{"id":2544,"date":"2024-06-28T17:19:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-28T21:19:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/latestnews\/?p=2544"},"modified":"2024-06-28T17:19:02","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T21:19:02","slug":"why-presbyterians-are-investigating-jesus-calling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/latestnews\/2024\/06\/28\/why-presbyterians-are-investigating-jesus-calling\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Presbyterians Are Investigating ‘Jesus Calling’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"a
File photo from the 2023 PCA General Assembly. Photo courtesy of PCA General Assembly on Flickr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) has voted to take a deep dive into Jesus Calling<\/u>, one of the best-selling books in modern Christian literature. Some 45 million copies of the book, written by the late author Sarah Young, have been sold.<\/p>\n

Delegates to the PCA\u2019s 51st<\/sup> General Assembly voted last week to launch the investigation by a vote of 947-834 with 20 abstentions.<\/p>\n

Two church committees will spend the coming year investigating Jesus Calling<\/u>. Their work will include assessing the book\u2019s \u201cappropriateness for Christians\u201d and preparing reports for the PCA.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe committees must look at the denominational agencies\u2019 history with the book and must \u2018assess the book\u2019s appropriateness for Christians in general and PCA members and congregations in particular\u2026.\u2019\u201d according to Christianity Today.<\/em><\/p>\n

Therein Lies the Problem<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Young wrote the book, which contains 365 devotionals, as if Christ were speaking directly to the reader — and therein lies the problem for many. \u201cPastors in the denomination are concerned that Young\u2019s use of the voice of Jesus in the book undermines the concept of sola Scriptura <\/em>and might amount to heresy,\u201d Christianity Today<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n

Sola Scriptura <\/em>means scripture alone, <\/em>explained Ligonier Ministries<\/a>,<\/em> an international Christian discipleship organization. In other words, the Bible is the supreme authority and the only truth we need.<\/p>\n

Christians have debated the belief for centuries. Catholics venerate tradition as well as scripture, while Protestants rallied around sola Scriptura<\/em> during the Protestant Reformation in the early 16th<\/sup> century and continue to do so.<\/p>\n

About Jesus Calling<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Jesus Calling<\/u> \u201coriginated from Young\u2019s spiritual practice of \u2018listening prayer\u2019 where she would journal what she felt the Holy Spirit was telling her,\u201d explained Ministry Watch, an independent evangelical organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese messages eventually found their way to Integrity Publishers through a women\u2019s prayer group. The publishers liked what they read and asked if she would write a year-long devotional based on her entries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Young, a biblical conservative, authored numerous books that she intended as encouragement to readers. She said she hoped her books would help people connect with God\u2019s infallible and inerrant Word and find their own intimacy with Christ, according to Ministry Watch.<\/p>\n

The author, who died in 2023, had a master\u2019s degree in biblical studies and counseling from Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Ministry Watch said. A member of the PCA, she worked with the PCA mission board for many years and served \u2013 along with her husband Steve — as a missionary to Japan and Australia for many years. Steve Young is an ordained minister and PCA elder.<\/p>\n

Investigating Jesus Calling<\/u> <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Benjamin Inman, the PCA pastor who brought Jesus Calliing<\/u> before the PCA General Assembly, has said the book \u201cpromotes ostensibly grave errors and has been firmly rejected by influential public figures within, and theologically akin to the PCA.\u201d<\/p>\n

He objected that in the book, \u201c(Jesus) speaks. He comforts. He counsels. He calls for devotion, These readings are not about Jesus, <\/em>rather they are pithy paragraphs spoken by Jesus\u2026.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cImagine the same procedure shifted into public worship: the preacher pretends to be Jesus, <\/em>from start to finish for 30 minutes like a method actor, never breaking character.\u201d The sermon would be memorable, Inman said, but \u201ctheologically, the contents are a carefully crafted abomination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inman has specifically cited criticism of Jesus Calling<\/u> by Kathy Keller of Redeemer Church in New York, author and blogger Alan Miller on CNN and Canadian Reformed Baptist theologian, pastor and author Tim Challies.<\/p>\n

Keller criticized the book<\/a>, saying, \u201cIf Sarah Young, the author of the words attributed to Jesus, had only used \u2018He\u2019 instead of \u2018I\u2019 in her book, about half of my objection to it would be gone. However, in publishing these as messages she received from \u2018listening to God,\u2019 she has left us in a quandary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Young acknowledged in the introduction to Jesus Calling<\/u> that the book isn\u2019t inspired scripture and that the Bible is the only inerrant Word of God, Keller said. She then questioned why Young wrote about Jesus in the first person in the rest of the book. \u201cIf it is not truly Jesus speaking, she could have said \u2018Jesus wants you to come to him and have rest in him.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Alan Miller criticized Young and others who “yearn for more” than the Bible in his CNN Belief Blog I\u2019m-Spiritual-Not-Religious<\/em>. \u201c(This) attitude fits with the message we are receiving more and more that \u2018feeling\u2019 something somehow is more pure and perhaps, more \u2018true\u2019 than having to fit in with the doctrine, practices, rules and observations of a formal institution that are handed down to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Challies<\/a> said Jesus Calling<\/u> is “a deeply troubling book\u201d and called out 10 \u201cserious problems\u201d with it:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Young speaks for God, which is \u201cfar and away the most troubling aspect of the book.\u201d<\/li>\n
  2. The author says the Bible is insufficient and wants to hear from God outside of it.<\/li>\n
  3. She claims \u201clistening\u201d is the \u201cchief spiritual discipline,\u201d rather than turning to scripture.<\/li>\n
  4. Young was inspired by \u201cuntrustworthy models\u201d such as the book God Calling<\/u>.<\/li>\n
  5. Her \u201crevelation\u201d is lesser than the Bible\u2019s.<\/li>\n
  6. Young’s book \u201cmimics occult practices\u201d such as automatic writing.<\/li>\n
  7. Her emphasis is different than the Bible\u2019s.<\/li>\n
  8. The tone of Jesus Calling<\/u> is unlike the Bible\u2019s tone.<\/li>\n
  9. Young causes confusion.<\/li>\n
  10. Jesus Calling<\/u> has been revised, including some of the words she claimed came directly from Christ.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Defending the Author<\/strong><\/h3>\n
    \"Sarah
    Sarah Young on the cover of
    Jesus Calling Magazine Issue 18: Sarah Young \/ Courtesy of Amazon for (The Jesus Calling Magazine).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Steve Young spoke against the investigation into his late wife\u2019s book during the PCA\u2019s debate over investigating it. \u201cSarah (was) a sister in Christ and wife who delighted in the law of the Lord, and on his law she meditated day and night. She was led to share her meditations with the world,\u201d he insisted.<\/p>\n

    He said his wife\u2019s writings \u201cdid not add to Scripture but explain(ed) it. She would stand with Martin Luther and declare that her conscience was captive to the Word of God.\u201d Young, herself, said people should read the devotionals with their Bibles open.<\/p>\n

    During the PCA\u2019s debate, church leader Jerid Krulish called the investigation \u201ca fishing expedition\u201d and \u201ca waste of these committees\u2019 time.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Christianity Today <\/em>pointed out that the original legislation came from an individual pastor \u2013 Benjamin Inman. \u201cMost pieces of legislation come from a presbytery. The lack of support for the measure from a presbytery didn\u2019t bode well for its chances at a denominational level.\u201d<\/p>\n

    A PCA committee amended the original legislation to \u201cbe milder and more palatable to the assembly.\u201d The changes included removing \u201clanguage condemning Young for publishing a book guilty of idolatry\u2026.\u201d\u00a0Christianity Today <\/em>said. It was an amended version that the PCA General Assembly approved last week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) has voted to take a deep dive into Jesus Calling, one of the best-selling books in modern Christian literature. Some 45 million copies of the book, written by the late author Sarah Young, have been sold. Delegates to the PCA\u2019s 51st General Assembly voted last week to launch the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":689,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[819,822,810,825,816,813],"class_list":["post-2544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-controversy-over-jesus-calling","tag-jesus-calling-controversy","tag-jesus-callling-investigation","tag-pca-controversy","tag-pca-investigates-jesus-calling","tag-pca-investigation"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Presbyterians Are Investigating 'Jesus Calling'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is investigating Jesus Calling, one of the best-selling books in modern Christian literature.... 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