Dan Boone, President of Trevecca Nazarene University, is one of the most influential and important people in the Church of the Nazarene today. However, this is not meant to be a compliment, if Mr. Boone is reading this. The “importance and influence” of this man is one of serious significant theological error. I may actually be inaccurate in calling it error. Dan Boone not only falls short of good biblical discernment, he is one of the wolves in sheep’s clothing who are taking a wrecking ball to the foundations of the Nazarene denomination. He knows exactly what he is doing. And what is more alarming is that he represents the mindset of many other leaders in the denomination!
The most recent evidence is his comment below, which was posted by the seminary as well, to no surprise.
Boone praises Frank Thomas, who is scheduled to speak at the seminary in September. Thomas is a proven racist, based on his own writings, his tweets, and even some of his preaching. Not only that, Thomas recently showed in series of tweets and re-tweets his disapproval of the striking down of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court. It is clear that he is pro-abortion, a stance that goes against scripture, and even goes against the Nazarene position on human life. And yet, he is to speak at Nazarene Theological Seminary. And Boone is delighted.
Back to my reference to “wolves” in describing Dr. Boone. In 2017, he was one of the most, if not the most, instrumental church leaders in re-writing the statement on human sexuality and removing the word “perversion” from the language. Dr. Boone will certainly not admit it if asked, but he is pro-LGBT.
His muddied views on human sexuality have been referenced posititively in several papers written by the rebellious Holland Nazarene Church District. This is the Holland District which is blessing same sex unions, and which has not been disciplined in any way by the Church of the Nazarene leaders. (As far as I know). Dan Boone is in good company with them, because the General Superintendents have all been derelict in their duties to uphold biblical doctrine, even as they claim otherwise that all is well.
This lack of discernment is not new to Mr. Boone. Sometime around 2010 or 2011, I wrote about the prayer labyrinth in use at Trevecca Nazarene University. Mr. Boone defended the labyrinth (which he re-named later as a ‘prayer walk’), which is used in contemplative mysticism as a way to empty the mind and pray to God, but not in a scriptural manner. He also has allowed for years an annual trip to the Abbey of Gethsemani in Trappist, KY. It is the spiritual home of Thomas Merton, a monk who was steeped in contemplative mysticism. In these trips, Nazarene students are even encouraged to “practice the silence”, and to pray alongside Roman catholic monks and be involved in their rituals. See this article:
https://reformednazarene.wordpress.com/2018/02/15/trevecca-nazarene-university-continues-to-promote-mystical-silence-instead-of-biblical-prayer/
Years ago, Mr. Boone used to have the following statement in his bio at Nazarene Theological Seminary: “I am deepening in the mystical forms of prayer.” The statement is no longer there. He also has stated outrageous unbiblical things such as claiming that many of the Psalms were “borrowed” from pagan religions:
“What I find more exciting and authoritative is the thought that the people of God were exiled in the pagan land of Babylon, listening to pagan stories about the origin of the universe, and the breath of God spoke through a prophet giving them a different understanding. They hijacked the Babylonian tale of creation and declared God to be the one who, in the beginning, created creation and came to take up residence with us in the cosmic temple. Now that’s authority” (from letter to area pastors in response to Sue and Don Butler’s article)
“The Hebrew creation account is a re-telling of the Babylonian tale. Their Hebrew feast days are re-interpretations of the Canaanite days. The Royal Psalms in the collection of Psalms were once Canaanite songs.” (Dan Boone)
He has compared Bible-believing Christians to jihadists. He wrote a book called “A charitable Discourse”, but Mr. Boone is far from charitable towards those who wish to uphold biblical principles. He insults them:
“Religious fundamentalism is one of the hot topics in the world today and this website has given me the best model, other than Islamic fundamentalism, to demonstrate to students how religious fundamentalism works.”
“I only argued with them in the first place because they were making false claims about Trevecca, and to expose them for who they really are—religious fundamentalists. But you can’t have discussions with people whose minds are already made up… Rational conversation with them is not possible”
Dr. Boone has called Thomas Merton and Ignatius of Loyola spiritual giants.
Merton was not a spiritual giant- he was a monk who said that he was “deeply impregnated with Sufism” because he believed that Eastern mysticism was compatible with and could be incorporated into Christianity. He placed Mary high on a level equal to Jesus, and he prayed to many catholic saints. He was influenced by Aldous Huxley, who found enlightenment through hallucinogenic drugs.
Ignatius of Loyola was no wiser, and as the founder of the Jesuits he brutally persecuted Christians and swore complete submission to the pope. As most Roman Catholics do, he venerated Mary. He practiced extreme asceticism, living in a cave for a year and never bathing. He also promoted and taught visualization prayers, breath prayers, and other unbiblical practices
(Source: Way of Life). Yet, Dan Boone calls Thomas Merton a spiritual giant.
In a Letter to Pastors that he wrote in 2009, Dr. Boone not only erroneously claimed that the Roman Catholic church was the only church for 1500 years after Christ, but he also exposed more error along with his ecumenical get along with everyone philosophy. How is it that we can “be one” with the Roman Catholic Church?
“While Nazarenes are different from Catholics in very significant ways, we believe that we will share eternity with them in the presence of the Christ who prayed that we might be one.” (Dan Boone)
To be fair, Mr. Boone is not alone in his lack of discernment and his unbiblical love of contemplative mysticism. There are other leaders as well who love the writings of false teachers such as Merton, Henri Nouwen, and Richard Foster, to name just a few. Nd so that is the problem. Leaders and ordained pastors alike are going down the same road that Dan Boone is going. And need I say that the General Superintendents continue to be either oblivious to anything wrong, or some are complicit in all that is harming the Church of the Nazarene.
I have also had conversations via email with Dan Boone, and this article details some of that: https://reformednazarene.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/conversation-with-a-university-president/
I have concluded that the denomination is beyond repair as it stands. The only “fix” is that either more faithful Christians in the denomination will have to leave eventually, or there is a seismic shift in leadership with a thorough housecleaning to save the denomination. Most likely acceptance of homosexuality will be the deal breaker for many Nazarenes who are “sticking with it” for now. But there are already plenty of good reasons to leave what is now an apostate denomination. I used to be a member, yet it breaks my heart to say it.
With “leaders” such as Dan Boone, and other “leaders” who have turned a blind eye to the truth of what is happening, the Church of the Nazarene is well on its way to irrelevance, along with all the other mainstream “Christian” churches that have compromised biblical truth and sold out to satan.
Additional related articles:
https://reformednazarene.wordpress.com/2012/10/11/dan-boone-goes-after-bible-believers-again/
Former Nazarene 
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