Purpose Driven life... A good thing, heresy or merely misguided?

[Timothy]

At the request of Karen and June... I'm starting a new thread on the PDL.

A local church has started doing this course, and we were very concerned about the content, and began to do some research, and our argument is as follows:

Firstly it is founded on an incorrect premise. The Bible does NOT tell us to be purpose driven, in fact the only times it talks about things being driven are God driving out evil. For example the Hittites, Perrozites, etc. were driven out of the Promised land, Christ drove seven kinds of demons out of Mary Magdalen, etc. Something being driven is an inanimate object being driven by a dominating active subject. God doesn't want to dominate us in that way, rather he wants us to make the choice to follow him, daily. The bible talks about leading and guiding, such as Psalm 23... It's not "You drive me to streams of quiet water" but "You lead me beside streams of quiet water." God is the shepherd who goes at the head of his flock, not the driver of the motorcar of our lives.

Secondly, Rick Warren has no idea of what the phrase 'Biblical scholarship' mean. His idea of Biblical scholarship is plainly that you can take verses and half-verses out of context to prove a case. This is not so. 2 half-verses do not make a bible verse, 2 verses from two different places to not make a passage. Proper Biblical exegesis requires taking a passage as whole and seeing what God says, rather than starting with a premise and trying to support it.

In this he also uses translations as "the Bible" which cannot truly be called authoratative Scripture, i.e. The Message and the Contemporary English Version. Whether both these paraphrases are useful for taking a fresh look at Scripture, they cannot be counted as truly being God's Word. For as in a court case, when an Interpreter/Translator interprets a non-english speaker, they have very strict rules about colouring what is being said, they MUST translate verbatim, surely we should have stricter standards when it comes to the Word of God?

Thirdly, he makes promises of his book which only God can keep. He promises changed lives, he hypes the book so you would think it's more important than scripture, he makes a big deal of the 40 days business... all in the name of helping people.

Fourthly, and most importantly, he does NOT preach the redemption of sin. Coming from an Anglican background where we confess at the beginning of the service, sin is an important part. It is what seperates us from God. He doesn't preach that in his book. He doesn't even preach "Jesus Christ Life Insurance" (to quote Simon_Templar) his version of the 'sinners prayer' contains no space for repentance, nor does any of the course. That's NOT the Good News (Gospel) that we have recieved.

We feel (as a family) these four things (among others equally serious, but more academic missiology) mean that the course is sufficiently dangerous that it should not be used in sound Christ-teaching churches. The whole Purpose Driven Movement which is spreading is even more dangerous because it has other things involved which are truly scary involved in it.

Timothy

 

[karen freeinchristman]

At the request of Karen and June... I'm starting a new thread on the PDL.

Thanks, Timothy!

Firstly it is founded on an incorrect premise. The Bible does NOT tell us to be purpose driven...

...God doesn't want to dominate us in that way, rather he wants us to make the choice to follow him, daily. The bible talks about leading and guiding

Okay, so far it's near-enough semantics...
He is basically saying that our purpose is to worship God, if I remember correctly (it's been over a year since I've read it).

Secondly, Rick Warren has no idea of what the phrase 'Biblical scholarship' mean. ...

...In this he also uses translations as "the Bible" which cannot truly be called authoratative Scripture, i.e. The Message and the Contemporary English Version.

Fair points here.

Thirdly, he makes promises of his book which only God can keep. He promises changed lives, he hypes the book so you would think it's more important than scripture, he makes a big deal of the 40 days business... all in the name of helping people.

probably true.

Fourthly, and most importantly, he does NOT preach the redemption of sin.

to be honest, I didn't notice that on first reading. I'll have to check back on this one, thought I'm sure you wouldn't say it if it weren't true!

We feel (as a family) these four things (among others equally serious, but more academic missiology) mean that the course is sufficiently dangerous that it should not be used in sound Christ-teaching churches.

Probably true.

The whole Purpose Driven Movement which is spreading is even more dangerous because it has other things involved which are truly scary involved in it.

Intriguing.

 

[Timothy]

Okay, so far it's near-enough semantics...
He is basically saying that our purpose is to worship God, if I remember correctly (it's been over a year since I've read it).

No. Purpose Driven as a theology is dangerous. The Holy Spirit leading us is totally missed out, we are supposed to be driven by our 'purposes', which are 5 rather arbitrarily picked things anyway...

If you want the complete academic defense that my father wrote, I can send it, though

Timothy

 

[gtsecc]

On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius the Great

or

Against Heresies by Irenaeus

or

if you have to read something modern

The Shape of The Liturgy by Dom Gregory Dix

 

[Timothy]

Exactly. We recommend Alpha or Christianity Explored if a church wants a good basic course.

Timothy

 

[AngCath]

I have not been exposed to a Purpose Driven anything so far other than seeing it at the book store but I am curious to see what you all have to say about it.

 

[karen freeinchristman]

No. Purpose Driven as a theology is dangerous. The Holy Spirit leading us is totally missed out, we are supposed to be driven by our 'purposes', which are 5 rather arbitrarily picked things anyway...

If you want the complete academic defense that my father wrote, I can send it, though

Timothy

I don't want the complete academic defense! I don't have time to read it right now...

Timothy, I'm not trying to defend PDL at all. When I first read it, I thought it was good, but that was over a year ago, like I said, and I have been on a near-vertical learning curve since then! I did not look at things in a theologically critical way back then.

I would honestly have to look at it again to be able to say much more, and frankly I don't have time at the moment.

For now, I'll trust what you say! Because I know that you and your family have looked much more deeply into it than I have.

We'll have to see if June posts anything different about this. (go easy on her, though, she's my mum!)

 

[gtsecc]

I know you have. You are fascinating.
Read Shape of the Liturgy.
It will change your theology and your life!
I think you will love it.

 

[Simon_Templar]

My personal opinion is that the PDL is the latest installment in a growing line of pop theology fads which offer more in the way of motivational speaking, than real content.

They substitute catch phrases like "purpose driven" and "WWJD" and so on for real content because if people have a catch phrase, they don't have to think they can just toss out the catch phrase without having any real idea what it means or how it fits in with reality. popular movements always rely on catch phrases for just that reason. It gives people something to feel good about, and something to use in conversation, something to focus on, without requiring that people get into the really hard issues and topics.

Is it dangerous.... yes, it is dangerous in the same way that eating twinkies could be dangerous to a person suffering from malnutrition... they make you feel full, but give you none of the nutrition you need.. so you don't seek out what you really need and you essentially starve to death in contentment

of course thats just my opinion.

 

[LuminousFive]

WOW... Thats really how you feel about PDL? Really? The danger lies in making one book, other than the bible, your source of authority. IF PDL becomes your "new bible" then yes it is dangerous. PDL isn't a doctrine, It's a reminder that God loves you, and did create you for a reason, and for this we should be thankful and worship God. Rick Warren would even tell you that his book is not a foundation for Christianity. No one book (save: the bible) is. And heck the Bible actually is lots of books.

Stop freaking out. Realize that this book is bringing people closer to God, and that its not the end all be all definition of "good theology".

Love in Christ,
John

 

[Naomi4Christ]

I bought a copy of his book, and I didn't get past day 3 on it. I thought that it was a bit 'over there' for my tastes, and didn't really tell me anything that was relevent to me or was useful in my life.

 

[Naomi4Christ]

My personal opinion is that the PDL is the latest installment in a growing line of pop theology fads which offer more in the way of motivational speaking, than real content.

Was it meant to be a theology book? I thought it was meant to be a book of encouragement.

They substitute catch phrases like "purpose driven" and "WWJD" and so on for real content because if people have a catch phrase, they don't have to think they can just toss out the catch phrase without having any real idea what it means or how it fits in with reality. popular movements always rely on catch phrases for just that reason. It gives people something to feel good about, and something to use in conversation, something to focus on, without requiring that people get into the really hard issues and topics.

That was the main thing that turned me off about it. I hate cute catch phrases about things people have been doing for years (2000 in this case), and making it sound as if you've just invented it yourself.

 

[Naomi4Christ]

No. Purpose Driven as a theology is dangerous. The Holy Spirit leading us is totally missed out, we are supposed to be driven by our 'purposes', which are 5 rather arbitrarily picked things anyway...

 

[Naomi4Christ]

WOW... Thats really how you feel about PDL? Really? The danger lies in making one book, other than the bible, your source of authority. IF PDL becomes your "new bible" then yes it is dangerous. PDL isn't a doctrine, It's a reminder that God loves you, and did create you for a reason, and for this we should be thankful and worship God. Rick Warren would even tell you that his book is not a foundation for Christianity. No one book (save: the bible) is. And heck the Bible actually is lots of books.

Stop freaking out. Realize that this book is bringing people closer to God, and that its not the end all be all definition of "good theology".

Love in Christ,
John

Good points, John. We have to keep everything in perspective.

No course is ever going to be 'enough' to take you through your entire Christian journey, but they may be just the little boost you need along the way to take you to the next step. They may give you certain Christian lifeskills (such as learning how to pray, how to read the Bible, how to listen to God - I'm not saying that PDL does any of these, but these courses in general), so that you can learn to do these things on your own.

 

[Andy Broadley]

Came over for a dekko.

Bit early in the day for the heavy stuff, but I'll read through later when I'm more awake.

 

[Timothy]

WOW... Thats really how you feel about PDL? Really? The danger lies in making one book, other than the bible, your source of authority. IF PDL becomes your "new bible" then yes it is dangerous. PDL isn't a doctrine, It's a reminder that God loves you, and did create you for a reason, and for this we should be thankful and worship God. Rick Warren would even tell you that his book is not a foundation for Christianity. No one book (save: the bible) is. And heck the Bible actually is lots of books.

Stop freaking out. Realize that this book is bringing people closer to God, and that its not the end all be all definition of "good theology".

John, when a book does not preach the Remission of Sins through Christ, then we cannot say that it brings people closer to the true God, rather we would suggest that it brings people to a God that we're unfamiliar with. It, along with Robert Schuller of Crystal Cathedral fame, preaches comfortable Christianity. Indeed, he outright states that we do not need to admit we're sinners to enter God's family but that all we need to do is accept Christ. That is completely unacceptable to us as missionaries/missiologists, when our primary aim is to preach what 1 John says:

"If we say we have no sin, we decieve oursleves and the truth is not in us, but if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just, and will cleanse us from our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

That is the bottom line as far as we're concerned. You cannot preach the gospel and miss that out, yet both Rick Warren and Robert Schuller are doing so, and indeed, their ministries are closely linked. Frankly, we think they're introducing people to a different Christianity and a different Jesus to the one we're familiar with. This is what we call comfortable Christianity, but we would not consider it to be Christianity at all.

As a discipleship course we consider it pretty much worthless because there's nothing approaching decent biblical scholarship throughout, and as an introduction to Christianity, which it is marketed as, it fails hopelessly, for it fails to introduce people to the God who is willing and waiting to forgive us... just as soon as we repent.

We are jokingly considering writing a new course called 'The Spirit-Led Life' for churches decieved by Rick Warren and Comfortable Christianity.

They may give you certain Christian lifeskills (such as learning how to pray, how to read the Bible, how to listen to God - I'm not saying that PDL does any of these, but these courses in general), so that you can learn to do these things on your own.

We would suggest that it completely fails to teach all three of these. Alpha and Christianity Explored (And 'Discipleship Explored and 'A life worth living' which are the follow-on courses) teach it much more effectively.

In Christ's love,

Timothy

 

[ContraMundum]

I know you have. You are fascinating.
Read Shape of the Liturgy.
It will change your theology and your life!
I think you will love it.

I love irony--

From the OP :

Thirdly, he makes promises of his book which only God can keep. He promises changed lives, he hypes the book so you would think it's more important than scripture, he makes a big deal of the 40 days business... all in the name of helping people.

See, as far as I can tell, the whole "Purpose Driven Life" is merely "Churchianity" as it is in the modern-day, fast food-instant gratification culture. It's success is clearly based on its marketability, and Warren's claim that his book will change lives is a must-have statement for comptetition in the marketised Church.

However, gtsecc brings to my attention that everyone believes that they have something good to offer, so when Warren says his book/thesis changes lives his intentions are good and his formula worked for him and others.

But, for me, I won't have a bar of it. Mostly because I'm narrow minded and the calendars in my house are set at around 1735 AD. I can't seem to move too far out of that world. All this marketed novelty makes my stomach churn. The Purpose Driven Craze leaves me with the same feeling inside that I get when I go to a Bible shop and see every shade and nuance of study Bible marketed to targeted consumers- eg. "the Teens' Study Bible", the "Life Application Bible", the "Recovery Bible", "The Men's Recovering from Recovery Bible, with notes by Eugene Peterson", the "Give up MTV Today Bible for Youth" and of course the "Pet's Study Bible for Deailing with your troubled and mixed up Christian Owners". You get the idea.

Maybe Glen and I should start the "Purpose Driven Internet Posting Life Application Bible for Internet Addicts" or something...what do you say brother? At least we could be one of the only Bibles that quote the Fathers.

 

[karen freeinchristman]

I love irony--

thank heavens we have you to pick up on these things, Contra!

 

[ContraMundum]

If Rick Warren were serious about changing the world he would have applied his theory to something useful, like a car that doesn't use fossil fuels of something. "The Purpose Driven Car".

Or to conservation, like saving dolphins- "The Porpoise Driven Life".

Oh well. *shrugs*

 

[junegillam]

Fascinating! I bought one of the books last year for a son-in-law who seemed to get a lot out of it (though I had not actually read the book myself, blush).

I like the range of views here, very instructive. I think I lean towards the notion that despite the pop-culture marketing aspects, at least some of these fad books and other media can be beneficial in bringing some people into the fold so to speak, into fellowships in which God will lead them into deeper study.

Thank you for starting this Thread Timothy; I will need to pay more attention to the content of the book of the month section of our local Christian bookstore, Bereans.

june gillam