Chuck Swindoll’s Unbiblical Grace
Updated August 13, 2026 (first published March 12, 2001)
David Cloud, Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061
866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org
866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org
The previous title of this report was “A Warning about Chuck and Unbiblical Grace.”
Since the 1990s we have been warning that Chuck Swindoll is one of the fathers of what has more recently been called “cultural liberalism.” Swindoll’s grace is an invitation for believers to participate in the wicked pop culture in a largely non-critical fashion. His doctrine of “grace” opens the door to secular rock, Christian rock, dancing, drinking, mini-skirts, bikinis, petting, fornication, unisex fashion, marijuana, cursing, R-rated movies, violent occult video games, pornography, unfiltered social media, etc.
This philosophy of “liberty” has percolated throughout evangelicalism since the 1950s. Harold Ockenga, who claimed to have coined term “neo-evangelicalism,” said it is a “repudiation of fundamentalism’s ecclesiology and its social theory” (Ockenga, foreword to The Battle for the Bible by Harold Lindsell). New Evangelicalism rejected the traditional standards of separation from the world, and the result has been the strange Christian rock culture.
As early as 1978, Richard Quebedeux documented the dramatic changes that were occurring within evangelicalism a mere thirty years after the opening onslaught of the spirit of “Newism.” He observed that “the wider culture has had a profound impact on the evangelical movement as a whole” (The Worldly Evangelicals, p. 115). This is a direct result of the repudiation of separation. He said:
“In the course of establishing their respectability in the eyes of the wider society, the evangelicals have become harder and harder to distinguish from other people. Upward social mobility has made the old revivalistic taboos dysfunctional. ... the COCKTAILS became increasingly difficult to refuse. Evangelical young people LEARNED HOW TO DANCE AND OPENLY ‘GROOVED’ ON ROCK MUSIC. ... And evangelical magazines and newspapers began REVIEWING PLAYS AND MOVIES. ... The Gallup Poll is correct in asserting that born-again Christians ‘believe in a strict moral code.’ BUT THAT STRICTNESS HAS BEEN CONSIDERABLY MODIFIED DURING THE LAST FEW YEARS … DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE are becoming more frequent and acceptable among evangelicals of all ages, even in some of their more conservative churches. … Some evangelical women are taking advantage of ABORTION on demand. Many younger evangelicals occasionally use PROFANITY in their speech and writing ... Some of the recent evangelical sex-technique books assume that their readers peruse and view PORNOGRAPHY on occasion, and they do. Finally, in 1976 there emerged a fellowship and information organization for practicing evangelical LESBIANS AND GAY MEN and their sympathizers. There is probably just as high a percentage of gays in the evangelical movement as in the wider society. Some of them are now coming out of the closet, distributing well-articulated literature, and demanding to be recognized and affirmed by the evangelical community at large. ... It is profoundly significant that evangelicals, even the more conservative among them, have ACCEPTED THE ROCK MODE. This acceptance, obviously, indicates a further chapter in the death of self-denial and world rejection among them. ... When young people were converted in the Jesus movement, many of them simply did not give up their former habits, practices, and cultural attitudes--DRINKING, SMOKING, AND CHARACTERISTIC DRESS AND LANGUAGE. ... Young evangelicals drink, but so do conservative evangelicals like Hal Lindsey and John Warwick Montgomery (who is a member of the International Wine and Food Society). ... But EVEN MARIJUANA, now virtually legal in some areas of the United States, is not as forbidden among young evangelicals as it once was. A few of them, particularly the intellectuals, do smoke it on occasion...” (The Worldly Evangelicals, 1978, pp. 14, 16, 17, 118, 119).
That was 1978, and the situation has become much, much worse in the last 50 years.
We would observe that those who have bought into the new evangelical doctrine of grace are exceedingly ungracious toward those who warn of this error.
Following are a few samples from 2001:
“I am absolutely amazed at your pharisaical views and dogmatism that chokes out the very life that God desires to overflow from the lives of those you are attempting to minister with. How laughable your writings are to my carnal mind, how absolutely sickening they must be to Father. ... Quite honestly if you check your heart you will find a tremendous amount of jealousy which keeps you very busy promoting your own small ideas, taking puck shots at tremendous men of God who will see things you only dream about. Repent and do something worthwhile with your lives.”
“You know what? You need your *** ****** ‘Brother Cloud.’ What in **** (and it is from ****) is wrong with you? What do the Scriptures tell you about the kind of **** you dished out about Chuck Swindoll? If they are not against us (the sake of Christ) then they are for us, just because they don't part their hair on the same side you do leave them alone. You’re going the wrong way, God allows U-Turns. Jealousy has a lot of faces.” [I removed this Swindoll supporter’s vulgarisms.]
“Like you Brother Cloud I once was a legalistic Christian who simply went through my life doing my joyless duties. I thought that my ‘duties’ were impressing God and that he couldn't fulfill his plan in life without me. ... If someone doesn’t exactly line up with your way of thinking then they are apostate. I’m sorry Brother Cloud, but you didn’t write the book on Christian living. Jesus Christ did.”
“He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone. Obviously, this site is one of a perfect human being. Jesus came to seek and save the lost, not defame, cast down, and destroy. If you see a brother in a fault correct him, not crucify.”
Since the 1990s we have been warning that Chuck Swindoll is one of the fathers of what has more recently been called “cultural liberalism.” Swindoll’s grace is an invitation for believers to participate in the wicked pop culture in a largely non-critical fashion. His doctrine of “grace” opens the door to secular rock, Christian rock, dancing, drinking, mini-skirts, bikinis, petting, fornication, unisex fashion, marijuana, cursing, R-rated movies, violent occult video games, pornography, unfiltered social media, etc.
This philosophy of “liberty” has percolated throughout evangelicalism since the 1950s. Harold Ockenga, who claimed to have coined term “neo-evangelicalism,” said it is a “repudiation of fundamentalism’s ecclesiology and its social theory” (Ockenga, foreword to The Battle for the Bible by Harold Lindsell). New Evangelicalism rejected the traditional standards of separation from the world, and the result has been the strange Christian rock culture.
As early as 1978, Richard Quebedeux documented the dramatic changes that were occurring within evangelicalism a mere thirty years after the opening onslaught of the spirit of “Newism.” He observed that “the wider culture has had a profound impact on the evangelical movement as a whole” (The Worldly Evangelicals, p. 115). This is a direct result of the repudiation of separation. He said:
“In the course of establishing their respectability in the eyes of the wider society, the evangelicals have become harder and harder to distinguish from other people. Upward social mobility has made the old revivalistic taboos dysfunctional. ... the COCKTAILS became increasingly difficult to refuse. Evangelical young people LEARNED HOW TO DANCE AND OPENLY ‘GROOVED’ ON ROCK MUSIC. ... And evangelical magazines and newspapers began REVIEWING PLAYS AND MOVIES. ... The Gallup Poll is correct in asserting that born-again Christians ‘believe in a strict moral code.’ BUT THAT STRICTNESS HAS BEEN CONSIDERABLY MODIFIED DURING THE LAST FEW YEARS … DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE are becoming more frequent and acceptable among evangelicals of all ages, even in some of their more conservative churches. … Some evangelical women are taking advantage of ABORTION on demand. Many younger evangelicals occasionally use PROFANITY in their speech and writing ... Some of the recent evangelical sex-technique books assume that their readers peruse and view PORNOGRAPHY on occasion, and they do. Finally, in 1976 there emerged a fellowship and information organization for practicing evangelical LESBIANS AND GAY MEN and their sympathizers. There is probably just as high a percentage of gays in the evangelical movement as in the wider society. Some of them are now coming out of the closet, distributing well-articulated literature, and demanding to be recognized and affirmed by the evangelical community at large. ... It is profoundly significant that evangelicals, even the more conservative among them, have ACCEPTED THE ROCK MODE. This acceptance, obviously, indicates a further chapter in the death of self-denial and world rejection among them. ... When young people were converted in the Jesus movement, many of them simply did not give up their former habits, practices, and cultural attitudes--DRINKING, SMOKING, AND CHARACTERISTIC DRESS AND LANGUAGE. ... Young evangelicals drink, but so do conservative evangelicals like Hal Lindsey and John Warwick Montgomery (who is a member of the International Wine and Food Society). ... But EVEN MARIJUANA, now virtually legal in some areas of the United States, is not as forbidden among young evangelicals as it once was. A few of them, particularly the intellectuals, do smoke it on occasion...” (The Worldly Evangelicals, 1978, pp. 14, 16, 17, 118, 119).
That was 1978, and the situation has become much, much worse in the last 50 years.
We would observe that those who have bought into the new evangelical doctrine of grace are exceedingly ungracious toward those who warn of this error.
Following are a few samples from 2001:
“I am absolutely amazed at your pharisaical views and dogmatism that chokes out the very life that God desires to overflow from the lives of those you are attempting to minister with. How laughable your writings are to my carnal mind, how absolutely sickening they must be to Father. ... Quite honestly if you check your heart you will find a tremendous amount of jealousy which keeps you very busy promoting your own small ideas, taking puck shots at tremendous men of God who will see things you only dream about. Repent and do something worthwhile with your lives.”
“You know what? You need your *** ****** ‘Brother Cloud.’ What in **** (and it is from ****) is wrong with you? What do the Scriptures tell you about the kind of **** you dished out about Chuck Swindoll? If they are not against us (the sake of Christ) then they are for us, just because they don't part their hair on the same side you do leave them alone. You’re going the wrong way, God allows U-Turns. Jealousy has a lot of faces.” [I removed this Swindoll supporter’s vulgarisms.]
“Like you Brother Cloud I once was a legalistic Christian who simply went through my life doing my joyless duties. I thought that my ‘duties’ were impressing God and that he couldn't fulfill his plan in life without me. ... If someone doesn’t exactly line up with your way of thinking then they are apostate. I’m sorry Brother Cloud, but you didn’t write the book on Christian living. Jesus Christ did.”
“He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone. Obviously, this site is one of a perfect human being. Jesus came to seek and save the lost, not defame, cast down, and destroy. If you see a brother in a fault correct him, not crucify.”
“..Christianity Today listed Swindoll as one of the top 25 influential preachers..”
Chuck Swindoll (b. 1934) is an extremely influential evangelical leader and nationally syndicated radio personality. He was the senior pastor of First Evangelical Free Church of Fullerton, California, from 1971-1994, president of Dallas Theological Seminary from 1994 to 2001, and founder of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, in 1998. In April 2024 he stepped down as senior pastor but continues to preach as health allows. His Insight for Living ministry hosts his web site, publishes his 70 books, and airs his radio program on about 2,000 stations in 15 languages. Swindoll’s wife, Cynthia, serves as president and chief executive officer of the ministry and its 90 employees.
In 2006, Christianity Today listed Swindoll as one of the top 25 influential preachers in the past 50 years. According to a 2009 Lifeway Research survey of 800 Protestant pastors, Swindoll was America’s most influential preacher after Billy Graham.
Swindoll’s book THE GRACE AWAKENING (1990) has had a wide influence among evangelicals and beyond. He redefines grace as a form of moral license. He claims that it is legalistic to make prohibitions against R-rated movies, sensual music, dancing, drinking, etc. He promotes a largely non-critical participation in the pop culture. His “judge not” position negates biblical practices such as exhorting fellow believers about sin (Heb 3:10; 10:25), reproving and rebuking sin and error (2 Ti. 4:2; Tit. 2:15), marking and separating from heretics (Ro. 16:17; Tit. 3:10-11), separating from apostasy (2 Ti. 3:5), and church discipline (Mt. 18:15-17; 1 Co. 5).
Swindoll caricatures fundamentalists as being “squint-eyed legalists spying out and attacking another’s liberty” and “a group of cramped, somber, dull and listless individuals.”
That slander resonates with rebels everywhere.
Calvary Contender editor Jerry Huffman observed that Swindoll’s book leaves “the impression that rules or restrictions upon the believer steal from him the exuberance and joy of the Christian life and relegate him to a morbid and dreary existence.”
In his excellent reply to Swindoll’s book (Are Fundamentalist Legalists? 2004), Dr. Ernest Pickering wrote, “After many years of ministry among thousands of churches both in this country and others I believe I can say with confidence that I have never met a pastor or Christian leader who believed this [Swindoll’s caricature of fundamentalists]. God’s acceptance is gained by grace not through the observance of rules (even biblical ones!). This is an exaggeration which we believe does great disservice to many Christian leaders. ... It presents strong, godly men ... as scheming, bitter, and vengeful souls. This is absolutely false.”
We are not left to figure out what biblical grace looks like in practice. It is described in plain words in Titus 2:11-12. Biblical grace teaches God’s redeemed people “to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts” and calls upon them to “live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.” That is a perfect definition of biblical separation, which Swindoll does not practice. To live according to Titus 2:11-12 requires constant judgment and the extreme caution pertaining to all forms of entertainment, etc. “And have NO fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Eph. 5:11). We are to not to befriend the world and not to love the world neither the things that are in the world (Jas. 4:4; 1 Jo. 2:15-16). That is a VERY narrow standard.
At the July 1994 Promise Keepers conference in Boulder, Colorado, Swindoll entered the stadium on a motorcycle to the blaring strains of the rock song “Born to Be Wild,” which summarizes the philosophy of the pop culture. It is an end-time anthem embracing feminism, unisexism, atheism, homosexual rights, abortion rights, transsexualism, New Age, Eastern religion, and the occult.
Yeah, darlin’, go and make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space
Like a true nature’s child
We were born, born to be wild
(“Born to Be Wild,” Steppenwolf, 1968)
With Swindoll, everything must be positive and non-judgmental. Not for him the “reprove” and “rebuke” of 2 Timothy 4:2 and the “rebuke with all authority” of Titus 2:13. Not for him the marking and reproving and shunning of false teachers as per Paul’s example (1 Ti. 1:18-20; 2 Ti. 2:16-21; 4:14-15). Not for him the clear defining of apostasy as a lustful Christianity (2 Ti. 4:3-4). Not for him the earnest contention for the faith (Jude 1:3).
Swindoll says, “I’m not a charismatic. However, I don’t feel it’s my calling to shoot great volleys of theological artillery at my charismatic brothers and sisters. ... My encouragement for you today is that each one of us pursue what unites us with others rather than the few things that separate us. ... More than ever we need grace-awakened ministers who free rather than bind” (Grace Awakening, pp. 188, 189, 233).
So in the face of such heresies as gibberish tongues, false prophesying, spirit slaying, spirit drunkenness, uncontrollable laughter, healing in the atonement, women pastors, and angel feathers, Swindoll has no warning, just a Christian smiley face.
Swindoll says, “I have always loved this saying: ‘In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.’” This popular evangelical stance refuses to deal plainly with theological error, lets wolves devour sheep, and purports that only a few “fundamentals of the faith” or “cardinal doctrines” are worthy of making an issue over (and the list of “fundamentals” tends to grow shorter with time).
There is no support for this from Scripture. The Lord Jesus instructed the disciples to teach the churches “to observe ALL THINGS whatsoever I have commanded you” (Mt. 28:20). There is no hint here that Christ would be pleased if His people pass over a large portion of New Testament instruction as “non-essential” and exalt unity over doctrine. Paul followed in his Master’s footsteps, instructing Timothy to allow “NO other doctrine” (1 Ti. 1:3). That is the narrowest possible position on doctrinal purity. Paul’s program was to instruct his converts in “the whole counsel of God” (Ac. 20:27) and to train faithful men in such a manner that they would impart “THE SAME” to the next generation (2 Ti. 2:2). The popular evangelicals of our day who want to water the faith down to a few essentials for the sake of a broad unity could not be described as “faithful” by the New Testament definition. Paul instructed Timothy about church matters, such as pastors and deacons and women’s attire and women’s ministries and discipline (1 Ti. 2-5), and at the end of that instruction Timothy was exhorted to “keep this commandment WITHOUT SPOT, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Ti. 6:14). A “spot” is a small thing. Paul was teaching Timothy to pay careful attention to every detail of Scripture. This is indeed the very “jot and tittle” rigidity that Swindoll has rejected in his own ministry and promoted far and wide.
Swindoll promotes the heretical practice of CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER. In So, You Want to Be Like Christ? he favorably cites Richard Foster, Catholic priest Henri Nouwen, and Dallas Willard. He calls Foster’s work Celebration of Discipline “meaningful” and has an entire chapter on “Silence and Solitude.” There is no warning that Foster builds his contemplative practice upon the darkness of Roman Catholic monasticism, with its false sacramental gospel, veneration of Mary, the Host as Christ, purgatory, outrageous asceticism, extra-scriptural revelations, etc.
Dave and Deborah Dombrowski of Lighthouse Trails describe their efforts to warn Swindoll:
“In September 2005, we were informed that Chuck Swindoll was favorably quoting Henri Nouwen and Richard Foster on his Insight For Living program. We contacted Insight for Living and spoke with Pastor Graham Lyons. We shared our concerns, then later sent A Time of Departing [by Ray Yungen] to him and also a copy to Chuck Swindoll. In a letter dated 10/3/05 from Pastor Lyons, we were told, ‘With his schedule I doubt he will read it.’ We are sorry that Chuck Swindoll has time to read Henri Nouwen and Richard Foster but no time to read A Time of Departing, especially in light of the fact that thousands of people will read Chuck Swindoll’s book, listen to his broadcasts and now believe that the contemplative authors are acceptable and good. Incidentally, Swindoll quoted these men, not just a few times, but many times throughout the book.”
Swindoll quotes Henri Nouwen’s claim that contemplative meditation is necessary for an intimacy with God: “I do not believe anyone can ever become a deep person without stillness and silence” (quoted by Swindoll, So You Want to Be Like Christ, p. 65).
In Demonism (Multnomah Press, 1981), Swindoll promoted the unscriptural idea that a child of God can be indwelt by a demon. He gave the highest recommendation to Setting Your Church Free (Anderson and Charles Mylander, Regal Books, 1994), which teaches that believers do not possess a sin nature, that they can be demon possessed, that they should speak directly to the devil, that generational and demonic curses are real, that ritual prayers can be effective, that “demonized believers” must pursue a seven-step deliverance plan, etc. It is a recipe for spiritual confusion.
Believers aren’t born to be wild, Chuck Swindoll; they are born to be holy and true.
In 2006, Christianity Today listed Swindoll as one of the top 25 influential preachers in the past 50 years. According to a 2009 Lifeway Research survey of 800 Protestant pastors, Swindoll was America’s most influential preacher after Billy Graham.
Swindoll’s book THE GRACE AWAKENING (1990) has had a wide influence among evangelicals and beyond. He redefines grace as a form of moral license. He claims that it is legalistic to make prohibitions against R-rated movies, sensual music, dancing, drinking, etc. He promotes a largely non-critical participation in the pop culture. His “judge not” position negates biblical practices such as exhorting fellow believers about sin (Heb 3:10; 10:25), reproving and rebuking sin and error (2 Ti. 4:2; Tit. 2:15), marking and separating from heretics (Ro. 16:17; Tit. 3:10-11), separating from apostasy (2 Ti. 3:5), and church discipline (Mt. 18:15-17; 1 Co. 5).
Swindoll caricatures fundamentalists as being “squint-eyed legalists spying out and attacking another’s liberty” and “a group of cramped, somber, dull and listless individuals.”
That slander resonates with rebels everywhere.
Calvary Contender editor Jerry Huffman observed that Swindoll’s book leaves “the impression that rules or restrictions upon the believer steal from him the exuberance and joy of the Christian life and relegate him to a morbid and dreary existence.”
In his excellent reply to Swindoll’s book (Are Fundamentalist Legalists? 2004), Dr. Ernest Pickering wrote, “After many years of ministry among thousands of churches both in this country and others I believe I can say with confidence that I have never met a pastor or Christian leader who believed this [Swindoll’s caricature of fundamentalists]. God’s acceptance is gained by grace not through the observance of rules (even biblical ones!). This is an exaggeration which we believe does great disservice to many Christian leaders. ... It presents strong, godly men ... as scheming, bitter, and vengeful souls. This is absolutely false.”
We are not left to figure out what biblical grace looks like in practice. It is described in plain words in Titus 2:11-12. Biblical grace teaches God’s redeemed people “to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts” and calls upon them to “live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.” That is a perfect definition of biblical separation, which Swindoll does not practice. To live according to Titus 2:11-12 requires constant judgment and the extreme caution pertaining to all forms of entertainment, etc. “And have NO fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Eph. 5:11). We are to not to befriend the world and not to love the world neither the things that are in the world (Jas. 4:4; 1 Jo. 2:15-16). That is a VERY narrow standard.
At the July 1994 Promise Keepers conference in Boulder, Colorado, Swindoll entered the stadium on a motorcycle to the blaring strains of the rock song “Born to Be Wild,” which summarizes the philosophy of the pop culture. It is an end-time anthem embracing feminism, unisexism, atheism, homosexual rights, abortion rights, transsexualism, New Age, Eastern religion, and the occult.
Yeah, darlin’, go and make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space
Like a true nature’s child
We were born, born to be wild
(“Born to Be Wild,” Steppenwolf, 1968)
With Swindoll, everything must be positive and non-judgmental. Not for him the “reprove” and “rebuke” of 2 Timothy 4:2 and the “rebuke with all authority” of Titus 2:13. Not for him the marking and reproving and shunning of false teachers as per Paul’s example (1 Ti. 1:18-20; 2 Ti. 2:16-21; 4:14-15). Not for him the clear defining of apostasy as a lustful Christianity (2 Ti. 4:3-4). Not for him the earnest contention for the faith (Jude 1:3).
Swindoll says, “I’m not a charismatic. However, I don’t feel it’s my calling to shoot great volleys of theological artillery at my charismatic brothers and sisters. ... My encouragement for you today is that each one of us pursue what unites us with others rather than the few things that separate us. ... More than ever we need grace-awakened ministers who free rather than bind” (Grace Awakening, pp. 188, 189, 233).
So in the face of such heresies as gibberish tongues, false prophesying, spirit slaying, spirit drunkenness, uncontrollable laughter, healing in the atonement, women pastors, and angel feathers, Swindoll has no warning, just a Christian smiley face.
Swindoll says, “I have always loved this saying: ‘In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.’” This popular evangelical stance refuses to deal plainly with theological error, lets wolves devour sheep, and purports that only a few “fundamentals of the faith” or “cardinal doctrines” are worthy of making an issue over (and the list of “fundamentals” tends to grow shorter with time).
There is no support for this from Scripture. The Lord Jesus instructed the disciples to teach the churches “to observe ALL THINGS whatsoever I have commanded you” (Mt. 28:20). There is no hint here that Christ would be pleased if His people pass over a large portion of New Testament instruction as “non-essential” and exalt unity over doctrine. Paul followed in his Master’s footsteps, instructing Timothy to allow “NO other doctrine” (1 Ti. 1:3). That is the narrowest possible position on doctrinal purity. Paul’s program was to instruct his converts in “the whole counsel of God” (Ac. 20:27) and to train faithful men in such a manner that they would impart “THE SAME” to the next generation (2 Ti. 2:2). The popular evangelicals of our day who want to water the faith down to a few essentials for the sake of a broad unity could not be described as “faithful” by the New Testament definition. Paul instructed Timothy about church matters, such as pastors and deacons and women’s attire and women’s ministries and discipline (1 Ti. 2-5), and at the end of that instruction Timothy was exhorted to “keep this commandment WITHOUT SPOT, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Ti. 6:14). A “spot” is a small thing. Paul was teaching Timothy to pay careful attention to every detail of Scripture. This is indeed the very “jot and tittle” rigidity that Swindoll has rejected in his own ministry and promoted far and wide.
Swindoll promotes the heretical practice of CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER. In So, You Want to Be Like Christ? he favorably cites Richard Foster, Catholic priest Henri Nouwen, and Dallas Willard. He calls Foster’s work Celebration of Discipline “meaningful” and has an entire chapter on “Silence and Solitude.” There is no warning that Foster builds his contemplative practice upon the darkness of Roman Catholic monasticism, with its false sacramental gospel, veneration of Mary, the Host as Christ, purgatory, outrageous asceticism, extra-scriptural revelations, etc.
Dave and Deborah Dombrowski of Lighthouse Trails describe their efforts to warn Swindoll:
“In September 2005, we were informed that Chuck Swindoll was favorably quoting Henri Nouwen and Richard Foster on his Insight For Living program. We contacted Insight for Living and spoke with Pastor Graham Lyons. We shared our concerns, then later sent A Time of Departing [by Ray Yungen] to him and also a copy to Chuck Swindoll. In a letter dated 10/3/05 from Pastor Lyons, we were told, ‘With his schedule I doubt he will read it.’ We are sorry that Chuck Swindoll has time to read Henri Nouwen and Richard Foster but no time to read A Time of Departing, especially in light of the fact that thousands of people will read Chuck Swindoll’s book, listen to his broadcasts and now believe that the contemplative authors are acceptable and good. Incidentally, Swindoll quoted these men, not just a few times, but many times throughout the book.”
Swindoll quotes Henri Nouwen’s claim that contemplative meditation is necessary for an intimacy with God: “I do not believe anyone can ever become a deep person without stillness and silence” (quoted by Swindoll, So You Want to Be Like Christ, p. 65).
In Demonism (Multnomah Press, 1981), Swindoll promoted the unscriptural idea that a child of God can be indwelt by a demon. He gave the highest recommendation to Setting Your Church Free (Anderson and Charles Mylander, Regal Books, 1994), which teaches that believers do not possess a sin nature, that they can be demon possessed, that they should speak directly to the devil, that generational and demonic curses are real, that ritual prayers can be effective, that “demonized believers” must pursue a seven-step deliverance plan, etc. It is a recipe for spiritual confusion.
Believers aren’t born to be wild, Chuck Swindoll; they are born to be holy and true.
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