DAVID JEREMIAH ADMITS RICHARD FOSTER’S “CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE” PROMOTES NEW AGE PRACTICES!

DAVID JEREMIAH ADMITS RICHARD FOSTER’S “CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE” 
PROMOTES NEW AGE PRACTICES! 
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
 

For many years now, Lighthouse Trails has been trying to warn the
body of Christ about the book that first introduced contemplative
spirituality into the evangelical/Protestant church. That book, Celebration of Discipline
by Richard Foster, was released in 1978, and in that first edition,
Foster said, “we should all without shame enroll in the school of
contemplative prayer.” Since then, and largely because of the
influence of that book, contemplative spirituality has saturated the
church in no small way, and many Christians have truly “enroll[ed] in
the school of contemplative prayer.” Through our research, we have
determined that over 90% of the  Christian colleges, seminaries, and
universities (the places our future pastors are trained at) have, to one
degree or another, accepted Richard Foster’s spirituality via their
Spiritual Formation programs (which always use textbooks either by
Foster or ones that point to him). What’s more, from years of research
and correspondence from believers, we estimate that a copy of Celebration of Discipline sits on the bookshelves of the majority of Christian pastors and leaders today.

celebrationWhile
we have dedicated ourselves day and night for 15 years to bringing
this issue to the table of present-day Christianity, hoping to see
Christian leaders at least acknowledge that there is an issue here, our
message has, for the most part, been rejected or simply  ignored by
the evangelical  leadership. And yet, one of the most prominent,
well-known, and respected evangelical leaders has himself put into
print that Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline promotes New Age practices. Here are Jeremiah’s own words from his book, The New Spirituality in the chapter titled “New Age Influence in the Church” (subtitled: In this lesson we see how the New Age movement is changing the church):

Sometimes false doctrine—and in the case of
this present study, New Age ideology—gets into the church from within,
and sometimes from without the body. Once it infects the church it
can spread like an infection. . . .

Dr. Norman Geisler, Christian apologist, was
attending one of the most respected, and largest Baptist churches in
the country. He was astounded to hear the huge choir singing a song
whose lyrics included: “I [meaning God] am the grass you walk in, I am
the air you breathe, I am the water you swim in.” That is pure
pantheism. God is not the grass, nor the air, nor the water. Those are
all elements He created, and He is totally distinct from them. It is
shocking that someone in the leadership either didn’t have the
discernment to recognize what the lyrics were saying, was too busy
with musical things to notice. But that’s how New Age influence enters
the church—when no one is watching.

Dr. Geisler has also made some notes on the contents of one of the best-selling Christian books of our day, Celebration of Discipline
by Richard Foster. Geisler noted some 15 different places in the book
where New Age and Eastern practices were recommended for
Christians—thing such as Transcendental Meditation, turning from
“manyness” to “oneness,” meditating on the void (nothing), and others.
(The New Spirituality, David Jeremiah, Turning Point, 2002, pp. 106-107; emphasis added)

David Jeremiah acknowledges that once New Age
ideology “infects the church it can spread like an infection.” And
surely, we have seen this take place.

Two things are sad and confusing: First, Christian leaders must not share David Jeremiah’s concerns about Celebration of Discipline
because 14 years after Jeremiah stated wrote this, Foster’s influence
has only escalated within the church and Christian colleges. Second,
and this we find most confusing, one year after The New Spirituality was published, Jeremiah’s book Life Wide Open
was released. In that book, as we have written about in the past on a
number of occasions, Jeremiah says there are a handful of people who
have learned the secret to living a passionate life (for God), and
then he proceeds to name a number of these people which include New
Age sympathizers, a Buddhist sympathizer who converted to Catholicism,
ecumenist and contemplative advocate Rick Warren, and a Catholic
contemplative mystic. You can read about this in our article “David Jeremiah’s Book Life Wide Open – Still Sold on His Website – Still Includes New Agers.”

While we cannot understand how David Jeremiah
could favorably point to those with New Age persuasions shortly after
warning about the New Age in The New Spirituality, nevertheless,  a major player in today’s Christian church warned about Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline and the practices that book endorses.

Perhaps not too many pastors and leaders read David Jeremiah’s book, The New Spirituality.
Perhaps they have no idea what David Jeremiah (and Norm Geisler)
think about Richard Foster’s book. If you have a pastor, and you think
he might have a copy of Celebration of Discipline in his
pastor’s library, you might consider printing this article and giving
him a copy. Tell him, this time it isn’t Lighthouse Trails saying it
but rather is a leader whom they most likely respect saying it.

Related Article:

Celebration of Discipline – 38 Years of Influence! – Probably On Your Pastor’s Bookshelf”