By Elizabeth Prata
I was asked to review the new book by Katie Noble, called God Our Home. I am not familiar with Katie Noble, but as an older woman who has watched an entire generation been polluted by faddish, unbiblical trends, I’ve increasingly seen seen the material of the younger women who produce books and devotionals to be in more error than is wise to consume.
So, going in, I kept Matthew 10:16 in mind, and tried to be shrewd as a serpent, innocent as a dove.
Katie Noble’s books and studies and other works are not available on any other platforms except her own, Hosanna Revival. They are not on Amazon nor on Google Books, so I could not get any previews of the contents. On Hosanna Revival, there was an opportunity to download week 1of the God Our Home new devotional study for free, which I did.
As I was reading the chapter, several items struck me.
Early on, Noble references and quotes Dallas Willard. Willard was a philosopher/Quaker/Arminian/Catholic-friendly promoter of contemplative spirituality and spiritual formation. He claimed direct revelation from God. Here, Bob Dewaay at Critical Issues Commentary critiques Willard and his spiritual formation. Willard is a false teacher. Katie Noble, if she had discernment, would not quote him or promote him in her Bible study.
And sure enough, soon after the Dallas Willard mention in her week 1 of the God Our Home study, came an explanation of how to do Lectio Divina, a spiritual practice of the Catholics, who are a false religion, and one that Willard adapted and promoted to Protestants. Lectio DIvina started to be very popular around 2012 and is still popular today, as we can see from Noble’s Week One lesson.
GotQuestions outlines what Lectio Divina is and sets out some bullet points of concern with the practice, which are sadly mentioned as positives on Noble’s week one page on how to do Lectio. This is strike two.
Lectio Divina: Explanation at GotQuestions
Concerningly, here is what Noble said about Lectio which buys right in tot he main problem with Lectio and most spiritual formation practices:
“We won’t only be engaging our minds, however. We’ll also train ourselves in meditative contemplation of the Scriptures: the practice of quieting our hearts to sit in the presence of the Holy Spirit… Do not fall into the trap of believing that intellectual study is more valuable than soul-level communion with God.”
The Spirit enlivens our soul through the MIND.
The word of God transforms the MIND.
Katie Noble is flat wrong when setting the basis for her lessons in the heart in addition to or instead of the mind. Jeremiah 17:9 says,
The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
The Spirit communes with our soul via the mind.
GotQuestions says of Lectio Divina, “The subjective, personal focus of lectio divina downplays objective, methodical Bible study.”
Lectio downplays the mind where biblical prayer engages the mind.
Lectio divina emphasizes experience, inner impressions, and suggests direct revelation. It is to be avoided. It’s disappointing that Noble teaches how to do it in week one.
If Dewaay’s essay linked above is too long, here is Challies with a shorter one on the dangers of Lectio Divina.
Noble also quotes John Mark Comer, who is another spiritual formation/subjective experience/Holy Spirit presence guy. This is a third strike. Remember, this is only the first chapter.
Marcia Montenegro, a former New Ager herself, writes about her concerns with John Mark Comer. He is a Contemplative along the lines of Willard, and he promotes the pagan Enneagram.
The theologically solid and discerning duo Darrell Harrison and Virgil Walker at the Just Thinking podcast have produced a thoroughly discerning look at the pagan enneagram, published on November 22, 2023.
Though the three concerns I’ve indicted above should be enough it dissuade women from delving into Noble’s version of Christianity, and this last one might be nitpicky to some, but a concern I have is in the introduction. I know intros are chatty and attempt to quickly connect the reader with the material. However, Noble outlines her basis for the book as the reader having negative emotions which the study will resolve. She wrote,
“If you’re disillusioned and disappointed today, if you’re feeling isolated, inadequate, anxious, and embarrassed, you’ve picked up the right book. The pages to come are specifically written to capture our wandering hearts and set them on the path homeward to God himself.”
Jesus is not a stopgap for our feelings, nor a band-aid or an overlay. We come to a Bible study wanting to know more about Him, not wanting to find a vehicle for self-help or to resolve emotions.
Noble says some good things, says other things that SOUND good but aren’t, and says some bad things. It’s a mix. All that from one chapter. I hesitate to think what material may be in the remainder of the ‘study’.
But I would not recommend her study on the basis that she promotes contemplative spirituality and lectio divina, and references several false teachers. Even if the entire remainder of the study is good, it’s too much of a risk for a newbie to be exposed to these dangerous and unbiblical practices and teachers of contemplative spirituality and enneagram. And if the remaining study is continually serving up false doctrines and false teachers like chapter 1 did, then that also confirms the “not recommended” stance.
Alternatives that are recommended are anything by Susan Heck – her ministry is titled With the Master, or Martha Peace. How to Eat Your Bible by Nate Pickowicz. Sarah Ivill’s books of the Bible studies or her Christian Living books, available thru Reformation Heritage Books.
There is also available in audio series of lessons at the women’s ministry at Grace Community Church called Every Woman’s Grace. The current series is Hebrews. There are written lesson materials one can download for free. Here is the link to the many past series. These are solid studies.
My caution for women today is to be super skeptical of modern devotionals and modern studies. It’s been about 30 years of women being exposed to Contemplative Spirituality (the start of that is seen as Claude King and Henry Blackaby’s “Experiencing God” study, which introduced direct revelation, contemplative methods, and Dallas Willard to Protestants).
That exposure beginning in 1990 and caught fire in Protestant quarters, has by now settled into the faith as a normal spiritual experience. It isn’t. Look for Bible studies if they are modern with discernment, like Every Woman’s Grace, Susan Heck, or Martha Peace. Or choose older ones (also with discernment) pre-pollution of contemplative spirituality and direct revelation.
Katie Noble’s “God Our Home” sadly, is not recommended.
Republished with permission from Blogs.crossmap.com, featuring inspiring Bible verses about Discerning Katie Noble’s new study “God Our Home”.
