Henri Nouwen — Quote from a Heretic
July 11, 2007
Read here this unbelievable heresy from the now deceased Catholic theologian Henri Nouwen.
Today I personally believe that while Jesus came to open the door to God’s house, all human beings can walk through that door, whether they know about Jesus or not. Today I see it as my call to help every person claim his or her own way to God.
What an outrageous statement!
For those Christians out there who question why we do what we do, maybe this quote will help you understand in a new way why we do what we do.
Why is this important?
Many pastors and professors are greatly attracted to Nouwen’s deep thinking. In fact, one of his biographers revealed that in a 1994 survey of 3,400 U.S. Protestant church leaders, Nouwen ranked second only to Billy Graham in influence among them.
The embrace of the Roman Catholic Church and its purveyors of false doctrine continues to grow among ‘Protestant Evangelicals’.
Church, we must pray and ask the Lord to remove the scales from the eyes of those so easily deceived. If there was ever a time we needed to pray and be a herald of truth, it is now.
Now is the time, this is the hour, now is the season to move !
Henri Nouwen quote courtesy of Lighthouse Trails.
Posted in Apostacy, Billy Graham, Catholicism, Discernment, Doctrine, Ecumenism, False Doctrine, Henri Nouwen
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November 16th, 2007 at 8:21 am
This qoute of Henri Nouwen is so fatally incorrect and such heresy. I have been a catholic all my life and eventually subscribed to such beliefs.The end result for me was that I literally gave up on life when it became too aweful and did absolutely nothing anymore because God was not leading me. I blamed others for my situation and unleashed total hate on all my precious loved ones. No wonder He was not leading me because the God I was depending on was actually Satan and all he wants is to destroy. THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO HEAVEN AND THAT IS JESUS. My life experience can save millions from hell and I want to share this life giving knowledge.
January 9th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
‘We may be Muslims, Jews or Christians
but until our hearts become the mould for every heart
we will see only our differences’
Rumi
March 22nd, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Christians need to learn to discern. If you throw out all of Nouwen you will miss some really good truths, so eat the fish and spit out the bones! (be like the Bereans.)
Doug >
July 8th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
Well, let me just say that Henri Nouwen’s work has tansformed my understanding of what it is to be a Catholic. So often we get hung up on the legalities and formalities of Catholicism that we forget the most essential part of the Two Greatest Commandments–love. Nouwen had such a deep appreciation of and need for the love of Christ and he did his best to share that with others, attempting to be the wounded healer. Is it more important to lead souls to the peace and love of Christ or to condemn them for eating meat on a Friday? I seem to remember a certain brood of vipers…
July 8th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Nick,
Thank you for your comments.
I would just say that someone can talk of the love of Christ and still not understand and thus teach people a biblical understanding of who Christ is, why He came, why He died, who he died for, and how we come to know Him.
The Gospel is not simply Jesus loves you. The Gospel is simple or people could not understand it, but it is more than Jesus loves you and wants to be with you.
If people point us to the love of Christ but not to how we can be reconciled to God, or have an unbiblical understanding of how we are reconciled to God, then their message has no eternal value. We need to help people understand that life is a vapor in light of eternity and we need to share with them how they can enjoy God forever, both now and in the life to come.
In my humble opinion, Nouwen may help you become a better Catholic but he does not point people to the Jesus of the bible.
You may want to look at these:
1) What is the Gospel? with D. A. Carson
2) John Piper’s ETS Message
3) Of First Importance
4) John Piper Give Us ‘The Gospel in 6 Minutes’
5) D. A. Carson on “The Gospel of Jesus Christ”
The Gospel
July 9th, 2008 at 12:28 am
I think our understanding of this passage differs greatly, and neither of us can really know the heart of Fr. Nouwen. From reading more of his work, though (I subscribe to a Daily Meditation E-mail with pieces of his work and have read more of his works, too), I think Fr. Nouwen sees the way to coming to know Christ and the Gospel is first realizing how much Christ has to offer us in a world trying to find a million different roads to happiness. We soon discover that Christ is “The Way, the Truth, and the Life.” I have studied the Fathers, Augustine, Aquinas, Bonaventure, etc., and I feel that Fr. Nouwen’s work forms an indispensable part of the Spiritual canon. Now, as to whether my perception might be different since I already am a Catholic, I really couldn’t tell you whether or not that’s true. Has Fr. Nouwen gotten me through some rough spots in my life and helped me to realize how important love is in increasing the presence of Christ among those I know, yes. Has Fr. Nouwen converted anyone unfamiliar with the message of Christ? Not in my hands. To be fair, I understand your views, but I don’t want to throw out the baby with the bath water.