PART TWO – Acknowledgements and Prologue
Note: Quotes from the book are in blue font
Acknowledgements: This book found its beginning in a seminar at Yale Divinity School on the spirituality of the desert…Together we tried to discover what the Desert Fathers and Mothers of the fourth century have to say to men and women…in the twentieth century…we gradually came to see the ‘way of the heart’ as the way that united us…
Prologue: How can we expect to remain full of creative vitality, of zeal for the Word of God, of desire to serve, and of motivation to inspire our often numbed congregations? Where are we supposed to find nurture and strength? How can we alleviate our own spiritual hunger and thirst?
… where shall we turn? To Jacques Ellul, William Stringfellow, Thomas Merton, Teilhard de Chardin? They all have much to say, but I am interested in a more primitive source of inspiration, which by its directness, simplicity, and concreteness, can lead us without any byways to the core of our struggle.
Where should we turn for spiritual refreshment and nourishment, for inspiration and strength? Scripture tells us that God gave Israel ALL the Lord’s laws and words that they needed for life; and that we live by the words that proceed from God’s mouth. If the Israelites, who had the covenant of the Lord, lived by those words, do we need more?
He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone,but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. (Deut 8:3)
When Moses went and told the people all the LORD's words and laws, they responded with one voice, "Everything the LORD has said we will do." (Exodus 24:3)
The knowledge which leads to true wisdom comes through the Word of God (the Bible). Where does Henri Nouwen recommend we quench our spiritual hunger and thirst?
The Desert Fathers, who lived in the Egyptian desert during the fourth and fifth centuries, can offer us a very important perspective on our life as ministers…The Desert Fathers – and there were Mothers too- were Christians who searched for a new form of martyrdom. Once the persecutions had ceased, it was no longer possible to witness for Christ by following him as a blood witness…The flight to the desert was the way to escape a tempting conformity to the world… Their spiritual commentaries, their counsel to visitors, and their very concrete ascetical practices form the basis of my reflections about the spiritual life of the minister in our day.
Henri Nouwen does not seek fulfillment of spiritual hunger and thirst in Scripture, but in practices of men and women outside of Scripture. This is the first indicator that what is taught in this book is not Biblical. That doesn’t necessarily make it wrong. But it does mean the ‘wisdom’ of the desert fathers and mothers needs to be tested against Scripture. Is it sound and Biblical, without adding to or taking away from the truth contained in God’s Word?
‘In this book, Henri Nouwen teaches that these men and women considered it desirable to be considered martyrs. Since there were no longer persecutions of Christians leading to actual martyrdom, they created hardships of their own; seeking to become martyrs at their own hands.
Nowhere in the Bible are we taught to hide from culture in a desert (real or imagined) or self-induce suffering for the sake of experiencing a sense of personal holiness. A martyr is someone who has been put to death for preaching the gospel of Christ. To use the term in the way Henri Nouwen does, applying it to the desert fathers, whose sufferings he admits were self-induced, cheapens the sacrifice the real martyrs made.
Probably most of the New Testament authours were familiar with real persecution. Not all of the believers they ministered to were though. For many, the everyday hardships they faced may not have been too different from ours. Look at how Jesus counseled us to live:
"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)
It can be very hard to live for Christ in a dark world, harder to stay than to run. Jesus tells us we are to live in such a way as to bring light to whichever ‘house’ we find ourselves in. For most of us, that’s hard work.
It’s hard to love someone who cuts us off in traffic and nearly causes an accident. It’s hard to keep a spiritual perspective with a screaming baby and a bad headache. It’s hard to swallow our pride or hurt and, in love, forgive someone and be reconciled. It is in only in trusting God that we can ever do this. But in turning from our own ways and submitting to His will, living out this calling in the midst of the life we find ourselves in, we bring glory to our Father.
In the remainder of this book, Henri Nouwen reflects on the life of Anthony, considered to be the ‘father of monks’. He relates how contemplative prayer helped ‘transform’ Anthony spiritually.
Anthony, while at prayer or in solitude, encountered demonic manifestations of such things as scorpions, lions, and snakes, at least during the long period of his separating from ‘self’ and absorption into the ‘divine’. His mystical experiences included time living in a sealed tomb, hiding from demons. The devil once supposedly found him and beat him mercilessly, leaving him unconscious and near death.
Now if we compare this experience with the spiritual battle Job (described by God Himself as a righteous man) endured, we can not find any statements or evidence of demonic manifestations tormenting or physically beating up Job. If such things could happen to a believer, where are the accounts in Scripture to warn and prepare us?
One account we do have in Scripture of demons beating up a man is found in the account of some exorcists, who without actually having faith in Jesus, attempt to cast out demons in the ‘name of Jesus whom Paul preaches.’ We are told in Acts 19 that “the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”
Another account we have (Mark 9) is of a young man possessed by demons, which threw him into fire and water in attempts to destroy him. When the boy’s father begged Jesus for help, he certainly wasn’t told that it was a form of ascetic faith-growing that the boy was experiencing! Jesus cast the demon out and the boy was healed.
There is absolutely no Biblical evidence that a believer, filled with the Holy Spirit, can also be tormented by demonic manifestations. There is no evidence that Jesus was tormented by demons, or that He descended into hell to be tormented by demons (a false teaching) before the resurrection. Biblically, demons simply have no direct power over a Spirit filled believer, in the sense that demonic entities can physically torment a person.
Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, so a curse without cause does not alight. (Proverbs 26:2)
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