The Quantum Christ: Entering the World AND the Church Through Popular New Age & Christian Leaders [Excerpts]
The New Age/New Spirituality is already heralding quantum physics as a “scientific” basis for their contention that God is not only transcendent but also immanent—“in” everyone and everything. Physicist Fritjof Capra’s 1975 best-selling book on quantum physics -- The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism -- was the first to present this proposed scientific/spiritual model to a mass audience.
Fritjof Capra describes the union of mysticism and the new physics as the “new spirituality” that is “now being developed by many groups and movements, both within and outside the churches.” As an example of how this “new spirituality” is moving into the church, he refers to one of Leonard Sweet’s “role models” and “heroes”—Matthew Fox: “On the other hand, I also believe that our own spiritual traditions will have to undergo some radical changes in order to be in harmony with the values of the new paradigm. The spirituality corresponding to the new vision of reality I have been outlining here is likely to be an ecological, earth-oriented, postpatriarchal spirituality. This kind of new spirituality is now being developed by many groups and movements, both within and outside the churches. An example would be the creation-centered spirituality promoted by Matthew Fox and his colleagues.”5
To further illustrate how pervasive this quantum spirituality has become in the church, consider an organization called VantagePoint3. This South Dakota-based group has developed a three-phase “spiritual formation” program called The VantagePoint3 Process (or L3), which incidentally is being used by a growing number of churches across North America….
Another example of how quantum physics has already entered the church is through the ministry of Annette Capps -- the daughter of best-selling author and charismatic pastor Charles Capps. There are over 100,000 copies of Annette Capps’ booklet Quantum Faith in print. In the booklet, she presents a Christian faith compatible with the so-called “scientific” principles of quantum physics and as such is also compatible with the so-called “scientific” principles of the New Age/New Spirituality. She even refers readers to New Age leader Gary Zukav’s book The Dancing Wu Li Masters -- An Overview of the New Physics.8 In her booklet, she writes: “As I studied the theories of quantum physics, I was reminded of a prophecy given by my father, author and teacher Charles Capps, ‘Some things which have required faith to believe will no longer require faith, for it will be proven to be scientific fact’.”9
Notes:
1. Fritjof Capra, The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism (Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1999), p. 11.
2. Ibid., p. 323.
3. Ibid., pp. 324-325.
4. Ibid., p. 330.
5. Ibid., p. 341.
6. Margaret J. Wheatley, Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World (San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Inc., 3rd ed., 2006), pp. 3-4, brought to my attention by Discernment Research Group.
7. Emerging Leaders: Relational Foundations of Leadership (Sioux Falls, SD, Vantage Point3, 2006, http://www.vantagepoint3.org/fileadmin/main/tour/EMS3%20WebSamples.pdf), p. 52; this information provided by Jennifer Pekich.
8. Annette Capps, Quantum Faith (England, AR: Capps Publishing, 2003, 2007), p. 4, booklet brought to my attention by Larry DeBruyn.
9. Ibid., p. 6.
