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-An Open Letter to Oprah Winfrey and Eckhart Tolle- A Christian Response to Eckhart Tolle’s: A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose
By Dr. Ron Woodworth Introduction I first heard of Eckhart Tolle when dear friends of ours mentioned they had, out of curiosity, ordered a copy of his latest book A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, after hearing of it advertised on the Oprah Winfrey show. The more we discussed the content and popularity of the book the more certain I was that I should read, research, and write a response (rather than a reaction) from a “Christian” perspective. My objective here is to present an article that is informed by my experience as an adjunct professor of world religions, a seminary graduate, a published Christian apologist, and a former senior pastoral leader. Please know that in the article that follows there is absolutely no judgmentalism, resentment or vitriol in my intention. In fact, I am quite certain that Tolle and Winfrey are both sincerely seeking to bring awareness to many of those who have felt alienated from the irrelevance of legalistic “religion,” be it Christian or otherwise. I also share their . . .
Empowered Evangelicals (1990’s+) (By Dr. Ron Woodworth) There is a new breed of Evangelicals who have been emerging on the scene of global Christian renewal since the 1990’s. These Evangelicals are different than their predecessors in one primary way--the synthesis they seek to bring between certain components of the Charismatic renewal (1960’s-1990’s) and the historic doctrines of the Reformation-Reformed eras vis-à-vis the theology of Martin Luther and John Calvin. In this article, rather than a prolonged narrative, I will simply attempt to briefly highlight a number of key characteristics-issues regarding and/or accompanying the emergence of these New Evangelicals (NE). 1. The Empowering Holy Spirit and Charismatic Charlatans… New Evangelicals have experienced an undeniable empowering (“baptism”) of the Holy Spirit, generally as a result of some acquaintance/association with the Charismatic renewal (Acts 1:8; 2:1-4). There is debate over the manifestation of speaking in tongues2, but all new evangelicals are quite comfortable acknowledging the validity of spiritual gifts for today—including tongues, prophecy, healing, etc. [See 1 Cor. 1:7 for Paul’s expectation that charismatic gifts would continue (vs. cease with the biblical canon) right up until the return of Christ.] However, NE’s also have a general, if not determined, distaste for how sensationalized the charismatic gifts and ministries have become in the name of Christian television, radio, and the printed media. Too many charismatic charlatans are masquerading as “powerful ministries”, which have in fact become little more than a front for financially fleecing the flock of God with a distorted version of the “seed money” doctrine—promising financial gain, marriage partners, obedient children, salvation of family members, supernatural healing from disease, new cars and clothes, ad nauseam in return for . . . |
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