20 If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees: 21 “Do not handle, nor taste, nor touch”? 22 Which deal with everything destined to perish with use, which are in accordance with the commands and teachings of men; 23 which are matters having, to be sure, a word of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence. Colossians 2:20-23 (LSB)
As we have been seeing, in the attacks on the Church by what is now called “Progressive Christianity,” what the enemies of God’s Truth are actually constructing is a Spiritual Labyrinth whose complexity is designed to confuse and deceive….
At the core of these attacks and replacement of genuine Christianity with “Progressive Christianity” or “A New Type of Christianity” is an emphasis on Spiritual Formation. What is this? I contacted Bob DeWaay at Twin Cities Fellowship for any help he could provide in direction and information so I could get a better handle on this and so present this to you that we may all know better what is really happening in our churches and what God would have us do in response.
Here are some direct quotes from Bob in the email he sent me, which accompanied the link to the article below:
Spiritual formation is a replacement for sanctification by God’s ordained means. What is unique about it is that it combines man-made techniques and practices borrowed from Roman Catholicism with some Biblical practices such as prayer. All forms of spiritual formation involve some degree of mysticism. The top gurus of spiritual formation are Richard Foster and Dallas Willard. Spiritual formation is now a required class in most Bible colleges and seminaries. The…article [below] is based on a book that was required reading for students in a local Bible College who were required to study spiritual formation. – Bob DeWaay