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THE EMERGING CHURCH
&
THE ONE PROJECT?PART 3
“LEONARD SWEET”
PART 2 ON LEONARD SWEET
MY STUDY INTO THE EMERGING CHURCH STARTED WHEN A PASTOR BACK EAST ASKED IF I KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT “THE ONE PROJECT”. WHEN I BEGAN TO STUDY INTO THE HISTORY OF THE PROJECT AND THOSE WHO STARTED THE MOVEMENT, I WAS LEAD TO ENQUIRE
ABOUT THE EMERGING CHURCH AND ITS TEACHINGS AND HISTORY. I FOUND THAT IT DEALS WITH MUCH MORE THAN JUST “SPIRITUAL FORMATION” AND “CENTERING PRAYER.”
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Leonard Sweet and Rick Warren
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Tape cassette series produced in 1995, four years after Quantum Spirituality, joining with Warren.
In 2008, Sweet issued an explanation or response to all the criticism he had been getting about his theology and new age/Emerging Church connections. Sweet claimed he had no connection with New Age, and was apposed to the Emerging church ideas, but never refuted all the garbage he has put out from 1991 through 2008. See slides below.
The Tide of ChangeWarren Smith’s Response
¨ “Their recorded discussion is titled The Tides of Change and was packaged as part of an ongoing series called ‘Choice Voices for Church Leadership.’ … According to information on the tape set, this presentation was about ministry on the emerging ‘new frontier.’”
¨ “Challenging pastors to make changes in their ministry to meet the emerging postmodern culture and the changing times, Sweet and Rick Warren present themselves not only as pastors but also as modern-day change agents. In their conversation together, Sweet enthusiastically remarked to Warren: ‘I think this is part of this New Spirituality that we are seeing birthed around us.’”
Warren Smith, who has written much about the spiritualistic, New Age, emerging church errors that have been coming into the Evangelical world has this to say about Sweet’s doctrines:
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The Tide of ChangeWarren Smith’s Response
¨ “‘New Spirituality’ is the term that most New Age leaders are now using instead of ‘New Age Spirituality.’ … Emerging church figures like Sweet, Brian McLaren, and others are also employing the term ‘New Spirituality.’ They use it to describe the ‘new’ Christianity they are practicing as ‘New Christians’ and ‘New Light leaders.’”
¨ “What has become clear over the last decade is that the ‘New Spirituality’–with its bottom line belief that God is ‘in’ everything–is, in reality, the foundational New Age ‘hub’ for the coming New World Religion. This panentheistic New Age/New Spirituality teaching that God is ‘in’ everything will be the ‘common ground’ melting pot belief that the coming New World Religion will ultimately rest upon.”
¨ (Warren Smith Blog, http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=997
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Omega? Panentheism (from Greek πᾶν (pân) "all"; ἐν (en) "in"; and θεός (theós) "God"; "all-‐in-‐God") is a belief system which posits that the divine (be it a monotheistic God, polytheistic gods, or an eternal cosmic animating force), interpenetrates every part of nature and timelessly extends beyond it. Panentheism differentiates itself from pantheism, which holds that the divine is synonymous with the universe.[1] In panentheism, the universe in the first formulation is practically the whole itself. In the second formulation, the universe and the divine are not ontologically equivalent. In panentheism, God is viewed as the eternal animating force behind the universe. Some versions suggest that the universe is nothing more than the manifest part of God. In some forms of panentheism, the cosmos exists within God, who in turn "pervades" or is "in" the cosmos. While pantheism asserts that 'All is God', panentheism goes further to claim that God is greater than the universe. In addition, some forms indicate that the universe is contained within God.[1] Much Hindu thought is highly characterized by panentheism and pantheism.
Other Books by Leonard Sweet
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Current 2012 web-‐page at Christian Book Distributers list 14 books on Emerging Church and Leonard Sweet, and lists 68 items with a “Leonard Sweet” only search.
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The Language of the Emerging
A is for Abduction, released Jan. 2003, Brian McLaren is a prominent Christian pastor, author, activist and speaker and leading figure in the emerging church movement. He has often been named one of the most influential Christian leaders in America and was recognized by Time Magazine as one of the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America in 2005. McLaren is on the international steering team and board of directors for Emergent Village.
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Jerry Haselmayer (B.A., University of Southern Indiana) is president and founder of Leadership Pathways, a consulting firm that partners with clients to deliver experiential learning, tailored personal coaching, and organizational change. An ordained minister, he lives in Cincinnati with his wife and three children. http://www.amazon.com/Jerry-‐Haselmayer/e/B003Y376Q6
The Language of the Emerging ChurchBook Description
¨ “This witty, yet substantive primer explores the basic concepts and vernacular of postmodern ministry. This ‘postmodern ministry-for-dummies’ will help ‘immigrants’ learn to speak PSL (postmodern as a second language), so they can better live, minister, and make a difference in the emerging postmodern context.”
¨ (http://www.christianbook.com/html/static/leonard_sweet.html)
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The Language of the Emerging ChurchBook Review
¨ “I cannot find a single redeeming feature to this tragicomical book. The authors are earnest, but they are completely clueless about the philosophical concepts they are trying to summarize and employ.” (By Timothy McGrew "Philosopher" (Kalamazoo, MI)
¨ (http://www.amazon.com/A-Is-Abductive-Leonard-Sweet/product-reviews/0310243564/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_one?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar&showViewpoints=0)
Amazon.com Review of the book A is for Abduction. Of course you can find many good things said about the book by many supporters as well.
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Jesus Drives me Crazy!
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Jesus Drives Me Crazy! Released June 2003
Let’s look at the official book description on Amazon, most likely taken from the back cover or forward inside the book.
Jesus Drives me Crazy!Book Description
¨ “The gospel presents a life-changing NUTS wisdom that conflicts with normal ways of making sense of the world. There is the World According to Normal. There is the World According to NUTS . . . where NUTS is an acronym for Never Underestimate the Spirit. The wisdom of Jesus is a NUTS wisdom. ---From the book All people are different, but some are more different than others. Christians are meant to be the most different of all. Yet we often 'normalize' God. We judge what is a successful Christian and a successful church by the world according to Normal, not the world according to NUTS, the wisdom of Jesus.”
¨ (http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Drives-Crazy-Leonard-Sweet/dp/0310232244/ ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1347782062&sr=1-20)
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Jesus Drives me Crazy!Book Review
One of the book review on Amazon.com ¨ “I think: This book is a complete waist [sic] of time and
money. The price of $.95 is a statement of it's value. Every page is work to read and understand. The content is all over the place like ADHD had a hand in this. … If you are trying to understand more about Christianity and our relationship with God - THIS IS NOT THE PLACE TO FIND IT! We read this book as a Sunday school project and chose to abandon it as a bad idea. I don't normally go off on things like this. (Bad ideas get thrown in the trash) But this is so extreme I just had to.” (By E. McManus (Chattanooga, TN)
¨ (http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Drives-Crazy-Leonard-Sweet/product-reviews/0310232244/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_one?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar&showViewpoints=0)
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The Church in Emerging Culture
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The Church in Emerging Culture: Five Perspectives. Released Oct. 2003 Leonard Sweet is general editor who holds a “conversation” with five other church leaders. Thus he can direct the emphasis of the book! * Andy Crouch is young writer and editor * Michael S. Horton is a reformed theologian* Frederica Mathewes-‐Green is an Orthodox Christian and commentator * Brian McLaren is a pastor and senior fellow of Emergent Village.
* Erwin Raphael McManus is a cultural revolutionary and pastor of the innovative and interethnic L.A. based community Mosaic. The idea of the book is have a “conversation” with several people who have different views of Emerging culture and what the churches response should be. It seems clear from many of the reviews that the liberal, progressive thoughts are held up prominently as the correct answer.
The Church in Emerging CultureBook Description
Official book description from Amazon.com, taken from the back cover. Asked what seems to be a rhetorical questions in their estimation. The Emerging Church is pitted against Reformed, Orthodox ideas in “conversation,” with the editor of course supporting the Emerging church ideas.
¨ “What should the church look like today? What should be the focus of its message? How should I present that message? We live in as pivotal and defining an age as the Great Depression or the Sixties--a period whose definition, say some cultural observers, includes a waning of the church's influence. The result? A society measurably less religious but decidedly more spiritual. Less influenced by authority than by experience. More attuned to images than to words. How does the church adapt to such a culture? Or should it, in fact, eschew adapting for maintaining a course it has followed these last two millennia?”
¨ (http://www.amazon.com/Church-Emerging-Culture-Five-Perspectives/dp/0310254876/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348032449&sr=1-1&keywords=the+church+in+emerging+culture)
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The Church in Emerging CultureBook Review
¨ “Brian McLaren … talks way too much. The man had to put his two cents on everything, and recap everyone. It didn't seem like a even handed presentation of 5 views with McLaren giving the last word in every chapter.”
¨ “Useful to see contrasts. Too much of McLaren. Would like to seen more ‘orthodox’ participants in line of Horton. “
¨ (http://www.amazon.com/The-Church-Emerging-Culture-Perspectives/product-reviews/0310254876/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_3?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addThreeStar&showViewpoints=0)
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Summoned to Lead
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Summoned to Lead. Released 2004, one of his earlier books on leadership. We will return to the issue of Leadership a little later with the book I Am a Follower in Presentation 4.
“God sent a Person not a Proposition” A Conversation with Len Sweet
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Fall of 2005, George Fox University published an interview with Leonard Sweet on the Emerging Church.
“God sent a Person not a Proposition” A Conversation with Len Sweet
Notice the drawing away from any form of organization and leadership. ¨ “George Fox Journal: What is the emergent church?
Len Sweet: It probably would mean something different to everyone you would ask, but from my perspective, the ‘emergent church’ is an ongoing conversation about how new times call for new churches, and that the mortar-happy church of the last half of the 20th century is ill-poised to face the promises and perils of the future. In fact, attempting to define the ‘emergent church’ betrays the essence of the movement because the emergent consciousness questions the notion that there is such a thing. Rather, there are only individual emerging churches that are missional in orientation that grow out of the indigenous soils in which they are planted. In other words, no two emerging churches are alike.”
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“God sent a Person not a Proposition” A Conversation with Len Sweet
Remember the idea of tables and chairs, we will see this again. “Key words for emerging churches are incarnational, missional, and relational.” These are all terms being used in the SDA church by those pushing this movement.
¨ “George Fox Journal: Are there some common practices in emerging churches?Len Sweet: Pews are now antiques. Since the focus of emerging churches is on community, their worship space is flexible. Some have tables and chairs. Others have a more living room look and feel. But emerging churches are proving to be very surprising. For example, hymns are now back. And the church’s liturgy and Eucharist are being rediscovered in creative and compelling ways. A lot of emerging churches are very ‘smells and bells’ in their worship. Whatever the diversity of spiritual practices, the key words for emerging churches are incarnational, missional, and relational.”
¨ (http://www.georgefox.edu/journalonline/fall05/emerging.html)
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The Gospel According to Starbucks
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The Gospel According to Starbucks: Living with a Grande Passion, Jan. 2007 Alex Bryan quotes several times from this book in his doctoral thesis which was under the mentorship of Leonard Sweet at George Fox University.
The Gospel According to StarbucksBook Description
¨ “You can learn to pay attention like never before, to identify where God is already in business right in your neighborhood. The doors are open and the coffee is brewing. God is serving the refreshing antidote to the unsatisfying, arms-length spiritual life---and he won't even make you stand in line. Let Leonard Sweet shows you how the passion that Starbucks has for creating an irresistible experience can connect you with God's stirring introduction to the experience of faith.”
¨ (http://www.christianbook.com/html/static/leonard_sweet.html)
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The Gospel According to StarbucksBook Review
¨ “Most books have both good and bad points in them. But every so often, I run across a book that has practically no redeeming value. This was one of those books. Bluntly, it was one of the worst books I've read in a while. … It is ridiculous and offensive (not to mention just plain wrong) to imagine God saying, ‘Wow, Starbucks has a great thing going there. Let's try that.’ (By the way, the Epilogue is entitled ‘Jehovah Java.’)” (By Nathan Markley (Lawrence, KS)
¨ (http://www.amazon.com/The-Gospel-According-Starbucks-Passion/product-reviews/1578566495/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_one?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar&showViewpoints=0)
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Jesus Manifesto
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Jesus Manifesto, June 2010. “Frank Viola has been pioneering in organic missional church life since 1988. He brings over 20 years of experience to the table in what is now a growing phenomenon. Beyond planting organic missional churches, he is a bestselling author and sought-‐after conference speaker. Frank's public speaking covers a wide range of topics including the centrality, supremacy, and all-‐sufficiency of Jesus Christ, the deepening of the spiritual life, Christian community, church planting, God's eternal purpose, mission, and church renewal. He has written numerous books on the deeper Christian life and radical church reform, including the bestsellers From Eternity to Here, Jesus Manifesto (coauthored with Leonard Sweet), and Pagan Christianity? (co-‐authored with George Barna). …” (from his own website: http://frankviola.org/biography/)
He has written several books: Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity; Finding Organic Church : A Comprehensive Guide to Starting and Sustaining Authentic Christian Communities; Beyond Evangelism; Epic Jesus: The Christ you Never Knew. Book sets sold under caption: “Its Time to ReChurch.” see also: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_church)
This book uses language that we will find in the One Project. This book is being promoted by Alex Bryan and The One Project.
Jesus ManifestoBook Description
Verbatim quote from CBD Christian Book Distributors web site.
¨ “Should believers follow Christianity ... or Christ? Should we point others to core values ... or the cross? Charging that today’s church has mistakenly framed conversion as a change of direction rather than a change in connection, Sweet and Viola offer a corrective ‘manifesto’ featuring 10 crucial ways to restore the supremacy of Jesus himself.”
¨ (http://www.christianbook.com/jesus-manifesto-restoring-supremacy-sovereignty-christ/leonard-sweet/9780849946011/pd/946011?product_ redirect=1&Ntt=946011&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP)
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Jesus ManifestoOfficial Editorial Review
¨ “The Christian church is falling apart and in desperate need of a revival. According to Professor Sweet and bestselling author Viola, what is lacking is a groundbreaking revelation of Christ that boggles the mind and enraptures the heart. … [T]his insistent, impassioned essay condemns as pharisaic those preachers who forgo a Christ-centered theology in favor of a cute, singular slogan or mission. The authors urge churches to focus on the man who embodies the entire religion.” cont.
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Official Book Review Book seller posts on amazon.com.
Sounds good at first glance.
Jesus ManifestoOfficial Editorial Review
¨ “To do so, readers must learn the subtle distinction between following Christ and realizing Christ already lives within them. Some may find this message controversial, even pantheistic. Yet the biblical passages show the message is rooted in Scripture. The authors provide a lot to digest, but quotations from poets and philosophers break up the text and help readers grasp abstract concepts. Though most applicable to pastors and seminarians, all Christian readers will discover a new perspective and deeper purpose.”
¨ (http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Manifesto-Restoring-Supremacy-Sovereignty/dp/0849946018/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1347790411&sr=8-1)
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Continuing Amazon official Review.
Jesus ManifestoAuthor’s own words
¨ “In the incarnation, the beating heart of the universe became a human heart.13 …
¨ “‘Breath on Me, Breath of God’ is more than a metaphor and a hymn. It’s a testimony of the risen Christ who breathes in you and me. Christ dwells in us. Why don’t we also let Him breathe through us by our lives as an offering to Him? Singer/song-writer Maria McKee has a song called ‘Breathe’ in which she does exactly that: she presents an offering of herself to Christ:
I will let you breathe through me I will let you be with me… My heart beats your blood; your breath fills my lungs. 15” (Jesus Manifesto, p. 64)
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This is a couple of statements taken from one page of Sweet’s book. Concepts here are pantheistic in nature, and a view which Sweet has clearly expressed in other books before this.
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“[footnote 13] For another way of putting it, ‘the beating heart of the universe now beneath a human heart,’ see English literary critic Muriel C. Bradbrook as quoted by Michael Mayne in, “The Enduring Melody” (2006), p. 179.” “Muriel Clara Bradbrook (1909 – 11 June 1993) was a British literary scholar and authority on Shakespeare. She was Professor of English at the University of Cambridge, and Mistress[1] of Girton College, Cambridge.” “Michael Clement Otway Mayne KCVO (10 September 1929 – 22 October 2006) was an English priest of the Church of England who served as the Dean of Westminster.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Mayne)
Martin Buber (1878-‐1965) however, is the person who coined the statement “The beating heart of the universe is holy joy.” Martin Buber was an Austrian-‐born Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-‐Thou relationship and the I-‐It relationship.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Buber) This statement of his is quoted on numerous web sites with other pantheistic/New Age sentiments.
Sweet’s “Christ dwells in us” is stated as a fact for all men. This is a Hindu idea and at the heart of pantheism, but only true of the Christian and not in a metaphysical way.
“[footnote 15] Maria Mckee on Nightmusic ‘Breathe,’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v+RvRxYty2ie0.” Sweet’s reference is taken from a YouTube video of a night club setting where McKee sings this song. There is not the slightest intimation that this is Christian song being song to Christ. For more on McKee see next slides.
Jesus ManifestoMaria McKee: “Breathe”?
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Maria McKee was a founding member of the cowpunk/country rock band, Lone Justice, in 1982, with whom she released two albums. Some claim she had a “conversion” experience before making her 1989 album “Maria McKee”. The whole album and song “Breathe” for all practical purposes are secular songs having nothing to do with God or Christianity, (despite some claims from the CCM world), but has new age/mystical sounding lyrics about drinking, prostitution, bar hopping, love affairs, and even suicide. Breath lyrics: “At first I was scared when I opened up my head and the motor that was running was the mind of you, I was scared when I looked at my reflection and the shine I saw were the eyes of you…. Whenever I'm alone and you're lost out there I can feel you breathe cause our lungs we share, When I'm alone anytime, anywhere, I can feel your heart beat, 'cause our blood we share. I was scared when you came into my room, The walls became the sea, your voice was the moon Oh, when you rocked me in your arms, Like a song, a wave on the tide of you.” The music video gives not the slightest hint that this is a religious song or speaking of Christ or Christianity.
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“‘Show me Heaven’ is another song recorded by McKee for the soundtrack to the movie ‘Days of Thunder’ (which was released in June 1990). McKee's recording was a massive hit in the United Kingdom, spending four weeks at number-‐one in September 1990, and became by far her highest-‐charting single ever.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Show_Me_Heaven) “She refused to perform this song in public up until recently, when she sang it for the first time in eighteen years, at Dublin Gay Pride.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_McKee)
This song has nothing to do with Christianity. It is an erotic, sensual song, mixing metaphorical language to describe a sexual encounter. The Music Video is from a bedroom scene. “Hey babe I need your hand to steady me.” Really? Is she talking about Christ?
1993 Album, “You gotta sin to get saved,” has a very similar theme.
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(EGW) “Pantheistic theories are not sustained by the Word of God. The light of His truth shows that these theories are soul-‐destroying agencies. Darkness is their element, sensuality their sphere. They gratify the natural heart, and give license to inclination. … The sophistries regarding God and nature that are flooding the world with skepticism are the inspiration of the fallen foe, who is himself a Bible student, who knows the truth that it is essential for the people to receive, and whose study it is to divert minds from the great truths given to prepare them for what is coming upon the world. I have seen the results of these fanciful views of God, in apostasy, spiritualism, and free-‐lovism. The free-‐love tendency of these teachings was so concealed that at first it was difficult to make plain its real character. Until the Lord presented it to me, I knew not what to call it, but I was instructed to call it unholy spiritual love.”-‐-‐Testimonies, vol. 8, pp. 291, 292. (1904)
Jesus ManifestoGiving ourselves to Christ?
“BREATHE” MARIA MCKEE
“BREATHE ON ME, BREATH OF GOD”
¨ “At first I was scared when I opened up my head and the motor that was running was the mind of you, I was scared when I looked at my reflection and the shine I saw were the eyes of you….
¨ Whenever I'm alone and you're lost out there I can feel you breathe cause our lungs we share, When I'm alone anytime, anywhere, I can feel your heart beat, 'cause our blood we share.”
¨ “Breathe on me, breath of God, Fill me with life anew, That I may love what Thou dost love, And do what Thou wouldst do.
¨ Breathe on me, breath of God, Until my heart is pure, Until with Thee I will one will, to do and to endure.
¨ Breathe on me, breath of God, till I am wholly Thine, Until this earthly part of me glows with Thy fire divine.
¨ Breathe on me, breath of God, so shall I constant be, And live with Thee the perfect life Of Thine eternity.”
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Sweet suggests that “Breathe on me Breath of God” and “Breathe” by Maria McKee are one and the same?
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Leonard Sweet seeks to give the Hymn “Breathe on me….” a mystical new age meaning, and puts it in the same category as the secular mystical song “Breathe”. But this is ridiculous based on the facts. A simple comparison will bring this out. “… the mind of you” and “the eyes of you” phrases are pantheistic and New Age in nature, and have nothing to do with giving ones self to Christ as Leonard Sweet claims. Yet this book is being promoted, as we will see, by The One Project. “Breath on me Breath of God,” was written by Edwin Hatch in 1878 and is taken from the thoughts in John 20:22—“He breathed [1720 Strong’s] on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” [Strong’s 1720: “From G1722 and φυσάω phusaō (to puff; compare G5453); to blow at or on: -‐ breathe on. This Greek word is used in Jn 20:22 and is the only place used in NT.]
Joh 20:22 He breathed on them (enephusēsen). First aorist active indicative of emphusaō, late verb, here only in N.T. though eleven times in the lxx and in the papyri. It was a symbolic act with the same word used in the lxx when God breathed the breath of life upon Adam (Gen 2:7). It occurs also in Ezek 37:9. See Christ’s promise in Joh_16:23. Jesus gives the disciples a foretaste of the great pentecost. (Clarks Commentary?)
Joh 20:22 He breathed on them -‐ It was customary for the prophets to use some significant act to represent the nature of their message. See Jer. 13; Jer. 18, etc. In this case the act of breathing was used to represent the nature of the influence that would come upon them, and the source of that influence. When man was created, God breathed into him the breath of life, Gen_2:7. The word rendered “spirit” in the Scriptures denotes wind, air, breath, as well as Spirit. Hence, the operations of the Holy Spirit are compared to the wind, Joh_3:8; Act_2:2. Receive ye the Holy Ghost -‐ His breathing on them was a certain sign or pledge that they would be endowed with the influences of the Holy Spirit. Compare Act_1:4; John 2. (Barnes Commentary)
Joh 20:22 he breathed on them — a symbolical conveyance to them of the Spirit. (JFB Commentary)
Jesus ManifestoUnsolicited Review
¨ “There are good reasons to be concerned about contemporary Christianity. But must the answer always be ‘a fresh alternative -- a third way’ (pg. xiii)? In the case of Jesus Manifesto, authors Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola construct a ‘third way’ that bears little resemblance to the ‘narrow road’ (Matt. 7:13-14) which Jesus Himself preached.”
¨ “[T]he authors begin with a series of sweeping, but predictable, generalizations about the grim state of affairs: ‘The world likes Jesus; they just don't like the church. But increasingly, the church likes the church, yet it doesn't like Jesus’ (pg. xvi), … This kind of ‘bash the church’ rhetoric is at the heart of the postmodern, post-evangelical movement, and propels much of what Sweet and Viola unpack. Apparently, for many "emergent" Christians, problems with the church are a license to reconfigure the gospel. And, ultimately, Jesus Manifesto seems determined to do just that.”
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This unsolicited review on Amazon.com by Michael Duran summarizes what many others have also said about the book.
Jesus ManifestoUnsolicited Review
¨ “Along the way, the authors teeter between sublimity and absurdity. On the one hand, Sweet and Viola do a terrific job pulling everything back to Christ, showing how Scripture and biblical history center around the Son of God and all our causes and convictions should be subordinate to Him. Their language is exultant, their praise effusive. But the closer we examine the Christ they acclaim, the less He seems like the biblical one.”
¨ “The ‘hard sayings’ of Christ about hell, damnation, and judgment are nowhere to be found in this book (unless intimated toward religious elites). As such, the Jesus of Jesus Manifesto is the friend of sinners NOT the ‘judge of the living and the dead’ (Acts 10:42). The Jesus of Jesus Manifesto comes to bring unity NOT ‘division’ (Lk. 12:49-57). The Jesus of Jesus Manifesto carries an olive branch NOT a ‘sword’ (Matt. 10:34). The Jesus of Jesus Manifesto ushers souls to heaven NOT ‘eternal punishment’ (Matthew 25:32,46).”
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Often it is not what a person says that is so wrong as what a person fails to say or include when describing the plan of salvation. Half the story or half truth is worse than blatant error because it is more subtle.
Jesus ManifestoUnsolicited Review
¨ “It is this ecumenical evasiveness that spoils Jesus Manifesto. The Bible teaches that the Good Shepherd will one day return with ‘the armies of heaven... to strike the nations’ (Rev. 19: 11-16), that the cross of Christ ‘offends’ people (Gal. 5:11) and its message is ‘foolishness to those who are perishing’ (I Cor. 1:18). Sadly, it is this ‘offense’ that Sweet and Viola jettison in favor of uncritical inclusion.”
¨ “One of the ways Jesus Manifesto attempts this is by downplaying ‘doctrine.’ The authors write, ‘The apostles' message throughout Acts is not the plan of salvation. It's not a theology or a set of doctrines either. It is a person – Christ’ (pg. 12), and ‘According to Scripture, Jesus Christ (and not a doctrine about Him) is the truth’ (pg. 80).”
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Jesus ManifestoUnsolicited Review
¨ “Can theology get in the way of relationship with Christ? Absolutely! Is Jesus more than a doctrinal system? Of course! But the assumption that a doctrine or ‘theological system’ ALWAYS impedes a relationship with Christ is untenable. On the contrary, good theology fires a right relationship with Jesus. In fact, how does one even ‘grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’ (II Pet. 3:18) without embracing a series of biblical prepositions about Him?”
¨ “Scripture is filled with exhortations about believing correctly. In fact, it was those same apostles (the ones who [supposedly] did not preach ‘a theology or a set of doctrines’) who cautioned against ‘false Christ’s (II Cor. 11:3,4; 13-15) and admonished about a time when men ‘will not endure sound doctrine’ (II Tim. 4:3). The apostle Peter warned about ‘false teachers’ who ‘secretly introduce destructive heresies’ (II Pet. 2:1).”
¨ (http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Manifesto-Restoring-Supremacy-Sovereignty/ product-reviews/0849946018/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_two?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addTwo Star&showViewpoints=0)
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Jesus ManifestoUnsolicited Review
¨ “Sweet’s and Viola’s manifesto starts with a purge. The authors go right to the heart of the matter of the supremacy of Jesus Christ by calling us to re-examine what is meant by Acts 2:42ʹ′s mention of ‘the apostles’ doctrine,’ noting all the debris that modern churches tend to teach has nothing to do with that doctrine, which is Christ Himself. We get sidetracked into eschatology, how to live by faith, spiritual warfare, evangelism, holiness, Bible memorization, and on and on. That list of diversions features a large number of sacred cows the authors eventually gore and then ask readers to purge. No Christian is left unchallenged.” (http://ceruleansanctum.com/2010/06/book-review-jesus-manifesto.html)
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This is taken from an overall positive review. We will continue with Leonard Sweet in the next presentation.
