Slice of Laodicea

One of emerging spirituality’s pied pipers, Shane Claiborne, is scheduled to speak at Cedarville University. The present leadership of that institution is apparently failing to hold the line on contemplative and emerging influences. Lighthouse Trails Research is reporting the following:

On February 11th, Cedarville University will be hosting an evening with emerging church activist Shane Claiborne. The evening is titled after Claiborne’s book, The Irresistible Revolution. Lighthouse Trails spoke with John Purple (Cedarville’s Dean for Student Life), who said the event was open to both students and the public.

Lighthouse Trails told Purple that in the back of Claiborne’s book he lists a number of “Local Revolutionaries and Ordinary Radicals” to which proceeds of the book go. One of those is the church Brian McLaren founded – Cedar Ridge Community Church 1 Another is Rob Bell’s church, Mars Hill Bible Church2. Bell is a New Age sympathizer who tells readers in his book, Velvet Elvis that they should study the teachings of mysticism and tantric sex promoter Ken Wilber (p. 192) (see Wilber’s website with discretion). Bell also resonates with a Dominican sister (whom he invited to his church) who is from a spiritual center that promotes the occultic healing technique called Reiki (see March 29, 2006 teaching at Mars Hill).

Claiborne’s book has a foreword by liberal political activist, Jim Wallis. While Cedarville’s Dean of Student Life (Purple) told Lighthouse Trails that Cedarville is “very conservative,” pointing students to a book that is partially written by Wallis seems to give a different message. Wallis is the founder and director of Sojourners magazine, a widely read publication that gives a voice to mystics, emerging leaders, and New Age proponents. Sojourners would not represent the views of a “conservative” Christian college by any means, and it is a dichotomy for Cedarville to call itself conservative Christian then introduce students to a book written by Wallis and Claiborne in a favorable light, which CU is doing when it says that Claiborne is “rooted in the values of the Christian faith.” Source here.

Lighthouse Trails further reports that proceeds from Claiborne’s book go to the following, among others: Rob Bell and Brian McLaren’s home church, Tony Campolo, and Mark Scandrette from the the ReImagine organization. I’m not sure what’s going on in the theology department at Cedarville these days, but if someone friendly to Brian McLaren is being promoted to Cedarville students, it can’t be good. (McLaren denies the doctrine of the penal substitutionary atonement of Christ and the doctrine of a literal hell.)

Cedarville University continues to market itself as a “conservative” Baptist institution. In light of their apparent acceptance of emerging and contemplative spirituality (the university president’s book list includes Leonard Sweet’s Soul Tsunami) and the promotion of these leaders to impressionable young students, the real issue is whether they are biblical. Parents beware.