self,” triggers transformation of consciousness, and is an awakening. Suggested techniques of­ten include breathing exercises, visualization, repetition of a word or phrase, and detachment from thinking.” http://www.christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_ContemplativePrayer1.html

So what is CP exactly?

One of the best known proponents of the centering prayer technique, has delineated the guidelines for centering prayer:
1. Sit comfortably with your eyes closed, relax, and quiet yourself. Be in love and faith to God.
2. Choose a sacred word that best supports your sincere intention to be in the Lord's presence and open to His divine action within you (i.e. "Jesus", "Lord," "God," "Savior," "Abba," "Divine," "Shalom," "Spirit," "Love," etc.).
3. Let that word be gently present as your symbol of your sincere intention to be in the Lord's presence and open to His divine action within you.
4. Whenever you become aware of anything (thoughts, feelings, perceptions, images, associations, etc.), simply return to your sacred word, your anchor.
Ideally, the prayer will reach the point where the person is not engaged in their thoughts as they arrive on their stream of consciousness. This is the "unknowing" referenced in the 14th century book.
M. Basil Pennington (1986), "Centering Prayer: Refining the Rules," "Review for Religious," 46:3, 386-393.

The Biblical arguments against CP: + a WARNING!!

1. No where in the Bible is silence equated with prayer.
“we can get deep insights when we are quiet. But simply trying to be quiet is not prayer, and there is no biblical basis for the belief that real prayer is wordless. After all, God has given us a written revelation, and God's laws and words are acclaimed throughout the Bible, such as Psalm 119, which extols God's word as a treasure and lamp. In Is. 40:8, we learn, "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever," and Jesus declares to the Father in Jn. 17:17, "Your word is truth."
http://www.christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_ContemplativePrayer1.html

2. No where in the Bible does it say that prayer should be without thinking.
“Yet in the Bible, meditation on God or on the words of God is never presented as an exercise without thinking. Many of the words translated as "meditation" in the Bible are words meaning to muse, ponder, utter, or make a sound. Most of these words are in Psalms where the psalmist is praising the precepts and words of God and affirming that these are what we should learn, obey, and think upon. This is definitely not leaving ordinary thinking for another level of consciousness”
http://www.christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_ContemplativePrayer1.html

3. No where in the Bible are we instructed to repeat a word or phrase. (in fact Matt 6:7-8 says the opposite!!)
“Centering prayer is essentially a form of self-hypnosis. It makes use of a "mantra," a word repeated over and over to focus the mind while striving by one's will to go deep within oneself. The effects are a hypnotic-like state: concentration upon one thing, disengagement from other stimuli, a high degree of openness to suggestion, a psychological and physiological condition that externally resembles sleep but in which consciousness is interiorized and the mind subject to suggestion.”
http://www.saint-mike.org/Library/Occult/CenteringPrayer.html

4. No where in the Bible is prayer an “experience”, rather it is a “relationship” and “talking to God”
“Centering prayer differs from Christian prayer in that the intent of the technique is to bring the practitioner to the center of his own being. There he is, supposedly, to experience the presence of the God who indwells him. Christian prayer, on the contrary, centers upon God in a relational way, as someone apart from oneself. The Christian knows a God who is personal, yet who, as Creator, infinitely transcends his creature.”
http://www.saint-mike.org/Library/Occult/CenteringPrayer.html

BEWARE!!!
5. How do we know when we reach the place of “unknowing” that it is God who meets us there?


“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away [their] ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” 2 Timothy 4:3,4

Resources:
Contemplating Contemplative Prayer: Is It Really Prayer?
By Marcia Montenegro

The Danger of Centering Prayer
By Rev. John D.Dreher

Contemplative Prayer: Seducing Spirits and a Doctrine of Devils
By Christine A. Narloch