Scazzero has a habit of imposing his own experiences and feelings on Scripture as well on all Christians. In this book, he makes broad generalizations, such as all Christians “wear masks,” Christians do not know how to deal with their emotions, and most Christians were not raised in healthy families. It was hard not to write, “speak for yourself!” in the margins of many pages in this book.
There are so many serious issues with this book, it is quite distressing that it is being recommended by many pastors and church leaders. I am not addressing all content of the book, only points related to my areas of my ministry or of obvious concern. Scazzero does offer some good insights in the book, but they are overshadowed by too many troubling statements.
Why “naked” in the title? That is simple. When one removes the mystical language and the false data about the Enneagram, the book is left naked. That is, once this material is removed, there would be nothing left but blank pages. As it is, this book is an example of the dangers that come with the Enneagram I have been warning about: Contemplative Spirituality, Panentheism, and possibly Perennial Wisdom (see info & links on authors toward the end). This book is all of these dangers on steroids.
Ezekiel allegedly had a “severe alteration of consciousness” when he had his vision in Ezekiel 8. This explains, according to Mackie, the different views of reality Ezekiel and other biblical characters had, and their other “states of consciousness” (starting around 49 min.). This did not need to be spelled out to anyone when the Bible was written, claims Mackie, because they all “took it for granted.” There is no evidence for this in the text; furthermore, I think that seeking such states as well as the belief in “different levels of reality” is contra the Bible, and against God’s character. A subsequent article expanding on this topic and attempting to explain why this is not compatible with Scripture is found in the article, “States of Mind and Reality: Why It Matters…Tim Mackie’s Paradise Talk as an example.”
More exposure is needed of the teachings behind the Contemplative practices surging through the church, an area I have researched and written on since the late 1990s. The first part […]
This article includes concerns with Michael Heiser, John Mark Comer, and Gregory Boyd, all influences on Bible Project’s Tim Mackie (posted in August, 2023) Five […]
After someone sent me the Renovare Bible (now called the Life With God Bible) several years ago, I looked through it and made notes of troubling things I came across. […]
Richard Foster’s book, “Celebration of Discipline,” has been influencing the church for decades. Why is it that pastors have promoted this book or taught it instead of calling out the blatant unbiblical teachings found in it? This book is full of New Thought concepts and techniques that Foster learned from his mentor, the infamous Agnes Sanford. Sanford was a former New Thought follower and never left those beliefs behind — they are in all her books. Sanford was also the “mother of inner healing,” a New Thought practice. Visualization and using the imagination to heal are not biblical, but Foster teaches them in this book. This is in addition to his unbiblical promotion of contemplative practices.
This article is on the website of Southern Evangelical Seminary Short link: https://shorturl.at/X71kA
Scazzero and Rohr Due to being asked about Peter Scazzero, author of The Emotionally Healthy Church and Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, a number of times, I watched three videos for this […]
I first read about “thin places” in some evangelical writings several years ago and was surprised this concept had made its way into the church. Thin places refer to […]