Celebration of Discipline-Book Review by Gary Gilley
I thought this review of the book Celebration of Discipline by Gary Gilley was very good. I have a 1978 edition copy of this book and I have it marked all over the place with underlines and comments in the margins page after page. At some point when I have more time I would like to make a post showing how many strange things Foster has in this book from his "hands up/hands down" stuff to the "divine center" to how frequently he quotes the ("I'm deeply impregnated with Sufism") wannabe Buddist THOMAS MERTON.
This concerns me a great deal because the youth pastor from my former church thinks this book it just wonderful and encourages the kids to read this misguided mystic-(everyone is born with the "inner light") Quaker Richard Foster.
How many good old Southern Baptists do I know attending this church either have no idea what is behind some of the teachings entering this church or who do not take the time themselves to FIND OUT???
PLEASE TRY TO FIND OUT! oh my this is depressing.
Also, this review below may help Phil who is about to confront his school where he is a teacher, as to why they would promote the book Celbration of Discipline.
Real christians need to WAKE UP...see the fire and get out the the burning barn!
~~~
Celebration of Discipline
by Richard Foster
Written over twenty-five hears ago, and proclaimed by Christianity Today as one of the ten best books of the twentieth century, the influence of Celebration of Discipline is all but incalculable. Foster is a Quaker, so his spiritual life is grounded in the subjective “inner light” presupposition of the Friends. He is highly steeped in the Roman Catholic mystics, drawing from dozens of them for his theology. More than that, Eugene Peterson informs us that Foster has “‘found’ the spiritual disciplines [in the mystics] that the modern world stored away and forgot” (p. 206). Foster’s views are also formed by Quaker mystics and even secular thinking, most surprisingly Carl Jung, self-confessed demon-possessed psychologist.
Without question these extra-biblical sources are behind Foster’s understanding of the Christian life. That is not to say that he does not refer to Scripture and occasionally interpret it correctly. However, it is astounding to see how often he mutilates the Word of God (e.g. pp. 16, 17, 55, 83, 114, 156, 170, and 177).
As a result of his unbiblical routes and disregard for the meaning of Scripture, it should not surprise us that Foster has become a Pied Piper leading multitudes away from biblical Christianity. From the vantage point of twenty-six years since the publication of Celebration of Discipline we see just how far astray Foster has taken his followers. These include:
• Subjective leading of God as being the norm.
• Journaling and prayer as ways that God speaks to us.
• The contemplative prayer movement which has taken many to the foothills of Eastern mysticism.
• Centering prayer in which one moves to the center of God or self—an Eastern mystical practice.
• An unbiblical use of imagination which leads to occultic visualization.
• Receptivity to all the charismatic gifts including tongues, visions, revelations and prophecy.
• Use of rosaries and prayer wheels.
• Embracing of psychological views such as self-fulfillment, self-actualization, loving ourselves, mutual submission, and healing of inner wounds.
• Propagation of the Roman Catholic view of confession, penitence and spiritual directives.
• Promoting charismatic patterns of worship, including calling for the presence of God and holy laughter.
Overall Foster’s book is an encyclopedia of unbiblical teaching, which leads the unsuspecting reader away from Christ and into mysticism or worse. It is a telltale sign of the state of the church to find how accepted Foster’s teachings are.
reviewed by Gary E. Gilley, Pastor-Teacher
This concerns me a great deal because the youth pastor from my former church thinks this book it just wonderful and encourages the kids to read this misguided mystic-(everyone is born with the "inner light") Quaker Richard Foster.
How many good old Southern Baptists do I know attending this church either have no idea what is behind some of the teachings entering this church or who do not take the time themselves to FIND OUT???
PLEASE TRY TO FIND OUT! oh my this is depressing.
Also, this review below may help Phil who is about to confront his school where he is a teacher, as to why they would promote the book Celbration of Discipline.
Real christians need to WAKE UP...see the fire and get out the the burning barn!
~~~
Celebration of Discipline
by Richard Foster
Written over twenty-five hears ago, and proclaimed by Christianity Today as one of the ten best books of the twentieth century, the influence of Celebration of Discipline is all but incalculable. Foster is a Quaker, so his spiritual life is grounded in the subjective “inner light” presupposition of the Friends. He is highly steeped in the Roman Catholic mystics, drawing from dozens of them for his theology. More than that, Eugene Peterson informs us that Foster has “‘found’ the spiritual disciplines [in the mystics] that the modern world stored away and forgot” (p. 206). Foster’s views are also formed by Quaker mystics and even secular thinking, most surprisingly Carl Jung, self-confessed demon-possessed psychologist.
Without question these extra-biblical sources are behind Foster’s understanding of the Christian life. That is not to say that he does not refer to Scripture and occasionally interpret it correctly. However, it is astounding to see how often he mutilates the Word of God (e.g. pp. 16, 17, 55, 83, 114, 156, 170, and 177).
As a result of his unbiblical routes and disregard for the meaning of Scripture, it should not surprise us that Foster has become a Pied Piper leading multitudes away from biblical Christianity. From the vantage point of twenty-six years since the publication of Celebration of Discipline we see just how far astray Foster has taken his followers. These include:
• Subjective leading of God as being the norm.
• Journaling and prayer as ways that God speaks to us.
• The contemplative prayer movement which has taken many to the foothills of Eastern mysticism.
• Centering prayer in which one moves to the center of God or self—an Eastern mystical practice.
• An unbiblical use of imagination which leads to occultic visualization.
• Receptivity to all the charismatic gifts including tongues, visions, revelations and prophecy.
• Use of rosaries and prayer wheels.
• Embracing of psychological views such as self-fulfillment, self-actualization, loving ourselves, mutual submission, and healing of inner wounds.
• Propagation of the Roman Catholic view of confession, penitence and spiritual directives.
• Promoting charismatic patterns of worship, including calling for the presence of God and holy laughter.
Overall Foster’s book is an encyclopedia of unbiblical teaching, which leads the unsuspecting reader away from Christ and into mysticism or worse. It is a telltale sign of the state of the church to find how accepted Foster’s teachings are.
reviewed by Gary E. Gilley, Pastor-Teacher
posted by kennyo at 10:00 PM
2 Comments:
I think all of this openness to so many different forms of "christianity" (if you can call it that) is actually in preparation for the church to be accepting of anything. The ground work will have been laid for the unifying of all incompatible religions with christianity. But of course this will not be the true christianity the bible talks about. It will be a false, antichrist, Roman, ecumenical version of it.
Thanks for the ammo on Foster.
Phil Perkins.
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