Richard Rohr – Is His Teaching Biblical? By Jane Krammer, Anglican Mainstream1. This paper has been researched and written as a result of a deep concern over those Christian friends who have turned away from a more biblically based Christian faith to follow the teachings of Richard Rohr and the Center for Action and Contemplation. Many consider Rohr’s teachings very attractive, like flashes of gold in the mundanities of life. He is often spoken of in glowing terms; and his following continues to grow, spreading through friendship groups and social media. However Rohr’s use of biblical terminology and Christian sounding language is deceptive, lulling his readers into a false sense of security, whilst feeding them a mixed diet of mysticism, self-‐help spirituality, social justice, biblical inaccuracies and false doctrine. In this way the biblical faith of his followers is progressively and systematically undermined. Those who become more deeply embedded in his teaching have a demonstrated tendency to turn away from upholding Jesus Christ as Son of God and our only Lord and Saviour. Richard Rohr’s ideas and teaching seem to be continually evolving and also adapting in response to criticism – which makes it hard to arrive at his completely definitive answer on some subjects. I started this paper by thoroughly studying 2011 Rohr’s teaching from his book Falling Upwards, before turning to some of his daily online meditations 2015-‐20172, in which he develops some key themes, which are touched on but not elaborated, in Falling Upwards. In this paper I have sought to examine some of the most significant themes in Rohr’s teaching (notably ‘dualism’ and ‘the Cosmic Christ’ as well as his views on biblical authority, the deity of Jesus, atonement and the cross), I have then tried to give a more biblical perspective on these. Before looking at the evidence in greater depth, I thought it might be helpful to summarise some of Rohr’s ideas -‐ using the questions addressed on the Alpha Course. As you will see, Rohr’s ideas are somewhat controversial. ALPHA QUESTION RICHARD ROHR’S ANSWERS Is There More To Life Than this? Yes – you need to search for and find Your True Self! Who is Jesus? It depends if you mean Jesus of Nazareth or ‘the Cosmic Christ’ – because according to Rohr, these are two separate entities. Rohr believes that Jesus was ‘a special Jew’, a ‘microcosmic moment in time’, but that Jesus is 1 Jane Krammer has been a committed Christian and a member of the Church of England for over 30 years; she is married with four children and has an MA in Christian Ethics from Kings College London. 2
Rohr’s online meditations can be accessed at https://cac.org
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