Article by Ida Greenwood quoting theological feminist Sue Monk Kidd:
Everyone comes to the table with a world view. Our world view makes a difference. It is the lens, the perception of reality that we interpret and live our lives through. It is the basis of our thoughts, our feelings, our words and our actions. We develop our worldview through our family, our own cognitive abilities, our communities and culture, our language and our life experiences. It becomes the platform from which we interact with the world.
My world view was radically changed when I became a Christian in my early 30's. It changed suddenly, upon conversion. What I used to believe, what my world view used to be, was very similar to what Sue Monk Kidd writes about in her book, When the Heart Waits. For many years, from age 18 until I was 32 years old, I read and studied as much as I could about spiritual matters, occult experiences, eastern mysticism, paganism and spiritual psychology. During my 4th year of university, I studied the I Ching and Taoism, under a Chinese professor, and used such things as coins and yarrow stalks to divine the way for the day. We looked for and found synchronistic events pointing here and there and to who knows what. Oh, it was certainly "deep" and it was certainly "mystical". It was all those things, but it certainly wasn't Jesus! I even did what Sue Monk Kidd so studiously does; she holds a Bible in one hand and a favorite, pagan-of-the-day writer in the other. Therefore, when I read Sue Monk Kidd's book and her bibliography, I recognized some of my old friends from my Journey Away from God. I am just going to mention some of Monk Kidd's closest friends and influences, and give you their world view.
Alan Jones:
Monk Kidd references several books by one of her favourite authors, Alan Jones. Among her references are: Reimagining Christianity: Reconnect Your Spirit and Soulmaking.
In Reimagining Christianity, Jones is a proponent of the heresy that there is an evolution in human consciousness, which he views as centuries ahead of the spiritual primitiveness of literal belief in the Bible. (pg. 209-210) He does not necessarily believe that events in the Bible actually happened, but that, even as a child, he has read the Bible as a metaphor or moral story for humankind. The evolution of the human consciousness also implies evolution of the spirit. The goal of Jones' book is to reinvent Christianity because, in his opinion,
“ Religion is broken, and something needs to be done to fix it. It needs to be reinvented . . . Many of us feel that the old story of religion — the way it makes sense of our place in creation — is in need of serious revision.... We need a new way of telling the Great Story.”
Given that premise, he states, “This book is about Christianity and how its practice can be redefined as art. .” Further on in his work, Jones introduces the idea of Jesus as a literary metaphor! Given this mindset, where most of the Bible is simply a metaphor, SMK can pull any Scripture out to mean anything that she wants it to mean. For instance, on page 58, SMK uses Adam naming the animals as her instruction to spend long weeks looking within and naming all the inner patterns of false selves that imprison us, in "order to know them more fully and gain power over these false selves." However, the Bible says, "We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin." (Romans 6:6)
All of SMK's use of fairy tales, the Bible as a metaphor and her emphasis on learning about the false selves ; the perfectionist, the people pleaser, the good little girl false self, is a way of avoiding a truthful, honest reading of the Bible. She really needs to know what the Scripture says about such false selves. "But that is not the way you learned Christ! ---assuming (italics mine) that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Eph 4:20-24
Jesus clearly teaches us that "If you abide in my word... you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."... "Truly, truly, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin....so, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:31-36). "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." 2 Cor. 5:17.
Unfortunately, SMK has spent too much time abiding in herself, and not abiding in His word. There are many misuses of Scripture found in SMK's book. In his critique, David has briefly spoken about this problem. "Monk Kidd's use of Scripture is, when she uses it, appalling. Passages are lifted out of context and twisted around to communicate ideas alien to Scripture." Under the influence of Jones and others, Monk Kidd also refers to "spiritual evolving " not only in the first chapter of her book, but all throughout her new worldview:
"I wonder if waiting was the 'missing link' in spiritual evolving, the lost and forgotten experience..." (pg.14) and "The life of the soul evolves and grows as we move through these three cycles...Life is full of cocoons. We die and are reborn again and again....we're brought closer each time to wholeness and the True Self." (pg. 78). "We can't really go back to the old sunshine; instead, we're being drawn to a new Light." (pg.154). "One of the more difficult questions about spiritual transformation is, ...if I grow and evolve..." (pg.178). "The real essence of spiritual transformation is about realizing ...our inner Christ-nature;" (pg. 181).
Please take note that SMK is a talented writer, a wordsmith. When she uses a word, she has chosen it carefully to evoke the sentiment and the meaning that she wishes to convey. When SMK uses the word 'evolve or evolving', she is not tossing it around lightly. She is using it within the context of the East/West spiritual philosophy that was and is so prevalent today. Also keep in mind that her audience is not just Christians, and she is saying that everyone has the inner Christ-nature and therefore can evolve into ....Christ. Read the two following quotes carefully and listen to what she is actually saying,
"...we're being thrust into personal transformation, into the task of birthing an 'I' that is not yet. ...however, we're actually being presented with a spiritual developmental task. We're being asked to unfold a deeper self-- what we might call the life of Christ within us."...(pg.8-10)
"Jesus was walking, talking, compassion. As we're able to live more of our True Self, that's what we become as well. We become Christ..." (pg.202).
...During the 1970's and 80's, there was a resurgence of interest in "spiritual evolution". People were using the writings of Catholic theologian, Teilhard de Chardin, to (perhaps errantly) develop a philosophy of spiritual evolution. In 1972 my husband and I studied under the "mentorship" of an active Catholic priest who believed in and taught this spiritual evolutionary idea. Under this false doctrine, we believed that all people have a 'divine light' in them that can eventually, with the correct spiritual practices and guidance, become as Christ, even cosmically conscious. Wow! That was heady stuff! Much like SMK, we were elated (I quote from her book) that, "Spiritual growth has no boundaries." (pg. 204) So, from there, we studied every spiritual (east and west) ideology that presented itself to us, every Jungian psychology aberration that appeared on our horizon, and all the mystical, esoteric mumbo-jumbo that comes along with it. We didn't need a Savior, because we didn't need saving! We just needed a spiritual Chiropractor, someone who could just re-align our thinking a bit, so that we could continue to realize our "potential of the divine fire within." Finally, after many years of being entrapped in this nonsense, God delivered us from the cosmic soup and compost heaps of man-made religion. We met the living Jesus Christ, who lived and died and was resurrected by the power of God. He died as atonement for my sins and my sin- nature, He shed his blood, so that I could become free of the power of sin and destruction. He died so that I may have life and have it abundantly. And that life is the indwelling life of the Holy Spirit, who knows the thoughts and the heart of the Father, and will give that to me as He pleases. There is nothing dull or boring about this kind of Christian life. No need for a mid-life crisis because whenever dark nights, doubts and demons assail me, I have Jesus, the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, my faithful husband and friend, my church and her faithful teachings, and faith-filled friends to pray for me.
Bernice Bruteau
Early in her book, SMK discovers and identifies her personal spiritual mentor, Dr. Bernice Bruteau.(pg. 35) one of the foremost proponents of "Spiritual Evolution". Dr. Bruteau was a powerful influence in Sue Monk Kidd's life and writings. To give you an idea of who she is and what she believes, I have quoted an interview with Dr. Bruteau that was done by EnlightenNext magazine. (Sept.-Dec. 2006 issue)
An interview with Dr. Beatrice Bruteau
by Amy Edelstein and Ellen Daly
WIE: In this issue we are exploring spiritual evolution and the relationship between enlightenment and evolution. You are one of the pioneering thinkers in evolutionary spirituality and your work has been devoted to bringing an evolutionary view to Christian contemplative life. In your book, God's Ecstasy, you have said, "Evolution is a part of religious life.
You also say in your books that Self-realization, or enlightenment, is “the foundation for evolution”. Do you mean that for the next step of evolution to occur, we must transcend our ego motivations, those impulses that fundamentally keep us separate from each other?
Bruteau: Yes. Self-realization is the condition for forming the next creative union because we must bring the characteristic human energy to the place where we can intentionally share it. To form a truly New Being, to make another Great Step in evolution, we have to unite the deepest, most central energies of consciousness. This depth is currently buried and hidden in most of us. Yet, we also sense that it is there, waiting to be brought into full presence, and so we do various spiritual practices in the hope of becoming fully aware of our deep reality. It’s important that we make a big effort to realize the True Self —otherwise we’re running entirely on the motives to exploit and dominate —the motives that are endangering the world.
WIE: What do you mean by “deep reality”?
Bruteau: Deep reality is that place in the center of our being where we experience our existence in an unlimited way. The deep self is not defined, not described by any of the qualities of our bodies or personalities, by our histories or social positions, our jobs, or our religions. This is fairly hard to realize. We tend to think of ourselves, introduce ourselves to others, believe others are seeing us in terms of these qualities. In meditation and its associated practices, we try to center ourselves in our sense of existing without identifying with these descriptors. To the extent that we become accustomed to this, we may spontaneously behave in a new way.
You can see from this how our energy is affected. When we define ourselves in terms of our qualities, we have to devote energy to protecting them and trying to gain more valuable ones —more beauty, personality, wealth, power, social status. But if we liberate ourselves from such identity, then all that energy becomes available for the radiation of goodwill to others. We have realized ourselves as the Self that says only I AM, with no predicate following, not “I am a this” or “I have that quality.” Only unlimited, absolute I AM.
And the interesting thing is that as soon as you experience yourself this way, you at once find that you also are saying toward the whole world, “Let it be!” It seems to be the nature of that which is I AM to say, “Let it be.” This is the love that is called “agape.” Agape is the love that seeks the being, well-being, full being, ever-fuller being, of the beloved. It is a love that is not a reaction to the beloved but rather a first action, an action beginning in you, coming out from the center of your being because of the nature of your being. This energy of love is inexhaustible. It doesn’t have to be reserved or apportioned or used economically. It is plentiful, bountiful, enormous. It is a dynamic out-flowing activity, energy. It’s constantly in motion and radiant, like a star is radiant. It streams out from us in every way. The True Self in us is constantly radiating this willed goodness. " (end of quote)
SMK's mentor, Dr. Bruteau, who has been developing this apostate philosophy for many years before this interview, has been instrumental in moving SMK towards "self-realization" and "enlightenment". The use of words and phrases such as, 'the True Self that is buried and hidden', and 'this love that seeks the being' and "center ourselves in our sense of existing without identifying with these descriptors' are echoed and reverberate over and over and over again in SMK's book. An early example of Bruteau/Monk Kidd's 'existing without descriptors' is found on page 10 of When the Heart Waits. "This transition is difficult because it involves a real breakdown of our old spiritual and psychic structures--the old masks and personas that have served us well in the past but that no longer fit..... Perfectionist, Performer, Pleaser, Good Little Girl, submissive church goer, passive and traditional wife---(pg. 10) When, on the fourth page of her book, SMK says that she was summoned over to a "crossing over from one identity to another", I honestly think that she had moved right out from under the wing and protection of God, no longer abiding in Christ, if she ever did, and was easy target and prey for spiritual forces of darkness. It seems that people like Sue Monk Kidd "did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own...they do not submit to God's righteousness."(Romans 10:3)
Maggie Ross: Another favourite mystic and theologian that has shaped SMK's new theology is Maggie Ross and her work, The Fire of Your Life. In The Fire of Your Life, Maggie Ross states, "The fire of God, the life of the blessed Trinity, dwells in the heart of all beings, of every person, of you and of me. It is the source of the inframutability of energy, matter, Spirit, the convergence of all the goodness of the universe in one eternal moment. It burns away the veil between life and death and enables us to share God's own life with one another and with those who have gone before. Often our lives seem disconnected fragments, [but ] this fiery love, this burning life, enfolds us within itself, and all ...that is within each of us."
Monk Kidd refers to a "burning bush" experience on pg. 79 which she says is a "moment the divine fire inside is struck and the summons to separation or exodus comes." On page 156 Kidd says that after she attended an Easter service, she carried a tiny piece of the Easter fire inside herself. "This fire, which belongs to us all, is nothing less than the pulse of new life within the soul." This is a replica of Maggie Ross's view of reality. On page 48 we find Kidd saying that the soul is the seat of the inner Divine, the God-image, the truest part of us and that entering it, greening it and developing the divine seed that awaits realization is the soulmaker's task. (pg. 47-51) "We can think of the Self as already within us, ...a potentiality striving to become realized in us...as a bulb buried in the dark ground of my unconscious, seeking to push into the conscious light...winding and growing toward realization." (pg.51).
I then must ask, "Who needs an outside God to come into this world as an infant, to suffer and die on the cross as the legal substitution for my sin and then to be raised to life?" Again I ask, "Who needs all of that if I already have a built-in God that I just need to tend to like a seed or bulb in the garden?"
On page 61, SMK says that, "..'light' emanates not from our achievements, but from the divine fire within our soul." When SMK talks about this divine fire in our soul, she is not talking about the Holy Spirit. The Bible clearly teaches that the Holy Spirit is a gift given, as separate from unregenerate mankind. People may call themselves Christian, but do not necessarily have the Holy Spirit living in them and through their lives. The Holy Spirit is not automatically in every soul because the Spirit is promised by Jesus, "I will ask the Father and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth." and "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things..."(John 14:15-26). So, it is plain to see that Maggie Ross's assertion that "the fire of God, the blessed Trinity,...the source of energy, matter and Spirit, dwells in the heart of every living person," is not true according to Scripture. It is false. And all of SMK's poetic gyrations around such nonsense is false as well.
Monk Kidd...begins chapter five with a quote from their book Thinking Like a Mountain: Towards a Council of All Beings. (pg. 101) "I am caterpillar. The leaves I eat taste bitter. But dimly I sense a great change coming. What I offer you humans is my willingness to dissolve and transform. I do that without knowing what the end result will be."
Other excerpts from Thinking Like a Mountain show us the further development of the pantheistic worldview... "Every atom in this body existed before organic life emerged 4000 million years ago. Remember our childhood as minerals, as lava, as rocks? Rocks have the potentiality to weave themselves into such stuff as this. We are the rocks dancing" and "we are part of the rainforest recently emerged into thinking" (p. 36). "Relax and breathe in, breathe in Mountain, I feel my rock-roots go deep, deep down to where the Earth herself is very hot" (p. 80)
We can readily see this influence on SMK's thinking as she states, "One of the more unexpected gifts that I began to discover was the wedding of my soul with creation....a deepening sense of oneness with it....[it can be] expressed like this: (as SMK quotes another author,) "...that feeling of being part of everything, not separate at all. I knew that if I cut a tree, my arm would bleed." (pg. 189-90). "As the True Self is born within us, ...the illusion of separateness is shattered. We discover that God so loved the world that God gave us each other. We enter a vibrant knowing that we're one with every creature." pg. 200.
The Scripture admonishes such pagan thinking in Galations 4: 8-9 "Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now,...how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more."
As you can see, SMK's book is chalk full of false doctrine that is encased in the slippery use of poetic language. It is a personal spiritual journal that has become a dangerous and counterfeit rendition of the work and word of God. It is a dark light on a dark path.
Lynnette Woods says in Unveiling, "Religion is certainly a confusion of many voices, it is a mixture of what is true and false that God must divide in order to reveal what is of Him and what is not.....From the Garden of Eden to the end of this world, the mixing of truth with error remains a very successful means of deceiving and seducing us. In the book of Revelation in reference to Babylon is written, 'by your magic spells and poisonous charm all nations were led astray, seduced and deluded. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints...' (Rev. 18:23,24), and the cry to us all is: 'Come out from her, My people, so that you may not share in her sins, neither participate in her plagues...'" There are some things which God must divide and separate and which we must reject and turn away from. "
The changes that my world view is undergoing is all about believing what Jesus says, it's about believing the Bible and living that out on a daily basis. It is a process, sometimes a long and arduous one, as the Holy Spirit reveals to me what I believe and how I act, and how to become more like Jesus Christ. I pray that I would never change my worldview for the likes of SMK's.
Sincerely,
Ida Greenwood
"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ." Colossians 2:8
