“The practices of silence and solitude are not about what is often called “quiet time” when one is having time alone to read the Bible or pray. These practices involve cultivating a state of silence, sometimes using certain techniques to quiet the mind, which can induce self-hypnosis. It is taught that one must be still and silent in order to commune with God more intimately, to perhaps “hear” God, to know God more deeply, and/or to experience his love. None of the practices discussed above is modeled or taught in Scripture, either explicitly or implicitly. Moreover, they do not reflect the Bible’s teachings on prayer, and that one knows God through Christ and is transformed by the Holy Spirit.”
(Marcia Montenegro – Midwest Christian Outreach) There is often a conflation of mysticism with Christianity and with the Bible, so that many believe that Christianity is mystical, or that the Bible speaks of mystical events. Is this the case? And what is mysticism anyway?
The reason this question is important is due to the surge of Contemplative Spirituality in the church over the last two decades, especially the last several years. The essence of Contemplative Spirituality is mysticism. With that in mind, I will be treating the terms Contemplatives and mystics as meaning the same thing since Contemplative Spirituality is derived from mysticism.
Research
CRN has compiled a list of false teachers and several other professing Christians we’ve warned you about over the years. The list also contains those we must keep an eye on plus movements, organizations and “frauds, phonies and money-grubbing religious quacks” to mark and avoid as per Romans 16:17-18 such as those mentioned in the article.