Here is David Cloud's slant on Rick Warren's book.
Text of forwarded message follows:
>A REVIEW OF RICK WARREN'S "THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE"
>
>April 3, 2007 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service,
>P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143,
>[log in to unmask]; for instructions about subscribing and
>unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph
>at the end of the article) -
>
>The book "The Purpose Drive Life" by Southern Baptist pastor Rick
>Warren of Saddleback Church in southern California has sold more
>than 18 million copies and has wielded a vast influence.
>
>Bruce Ryskamp, president of Zondervan, said, "The Purpose Driven
>Life is more than a bestseller; it's become a movement."
>
>Over 12,000 churches from all 50 states in America and 19 countries
>have participated in Warren's 40 Days of Purpose, which is drawn
>from the book. Over 60,000 pastors subscribe to Rick Warren's
>Ministry Toolbox. He has provided materials and teaching to
>Christians in more than 117 countries on all seven continents.
>
>Richard Bennett observes, "The movement is becoming a global empire."
>
>Rick Warren has been called "America's pastor," and it is for good
>reason. He is so shallow in his teaching, so positive in his
>approach, so slighting of repentance, so neglecting of unpopular
>doctrines such as hell and judgment, so tolerant of heresies, so
>enthusiastic of rock music, so soft-spoken on that nasty subject of
>worldliness, that apostate America can't help but love him.
>
>All of these characteristics are reflected in his best-selling book.
>
>A FOUNDATIONAL ERROR IN WARREN'S BOOK IS THE EXTREME SHALLOWNESS AND
>INSUFFICIENCY OF HIS GOSPEL.
>
>In chapter 7, "The Reason for Everything," Warren explains to his
>readers how they can become a Christian.
>
>"If you are not sure you have done this, all you need to do is
>receive and believe. ... First, believe. Believe God loves you and
>made you for his purposes. Believe you're not an accident. Believe
>you were made to last forever. Believe God has chosen you to have a
>relationship with Jesus, who died on the cross for you. Believe that
>no matter what you've done, God wants to forgive you. Second,
>receive. Receive his forgiveness for your sins. Receive his Spirit,
>who will give you the power to fulfill your life purpose. ...
>Wherever you are reading this, I invite you to bow your head and
>quietly whisper the prayer that will change your eternity. 'Jesus, I
>believe in you and I receive you.' Go ahead. If you sincerely meant
>that prayer, congratulations! Welcome to the family of God!" (The
>Purpose Driven Life, pp. 58, 59).
>
>This is one of the most superficial "gospels" I have ever seen.
>There is nothing here that would offend or convict the Pope or a
>Mormon. It's not the gospel that was preached in the book of Acts or Romans.
>
>For one thing, there is no clear dealing with the sin issue.
>Warren's book is intended for wide distribution in society at large,
>and it is not enough in such a context merely to mention the word
>sin. The average person in North America will admit that he is not
>perfect and that he is a "sinner" in some sense, but he also thinks
>of himself as a pretty good person. When he thinks of himself as a
>sinner, he does not mean what the Bible means, that he was shaped in
>iniquity and conceived in sin (Psa. 51:5), that his heart is
>deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9) and
>full of evil (Ecc. 9:3), that he is unrighteous and unprofitable
>(Rom. 3:10-11), that in his flesh dwells no good thing (Rom. 7:18),
>and that his very righteousness is as filthy rags before a holy God
>(Isa. 64:6). Warren's incredibly shallow approach allows any person
>who will admit that he is a sinner in any sense to pray a prayer and
>then think of himself as a genuine Christian, even though he might
>continue to deny what the Bible says about sin.
>
>There are many other things we could expose in Warren's gospel.
>There is nothing about God's holiness and justice. There is no clear
>teaching on what Jesus did on the cross. There is nothing about the
>blood. He invites the reader to "believe on Jesus." What Jesus?
>People today believe in all sorts of false christs, but Warren does
>not warn them of this nor does he take the time to identify the true
>Jesus of the Bible in any clear fashion and to distinguish Him from
>false ones. Just a vague "believe on Jesus" and presto you are ready to heaven.
>
>And Warren completely ignores repentance. There is not a hint here
>that the sinner must repent of his sin and idolatry. This is not the
>gospel that Paul preached. Paul summarized his message as follows:
>"Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance
>toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:21).
>Warren says that he believes in the Great Commission and he mentions
>it in passing in The Purpose Driven Life, but he ignores repentance
>which is a part of the Great Commission. Christ gave the Great
>Commission in Luke 24:44-48 and He commanded that "repentance and
>remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations."
>Paul boldly preached repentance to the philosophers and idolaters in
>Athens, and if he were alive today he would certainly preach
>repentance to the idolaters in America! Paul said that God "now
>commandeth all men every where to repent" (Acts 17:30), and we can
>be sure that God hasn't changed His mind.
>
>WARREN TEACHES A SELF-ESTEEM THEOLOGY UNDER THE GUISE OF WORSHIP AND SERVICE
>
>Though Warren professes that his teaching does not exalt man but
>rather exalts God and he claims that he does not teach a self help
>program, in reality he teaches nothing less than a Robert
>Schuller-style Self-Esteem theology.
>
>Notice the following statements:
>
>"The moment you were born into the world, God was there as an unseen
>witness, smiling at your birth. ... It proves your worth. If you are
>that important to God, and he considers you valuable enough to keep
>you for eternity, what great significance could you have? ...
>Anything you do that brings pleasure to God is an act of worship ...
>You may be gifted at mechanics or mathematics or music or a thousand
>other skills. All these abilities can bring a smile to God's face.
>... You only bring him enjoyment by being you. Anytime you reject
>any part of yourself, you are rejecting God's wisdom and sovereignty
>in creating you. ... God also gains pleasure in watching you enjoy
>his creation. ... When you are sleeping, God gazes at you with love,
>because you were his idea. He loves you as if you were the only
>person on earth" (pp. 61, 64, 74, 75).
>
>Here worship is turned on its head by making it as much about me as
>about God. I am so loveable and so important and so desirable to God
>that whatever I do brings God pleasure and therefore is worship.
>Wonderful me! The self-esteem theology is more about celebrating
>self than dying to self, even when it talks of dying to self! Warren
>says that if I reject any part of myself I am denying God's
>sovereignty. What about sin and what it has done to "myself"?
>
>Consider another statement from Warren's popular book:
>
>"If you want to know how much you matter to God, look at Christ with
>his arms outstretched on the cross, saying, 'I love you this much!
>I'd rather die than live without you'" (p. 79).
>
>Thus the cross is sanctified by the self-esteem theology so that it
>is about me and how the Lord couldn't live without me. Wonderful me!
>
>Consider another statement:
>
>"God is a lover and a liberator, and surrendering to him brings
>freedom, not bondage. When we completely surrender ourselves to
>Jesus, we discover that he is ... not a boss, but a brother..." (p. 79).
>
>The self-esteem God is dedicated to liberating me. He is not a boss!
>There's nothing to fear. He's just a Big Buddy, a Powerful Pal.
>
>Warren quotes from Olympic runner Eric Liddell. "To give up running
>would be to hold him in contempt."
>
>Thus to deny what I am gifted at and what I like to do is to deny
>God. Isn't it clever how that Warren has identified self will with
>God's will so that they have become one and the same?
>
>In fact, things I am gifted for and enjoy oftentimes come into
>conflict with God's perfect will. God oftentimes calls upon an
>individual to give up even legitimate things for which he or she is
>highly gifted and qualified. Many men have given up such things when
>God called them to be a preacher or a missionary. Peter, James, and
>John gave up fishing. In the 1980s I met a Chinese man in Singapore
>who was a brilliant chess champion. God had saved him and called him
>to preach and he was preparing himself in a Bible College. He told
>me how that for awhile he had written a column on chess for a
>newspaper for extra income toward his Bible training, but he
>discovered that it was not possible to keep the chess moves out of
>his mind when he was trying to study Scripture so he gave it up
>entirely, though he was highly gifted at it and enjoyed it. That is
>true dying to self.
>
>Note the following quotes from chapters 30 and 31 of The Purpose
>Driven Life which deal with finding my place in God's will:
>
>"Listening to your heart. The Bible uses the term heart to describe
>the bundle of desires, hopes, interests, ambitions, dreams, and
>affections you have. Your heart represents the source of all your
>motivations--what you love to do and what you are about most. ...
>Don't ignore your interests. Consider how they might be used for
>God's glory. There is a reason that you love to do these things. ...
>How do you know when you are serving God from your heart? The first
>telltale sign is enthusiasm. When you are doing what you love to do,
>no one has to motivate you or challenge you or check up on you. ...
>The second characteristic of serving God from your heart is
>effectiveness. Whenever you do what God wired you to love to do, you
>get good at it. ... Figure out what you love to do--what God gave
>you a heart to do--and then do it for his glory. ... What I'm able
>to do, God wants me to do" (pp. 237, 238, 239, 243).
>
>Note that Warren does not warn his readers that the heart is
>deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9).
>What a gross, inexcusable omission! While it is true that you can
>trust your desires to some small extent when you are a mature
>Christian who is delighting in God and immersed in His Word and
>obeying Him (Psa. 37:4), how many of the readers of The Purpose
>Drive Life are in that condition? A great many of the millions of
>readers are doubtless complete unbelievers or nominal Christians or
>novices or carnal, and to teach them that what they love to do is
>God's will is frightful heresy. Many are professional sports
>fanatics, for example. Others are rock & roll fanatics. Others are
>fanatics about modern fashion trends. Are they fanatic about such
>things because that is the way that God made them? No, they are
>fanatic about such things because they are conformed to the world
>and walk in the way of sinners (Psa. 1:1; Rom. 12:2).
>
>There are many things that professing Christians are gifted for and
>effective at that are NOT God's will!
>
>Again we see that when Rick Warren's theology is examined carefully
>it is about self fulfillment, but it is presented under the guise of
>worshipping and serving God.
>
>Warren builds his self-esteem theology upon strange versions of the
>Bible. Consider an example:
>
>"The Bible says, 'Noah was a pleasure to the Lord.' God said, 'This
>guy brings me pleasure. He makes me smile" (The Purpose Driven Life, p. 69).
>
>Warren is quoting Genesis 6:8 in the Living Bible. In fact, this
>verse should say, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD." It
>has nothing to do with God getting pleasure from Noah. It has
>everything to do with Noah getting favor from the Lord! The Living
>Bible perverts this verse, turning it upon its very head.
>Nonetheless, since it fits Rick Warren's theology he grabs hold of
>it and pretends that it is Scripture.
>
>Consider another example of how Warren builds his self-esteem
>theology upon inaccurate versions of Scripture.
>
>"The Bible says, 'Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the
>way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self'" (p. 19).
>
>Here Warren quotes Matthew 16:25 in The Message. Actually, the verse
>should say, "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and
>whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."
>
>There is not a hint here about self help or finding your true self.
>The verse is not teaching about finding your self but about finding
>your life. What Warren quotes as Scripture is actually a
>prefabrication by Eugene Peterson, the author of The Message.
>
>The Message also takes away the Lord's solemn warning that whosoever
>will find his life shall lose it. This fits in perfectly with
>Warren's unscriptural positivism.
>
>WARREN SLIGHTS OVER HELL AND JUDGMENT AND THE FEAR OF GOD
>
>The Lord Jesus Christ preached on hell frequently. There are nearly
>100 references in Scripture to fearing the Lord, and God's judgment
>is a never-ending theme of Scripture.
>
>But when it comes to Rick Warren, he does not mention God's
>judgment, never urges his listeners to fear the Lord, and he makes
>only one passing reference to hell. This is on page 37, and in the
>same section he quotes C.S. Lewis twice. Lewis believed that hell is
>a mere metaphor and a state of mind: "And every state of mind, left
>to itself, every shutting up of the creature within the dungeon of
>its own mind--is, in the end, Hell" (Lewis, The Great Divorce, p. 65).
>
>Not only did the Lord Jesus Christ preach much on hell, but he
>preached it hot and furious.
>
>"And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to
>enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into
>the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not,
>and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it
>off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two
>feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be
>quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
>And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to
>enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to
>be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is
>not quenched" (Mark 9:43-48).
>
>There is no a hint of this kind of preaching in Rick Warren's
>woefully inadequate ministry.
>
>If ever there were an hour in which the people of this world need to
>hear hell and judgment and the fear of God preached fiery hot and
>powerfully plain it is this present unbelieving, mocking,
>blasphemous, pleasure mad, self-loving, self-content, self-righteous
>age, but the popular preachers won't touch it. Too negative. Too
>damaging to self-esteem. Too dogmatic and intolerant. Too likely to
>offend and cut into the size of my audience.
>
>WARREN PROMOTES EVERY STRANGE BIBLE VERSION
>
>In The Purpose Driven Life, Warren uses 15 different Bible versions,
>including two Roman Catholic ones (The New American Bible and the
>New Jerusalem Bible). His favorites are the "dynamic equivalency"
>versions such as the Living Bible, the New Living Bible, Today's
>English Version, the Contemporary English Version, and The Message.
>The latter seems to be his most favorite.
>
>As a result, it is often impossible to know exactly what Scripture
>he is quoting because it is so strangely paraphrased and wildly inaccurate.
>
>On page 70 Warren quotes Hebrews 11:7 from The Message.
>
>"By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was
>warned about something he couldn't see, and acted on what he was
>told ... As a result, Noah became intimate with God."
>
>In the dependable King James Bible this verse says:
>
>"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved
>with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which
>he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which
>is by faith."
>
>We can see that The Message adds to and takes away from the Word of
>God in an amazing manner. It adds the bit about Noah building a ship
>in the middle of dry land. It omits the fact that Noah was moved
>with fear. It changes "became heir of the righteousness which is by
>faith" to "became intimate with God."
>
>On page 20 Warren quotes 1 Corinthians 2:7 from The Message:
>
>"God's wisdom ... goes deep into the interior of his purposes ...
>It's not the latest message, but more like the oldest--what God
>determined as the way to bring out his best in us."
>
>In the King James Bible this says:
>
>"But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden
>wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory."
>
>It is obvious that The Message is not a translation in any sense of
>the word; it is a presumption. It is not God's thoughts but man's.
>It is almost childish, not because it is simple but because it is ridiculous.
>
>Warren claims to have quoted more than 1,000 Scriptures in The
>Purpose Driven Life, but most of the quotations are similar to the
>previous examples and have no right to be called Scripture.
>
>When I visited a service at Saddleback Church in 2003, I observed
>that only a few people were carrying Bibles into the auditorium. The
>reason became clear when I saw the multiplicity of versions that
>were used in the preaching. It would be impossible to follow along
>in one's Bible. The result is that the people do not bring their own
>Bibles and do not therefore carefully test the preaching. How could
>they, when any biblical statement they would attempt to examine has
>dozens of contradictory variations?
>
>WARREN SLIGHTS SCRIPTURAL BAPTISM
>
>The Purpose Driven Life has a page and a half dealing with baptism,
>but there is not a word about the mode, which is one of the most
>important aspects. He leaves the reader with the impression that
>pouring, sprinkling, or immersion is equally acceptable. Obviously
>it would offend many readers if he were to present a truly
>Scriptural position on baptism as a burial in water, but what else
>would a true Bible believer and a true Baptist do?
>WARREN CLAIMS THAT GOD LOVES ALL KINDS OF MUSIC
>
>In chapter 8 of The Purpose Driven Life, Warren becomes a prophet, saying:
>
>"God loves all kinds of music because he invented it all--fast and
>slow, loud and soft, old and new. You probably don't like it all,
>but God does! ... Christians often disagree over the style of music
>used in worship, passionately defending their preferred style as the
>most biblical or God-honoring. But there is no biblical style! ...
>God likes variety and enjoys it all. There is no such thing as
>'Christian' music; there are only Christian lyrics. It is the words
>that make a song sacred, not the tune. There are no spiritual tunes"
>(pp. 65, 66).
>
>This idea that music itself is neutral and that any music can be
>used in the service of the Lord has opened the door for the world to
>come into the churches as few other things.
>
>Though the Bible nowhere says nor even hints that God loves all
>kinds of music, we are to believe that he does because Rick Warren
>says so. His only evidence for this outrageous statement is his
>reasoning that since God "invented it all" he must like it all. But
>where is the evidence that God invented all music? Are you telling
>me that the devil and sinful men are not involved in the field of
>music? That is a ridiculous thought, seeing that the devil is called
>"the god of this world" and music is one of the most powerful
>influences among men. Sinful men have used music since Cain's
>children built the first society apart from God and made musical
>instruments to satisfy their carnal pleasures (Genesis 4:16-21).
>
>Styles of music are not neutral. Rock musicians have testified that
>they play their particular style of rhythm for the very reason that
>it is lascivious. Frank Zappa said: "Rock music is sex. The big beat
>matches the body's rhythms" (Life, June 28, 1968). Gene Simmons
>says, "That's what rock is all about--sex with a 100 megaton bomb,
>the beat!" (Entertainment Tonight, ABC, Dec. 10, 1987). John Oates
>said, "Rock 'n' roll is 99% sex" (Circus, Jan. 31, 1976). Patty
>Labelle said, "Rock and roll was something that's hardcore, rough
>and wild and sweaty and wet and just loose" (Rock Facts, Rock & Roll
>Hall of Fame and Museum, Ohio). And punk rock manager Malcolm
>McLaren agreed, saying, "Rock 'n' roll is pagan and primitive, and
>very jungle, and that's how it should be!" (Rock, August 1983).
>
>Note that they are not talking merely about rock music's lyrics and
>associations but also its RHYTHM! These men and women of the world
>believe there is such a thing as a sexy rhythmic pattern. Rapper
>Missy Elliot's album, "Miss E ... So Addictive," was described by as
>"a seductive cocktail of quirky rhythms and hypnotic beats."
>
>Why do these secular rockers describe their heavily syncopated rock
>rhythms as sexy, primitive, seductive, rough, hardcore, naughty,
>loose, wild, and hypnotic? They are testifying the very opposite of
>Rick Warren's philosophy; they are saying that music is not neutral
>and that the heavy rock & roll backbeat that can be heard on any
>Sunday at Saddleback Church is sensual and licentious and that is
>exactly why they love it.
>
>As for the idea that there is no biblical style of music, I could
>not disagree more fervently. The Bible tells us exactly what type of
>music to sing in our churches, as follows: "Speaking to yourselves
>in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody
>in your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19). Spiritual songs are not
>the same as unspiritual or sensual or worldly, hymns are not the
>same as rock music, melody is not the same as raucous repetition.
>Spiritual is something that is set apart from the world unto a holy
>God; different in character than the things of the world. The Bible
>gives plain instruction about the Christian's affiliation with
>worldly things, and any music that draws the child of God into
>fellowship with the world is to be rejected (James 4:4; 1 Jn.
>2:15-16). The Bible forbids the Christian to be conformed to the
>world (Romans 12:2). Yet the Contemporary Christian Music that Rick
>Warren uses in his church is nothing if not conformed to the world's
>musical styles.
>
>WARREN PROMOTES AN UNSCRIPTURAL JUDGE NOT PHILOSOPHY
>
>The Purpose Driven Life contains extensive documentation of Rick
>Warren's dangerous and unscriptural "judge not" ecumenical philosophy.
>
>On page 164, Warren says, "God warns us over and over not to
>criticize, compare, or judge each other. ... Whenever I judge
>another believer, four things instantly happen: I lose fellowship
>with God, I expose my own pride, I set myself to be judged by God,
>and I harm the fellowship of the church."
>
>In typical New Evangelical fashion Warren makes no distinction
>between judging hypocritically (which is forbidden in Matthew 7) or
>judging on the basis of personal preference in matters not taught in
>Scripture (which is forbidden in Romans 14) and judging on the basis
>of the Bible (which is required by God).
>
>The child of God has an obligation to judge everything by God's
>Word. The believers at Corinth were rebuked because they were
>careless in this regard and were tolerant of false teachers (2 Cor.
>11:1-4). The Bereans, on the other hand, were commended because they
>carefully tested everything by the Scriptures (Acts 17:11). The
>Bible says "he that is spiritual judgeth all things" (1 Cor. 2:15)
>and Jesus taught that we should "judge righteous judgment" (John
>7:24). We are to judge preaching (1 Cor. 14:29) and sin in the
>churches (1 Cor. 5). We are to try the spirits (1 John 4:1).
>
>To test preachers and their message carefully by God's Word is not a
>matter of pride, but of wisdom and spirituality and obedience.
>
>On page 34 of The Purpose Driven Life, Warren says: "God won't ask
>about your religious background or doctrinal views. The only thing
>that will matter is, did you accept what Jesus did for you and did
>you learn to love and trust him?"
>
>If this is true, why does the Bible say so very much about doctrine
>and why did the apostles call for doctrinal purity on every hand?
>Paul instructed Timothy to allow "no other doctrine" (1 Timothy
>1:3). That is the very strictest stance on doctrinal purity, and it
>is precisely the stance we find throughout the apostolic writings.
>Rick Warren has a lot to answer for, because millions of people are
>basing their lives upon his teaching rather than upon the pure Word of God.
>
>If God is unconcerned about doctrine, why did the apostles spend so
>much time warning about false doctrines and doctrines of devils?
>See, for example, 2 Corinthians 11:1-4; Galatians 1:6-12;
>Philippians 3:18-21; Colossians 2:8; 1 Timothy 4:1-5; 1 Timothy
>6:20-21; 2 Timothy 4:1-4; 2 Peter 2; Jude 3-23.
>
>Rick Warren requires his church members to sign a covenant promising
>to protect the unity of the church (The Purpose Driven Life, p.
>167). This is a dangerous and unscriptural covenant. The child of
>God is not instructed to submit to a church or to its leaders
>blindly and at any cost. We are commanded to "prove all things" (1
>Thess. 5:21), and all things means all things. The Bereans are
>exalted because they "searched the scriptures daily, whether those
>things were so" (Acts 17:11). No preacher or church is above being
>tested by God's Word. The Bible says, "Let the prophets speak two or
>three, and let the other judge" (1 Cor. 14:29). Preaching is to be
>carefully judged by God's Word. The pastor has God-given authority
>(Heb. 13:17), but it is not unquestionable authority and it is not
>his own authority; he is not a shepherd over his own flock; he is an
>undershepherd over God's and he will give an account to the Great
>Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:1-4). The pastor's authority is not in his own
>word; it is in God's Word (Heb. 13:7); and if he strays from the
>Word of God he has no authority over God's people and he should not
>be followed. Blind loyalty to a church is Popery and it is a gross heresy.
>
>Warren even claims that "conflict is usually a sign that the focus
>has shifted to less important things" (p. 162).
>
>If this were true, then the apostles and preachers in the early
>churches were side tracked much of the time, because they were
>frequently involved in doctrinal conflicts. Paul was involved in
>such conflicts almost continually. Many of his epistles contain
>lengthy sections in which he takes a stand against false teachers.
>In his epistles to his fellow preacher Timothy, Paul repeatedly
>warned about false teachers by name (1 Tim. 1:19-20; 2 Tim. 1:15;
>2:17-18; 4:12, 14).
>
>WARREN PROMOTES HERETICS
>
>In keeping with his unscriptural judge not philosophy, Warren
>uncritically quotes from a wide variety of theological heretics,
>especially Roman Catholics such as Mother Teresa, Henri Nouwen,
>Brother Lawrence (Carmelite monk), John Main (Benedictine monk who
>believes that Christ "is not limited to Jesus of Nazareth, but
>remains among us in the monastic leaders, the sick, the guest, the
>poor"), Madame Guyon (a Roman Catholic who taught that prayer is not
>from the mind and does not involve thinking), John of the Cross (a
>pantheist who believed the mountains and forests are God).
>
>Warren does not warn his readers that these are dangerous false
>teachers who held to a false gospel.
>
>Mother Teresa and Henri Nouwen, who are quoted at least four times
>in The Purpose Driven Life, were universalists who believed that men
>can be saved apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ. When Mother
>Teresa died, her longtime friend and biographer Naveen Chawla said
>that he once asked her bluntly, "Do you convert?" She replied, "Of
>course I convert. I convert you to be a better Hindu or a better
>Muslim or a better Protestant. Once you've found God, it's up to you
>to decide how to worship him" ("Mother Teresa Touched other Faiths,"
>Associated Press, Sept. 7, 1997). Henri Nouwen said, "Today I
>personally believe that while Jesus came to open the door to God's
>house, all human beings can walk through that door, whether they
>know about Jesus or not. Today I see it as my call to help every
>person claim his or her own way to God" (Henri Nouwen, Sabbatical Journey).
>
>Why does Rick Warren continually and non-critically promote
>heretics? The Bible asks, "Can two walk together, except they be
>agreed?" (Amos 3:3).
>
>WARREN'S SHALLOW ENCAPSULATIONS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT FAITH
>
>On every hand Rick Warren presents his own shallow encapsulations as
>the true essence of biblical Christianity. For example, in chapter
>39 he lists "God's five purposes for your life." They are (1) Love
>God with all your heart, (2) Love your neighbor as yourself, (3) Go
>and make disciples, (4) Baptize them into [a church], and (5) Teach
>them to do all things.
>
>There is nothing in these "five purposes" about holiness, contending
>for the faith, separation from the world, separation from false
>teaching, reproving sin and error, and many other things that are
>emphasized in the New Testament Scriptures. Obviously Warren's five
>purposes for life are not the sum total of God's.
>
>My friends, we don't need some misguided man's abbreviated form of
>Christianity; we need the "whole counsel of God" as found in the
>Scriptures (Acts 20:27). The Bible as a whole, not a few select
>parts thereof, is the sole and sufficient authority for faith and
>practice. The Lord Jesus Christ instructed the churches to teach
>"all things" rather than a few things (Mat. 28:19-20).
>
>
>
>
>
>--
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>4/5/2007 3:33 PM
End of forwarded message text:
John
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