Lighthouse Trails Research: Letter to the Editor-Our Son Might Go to Grace College in Winoka Lake, Indiana -Why Is LT Warning About It?
Are you able to tell me the evidence that you gained by putting Grace College and Theological Seminary on your page of colleges you warn about? Our son is considering this college, and this was disappointing to see.
C.
Dear C.,
The school is on our list because they have incorporated Spiritual Formation into their school and the lives of their students. From 20 years of research, we have learned that if a school has a Spiritual Formation program (or Spiritual Formation courses), it always comes along with a spirituality that is unbiblical and rooted in the mystics. We will give you a few links to Grace where you can see some of this:
In Grace’s Biblical Studies course BBL3090 – Spiritual Formation (an undergraduate class), they are using books by three contemplative authors as textbooks: Larry Crabb, Dallas Willard, Pete Scazzero (all three of these can be found on our research site with documentation). This alone shows what the school’s definition of Spiritual Formation is. Willard and Scazzero are heavy hitters in the contemplative prayer movement.
In the Bible course 3220 – Principles and Practice of Prayer at Grace, emergent author Ann Voskamp’s book is being used (see our article https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=6604). This course is also using a book by C.J. Mahaney, a Calvinist/Reformed author and pastor. It’s very common to find both Calvinism and Contemplative at the same school. The same course is also using a textbook by Nancy DeMoss. You can read our article here https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=11137 showing our concerns.) The course also has as a textbook a book called Prayer by Hallesby with a foreword by contemplative pioneer Richard Foster.
If we look at just these two courses at Grace, it is plain to see that the school is incorporating into their students’ “education” contemplative spirituality, and remember, the fruit of contemplative is miles away from biblical Christianity (as we have documented extensively).
To give other examples: In the undergraduate course PHI3000 C, one of the textbooks is written by Peter Kreeft. Kreeft is a strong promoter of the Catholic Church (https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=1604). As we show in other articles, Kreeft is also an advocate for contemplative prayer. His teachings don’t belong in any evangelical Christian college.
In Grace’s BIB2140, textbooks are by emergent/ Catholic-leaning Francis Chan and emergent Calvinist J.D. Greear. (In one LT article/booklet, we refer to Greear because of his advocacy for Critical Race Theory.)
Clearly, this school doesn’t have discernment and are throwing a hodge-podge of false teachings at their students. A parent will be lucky if he or she recognizes his or her child’s faith in one or two semesters. We can guarantee that if a brief perusal through the school’s classes shows this much, it’s integrated throughout the school (e.g., chapel, church, missions, etc.).
We are sorry we are the bearers of bad news.
The Editors at Lighthouse Trails
Related Articles:
SPECIAL REPORT: “Epidemic of Apostasy – How Christian Colleges Must Incorporate “Spiritual Formation” to Become Accredited 2022 2nd Edition“
“Is Your Church Doing “Spiritual Formation”? (Important Reasons Why They Shouldn’t)“
(photo from bigstockphoto.com; used with permission; design by LT)