“What is RenovarÔö£┬« / the Renovare Bible?”……Like so many ideas today, the RenovarÔö£┬« philosophy seems innocuous enough-even deeply spiritual-until we begin to peel back the pretense and see what's really being taught. There is plenty in RenovarÔö£┬« to give cause for concern.……The organization was founded in 1988 by Richard J. Foster, a Quaker theologian. In general, Quakers believe that every man has an "inner light" which can lead him to truth as he waits and listens. There is no need for clergy or doctrinal creeds. The objectivity of God's Word is replaced by the subjective feelings and influences of this "inner light." ……RenovarÔö£┬« (the Latin word for "renewal") purports to work for the renewal of the Church by concentrating on the "spiritual formation" of individual Christians. This "spiritual formation" involves following certain practices and traditions with the result that the life of Christ is formed within the Christian. This sacramental living-a moment-by-moment interaction with God-Foster calls the "with-God-life."

RenovarÔö£┬« is unabashedly ecumenical and places a heavy emphasis on mysticism to the detriment of solid theology. ……The release of the RenovarÔö£┬« Spiritual Formation Bible in 2005 has furthered the deception by packaging the mystical thinking of RenovarÔö£┬« scholars into "study notes" for the Bible itself. Besides Foster, editors included Dallas Willard, Walter Brueggemann, and Eugene Peterson.

With the RenovarÔö£┬« Bible, we have an edition that

It reads this way in the NRSV: "the young woman is with child." Thus, there is no virgin, and, since it's in the present tense, there is no prophecy.……3. Some of the "Spiritual Disciplines" the RenovarÔö£┬« Bible promotes are not biblical (nor is the term spiritual discipline found in scripture): solitude, confession, meditation, silence, secrecy, and celebration.

When Foster writes of "meditation," he means something far different from the contemplation of God's Word. In an early edition of The Celebration of Discipline, he advises, "In your imagination allow your spiritual body, shining with light, to rise out of your physical body. . . . Reassure your body that you will return momentarily. Imagine your spiritual self, alive and vibrant, rising up through the clouds and into the stratosphere. . . . Go deeper and deeper into outer space until there is nothing except the warm presence of the eternal Creator. Do not be disappointed if no words come; like good friends, you are silently enjoying the company of each other." (p 27).

This is nothing more than occult astral projection masquerading as Christian activity.……4. The RenovarÔö£┬« Bible, like its parent organization, is designed to promote ecumenicalism. "Wisdom" is gathered from Catholic, Episcopal, mystic, and Protestant sources alike, with no regard for the serious theological differences these groups have.……5. The RenovarÔö£┬« Bible attacks the divine authorship of Genesis, stating in its General Introduction that Moses did not write it, that its content is mythological, and that it was written over a process of time as tales from other religions were adapted and given a unique monotheistic twist.

This flies in the face of many passages of scripture which say that Moses, under the inspiration of God, wrote the Pentateuch

Exodus 17:14 After the victory, the Lord instructed Moses, "Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven."

Exodus 24:4Then Moses carefully wrote down all the Lord's instructions. Early the next morning Moses got up and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. He also set up twelve pillars, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Deuteronomy 31:9, 25So Moses wrote this entire body of instruction in a book and gave it to the priests, who carried the Ark of the Lord's Covenant, and to the elders of Israel.

Joshua 8:31-32He followed the commands that Moses the Lord's servant had written in the Book of Instruction: "Make me an altar from stones that are uncut and have not been shaped with iron tools."[a] Then on the altar they presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord.32 And as the Israelites watched, Joshua copied onto the stones of the altar[] the instructions Moses had given them.

1 Kings 2:3Observe the requirements of the Lord your God, and follow all his ways. Keep the decrees, commands, regulations, and laws written in the Law of Moses so that you will be successful in all you do and wherever you go.

2 Chronicles 30:16hen they took their places at the Temple as prescribed in the Law of Moses, the man of God. The Levites brought the sacrificial blood to the priests, who then sprinkled it on the altar.

Nehemiah 8:1all the people assembled with a unified purpose at the square just inside the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had given for Israel to obey.

Luke 24:44Then he said, "When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled."

John 1:17, 45For the law was given through Moses, but God's unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus ChristPhilip went to look for Nathanael and told him, "We have found the very person Moses[a] and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth."

John 5:45-46 "Yet it isn't I who will accuse you before the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, in whom you put your hopes.46 If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me.

John 7:19-23 Moses gave you the law, but none of you obeys it! In fact, you are trying to kill me."The crowd replied, "You're demon possessed! Who's trying to kill you?" Jesus replied, "I did one miracle on the Sabbath, and you were amazed. But you work on the Sabbath, too, when you obey Moses' law of circumcision. (Actually, this tradition of circumcision began with the patriarchs, long before the law of Moses.) For if the correct time for circumcising your son falls on the Sabbath, you go ahead and do it so as not to break the law of Moses. So why should you be angry with me for healing a man on the Sabbath?

…6. The RenovarÔö£┬« Bible denies that the book of Daniel is prophecy, stating in the introductory notes to that book, "We do not know who wrote it or exactly when it was written" (pg. 1245).

The writer of the introduction, James M. Rand, goes on to set the date of Daniel's writing at around 167 B.C. This would mean, of course, that the author of Daniel, who claims to be Daniel (Daniel 8:15, 27, 9:1-210:2), and who claims to have written it "in the first year of Darius" or 538 B.C. (9:1), is a liar.

Daniel 8:15As I, Daniel, was trying to understand the meaning of this vision, someone who looked like a man stood in front of me.

Daniel 8:27Then I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for several days. Afterward I got up and performed my duties for the king, but I was greatly troubled by the vision and could not understand it.

Daniel 9:1-2It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians.[a]2 During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the Lord, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years.

Daniel 10:2When this vision came to me, I, Daniel, had been in mourning for three whole weeks.……7. The RenovarÔö£┬« Bible attempts to destroy the nature and power of Messianic prophecy. For example, inIsaiah 9:6-7Isaiah 9:6-7, the Messiah is called "the mighty God, the everlasting Father," For a child is born to us, a son is given to us.The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity.The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven's Armies will make this happen!

The RenovarÔö£┬« study notes attribute this description to "human agents" (pg. 997). The whole book of Isaiah (which RenovarÔö£┬« says Isaiah did not really write, pp. 982, 1068), again calling a prophet of God a liar, is called "tradition" (pg. 982-983) and "poetic imagination." ……8. The RenovarÔö£┬« Bible ignores the prophecies concerning Israel's future. The prophecy of Jeremiah, which plainly says that Israel will be gathered and restored, is interpreted by RenovarÔö£┬« as God's promise to homeless people everywhere.

Jeremiah 31:7-14Now this is what the Lord says:"Sing with joy for Israel.[a]…Shout for the greatest of nations!Shout out with praise and joy:…'Save your people, O Lord, the remnant of Israel!' For I will bring them from the north and from the distant corners of the earth.I will not forget the blind and lame,the expectant mothers and women in labor.…A great company will return!Tears of joy will stream down their faces,and I will lead them home with great care.They will walk beside quiet streams and on smooth paths where they will not stumble.For I am Israel's father,and Ephraim is my oldest child. "Listen to this message from the Lord, you nations of the world; proclaim it in distant coastlands:The Lord, who scattered his people,…will gather them and watch over them as a shepherd does his flock. For the Lord has redeemed Israelfrom those too strong for them. They will come home and sing songs of joy on the heights of Jerusalem.They will be radiant because of the Lord's good gifts-the abundant crops of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and the healthy flocks and herds.Their life will be like a watered garden, and all their sorrows will be gone. The young women will dance for joy, and the men-old and young-will join in the celebration.I will turn their mourning into joy.…I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing.The priests will enjoy abundance,and my people will feast on my good gifts.I, the Lord, have spoken!"

The "dry bones" prophecy of Ezekiel(again, a passage which specifies "the whole house of Israel" in verse 11)

Ezekiel 37:11Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, 'We have become old, dry bones-all hope is gone. Our nation is finished.'

This verse is twisted into a reference to the church's beginning at Pentecost.……For these and other reasons, RenovarÔö£┬« is a theologically dangerous movement. By promising a closer, joyful walk with God, RenovarÔö£┬« preys upon the spiritually hungry and points them not to the cross of Christ or God's inerrant Word but to man's traditions and human experience. It is to be avoided.…