Something's been bothering me for quite a while now... Why are so many "Christian" authors quoting Theosophists and New Agers in their books as though they're reputable sources? Don't know who I'm referring to? Allow me to explain...In Cure for the Common Life Max Lucado quotes mystic Martin Buber as saying “a divine spark lives in every being and thing” (pgs. 3, 215). This is a quote from Buber’s The Way of Man. In The Way of Man Buber also states “All men can have access to God, but each man has a different access” and “God does not say: ‘This way leads to me that does not,’ but he says: ‘Whatever you do may be a way to me’” (pg. 17). It is strange to consider that such a well-known Christian author would sympathize with these New Age teachings.
Another best-selling book that has filled the shelves of many Christian bookstores is the ever popular Chicken Soup for the Soul written by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. Disturbingly, I later discovered that Jack Canfield is a 'psychosynthesis' teacher and Mark Victor Hansen wrote the forward to Arielle Ford’s Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Soul, a book filled with New Age and Eastern principles (coincidentally, Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Soul is also written in an identical format to Chicken Soup for the Soul, interpret that however you choose).
On page 248 of The Purpose Driven Life Rick Warren quotes New Ager and mystic Aldous Huxley, the single most quoted individual in Marilyn Ferguson's The Aquarian Conspiracy. Also, on page 33 of the The Purpose Driven Life, Warren provides a quote from Theosophist George Bernard Shaw with no explanation whatsoever.
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." - 2nd Timothy 4:3-4
What's wrong with this picture? If you can't see, then I can't help you. Christian authors shouldn't need to draw inspiration from New Age, mystical, occultic, and Theosophical leaders. Whether or not this is any indication as to the authors' true attitudes toward spirituality is yet to be seen, but these and several others are certainly some to watch...
Authors to keep an eye on:
Erwin McManus
Brian McLaren
Max Lucado
Rick Warren
Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen
Donald Miller
Neale Donald Walsch
In Christ's Love,
Matthew
