In many ways, Rick Warren is to modern Protestant Evangelicalism as Francis is to modern Roman Catholicism. Both are politicians seeking to please men and both belong to apostate religious organizations. This is evident in Warren’s recent speech at the World Meeting of Families and Francis’ visit to America. In this article, I’ll document a wide array of problems surrounding Francis’ visit to the US and the flood of ecumenism that followed.
Unfortunately, when most ordinary unbelievers think of Christianity, apostate celebrity pastors like Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes and Rick Warren all come to mind. All of them have expressed excitement and even participation in Francis’ recent visit to America. Osteen told the Christian Post,
I like the Pope. I like that he’s making the Catholic Church more open to bring people in and not exclude them. He’s a man of the people. I like what he stands for — humility, reaching out to others and he’s not so formal that people can’t relate to him.
T.D. Jakes is also expressing ecumenism with the Roman Catholic Church. On Facebook, Jakes posted a photo of himself with his wife at the nation’s capital. Jakes wrote:
A special thanks to President Obama for his VIP invitation to attend such a historical event. As the world watches this international figure move through our country, let’s pray that the Pope’s journey is safe! At a time when so little is said positive about faith in our country, let’s pray for his safe passage regardless of our differences of views about faith. It is our LOVE that’s on trial here and our understanding of the question; Who is my neighbor?
On Wednesday, Jakes also uploaded an Instagram photo of himself with Rick Warren as they waited together at the White House for the pontiff’s arrival. Jakes says:
Sharing a fascinating moment in history with my brother @pastorrickwarren ! So good to see you. A very diverse crowd of VIP’s produced a very provocative conversation about our times!!! Left me with so many deep thoughts on which I can reflect!!!
These well-known evangelical celebrity pastors are joining themselves with Roman Catholicism in an ecumenical fashion in order to promote a false unity by agreeing to disagree over the issues which divide them. In reality, both religious groups have wandered from the narrow way which leads to life (Matthew 7:14).
In Rick Warren Caved in on Marriage at Vatican Conference, I noted how Warren blasphemously called Francis the “Holy Father,” in his speech. Last week, Warren gave the final keynote address of the World Meeting of Families conference, sharing the stage with Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley. Once again, Warren called the Pope “Holy Father”!
In the closing of his speech, Warren referred to Cardinal O’Malley as “Your Eminence.” “Your Eminence” remains in use as the official standard of address in reference to a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, reflecting his status as a Prince of the Church. Again, these are titles reserved for Jesus Christ, the Prince of life (Acts 3:15), and the Prince and Savior (Acts 5:31).
Clearly, these titles of recognized religious superiority are an abomination to God. Jesus said, “For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15). Moreover, Jesus opposed religious titles like “Rabbi” and “Father”, let alone “Holy Father” which is reserved for God alone. According to Jesus, we are all “brethren.” He said,
The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. (Matthew 23:1-9)
Warren knows better! His use of Roman Catholic titles like “Holy Father” and “Your Eminence” is indeed blasphemous and disobedient to Jesus Christ. Warren wants to be religiously correct to Roman Catholics. Warren also said, “Not everybody is a priest.” But the Scriptures teach the priesthood of all believers. The Apostle Peter calls Christians a “holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5) and a “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9). Warren’s full speech can be viewed here.
Warren is not the only one referring to the Pope as “Holy Father.” The Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis who opposed homosexual marriage licenses also called Francis “Holy Father.” Apparently Francis met privately with Davis during his visit in the US. According to Christian News:
“The pope spoke in English,” she told Robert Moynihan of Inside the Vatican. “There was no interpreter. ‘Thank you for your courage,’ Pope Francis said to me. I said, ‘Thank you, Holy Father.’”
Davis said that she asked a Catholic “monsignor” if it would be okay to hug the pontiff, and was told that the greeting would be permissible.
“So I hugged him, and he hugged me back. It was an extraordinary moment,” she relayed. “‘Stay strong,’ he said to me. Then he gave me a rosary as a gift, and he gave one also to my husband, Joe. I broke into tears. I was deeply moved.”
Davis advised that she plans on giving the rosaries to her parents, who are both Roman Catholic.
“[H]e said to me, ‘Please pray for me.’ And I said to him, ‘Please pray for me also, Holy Father.’ And he assured me that he would pray for me,” she recalled.
For those who thought Fracnis’ visit with Kim Davis was a conservative endorsement, Francis also privately met with a homosexual couple in the US the day before meeting Davis. CNN says:
The day before Pope Francis met anti-gay county clerk Kim Davis in Washington last week, he held a private meeting with a longtime friend from Argentina who has been in a same-sex relationship for 19 years.
Yayo Grassi, an openly gay man, brought his partner, Iwan Bagus, as well several other friends to the Vatican Embassy on September 23 for a brief visit with the Pope. A video of the meeting shows Grassi and Francis greeting each other with a warm hug. . . .
The two encounters — one with a gay couple and one with a government official who ardently opposes homosexuality — have left the Vatican scrambling to issue statements that seek to de-politicize the Pope’s meetings and agenda. . . .
Grassi, who is 67, added that he is willing to talk about his private moment with the pontiff because he was upset about media coverage of the Pope’s meeting with Davis.
“I want to show the truth of who Pope Francis is,” he said.
Pope Francis taught Grassi in literature and psychology classes at Inmaculada Concepcion, a Catholic high school in Sante Fe, Argentina, from 1964-1965. Grassi said that he is now an atheist.
Grassi said the Pope has long known that he is gay, but has never condemned his sexuality or his same-sex relationship. In the video, Francis says he recalls meeting Grassi’s boyfriend in Rome.
“He has never been judgmental,” Grassi said. “He has never said anything negative.”
Never said anything negative? This is not surprising. Francis may wash prisoners’ feet like Jesus, but He cannot say with Jesus, “[The world] hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil” (John 7:7). I have covered how Francis says good atheists will go to heaven and that he will not judge homosexuals. Earlier this year, Francis met with a transgender Spaniard at the Vatican whom he told, “You are a son of God and the Church loves you and accepts you as you are.” In stark contrast, the Apostle Peter said, “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him” (Acts 10:34,35).
With the leadership of Purpose Driven Pope Warren and Roman Catholic Pope Francis, both Protestants and Roman Catholics are falling for the ecumenical vision of work together for the common good. See my article More on Rick Warren’s Ecumenical Purpose. A recent example of the Roman Catholics buying into Warren’s false unity is what Cardinal O’Malley said about Warren:
It’s important that Rick Warren is here. This is a witness of unity that’s important in today’s world, as we strive to proclaim the gospel of life: the need to protect every human being from the first moment of conception until natural death, to defend the family as a sanctuary of life, and family as a sacred calling described on the first pages of the Bible as a man who leaves his mother and father to be joined in one flesh to his wife. It’s a great consolation to share this stage with a fellow Christian who is truly committed to preaching the Gospel. We are truly blessed by his presence and his friendship.
On the contrary, Pope Francis recently delegated bishops the power to annul marriages. On the contrary, Rick Warren is hardly committed to preaching the Gospel. Warren is committed to a Purpose Driven ecumenical agenda of false unity. If Warren wants to preach the Gospel, he ought to strongly rebuke the Pope for his unbiblical practices, especially those done during his recent visit to America. For instance, Francis led thousands in prayer to Mary and Joseph. According to Christian News:
During his final remarks at the Festival of Families in Philadelphia, the Roman Catholic pontiff Jorge Bergoglio, known as “Pope Francis,” led the thousands in attendance in a prayer to Mary and Joseph out of his belief that the former earthly parents of Christ serve as protectors of families in the present.
“Before the final blessing, let’s pray a prayer to Mary and also an invocation to Saint Joseph, so that they can protect our families and they can help us to believe that it’s worth the struggle and the fight for the good of the family,” he said at the conclusion of the event, which included song and dance from various musical celebrities, as well as speeches from Catholic families from around the world.
Francis then led the crowd in the “Hail Mary,” who recited the common prayer with him.
“Hail Mary, full of grace, our Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus,” he prayed. “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”
The Roman Catholic leader immediately followed the prayer with an invocation to Joseph.
“Saint Joseph, pray for us. Saint Joseph, pray for us. Saint Joseph, pray for us,” he repeated three times. “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
Never is there a single example in Scripture of a righteous person praying to the dead. Jesus taught us to pray: “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name” (Matthew 6:9); “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven” (Luke 11:12). “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). It is Christ who makes intercession for us:
Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercessionfor us. (Romans 8:34)
Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)
According to The Washington Post, “Pope Francis singled out four ‘great Americans’ during his speech before Congress on Thursday.” One of whom was Thomas Merton, a “Trappist monk and one of the most influential Catholic writers of the 20th century.” The Pope described Merton as “above all a man of prayer, a thinker who challenged the certitudes of his time and opened new horizons for souls and for the church. He was also a man of dialogue, a promoter of peace between peoples and religions.” See video below:
The Francis concluded:
A nation can be considered great when it defends liberty as Lincoln did, when it fosters a culture which enables people to “dream” of full rights for all their brothers and sisters, as Martin Luther King sought to do; when it strives for justice and the cause of the oppressed, as Dorothy Day did by her tireless work, the fruit of a faith which becomes dialogue and sows peace in the contemplative style of Thomas Merton.
Who is Thomas Merton? Lighthouse Trails is one online discernment ministry which has chronicled contemplative influences within the professing Church. When LT learned about “contemplative spirituality (also known as the spiritual formation movement),” they “came to realize it had entered the church through a number of avenues—Willow Creek, Purpose Driven, and the emerging church just to name a few of the more prominent ones.” In Letter to the Editor: Pope Francis Points to the “Contemplative” “Thomas Merton” in Speech to Congress . . . And the Role This Could Play in a One-World Religion, LT reports:
On the morning of September 24th, Lighthouse Trails posted an article by Ray Yungen titled “Contemplative Spirituality – the Source of the Catholic Church’s Expansion” “Coincidentally,” one hour later, Lighthouse Trails was contacted and told that the Catholic Church’s Jesuit Pope Francis talked about Thomas Merton (using the term contemplative to describe him) when he addressed Congress. Shortly later, Lighthouse Trails received this letter to the editor below.
The fact that Pope Francis referred to Merton (and his “contemplative style”) when talking to Congress and our nation is probably one of the heaviest things we have encountered since beginning Lighthouse Trails 13 years ago. We have suspected but now believe that Pope Francis has the capability of orchestrating a one-world religion. As one Merton scholar explained: “The God [Merton] knew in prayer was the same experience that Buddhists describe in their enlightenment.” In other words, Merton found Buddhist enlightenment in contemplative prayer.
Quoting from page 211 of Brennan Manning’s The Signature of Jesus, citing Merton’s biographer, William Shannon, LT says, “Merton’s view that God was in every person is summed up in this statement”:
During a conference on contemplative prayer, the question was put to Thomas Merton: “How can we best help people to attain union with God?” His answer was very clear: We must tell them that they are already united with God. “Contemplative prayer is nothing other than ‘coming into consciousness’ of what is already there.”
For more on contemplative prayer, see Ray Yungen on Contemplative Prayer. Below is an excerpt from Ray Yungen’s booklet, A Serious Look at Richard Foster’s “School” of Contemplative Prayer:
Thomas Merton, a Catholic monk, is the most widely recognized of the modern-day contemplative writers. His influence is enormous in the contemplative field. Richard Foster quotes Merton over a dozen times in Celebration of Discipline and in other books as well, and many other evangelicals also quote Merton. The following entry from Merton’s published work, The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton (written during his last trip to Asia*) speaks volumes as to Merton’s spiritual sympathies:
“We went looking first for Chatral Rimpoche [a Tibetan holy man] at his hermitage above Ghoom. . . . We were told he was at an ani gompa, a nunnery, down the road. . . . So off we went toward Bagdogra and with some difficulty found the tiny nunnery . . . and there was Chatral, the greatest rimpoche [a Buddhist teacher] I have met so far and a very impressive person.
“. . . We started talking about dzogchen and Nyingmapa meditation and “direct realization” and soon saw that we agreed very well. . . . The unspoken or half-spoken message of the talk was our complete understanding of each other as people who were somehow on the edge of great realization . . . and that it was a grace for us to meet one another. I wish I could see more of Chatral. He burst out and called me a rangjung Sangay (which apparently means a “natural Buddha”) . . . He told me, seriously, that perhaps he and I would attain to complete Buddhahood in our next lives, perhaps even in this life, and the parting note was a kind of compact that we would both do our best to make it in this life. I was profoundly moved, because he is so obviously a great man, the true practitioner of dzogchen, the best of the Nyingmapa lamas, marked by complete simplicity and freedom. He was surprised at getting on so well with a Christian and at one point laughed and said, “There must be something wrong here!” If I were going to settle down with a Tibetan guru, I think Chatral would be the one I’d choose.”5 (emphasis added)
An equally revealing aspect of Merton’s Asian trip is what he experienced at a Buddhist shrine in Ceylon:
“. . . an inner clearness, clarity, as if exploding from the rocks themselves, became evident and obvious. . . . All problems are resolved and everything is clear, simply because what matters is clear. The rock, all matter, all life, is charged with dharmakaya [the unity of all things and all people]. . . I don’t know when in my life I have ever had such a sense of beauty and spiritual validity running together in one aesthetic illumination. Surely . . . my Asian pilgrimage has come clear and purified itself. I . . . have seen what I was obscurely looking for. I don’t know what else remains.”6 (emphasis added)
Why would someone who was so heavily involved in “Christian” mysticism be so entwined in and enthusiastically embracing of Buddhist mysticism? I considered titling this booklet Something’s Wrong Here because even though Chatral meant it in a positive way, when he said those words to Merton, he himself was shocked that Merton, a professing Christian, was basically on the same page as him and that they were able to fellowship.
One of Merton’s biographers, William Shannon, made this very clear when he explained:
“If one wants to understand Merton’s going to the East it is important to understand that it was his rootedness in his own faith tradition [Catholicism] that gave him the spiritual equipment [contemplative prayer] he needed to grasp the way of wisdom that is proper to the East.”7
What Merton meant by “dharmakaya” is actually what the New Age and eastern religions callcosmic consciousness (i.e., God is in everything and everybody.) But Foster, in his book Celebration of Discipline, guarantees the reader that what he’s promoting will not lead to cosmic consciousness. He states, “It involves no hidden mysteries, no secret mantras, no mental gymnastics, no esoteric flights into the cosmic consciousness.”
But I do not expect Warren to expose the false teachings of Francis and Roman Catholicism. In the past, Warren has also endorsed the contemplative spiritual disciplines like those of Thomas Merton.
On page 126 of The Purpose Driven Church, Warren lists “five major parachurch movements” which seem to focus on a single purpose that he believes is “valid and even helpful to the church.” Among those, he listed what he called “The Discipleship/Spiritual Formations Movement.” Among the authors included in this movement, he listed Richard Foster and Dallas Willard who “underscored the importance of building up Christians and establishing personal spiritual disciplines.” This “Spiritual Formation Movement” promotes contemplative prayer through the “spiritual disciplines.” The spiritual formation movement often points to Catholic mystics such as Henri Nouwen and Thomas Merton, and teachers such as Richard Foster and Dallas Willard. In Dallas Willard’s book The Spirit of the Disciplines (which sounds similar to Richard Foster’s book Celebration of Discipline), Willard quotes from Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen. Below Warren tweets Nouwen:
In my 2002 edition of The Purpose Driven Life, Warren endorses contemplative “spiritual disciplines” (221) and “breath prayers” (299). For instance, Warren says, “The Bible tells us to ‘pray all the time.’ How is it possible to do this? One way is to use “breath prayers” throughout the day, as many Christians have done for centuries. You choose a brief sentence or a simple phrase that can be repeated to Jesus in one breath” (89). It’s not difficult to see how one could interpret Warren’s instruction in such a way that is clearly denounced by Jesus in Matthew 6:7. Repeating phrases “throughout the day” or “all the time” is not a practice taught in the Bible. Even Jesus ceased from prayer (Luke 11:1). See more on Warren’s contemplative mysticism in our film Church of Tares.
Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables (2 Timothy 4:2-4).
SEE ALSO:
Pope Francis Delegates Bishops the Power to Annul Marriages