The Emergent/Emerging Church movement is heading towards a crash collision with the New Age movement. In fact, it may already be happening before our very eyes. The Discernment Research Group has reached the inescapable conclusion that this is intentional and it has been planned for over a generation.
In brief, there has been a crossover of personnel, organizations, doctrines, methods, and agendas going back at least 40-50 years. Constance Cumbey, who first exposed the New Age movement and its Theosophical roots in her groundbreaking book The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow, has been writing a series of reports on the earliest examples of this crossover for her blog (http://cumbey.blogspot.com/) and her NewsWithViews.com column. Through our own research we have discovered that there was an earlier EmergingChurch movement, which was initiated in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which bears remarkable resemblance, crossover and correlation to its newer counterpart. This early history is currently being recounted in an ongoing series of posts on the Herescope blog.1
We know that the current Emergent Church is a marketing phenomenon, set up as an official movement by Bob Buford’s Leadership Network, a historical fact which we documented in a series of Herescope posts in 2005 and 2006.2 From its very inception in the 1980s Leadership Network imported a number of leading New Age business “gurus” as “experts” – holding nebulous (if any!) Christian credentials. They trained an entire generation of evangelical “leaders” on the latest tactics of psycho-social change theory, substituting it for genuine Holy Spirit revival. These business “gurus,” some of whom had open New Age beliefs, included such notables as Margaret Wheatley, Peter Drucker, Jim Collins, and Ken Blanchard. Many spoke at a 2000 Leadership Network conference “Exploring Off the Map” which launched the EmergentChurch movement.3
From our research we also know that the EmergentChurch was set up to be a vanguard, a forerunner, to propel the postmodern evangelical church towards a paradigm shift in theology, structure, methodology, and purpose. As such, it has been rushing headlong towards an open convergence with the New Age movement. Emergent leader Phyllis Tickle has termed this “The Great Emergence,” which is the title of her 2008 book announcing the “birthing” of a “brand-new expression of… faith and praxis” (p. 17) which will ultimately “rewrite Christian theology” (p. 162).
Important details about both the history and theology of the modern Emergent movement can be found in Pastor Bob DeWaay’s recently published book The Emergent Church: Undefining Christianity (2009). This book summarizes the basic doctrines and practices of the movement, and gives an account of a few key leaders.
Emergent Eschatology
Pastor DeWaay recognizes the defining issue for the Emergent movement as eschatology:
While EmergentChurch leaders differ on nearly every Christian doctrine, one belief they hold in common—the one that unifies their movement—is their eschatology. Emergent theologians and church leaders reject God’s final judgment in favor of His saving of all humanity and creation into a tangible paradise in which all will participate. (p. 13)
This view of eschatology is also a key doctrine of Dominionism, and is therefore linked to the concept of “building the kingdom of God on earth.” This eschatological worldview proclaims that there isn’t going to be a Judgment Day, and teaches that man can facilitate the return to pre-Fall paradise conditions on Earth. This view of the future subliminates the Cross, ignores scriptural prophecies about the endtimes, and positions man into godlike status as a “co-creator.” Obviously, in such an eschatological scenario there is no Heaven nor Hell.
The Emergent paradigm shift is already happening. This eschatological worldview is now becoming widespread and is subtly being incorporated into most major “mainstream” evangelical ministries, missions, and organizations. A few examples we have noted on the Herescope blog include N.T. Wright,4 the Lausanne movement,5 Ralph Winter,6 Transform World,7 Dutch Sheets and Bill Hamon,8 and many Latter Rain leaders.9 Exemplifying this shift, a recent article in a publication called ConvergePoint, put out by the Baptist General Conference, describes this group’s transformation initiative in these terms, “My personal joy was compounded culturally by the fact that the word converge happens to appear in the Portuguese Bible in Ephesians 1:10: ‘…to make all things converge together in Christ, things in heaven and earth.’”10
This eschatological worldview has serious ramifications for all of Christian theology. DeWaay explains:
“…[T]he possibility of future judgment and punishment of those who do not believe in Christ’s death on the cross and His shedding of blood to avert God’s wrath against sin is either denied or not discussed in Emergent/
postmodern theology. (p. 149)
Theology of Hope?
Pastor DeWaay identifies Jürgen Moltmann’s book, Theology of Hope, first published in 1964, as a seminal document forming a foundation for the EmergentChurch movement’s revisionist, evolutionary eschatology. Moltmann was influenced by Marxism and the philosophies of Georg W.F. Hegel. Moltmann’s eschatological “hope” is “headed toward the kingdom of God on earth with universal participation” (p. 23). DeWaay explains that “Emergent/postmodern theology is based on the Hegelian idea that contradictions synthesize into better future realities…. Moltmann took Hegel’s ideas and created a Christian alternative to Marxism (which is also based on Hegel’s philosophy) that he called a ‘theology of hope’” (p. 30). Emergent church leaders who hearken back to Moltmann include Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt, Stanley Grenz and many others.
DeWaay makes the case that, according to the “theology of hope” promulgated by Moltmann and his Emergent disciples, “the truth will only be known with certainty in the future” (p. 39) Therefore, this uncertainty results in the corollary heresies that “God is re-creating the world now with our help” and “the world has a universally bright future with no pending, cataclysmic judgment” (p. 40).
Evolutionary Eschatology
The root theology undergirding all Emergent eschatology is evolution. A generation ago, certain Christian leaders took the ideas of Moltmann and began to fill in the outlines for his “theology of hope.” They also got their ideas from a group of so-called “secular” futurists, who happened to hold a Teilhardian evolutionary worldview.11 Today we might classify these futurists as New Agers.
Modern Emergents hold a remarkably similar worldview to these early futurists. Phyllis Tickle, in her book The Great Emergence, writes approvingly of Darwin’s evolution theory, saying that it was “the tipping point that sent us careening off into new cultural, social, political, and theological territory” (p. 64).
While researching the early EmergingChurch movement we came across a seminary theologian, Kenneth Cauthen, who wrote a book in 1971 entitled Christian Biopolitics: A Credo & Strategy for the Future (Abdingdon Press). It was the premise of Cauthen’s book that Jürgen Moltmann didn’t go far enough; that his “theology of hope” was incomplete because it was focused “too exclusively in the context of society and history and has neglected the natural and cosmic setting of the human enterprise” (p. 102). Cauthen proposed a “Christian biopolitics” – an “ecological principle” that would connect nature and society so that Moltmann’s “theology of hope” could become “cosmic.” He called for the “recognition of the centrality of an evolutionary perspective” (p. 109). We don’t know the full extent of Cauthen’s influence upon postmodern evangelicals, but the theological changes he anticipated bear remarkable resemblance to Emergent thought and practice today.
As a member of the World Future Society, a group formed in 1966 with strong ties to the New Age Theosophists, Cauthen articulated an “ecological model for politics and theology” (p. 106) that would facilitate a “transition” leading to global “transformation.” He proposed that “we take the New Testament conception of the consummated Kingdom of God as a symbol of the transcendent goal of history” (p. 131), a theology which would eliminate a future of either Heaven and Hell. And he suggested that “man is indeed becoming like a god…that science and technology are putting power into the hands of human beings that have traditionally been reserved for the gods” (p. 140). He summarized his views as follows:
The message of the church during this period of world transition should be framed in utopian-eschatological terms, stressing the power and purpose of the Divine Spirit to bring all men into the ecstatic joy of a New Age, while the ministry of the church is basically to create a community of persons who can cause, celebrate, and cope with the changes that are required to bring humanity into the promise of the planetary society.” (p. 124)
Cauthen was not happy with Moltmann’s social gospel “theology of hope.” He said that was too connected to the here and now in building the kingdom of God on earth. Cauthen proposed that Moltmann’s ideas needed a “cosmic” and “utopian” aspect that would give people a “magnificent vision of an ideal future” with a “new consciousness” that would prove to “be more sensuous, ecstatic, erotic, earthy, bodily oriented, festive, playful, feminine, idealistic, utopian, mystical, sacramental, hedonistic—in sum, a quest for joy in the wholeness of body and spirit” (p. 150). Amazingly, this is a pretty accurate picture of the modern EmergentChurch’s quest for a better future.
“God’s Dream”
Cauthen focused on a utopian “New Age” as the ideal future. He proposed that “utopian thinking” be based on a common “eschatological vision” – an “image of the future” (p. 60), citing Frederick L. Polak’s two-volume work The Image of the Future.12 Cauthen suggested that “to dream new dreams, to create new utopias of the mind, and to project new images of the future appropriate to the emerging conditions of the year 2000 may indeed be—as Polak claims—our one best hope” (p. 67). To “dream dreams” became Cathen’s rallying cry throughout the book, and he even hearkened back to Martin Luther King’s famous speech. He linked such dreams to the “birth of a new vision, a new consciousness” (p. 149) in the Teilhardian sense of a collective dawning (“emerging”) cosmic consciousness of mankind.
Fast-forward to 2009. Dreams, images, icons, symbols, meditations, chantings, labyrinths – anything but God’s Word – have become fully operational in the modern Emergent movement. All serve as a means to an end. Mysticism and experientiality do not simply supplement Scripture, they replace it. “This mystical theology is a denial of the fallen nature of man,” notes Bob DeWaay, and mysticism “suggests that all humans can find God” by engaging in these extra-biblical activities (p. 125).
The modern Emergent movement has adopted the idea of a common “dream” for the future. Many leaders use the motif of “God’s Dream” for describing this future utopian kingdom of God on earth that they are trying to co-create. This is another point of convergence with the New Age movement, which has used the term “God’s Dream” in the same way. Evangelicals and New Agers using this theme include Lou Engle, Robert Schuller,13 Desmond Tutu, Sri Chimnoy, Sun Myung Moon, Shane Claiborne, Delirious?, Leonard Sweet, and many others.14 [DeWaay offers his readers an excellent theological refutation of this extra-biblical concept of “God’s Dream.”]
Experientialism is the foundational principle behind all of this dreaming and visioning. The purpose of an experience-focused faith is to change values and attitudes, and open up the believer to an acceptance of new “truths.” This was well articulated in 1971 by Cauthen. His own brand of the “theology of hope” was rooted in “clarifying images which illuminate experience as it is critically interpreted by reason” (p. 113). What he meant is that “feeling and intuition” (p. 150) should take precedence over rational thinking, reason and biblical Truth. He wrote that “the Bible is not to be regarded as an arbitrary dictator of dogma, nor as an infallible source of truth” but, rather, that the “final test… of religious truth is the intuition of the individual person” (p. 114). He recommended that “there is a particular need at the present to focus attention on utopian dreaming as a way of shaking us loose from obsolete ways of thinking and opening us up to those ideas, attitudes, and values that are appropriate for the future” (p. 122). He suggested that people who hold to these powerful visions of a utopian future “are the probable agents of redemptive social change” (p. 132). He called for a “theology of the Spirit” which would “emphasize freedom, the creation of the new, and the fulfillment of the creative process” (p. 138). Such a “theology of freedom… looks with radical openness to the future for new truths and values…” (p. 138). Cauthen’s experience-based theologies bear remarkable resemblance to the postmodern EmergentChurch of our era.
Deconstruction
Pastor DeWaay does an excellent job of scouring the Emergent chronicles for evidences of “deconstruction.” “Deconstruction” is a philosophy that de-emphasizes the Word of God, and claims that no one can really know the Truth. It fits hand-in-glove with mysticism.
An excellent analysis of “deconstruction” was written by Samuel Blumenfeld in 1995, as part of his scholarly refutation of the “whole language” style of teaching reading that resulted in illiteracy. Blumenfeld explained how “deconstruction” obliterates the fact that words have meaning, de-emphasizes written language by claiming that there is no “truth” in it, and declares “the impossibility of determining absolute meaning” 15 in a text. He wrote:
But not only do the whole-language deconstructionists reject the concept of the absolute word—the logos—but they reject the very system of logical thinking that made Western civilization possible. They not only reject the Bible, they reject Aristotle’s A is A. Their new formula is A can be anything you want it to be, which can only be the basis of a pre-literate or non-literate culture in which subjectivism, emotion and superstition prevail as the means of knowing.
That, of course, is simply a form of insanity—the inability not only to deal with objective reality but to recognize and admit that it exists. A mind so inclined is a mind that will lead its owner to destruction.16
The EmergentChurch is at the vanguard of this type of deconstructionism. It discounts the Word of God, mocks exegetical preaching and teaching, and emphasizes dialogue (“conversation”), mysticism, symbology, community (“relationships”), and various “spiritual disciplines.” A recent, related fad in the evangelical mission world is “orality,” which is telling stories about the Bible instead of teaching Scripture itself. This cheats the listener out of the precious ability to hear or read God’s Word.
The foundation of this new heresy is said to originate from Walter J. Ong, who wrote a book entitled Orality & Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word (Methuen & Co., Ltd., 1982)…. The premise behind this book is that humans need to return to their earlier (evolutionary) primitive heritage of myth, fable, story, image, symbols, icons, etc. The written word is degraded. The spoken word and image are said to be more closely connected to the human “consciousness.” This author means “consciousness” in the sense of Carl Jung’s pagan pseudo-science of “collective unconscious.” Story, myth and image are therefore seen as closer to pagan spirituality. The author notes the “magic power” inherent in the written word and states that “Literacy can be restricted to special groups such as the clergy.” 17
Indeed, Carl Jung and his concept of a “collective unconscious” is often invoked by Emergent leaders as justification for their use of mythologies and imagination. But, they are also seeking a “new revelation.” The Great Emergence credits Jung’s popular disciple, Joseph Campbell, for his “disestablishment of what is called ‘the Christian doctrine of particularity’ and ‘Christian exclusivity.’” Author Phyllis Tickle explains, “That doctrine and principle, in duet, hold that Jesus and Jesus only is God-among-us and that there is no salvation for humankind anywhere anytime independent of belief in Jesus” (p. 67).
This open-ended, Christ-denigrating view of redemption is not new. Cauthen had already suggested in 1971 that there “may be other ‘sons of God’ in and through whom supple-mentary or corrective revelations may come” (p. 134-135). This is a classic New Age teaching – that Jesus is just one of many cosmic “christs.” In the Emergent eschaton there is an open pantheon – room for any new revelation, and even a new “Jesus.”18 Deconstruction ensures that there is a deliberate dumbing down of the people in the pews so that no one can know the Way, the Truth and the Life.
DeWaay places the Emergent focus on mysticism into the theological context of “undefining grace.” In this new worldview, personal revelation or spiritual experience become predominant since one can no longer determine the content or meaning of what they are reading in God’s Word. Taking this to its logical conclusion, the Emergents teach that “all paths lead to God in a saving way” (p. 133). DeWaay expresses the grave concern that the “result is that they lack the fear of being deceived by spirits” –
When they use breathing techniques or other means of altering their states of consciousness, whereby one is open to the world of spirits, their naïve assumption is that if the resulting experience makes one feel closer to God, the worshipper must therefore be closer to God. (p. 133)
He warns that the “Emergent Church has no defense against these spirits because they have no authoritative Bible to guide them to true beliefs and practices where they would meet God on His terms” (p. 134).
The Spiritualization of Science
The futurists of the 1960s and 1970s were characterized by their zeal to create “alternative future scenarios.” They had their own eschatology – mankind could rewrite its destiny. Science and technology could save man from his own certain destruction. And they believed that the formation of a global system of governance, using state-of-the-art technological, psychological and sociological methods of human control, could create a better planetary society.19 They began to work hard at shifting the paradigm; shifting the focus from reason to relationships, from rational thinking to mysticism, from science to metaphysics.
The New Age movement was connected to these early futurists. Marilyn Ferguson described this fact in her 1980 book The Aquarian Conspiracy (J.P. Tarcher). She suggested that altered states of consciousness would provide the vehicle with which to re-mold beliefs and shape new values. There were mystical ways to facilitate the collective “emergence” of “a new mind” (p. 45), she wrote. Mysticism would enable people to be more easily anesthetized to accept change, i.e., “transformation.” But mysticism needed to become “science.” Willis Harman,20 a leading futurist who was working in this arena, described it this way:
This emerging trans-modern worldview, involves a shift in the locus of authority from external to ‘inner knowing.’ It has basically turned away from the older scientific view that ultimate reality is “fundamental particles,” and trusts perceptions of the wholeness and spiritual aspect of organisms, ecosystems, Gaia and Cosmos. This implies a spiritual reality, and ultimate trust in the authority of the whole. It amounts to a reconciliation of scientific inquiry with the “perennial wisdom” at the core of the world’s spiritual traditions. It continues to involve a confidence in scientific inquiry, but an inquiry whose metaphysical base has shifted from the reductionist, objectivist, positivist base of the 19th- and 20th-century science to a more holistic and transcendental metaphysical foundation. 21
The early futurists began reinventing science so that it would become a sort of spiritual alchemy. They experimented with the human brain and psychedelic drugs in their drive to alter human consciousness in hopes that it would further the evolution of the species. Willis Harman was even “involved in researching the cognitive and societal effects of LSD consumption.”22 This may explain a strange comment by modern Emergent Phyllis Tickle: “There is a clear tragectory from Timothy Leary straight to the Great Emergence and our current disorientation about what exactly consciousness is and we are” (p. 98)
Pastor DeWaay delves into the pseudo-scientific philosophical foundation of the Emergent movement in Chapter 9 of his book, where he discusses Ken Wilbur and his “integral movement.” It is beyond the purview of this brief report to examine the Emergent revival of metaphysics in detail, but it is a fact that many New Age leaders have been attempting to create a “quantum spirituality”23 for some time. And, there has been significant crossover into the evangelical realm for decades, especially via the activities of John Marks Templeton.24 This drive for a new science is inextricably connected with the concept of evolution and eschatology. De Waay succinctly describes this heresy:
Evolution is Spirit manifesting itself in emerging levels of complexity and awareness. The reason evolution makes sense in this scheme is that either God is in the creation (panentheism) or that creation is a manifestation of God (pantheism).
New Age leader Barbara Marx Hubbard was an early futurist who articulated a similar view of quantum evolution in her 1993 book The Revelation. This book is her own rendition of a “new order of the future” (p. 63) in which “science and technology are a vital part of the [Teilhardian] noösphere” and the “planet itself is evolving toward a quantum leap” towards “conscious evolution.”25 Supplanting the Bible’s book of Revelation, she spoke of a coming “Quantum Instant” of “Quantum Transformation,” which will be “an evolutionary selection process based on your qualifications for co-creative power,” and which would create “A New Heaven and a New Earth.”26 There would be no Armageddon, just a “Planetary Pentecost”—a “great Instant of Cooperation.” She claimed that the “prophecy of John [in Revelation] can be avoided altogether.”27 This would be the “gentle Second Coming of Christ through rapid evolution.”28 This is not unlike Emergent leader Brian McLaren’s eschewal of what he terms the “jihadist Jesus” of the “Second Coming.”29 Furthermore, in Hubbard’s utopian future there would be an integration of science and technology with this metaphysical evolution. She claimed that there are “evolutionary capabilities of the human race – space exploration, genetics, longevity research, psychic powers, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, atomic power… co-operating with God to build a New Earth, and New Heavens.”30 In brief, Hubbard’s utopian future bears a striking similarity to the eschatology of the EmergingChurch of today, a fact which raises serious questions.
Conclusion
This brief article just barely skims the surface of many substantial research topics pertaining to the Emergent movement’s history and theology. In the months to come the Discernment Research Group will be writing on these topics. Pastor Larry DeBruyn is currently publishing a scholarly theological refutation of the “quantum spirituality” concept which will be distributed via Discernment Ministries.
To understand more of the history and theology of the EmergingChurch movement, Pastor Bob DeWaay’s book is a useful resource. We are particularly pleased with its references to Dr. Francis Schaeffer—the book analyzes the Emergent movement within the context of the postmodern existential “escape from reason.” DeWaay has taken care to defend the Gospel against these heresies at every juncture. The book is scholarly, well-organized and easy to read.
5. Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, Lausanne Occasional Paper No. 30: “Globalization and the Gospel: Rethinking Mission in the Contemporary World, 2004, http://www.lausanne.org/documents/2004forum/LOP30_IG1.pdf, states: “Gospel, or euvangelion, is understood in its fullest sense as the “good news” that Jesus Christ, the King of Heaven, has come, not only to save individuals from hell, but to restore his kingdom • which is nothing short of the entire world and all of creation. As we shall see, “globalization” leads us to consider anew the words of the Lord’s Prayer: “Father, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.” The mission of the church, accordingly, is to be a living sign to the world that its King has indeed come to restore his kingdom. In the words of the New Testament scholar, N. T. Wright, we are to be for the world what Jesus was for Israel — and, we are able to carry out our mission because of what Jesus did for Israel and the world. Understood this way, we are to be the King’s heralds announcing throughout the cities and outposts of the kingdom the “good news” that he has come, he has defeated the rebellious powers of sin and death, and through the power of his Spirit, and he is working through the church to put his world to rights.”
7. See the article posted at http://herescope.blogspot.com/2007/07/redeeming-cultures.html where the Transform World Covenant states: “Scope of the Gospel: As Creator, God is Lord of all, and, therefore, his redemptive concern is comprehensive—seeking to heal and restore ‘all things’ by means of Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross (Gen. 1:31a; Rom. 8:18-23; Col. 1:19-20). The church’s calling is to witness to the kingdom of God in its fullness (Matt. 4:23; Mark 1:15; Luke 4:18-21). To be faithful to the gospel the ministry of the body of Christ must be holistic—encompassing the whole person—spiritual, physical, and social, and all human relationships—with God, with others, and with the environment (Gen. 1:26-28). Anything less than concern for all spheres of life is to misrepresent the all-encompassing Lordship of Jesus Christ over the world.”
10. “What does ‘Converge’ mean?” Jerry Sheveland, ConvergePoint, Vol. 1, No. 3, April-May 2009, p. 12.
11. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the French Jesuit philosopher/priest, proposed that just as man had evolved from monkeys, there would be a new species of man that would EMERGE, which he called homo noeticus. His evolutionary beliefs form the foundation of the New Age movement. As nearly as we can tell, he was the first to use forms of the word “emerge” to describe the spiritual formation of this new species. Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teilhard) accurately summarizes his beliefs as follows: “In his posthumously published book, The Phenomenon of Man, Teilhard writes of the unfolding of the material cosmos, from primordial particles to the development of life, human beings and the noosphere, and finally to his vision of the Omega Point in the future, which is ‘pulling’ all creation towards it. He was a leading proponent of orthogenesis, the idea that evolution occurs in a directional, goal driven way. To Teilhard, evolution unfolded from cell to organism to planet to solar system and whole-universe (see Gaia theory). Such theories are generally termed teleological views of evolution. Teilhard attempts to make sense of the universe by its evolutionary process. He interprets mankind as the axis of evolution into higher consciousness, and postulates that a supreme consciousness, God, must be drawing the universe towards him.”
15. Samuel Blumenfeld, “Whole Language: Deconstruction in the Primary School,” excerpted from The Whole Language/OBE Fraud (The Paradigm Company, 1995) pp. 149-166. Posted with permission of the author at http://www.discernment-ministries.org/content/whole-language-deconstruction-primary-school-0 The whole language method of teaching reading is not based on phonics, sounding out letters. Rather, it is based on images, symbols and pictures. It results in rampant illiteracy.
20. Willis Harman was invited to speak as a presenter at the second Evangelical Consultation on the Future in the late 1970s. A series of Herescope posts in September and October 2005 covered this topic in detail. His esoteric viewpoints were not refuted.
23. Emergent leader Leonard Sweet authored an intellectually incomprehensible book called Quantum Spirituality: A Postmodern Apologetic (SpiritVenture, 1991), which exemplifies the Emergent heretical beliefs being talked about in this article. Note that Bob DeWaay warns that “I find that Emergent Church leaders do their best not to be understood, suggesting that being clever, coy, contradictory, or even provocative is a better way to help people emerge from old categories of thought into new, synthetic ones” (p. 10).
24. The enormous weight of facts backing this statement will be the topic of future Herescope posts, Lord willing. Keep us in your prayers as we write.
25. Barbara Marx Hubbard, The Revelation: Our Crisis is a Birth (Foundation for Conscious Evolution, 1993), p. 30, 31, 43. Warren Smith, in his book Reinventing Jesus Christ (Conscience Press, 2002), first exposed this woman’s crossover New Age/New Spirituality agenda, her frightening “selection process,” and her futuristic “Armageddon Alternative.”
The gift of discerning of spirits is an absolute necessity in this Church Age because many of Satan’s agents are being sent into to the Church to deceive, “if possible”, the very elect. Only a supernatural move of the Holy Spirit can awaken a slumbering Church that is so sound asleep that occultists can pass as ministers of the Gospel.
The New Age apostles are very evangelistic, reaching out with a mystical religion to wet the spiritually dry beds of hearts that have been robbed from a living God. They are finding a fertile harvest field in dead Churches that portray a dead, powerless Savior. The gods of the East with their occult powers can manipulate almost at will the ministers and people of God at will.Few are withstanding their onslaught.
•They have systematically diminished any real acquisition of the knowledge of Jesus Christ and His Word. Satan is very shrewd and his tactics are not to be underestimated. The many conceptions and half-truths of Satan’s counterfeit religions are the causes of great confusion and far too many Christians are scripturally uninformed. This is a war! It’s a battle for our spirits, minds and souls. That is the real issue today…it is us…or them. People are looking for a supernatural answer to their being. Man is a spirit whose spiritual heart is an empty vacuum that can only be filled by Jesus Christ. Contemporary mystical experiences cannot satisfy spiritual desires…they can only lead to confusion and delusion. But many are seeking the real thing. As the New Age rises in the world, we must be certain our Christian practices are within the guidelines of the Scriptures. Everyone seeking ministry deserves guidance from a Christian perspective.
•Many churches have absolutely no evangelistic zeal for reaching out to save a dying lost world. The Church is turning introspective and is looking to the world for its wisdom and knowledge. With a “feeling cult” gaining in popularity, we witness a growing movement to better the “mental health” of the Church population.
•This movement has launched a popular auxiliary front of non and para-professionals rushing to the aid of their emotionally starved and disabled brothers and sisters. The Church is experiencing a new approach to counseling, identified as humanistic, psycho-social, and psycho-medical. The most commonly used psychotherapies are encounter groups including auto-suggestive and hypnotherapeutic techniques.
•Satan has many church people looking inward using “change agents” as psychologists, (counselors of hypnotists and paraprofessionals) whoare psychologically tampering with their souls. Even some of the healing ministries are going too far with their use of visualization techniques and regression. Robert Hall Glover’s statement about the Church gives us much light when he wrote: “The Church was not designed to be a reservoir, ever-receiving and retaining for itself God’s spiritual blessings. But rather a conduit conveying them on and out to others everywhere.”
God is looking for people who will be instruments in the hands of the Holy Spirit. As people yield to His Spirit, He works in them, making them effective workers for the Lord. God is not looking for intelligence or talent as much as he is looking for consecration and obedience. We must learn to yield to Him. He wishes to work in the hearts and lives of men and women. He can do more for us in a few moments than we can do for ourselves in a life time. He longs to fill us, empower us, guide us, and work through us.
The basis of this study is the English paraphrased text of the New Testament written by Eugene Peterson called THE MESSAGE. Through the use of paraphrase, THE MESSAGE was ‘crafted’ to present the doctrines of mysticism to the Christian church in order to seduce believers into the occult and the New Age Movement. Readers who recognize mystical/occult terminology, will definitely get “the message” Mr. Peterson is seeking to convey throughout his version of the Bible.
OUTLINE
I. STUDY FOUNDATION
A. Key verse
B. Thesis
C. Summary
II. SATAN’S PLAN (as it relates to mysticism and THE MESSAGE)
A. Christianity must embrace mysticism
B. Doctrines about the Bible rejected
C. Bible to be interpreted and taught allegorically, not literally
D. Christian doctrine to be changed
E. New Bibles will contain new Gospel and new message
F. Mysticism to be taught in Christian and Jewish seminaries
G. Mysticism to be made accessible to average person
H. Those teaching mysticism to the Church will deny it
I. New Age mysticism to be promoted by the Church and Masonry
J. Mysticism will become the universal religion through the ecumenical movement
K. World Bible to be based on mysticism
III. SCRIPTURE (verses which have been changed by ‘THE MESSAGE’)
A. Prophecies concerning the Church’s apostasy into mysticism
B. Principles/doctrines concerning Bibliology
C. Commandments concerning the Bible and doctrine
D. Warnings concerning changing the Scripture
IV. TOPICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA
A. Bible translation
B. Declaration of the Unity of the World
C. Mysticism/occultism
V. MAKING CONNECTIONS (people directly or indirectly related with THE MESSAGE and Eugene Peterson)
A. Organizations
1. Chrysostom Society
2. Huntington House Publishers
3. The Navigators
4. Regent College
5. Renovare
6. Temple of Understanding
7. Theosophy
8. Lindesfarne
9. Freemasonry
B. People
1. Gordon Fee
2. Leighton Ford
3. Richard Foster
4. Billy Graham
5. Madeleine L’Engle
6. J.I. Packer
7. Lucy Shaw
8. Prince Michael Stewart
VI. DICTIONARY OF TERMS
A. Mysticism’s definition
B. Mysticism’s interpretation of Scripture
C. Mysticism’s terms, key words – found in ‘THE MESSAGE
D. Mysticism’s doctrines – found in THE MESSAGE
VII. CHRONOLOGY
APPENDIX
1. THE MESSAGE compared to the KING JAMES BIBLE
A. Mystical/occult terms and key words used in THE MESSAGE
B. Mystical/occult doctrines found in THE MESSAGE
C. Mystical/occult/Masonic practices found in THE MESSAGE
D. Other occultic concepts found in THE MESSAGE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
I . STUDY FOUNDATION
A. KEY VERSE
Romans 1:25- Who CHANGED THE TRUTH of God into a lie, and worshipped the creature more than the Creator …
See III.B.3 for the perversion of this verse in THE MESSAGE.
B. THESIS
Through the use of paraphrase, THE MESSAGE was ‘crafted’ to present the doctrines of mysticism to the Christian church in order to seduce it into occultism and the New Age Movement.
C. SUMMARY
The basis of this study is the English paraphrased text of the New Testament written by Eugene Peterson, called THE MESSAGE. Those readers who recognize mystical/occult terminology, will definitely get “the message” Mr. Peterson is seeking to convey within his Bible version. On the back of his Proverbs Version, he writes, “Discover ancient wisdom you can use in your life today.” In section IV.C., you will “discover” that “ancient wisdom” is a term that refers to the esoteric wisdom, doctrines, and terminology taught by the ancient mystery religions. Mr. Peterson goes on to say that his version of “Proverbs makes these words of ancient wisdom accessible to modern generations…” This parrots the remark made by Michael Howard in his book “Occult Conspiracy,” where he says that occultist Rudolf Steiner made the esoteric teachings of Ancient Wisdom ‘accessible to the average person’ – see II.G.. On the cover page of his New Testament, Mr. Peterson writes, “THE MESSAGE is a contemporary rendering of the Bible from the original languages, crafted to present its tone, rhythm, events and ideas in everyday speech.” Since Masonry refers to itself as “the craft,” it’s not surprising to -find that Mr. Peterson has “crafted” Masonic initiation practices into his version – see Appendix I.C.
Seeing that mysticism/occultism uses and demands an allegorical interpretation of Scripture, the translation method of paraphrase/dynamic equivalence is preferable for those seeking to “craft” a mystical interpretation into the translation. Also, by using paraphrase, one has all the Bible verses at his disposal, without being limited to only the Greek changes offered by the Nestle/Aland Greek New Testament that the more literal modern translations rely upon. Therefore, this study seeks to look at only the paraphrased verses that relate specifically to mysticism, rather than addressing the Greek changes, because most of the Greek changes deal with removed portions of Scripture, and it is much easier to see what “Message” Mr. Peterson is trying to promote by reading the words that are found IN the text, rather than what has been OMITTED FROM the text.
Two endorsers of THE MESSAGE, Richard Foster and Madeleine L’Engle, will be used to define most of the mystical terms appearing in the text, because they are both involved in, and promote, mysticism. As for the other endorsers, one is reminded of the old saying, “birds of a feather flock together;” or, as the Lord so wisely said in Matt.24:28, “for wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.” When one serves up a mystical “piece de resistance,” it is interesting to see who comes to dinner. After you have finished studying this material, hopefully you will have lost your appetite for this dish.
Man simply does not wish to change Scripture unless he has a hidden agenda that rests upon a foundation of unbelief concerning one or more aspects of God’s Word. A changed Bible will change three things: 1) your faith, Ro.10:17; 2) your doctrine, I.Ti.4:1, II.Ti.4:3-4; 3) your conduct, Ro.1:25-32, Gen.3:1,6. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to ‘bring to light the hidden things of darkness’, I.Cor.4:5, in order that you may ‘have no “Fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them,” Eph.5:11.
This study seeks to show that Mr. Peterson’s hidden agenda rests upon a foundation of mysticism. The following statement by Eugene Peterson in his article, “Spirit guest,” published by Christianity Today 11-8-93, reveals that he is inclined toward mysticism himself. He refers to two mystics, Juliana of Norwich and Teresa of Avila, whom he looks to for personal spiritual encouragement.
“Single-minded, persevering faithfulness confirms the authenticity of our spirituality. The ancestors we look to for encouragement in this business – Augustine of Hippo and Julian of Norwich, John Calvin … Teresa of Avila – didn’t flit! They stayed.”
NavPress’s “A RESPONSE FROM THE PUBLISHER TO SPECIFIC CRITICSM OF ‘THE MESSAGE,” reveals that we are not alone in our convictions concerning THE MESSAGE; others have come to the very same conclusions, as expressed in the following 3 issues and criticisms:
“3. Does ‘The Message’…introduce a different gospel message that is unbiblical?’
“4. Does ‘The Message’ reflect ‘New Age’ influences? Some critics have objected to terms scattered throughout ‘The Message’ that they see as tainted with a ‘New Age’ agenda.’
“6. Are people being deceived by ‘The Message’ or drawn away from the truth of God’s word? Some critics have denounced ‘The Message’ as distorting God’s Word and spreading Deception in the Church.’
The issue of “New Age” terms alone should have sounded an alarm to NavPress, and caused them to research Mr. Peterson’s terminology,–for Scripture itself counsels us to:
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good,
Abstain from all appearance of evil. (I.Thes.5-21-22)
It is regrettable that NavPress has chosen to ignore the Lord’s counsel, and continues to navigate the unsuspecting into mysticism, not only through the text of THE MESSAGE, but also through the publications of some of its endorsers as well.
The 3 issues mentioned above are the very things that are dealt with in the following study. In the light of I.Thes.5:21-22, we have chosen to reject THE MESSAGE of mysticism, as presented by Mr. Peterson. After studying these issues, we hope that you will come to the same conclusions.
II. SATAN’S PLAN
Note: Except for Samantha Smith’s remark, all other quotes are by occultists.
A. CHRISTIANITY MUST EMBRACE MYSTICISM.
“Embracing the Cosmic Christ will demand a paradigm shift, and it will empower us for that shift; a shift … from rationalism to mysticism” (Fox, p.134-135)
B. DOCTRINES ABOUT THE BIBLE REJECTED.
“The ‘higher criticism,’ to-day has destroyed the authority of the Christian Scriptures in their literal form, but has offered us nothing to replace that interpretation. We have to turn elsewhere … (to) the various Theosophical Societies … (and) in the ritual of Freemasonry…” (Kingsland, p.91-92)
“The documents of the Bible itself, very far from being the inspired word of ‘God’, are exceedingly human documents; and – as Dr. Eisler says … even the Gospels themselves were falsified in order to bring them into line with ‘Orthodoxy’. They are full of errors, contradictions, unbelievable statements, and are replete with ‘the precepts and doctrines of men’; not to mention errors of translation and re-translation.” (Kingsland, p.36)
C. BIBLE TO BE INTERPRETED AND TAUGHT ALLEGORICALLY, NOT LITERALLY.
“There always has been and … always must be an exoteric doctrine for the masses, and esoteric teaching for those who – as Plotinus says – ‘are fortunately able to perceive it’. But in fact these ‘mysteries’ cannot be stated in any language but that of allegory and symbolism … and in a physical language which can only be symbolical, never literal.” (Kingsland, p.26)
“Paul … speaks of ‘false apostles, deceitful workers,’ … (2 Cor.xi.12) … Must we not say, in deed, that all those teachers in the Church who still base their teachings on the literal word of the Scriptures belong to this class, and are simply ‘blind leaders of the blind’.” (Kingsland, p.84)
“… what is known traditionally and historically as ‘Christianity’ consists of man-made dogmas based on a literal interpretation of those Scriptures, and not on their allegorical, mystical, and gnostic nature.” (Kingsland, p.23)
D. CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE TO BE CHANGED.
“We have in the Modernist Movement some kind of attempt within the Church itself to bring Christian doctrines more into line with our modern knowledge and our modern concepts as to the nature of Man and the Universe in which he lives. But can Christian doctrine be thus reconstructed if the Bible is to be taken in its literal narrative and word? … The Bible, then, along with other Scriptures, having its origin in this same Ancient Wisdom or Gnosis… (is) sadly mutilated and garbled in our authorized version; its proper interpretation lies in what we can gather from other sources of those great fundamental principles concerning Man’s nature and destiny which have been taught for ages past, and long before the Jews were ever heard of” (Kingsland, p.78, 81)
E. NEW BIBLES WILL CONTAIN NEW GOSPEL AND NEW MESSAGE.
“Judaism is old, obsolete and separative and has not true message for the spiritually-minded… The Christian faith has also served its purpose; its founder seeks to bring a new Gospel and a new message that will enlighten all men everywhere.” (Bailey, p.754)
‘The real Gospel of the Christ is … the ancient Gnosis … (Kingsland, p.47)
F. MYSTICISM TO BE TAUGHT IN CHRISTIAN AND JEWISH SEMINARIES.
“Education for Deep Ecumenism – Courses in the mystics, and above all courses that bring out the mystic in each minister, rabbi, or priest-to-be, must be taught in our seminaries” (Fox, p.239)
G. MYSTICISM TO BE MADE ACCESSIBLE TO AVERAGE PERSON.
“In rare instances these esoteric teachings [Ancient Wisdom] have been presented by an initiate to the public in a way which has made it accessible to the average person … (An) initiate of’ the secret societies who was instrumental in the spread of their esoteric teachings in the early part of the 20th century was Rudolf Steiner.” (Howard, p.171, Occult Conspiracy)
H. THOSE TEACHING MYSTICISM TO THE CHURCH WILL DENY IT.
“Occult writings often twist everything. In our ongoing study of mysticism/occultism/ spiritualism, we often find that the authors deny what they are actually teaching. Strangely enough, many readers fall prey to this deception when the teachings are disguised as something spiritual or “Christian.” (Smith, p.14)
Note; An example of this is found in Richard Foster’s book ‘Celebration of Discipline’, p.17, which says, ‘Christian meditation … involves no hidden mysteries, no secret mantras, no mental gymnastics, no esoteric flights into the cosmic consciousness.’ He then proceeds on p.5 to encourage the use of the imagination to picture the ‘Christ within’ when meditating. In his earlier 1978 edition, he actually presents a guided imagery ‘trip’ into the unconsciousness, which he has conveniently removed from the later editions.
I. NEW AGE MYSTICISM TO BE PROMOTED BY THE CHURCH AND MASONRY.
“…the new world order must be built … The three main channels through which the preparation for the new age is going on might be regarded as the Church, the Masonic Fraternity and the educational field” (Cuddy, “President Clinton,” p.35, quoting Alice Bailey, Externalization of the Hierarchy)
J. MYSTICISM WILL BECOME THE UNIVERSAL RELIGION THROUGH THE ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT.
“A living cosmology cannot happen from science and art alone. Mysticism too must be integral to this awakening, basic to this global renaissance. Indeed, the new science is demanding a mystical awakening … Yet mysticism – which represents the depth of religious traditions the world over – has never been tried on an ecumenical level. We have no inkling what power would ensue for creativity, for employing one another, for exciting the young to deep adventures once again … were mysticism to be unleashed on a global scale.” (Fox, p. 229)
“Alice Bailey’s writing in ‘Glamour: A World Problem’…indicates that a ‘new world religion is now on its way to externalizing … the inauguration of the New Age … [and] the only ritual which is still regarded as of value to the human family as a whole – particularly to the advanced person – is the Masonic ritual.” (Cuddy, Dawning, p.274) Note – Now you know why Eugene Peterson’s ‘The Message’ contains Masonic ritual practices.
K. WORLD BIBLE TO BE BASED ON MYSTICISM.
“In her … book… ‘When Humanity Comes of Age’, Britain’s Vera Alder discusses the coming of the Great Teacher. She says that as soon as he has consolidated world power, he will form and head a Spiritual Research Panel that will evaluate and combine all the world’s religions and teachings, the occultic ‘ancient wisdom’, and Mystery teachings… ‘The Research Panel would develop the new ‘Bible’ of a World Religion which will be the basis of future education.’” (p.39) (Marrs, Mystery Mark, p.63)
III. SCRIPTURE
THE KING JAMES VERSION COMPARED AND CONTRASTED TO THE MESSAGE..
A. PROPHECIES CONCERNING THE CHURCH’S APOSTASY INTO MYSTICISM
1. Seducers concerning the Bible will become worse and worse, not just “things”
II.Timothy 3:13
KJV – But EVIL MEN AND SEDUCERS SHALL WAX WORSE AND WORSE, deceiving and being deceived.
MESSAGE – Unscrupulous con men will continue to exploit the faith. They’re as deceived as the people they lead astray. As long as they are out there, THINGS CAN ONLY GET WORSE.
2. Man shall reject sound doctrine, and turn to fables/myths
II.Timothy 4:3-4
KJV – For THE TIME WILL COME when they will not endure sound doctrine … and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables (muthos = myths)
MESSAGE – You’re going to find out that THERE WILL BE TIMES when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food – CATCHY OPINIONS that tickle their fancy. They’ll turn their backs on truth and chase MIRAGES.
Note: On “The Mythical Bible” television program, THE MESSAGE endorser, Madeleine L’Engle stated, ‘These marvelous mysteries could not be understood in the language of literalism, or inerrancy, and all such attempts to restrict the glory are deadly indeed.” (Smith, p.16, quoting Madeleine L’Engle, “The Mythical Bible” television program, “The Chicago Sunday Evening Club,” October 1991)
B. PRINCIPLES/DOCTRINES CONCERNING BIBLIOLOGY
1. INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE
a. God inspired HOLY MEN – not women – to write it.
II.Peter 1:21
KJV – For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but HOLY MEN of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
MESSAGE – Prophecy resulted when the Holy Spirit prompted men AND WOMEN to speak God’s word.
b. EVERY WORD, not just every part, was inspired by God.
II.Timothy 3.16
KJV – ALL SCRIPTURE is given by inspiration of God …
MESSAGE – EVERY PART OF SCRIPTURE is God-breathed …
c. The Bible is a record of the THOUGHTS AND WORDS OF GOD, not man.
Isaiah 55:8
KJV – For MY THOUGHTS are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord
MESSAGE, Introduction, p.7 – “The goal is not to render a word-for-word conversion of Greek into English, but rather to convert the tone, the rhythm, the events, the ideas, into THE WAY WE ACTUALLY THINK AND SPEAK.”
d. Every WORD, not just every promise, of God is pure
Proverbs 30.5
KJV – Every WORD of God is pure …
MESSAGE – Every PROMISE of God proves true …
Psalm 119:140 – Thy WORD is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.
Note: Those who truly love God’s Word would never change it; they accept it as it is by faith
2. INTERPRETATION OF THE BIBLE
a. God’s Word is to be interpreted with SIMPLICITY, in its literal form. Satan’s attacked God’s Word – “Hath God said?” – not Eve’s love for God.
II.Corinthians 11:3
KJV – But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eye through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the SIMPLICITY that is in Christ.
MESSAGE – And now I’m afraid that exactly as the Snake seduced Eye with his smooth patter, you are being lured away from the SIMPLE PURITY OF YOUR LOVE fir Christ.
b. Those who are UNLEARNED AND UNSTABLE in their doctrine will twist difficult verses.
II.Peter 3:16
KJV – As also in all his (Paul’s) epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are UNLEARNED AND UNSTABLE wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
MESSAGE – Some things Paul writes are difficult to understand. IRRESPONSIBLE people who don’t know what they are talking about twist them every which way. They do it to the rest of the Scriptures, too, destroying themselves as they do it. Note: Too bad he didn’t take this warning literally!
3. TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE
a. Many CORRUPT the Bible.
II.Corinthians 2:17
KJV – For we are not as many which CORRUPT the word of God …
MESSAGE – …but at least we don’t take God’s Word, WATER IT DOWN, and then take it to the streets to sell it cheap.
b. Many CHANGE God’s Word.
Romans 1:25
KJV – Who CHANGED THE TRUTH OF GOD INTO A LIE, and worshipped the creature more than the Creator
MESSAGE – And all this because they TRADED THE TRUE GOD FOR A FAKE GOD, and worshipped the god they made instead of the God who made them …
c. God rejects the use of CRAFT and DECEIT when handling His word.
II.Corinthians 4:2
KJV – But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in CRAFTINESS, nor handling the word of God DECEITFULLY; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
MESSAGE – And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God.
C . COMMANDMENTS
1. We are to guard the SOUND WORDS of Scripture, not guard our faith and love.
II.Timothy 1:13
KJV – Hold fast the FORM OF SOUND WORDS, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
MESSAGE- So keep at your work, this faith and love rooted in Christ, exactly as I set it out for you. IT’S AS SOUND as the day you first heard it from me.
‘The goal is not to render a word-for-word conversion of Greek into English…’ (Peterson, THE MESSAGE, N. T., Introduction, p.7)
2. Avoid those who teach DOCTRINE CONTRARY to what you have learned.
Romans 16:17-18
KJV – Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences CONTRARY TO THE DOCTRINE WHICH YE HAVE LEARNED; and avoid them.
MESSAGE- Keep a sharp eye out for those who TAKE BITS AND PIECES Of THE TEACHING THAT YOU LEARNED and then use them to make trouble.
D. WARNINGS CONCERNING THE CHANGING OF SCRIPTURE.
Revelation 22:18-19- For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
PART II
TOPICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA
CONNECTIONS: PEOPLE & ORGANIZATIONS
IV. TOPICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA
BIBLE TRANSLATION
1. NEW PURPOSE
“The older focus in translating was the form of the message … The new focus, however, has shifted from the form of the message to the response of the receptor.” (Nida, Theory & Practice, p.1)
Note: Serving man becomes more important than preserving God’s Word – Romans 1:25
2. NEW PRINCIPLES – CONTRASTED WITH SCRIPTURAL PRINCIPLES
A. CONCERNING LANGUAGES OF THE BIBLE
“The languages of the Bible are subject to the same limitations as any other natural language.” (Nida, Theory & Practice, p.7)
Note: God specifically chose the Hebrew and Greek language as the basis of Scripture – II.Timothy 3:16, II.Peter 1-.21
B. CONCERNING FORM OF WORDS OF THE BIBLE
“To preserve the content of the message the FORM MUST BE CHANGED.” (Nida, Theory & Practice, p. 5)
Note: The form of the words of Scripture must remain unchanged – 11.Timothy 1:13
C. CONCERNING TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE
“The translator must attempt to reproduce the meaning of a passage as understood by the writer.” (Nida, Theory & Practice, p.
Note: The writers did not always understand what they wrote – Daniel 12:8-9, I.Peter 1:10-12, Isaiah 55:8-9.
D. CONCERNING INTERPRETATION OF THE BIBLE
“The writers of the Biblical books expected to be understood.” ( Nida, Theory & Practice, p.7)
Note: The writers did not expect to be understood, except by the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit – II.Peter 3:16, I.Corinthians 2:6-16, John 16.12-13, I.John 2:27
3. NEW TECHNIQUES
A. DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE
1) Meaning – “change” (Ro.1:25)
“‘Dynamic’ means: ‘lb. Of or pertaining to dynamics, active; opposed to static; pertaining to change or process’.” (Waite, p.101, quoting Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, 1949, p.257)
2) Basis – Transformational Grammar
“There is a whole area in the field of English called Transformational Grammar, where everything is changed from one form to another [such as changing a verb to a noun]. This is the real seed plot of the so-called DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCY where you don’t have the words brought over into English (or another language) word for word” (Waite, p.90)
3) History – Eugene Nida – see “New Purpose” and “New principles,” above
‘The modern history of DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE began with Eugene Nida. He was the man who was with the Wycliffe Bible Translators, the American Bible Society, and the United Bible Society. He popularized this DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE method which is used throughout the world.” (Waite, p.93)
“In 1947, Eugene Nida wrote the book, ‘Bible Translating’, published by the United Bible Society … of London.” (Waite, p.19)
4) Concept
“Dynamic equivalency interprets the text rather than translates the text.” (Johnson)
“Subtracting, changing, and adding to the Word of God, are the essence and heart of DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCY in its approach to translation. It’s not translation, but changing the Word of God. It is pure paraphrase.” (Waite, p.,43)
Note. Dr. Waite’s view is different from Gordon Fee’s (see below) who treats dynamic equivalence as something different than paraphrase. Dr. Waite is right; any change becomes paraphrase, whether it rejects changes in the Greek base, or non-literal translation changes from Greek to English. Therefore, this study has treated “The Message” as a product of dynamic equivalence as well as paraphrase.
5) Problem
“…if they use this DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE technique of translation (t)hey can change it at will. That is the saddest thing in the whole picture of our modern versions and in the whole translation and version problem … All of it is hypothesis and guesswork by men. Anything they want to come up with is right. So, we see that DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE is more important even than the textual issue…” (Waite, P.98)
B. PARAPHRASE/FREE (See Gordon Fee in V.B.)
1) Meaning
“The attempt to translate the ideas from one language to another, with less concern about using the exact words of the original. A free translation, sometimes called a paraphrase, tries to eliminate as much of the historical distance as possible.” (Fee, p.35)
2) Problems
a. Commentary, not translation
“A free translation … can … stimulate your thinking about the possible meaning of the text.” (Fee, p.36)
“The problem with a free translation … especially for study purposes, is that the translator updates the original author too much. Furthermore, such a ‘translation’ all too often comes close to being a commentary.” (Fee, p.36-7)
b. Single translator
“A free translation is always done by a single translator, and unless the translator is also a skilled exegete who knows the various problems in all of the biblical passages, there is a danger that the reader will be mislead.” (Fee, p.37)
Note: Then why does he endorse THE MESSAGE?
4. NEW THEOLOGY
“How many of you would be happy to have John 1:1 translated ‘in the beginning was Logic, and Logic was with God and Logic was God; as a Reformed theologian, Gordon Clark, has advocated. Or perhaps you would be happy with the feminist rendering, ‘in the beginning was Wisdom and Wisdom was with God and Wisdom was God; because some feminist theologians feel this is one way of feminizing the Trinity? The change of one landmark word in the theological terrain can alter the entire landscape.” (Letis, p.79-80)
“The changes thus far are in the right direction and should contain the germs of a new theology. Every age must produce its own theology.” (Schaff, p.142)
Note: This referred to the texts of the English Revised and American Standard Bibles.
A. DECLARATION OF UNITY OF THE WORLD
1) History
“During the mid-1980s, ‘New Genesis’, a book that called for a new global spirituality, prompted [Juliet] Hollister and her friends to ask Robert Muller (then assistant secretary-general to the U.N.) to draft a ‘Declaration of the Unity of the World’… This New Age Draft led to the Temple of Understanding sponsoring a meeting on Mount Sinai in October of 1984 to thrash out inter-religious consensus …” (Smith, p.78)
2) Document consensus
Note: Mystical terms and doctrines found in both the DECLARATION OF THE UNITY OF THE WORLD and THE MESSAGE are in upper-case letters
a. The ONENESS OF HUMAN FAMILY, irrespective of color, sex, creed, nation – or any other distinctive characteristic.
b. The HARMONIOUS place of the individual person in the total order of things, as a unique entity of DIVINE ORIGIN, with physical, mental, moral, and spiritual aspirations, and with basic relationship to the universe and eternity.
c. The importance of religion, prayer, MEDITATION SPIRITUAL EXERCISES, CONTEMPLATION, and the INNER SEARCH as links between human life and the universe.
d. The existence of an incipient conscious and heart of humanity, which speaks for what is good and against what is bad for humans; which advocates and fosters understanding, COOPERATION, and altruism instead of DIVISION, struggle, and indifference among nations.
e. The value of dedicated service to others, with a compassionate response to human suffering, with special attention to the poor, handicapped, the elderly, refugees, the rejected, and the lonely.
f. The duty to give thanks and express gratitude for the abundance of life which has been given to humanity, an abundance not to be selfishly possessed or accumulated, but to be shared and given generously to those who are in need, with a sense of social justice.
g. Need for ecumenical agencies and world religious organizations to foster dialogue and collaborative arrangements, and to bring the resources and inspiration of the religions to bear upon the solution of world problems.
h. A rejection of violence as being contrary to the sanctity and uniqueness of life, and affirmation of the law of love and compassion as the great transcending force which alone can break the nemesis of war and violence.
i. An acceptance of the precept – “Thou shalt not kill, not even in the name of a nation or a faith.”
j. The evolutionary task of human life and society to move through the eternal stream of time towards INTERDEPENDENCE, communion, and an ever-expanding realization of DIVINITY.’ (Smith, p.78-9)
B. MYSTICISM/OCCULTISM
1) Purposes of mysticism
a. Men to become divine
“The mystic experience’, says Recejac, ‘ends with the words, ‘I live, yet not I, but God in me’… In its early stages the mystic consciousness feels the Absolute in opposition to the Self … As mystic activity goes on, it tends to abolish this opposition … When it has reached its term, the consciousness finds itself possessed by the sense of being at one and the same time greater than the Self and identical with it: great enough to be God, intimate enough to be me.” (Underhill, p.82)
“The mystic desires to be as close to God as possible; if not indeed part of the Divine Essence Itself; whereas the ordinary devotee of most religious systems merely desires to walk in God’s way and obey His will.” (Spense, p.284)
“Mysticism maintains the possibility of intercourse with God, not by means of revelation or the ordinary religious channels, but by dint of introspection, culminating in the feeling that the individual partakes of the divine nature.” (Spense, p-283-4)
b. Men to become Christs
“The mission of mysticism to mankind … is to lead Homo sapiens to the state in which it can use science and be led by spirit to create the race of Christs, the perfect race untainted by original sin.” (Kirby, p.229)
2) View of Scripture – starting point
“To the mystic, Scripture is seen as the starting point, but true spiritual growth comes when one has graduated beyond rational contemplation of Scripture to meditation upon a word, a phrase, even the writings of mere mortals.” (Dager, p.10)
Example from Gordon Fee:
“Your Bible, whatever translation you use, which is your ‘beginning’ point, is in fact the end result of much scholarly work.” (Fee, p.15)
3) Other names for mysticism
a. Ageless wisdom
“The Ageless Wisdom is the golden thread connecting the hidden, mystical teachings within the major religious traditions.” (McLaughlin, p.5)
“Peter Roche de Coppens … suggests that if Christians were to discover the hidden messages in the Bible, they would realize that Christianity and this ageless wisdom are perfectly compatible.” (Marrs, Dark Secrets, p.124, quoting Peter Roche de Coppens’ forward to F. Aster Barnswell, “The Meaning of Christ for Our Age”)
b. Ancient wisdom
“…when I speak of the Gnosis, I do not refer specifically to the Greek or Coptic variety, but to that ‘Ancient Wisdom’ which can be discovered as a thread of gold running through allegories and myths and fables from the very earliest times of which we have any literary records, and which has more recently been somewhat more fully expounded to us by some of the existing Masters of that Wisdom.” (Kingsland, p.83)
Example of two books:
The Gnosis of Ancient Wisdom in the Christian Scriptures or The Wisdom in a Mystery, by William Kingsland
The Gnostic Scriptures: Ancient Wisdom for the New Age, by Bentley Layton
c. Gnosis/gnosticism
“The writings of the apostles, they (the Gnostics) said, in addressing themselves to mankind in general, enunciated only the articles of the vulgar faith, but transmitted the mysteries of knowledge to superior minds, to the Elect, mysteries handed down from generation to generation in esoteric traditions; and to this science of the mysteries they gave the name of (Gnosis).” (Pike, p.248)
“I am not using the term ‘Gnosis’ as applying merely to the tenets of certain Gnostic sects but I am using it in connection with a definite super-knowledge … which was taught by Initiates, Adepts, and Masters of the Ancient ‘Mysteries’ and Mystery Cults which are known to have existed in Egypt and elsewhere, even in remotest times. That is the sense in which the term was originally understood. It is the mystic knowledge which effects regeneration, rebirth into the full consciousness of one’s divine nature and powers as a ‘Son of God’.” (Kingsland, p.14)
d. Secret doctrine
“… both the Old and the New Testament Scriptures contain, hidden beneath the mere narrative, an esoteric meaning, a ‘Secret Doctrine’, a ‘Gnosis’.” (Kingsland, p.83)
“… all the Gnostic sects … claimed to possess a secret doctrine, coming to them directly from Jesus Christ, different from that of the Gospels and Epistles and superior to these communications which in their eyes, were merely exoteric.” (Pike, p. 542)
V. MAKING CONNECTIONS
A. ORGANIZATIONS
1. Chrysostom Society
“…the group was started by Richard Foster, who convened a particular bunch of writers together.” (Smith, p.123)
“Here is a partial list …:… Peterson, Eugene N…… Foster, Richard J……. L’Engle, Madeleine;…” (Smith, p.130-31)
“Chrysostom lived a pure, simple life … Extremely ascetic in his insistence upon simplicity of life, and inclined to mysticism, he did not always possess tact; but he did have a courteous, affectionate, kindly nature.” (Cairns, p.152)
2. Huntington House Publishers (Published Samantha Smith’s book, “Trojan Horse”)
Note: In a telephone conversation with Samantha, she mentioned that Huntington House pulled Eugene Peterson’s name from the following quote: “The following is a list of evangelicals who have unfortunately endorsed Richard Foster’s teachings in ‘Spiritual Disciplines’ Second edition, pp.203-210).,.” (Smith, p.113)
NOTE: “Spiritual Disciplines” should read “Celebration of Discipline.”
3. The Navigators/NavPress
“…The Navigators sponsored a Richard Foster conference at their Glen Eyrie retreat center and sent announcements to those on their own (The Navigators’) mailing list.” (Meisel, p. 3)
Note: THE MESSAGE is published by NavPress.
Note: In the 1998 Navigator Summer Camp, King Arthur’s Camelot was related to the Kingdom of God. This whole Holy Grail concept, mythology, and experience is based on mysticism: ,…on one level the Grail is an initiatory experience that in modern terminology would be described as a ‘transformation’ or ‘altered state of consciousness’. Alternatively it might be described as a ‘Gnostic experience’, a ‘mystical experience’, ‘illumination’, or ‘union with God’. It is possible to be even more precise and place the experiential aspect of the Grail in a very specific context. That context is the Cabala and Cabalistic thought.’ (Baigent, p.303-4)
Note. Cabalism/Kabbalism is Jewish mysticism
4. Regent College
“Eugene H. Peterson is professor of spiritual theology it Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia.” (Peterson, dust jacket)
Note: Other endorsers of THE MESSAGE mentioned on the dust jacket are: “Gordon D. Fee … professor of New Testament, Regent College” “J.I. Packer … professor of theology, Regent College”
5. Renovare
“Actively promoting the revival of the meditative and contemplative traditions among mainline Christians today is Renovare (pronounced Ren-o-var-ay, Latin meaning ‘to make new spiritually), founded by psychologist Richard J. Foster.” (Dager, p.1)
“Renovare’s Board of Reference: …. J.I. Packer ….. Eugene H. Petersen…” (Dager, p.15)
6. Temple of Understanding
“The priesthood which helped to create and operate the Temple of Understanding is the United Lodge of Theosophists of New York, through the tax exempt Lucis Trust.” (Howard, ‘A One World Church’, p.13)
“The Temple began through the efforts of a strange group of ‘founding friends’… establishing a world interfaith center based in the U.S. Additional sponsors have included … the Society of Friends (Quakers)…” (Smith, p.77)
“Their intentions: to create a ‘new type of mystic … to be distinguished by his ability to see God immanent in all faiths and not just in his own brand of religious belief – the New World Religion.” (Smith, p.77)
“…the Temple of Understanding … is closely tied to the United Nations and is housed at Madeleine L’Engle’s church, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Not surprising, James Parks Morton is the president of the Temple of Understanding.” (Smith, p.75) Note: James Parks Morton is Dean of The Cathedral of St. John the Divine
7. Theosophy
“…theosophy claims simply to be the house of the secret doctrine, the wisdom which is the Perennial Philosophy, which is common to all religions.” (Kirby, p.13)
8. Lindesfarne
“Although the Lindesfarne Association is a ‘non-denominational and independent not- for- profit tax-exempt educational corporation,’ its headquarters are located in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. ‘The Very Reverend’ James Parks Morton serves as Lindesfarne’s chairperson…” (Smith, p.97)
“…the Lindesfarne Association an offshoot of Findhorn, a New Age community in Northern Scotland known for its gardens and nature spirits).” (Smith, p.67)
“The Lindisfarne Association is named after the ancient Celtic monastery … and sees itself as a type of change agent that will help bring about the transition for the New World Order.” Smith, p.98)
“The Lindesfarne Association first began … as a New Age commune and was funded by Laurence S. Rockefeller … The founder and director, William Irwin Thompson … (is an) Irish Druid” (Smith, p. 93-4.)
“Thompson … leaned toward a contemplative and communal mode for his group.” (Smith, p.94)
9. Freemasonry
“Both Wicca and Freemasonry are, by coincidence or design, both referred to as ‘The Craft’” (Schnoebelen, p.167)
Note: Peterson uses ‘crafted’ in connection with THE MESSAGE:
“The Message is a contemporary rendering of the Bible from the original languages, crafted to present its tone, rhythm, events, and ideas in everyday language.” (Peterson, cover page)
“The Masonic order is not a mere social organization, but is composed of all those who have banded themselves together to learn and apply the principles of mysticism and the occult rites.” (Carrico, quoting Manly P. Hall, Lost Keys of Freemasonry, p.19)
B. PEOPLE
Those who endorse THE MESSAGE; their endorsement, beliefs, and affiliations. The final name, Prince Michael Stewart, is included because he is the Druidic Head of the Celtic Church – connecting him to the druidic institutions of Findhorn, Lindesfarne, Cathedral of St. John’s, L’Engle, etc., etc., etc …
1. Gordon Fee
“The Message’ is exegetically sensitive yet speaks in the language of today.”
“The best translational theory is dynamic equivalence. A literal translation is often helpful as a second source.” (Fee, p.36)
“…For the New Testament, the only Greek text available to the 1611 translators was based on late manuscripts, which had accumulated the mistakes of over a thousand years of copying …. This is why for study you should use almost any modern translation rather than the KJV.” (Fee, p.34)
“Which translation, then, should you read? We would Venture that the NIV is as good a translation as you will get.” (Fee, p.43)
Note: This book was written in 1981, several years before he endorsed THE MESSAGE.
2. Leighton Ford
“This new version of the New Testament will help many to transfer God’s eternal truths to their contemporary lives.”
“Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association … more than 10,000 Christian leaders met at Amsterdam in 1986 to plan a strategy for evangelizing the world … Leighton Ford declared, ‘Preach the Gospel but don’t be so negative as to refuse to endorse or work with those who belong to a group that proclaims a different Gospel.’” (Hunt, Berean Call, p.112)
Note: Leighton Ford is married to Billy Graham’s sister
In his endorsement of Richard Foster’s book, “Celebration of Discipline”, Ford wrote: “I personally was greatly helped when I first read it and have recommended it widely. Richard Foster’s lucid writing plus his emphasis on disciplined grace have made this one of the notable books of our time. I often refer to it … I welcome the new edition of ‘Celebration of Discipline’.” (p. 203)
3. Richard Foster
“I thank God for ‘The Message’. In it Eugene Peterson gives a fresh and authentic voice to the Scripture. I recommend it highly.”
“…Direct communication from the spirit realm [is] kept alive in the church today through Richard Foster and others…” (Hunt, Occult Invasion, p.301)
“Richard Foster … became a new guru to evangelicals with his 1978 bestseller ‘Celebration of Discipline’. It opened many Christians to the occult by instructing readers in occult techniques (including visualization of Christ..).” (Hunt, Occult Invasion, p.204)
“Despite the biblical assertion that no one has seen God’s face and lived, Foster takes his followers on spiritual journeys up beyond the heavenly places and into the ‘Presence of God’, face to face with the Creator … through the use of Eastern meditative techniques, His book, ‘Celebration of Discipline’, provides step-by-step instructions on how to: meditate, contemplate, ‘center-down’….and ‘concentrate on the breathing’. Using guided imagery, he leads his readers through the occult practices of visualization, meditation, and even astral travel.” (Smith, p.111-12)
“It is little wonder that Foster, a Quaker, would institute such mystical practices in Renovare’s curricula. The history and philosophy of Quakerism are marked by the mystical Early Quakerism especially was given over to the inducement of trances, violent shaking, (hence the name ‘Quakers’), glossolalia, visions and mindless ecstasy.” Dager, p.13)
“Alexander Whyte declares, ‘with your imagination anointed with holy oil, you again open your New Testament. At one time, you are the publican: at another time, you are the prodigal…at another time, you are Mary Magdalene: at another time, Peter in the porch … Till your whole New Testament is all over autobiographic of you.” (Foster, Celebration of Discipline, p.30)
Note: The “whole New Testament is all over autobiographic of you” cannot be, unless in one’s imagination he imagines he is also God. This exercise causes man to become the “center” of Scripture, rather than God, the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Eugene Peterson’s endorsement of Richard Foster’s book, ‘Celebration of Discipline’, Peterson writes on page 206:
“Like a child exploring the attic of an old house on a rainy day, discovering a trunk full of treasure and then calling all his brothers and sisters to share the find, Richard J. ‘Foster has ‘found’ the spiritual disciplines that the modern world has stored away and forgot, and has excitedly called us to celebrate them. For they are, as he shows us, the instruments of joy, the way into mature Christian spirituality and abundant life.”
Note. In his later editions Richard Foster changed certain parts of his book to conceal where he is truly coming from:
OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCES (O.B.E.) 1978 edition, p. 27
“After awhile there is a deep yearning within to go into the upper regions beyond the clouds…”
NOTE: I am omitting the rest of the quote in order to protect the reader!
1998 edition – omitted
REFERS TO HIMSELF AS A NEW AGER
1978 edition, p.170
“We of the New Age can risk going against the tide. Let us with abandon relish the fantasy games of children. Let’s see visions and dream dreams.”
1998 edition, p.198
“We who follow Christ can risk going against the cultural tide. Let’s with abandon relish the fantasy games of children. Let’s see visions and dream dreams.”
4. Billy Graham
In Billy Graham’s special edition of “The Message: New Testament”, we find:
“This Billy Graham Evangelistic Association special edition, with explanations by Billy Graham, is published with permission from the NavPress Publishing Group.”
Note: This version was offered free by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and contains occasional one page topics written by Billy Graham interspersed throughout the book. This obviously would quality as a BIG ENDORSEMENT by Billy Graham.
Note: Billy Graham also endorsed Peterson’s “The Message: Proverbs” on its back cover.
5. Madeleine L’Engle
“‘The Message’ is so good it leaves me breathless. Eugene Peterson has done for the U.S. and the late 20th century what J.B. Phillips did for Great Britain and the middle of the century – and even more!”
“She is author-in-residence and assistant librarian at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, where she also serves as lay preacher.” (Smith, p. xi)
“L’Engle herself uses twentieth century mystics to help her in meditation and contemplation.” (Smith, P.16)
In her endorsement of Foster’s book, L’Engle writes on page 205: “‘Celebration of Discipline’ won me when it was first published … Indeed, his offerings to us of the joy of discipline will help us to seek the kingdom of God in a more joyous and less moralistic way…”
Note: She must have overlooked Matthew 6:33 – But seek ye first the kingdom of God AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS…
a. Atonement
“In forensic terms, the atonement means that Jesus had to die for us in order to atone for all our awful sins, so that God could forgive us. In forensic terms, it means that God cannot forgive us unless Jesus is crucified and by this sacrifice atones for all our wrongdoing. But that is not what the word means…It means exactly what it says, at-one-ment…There is nothing about crime and punishment in the makeup of that that word. It simply means to be at one with God.” (Smith, p.174, quoting L’Engle, “Stone for a Pillow”, p.22-23)
b. Bible
“These marvelous mysteries could not be understood in the language of literalism, or inerrancy, and all such attempts to restrict the glory are deadly indeed.” (Smith, p.162, quoting L’Engle, “The Mythical Bible”, television program, “The Chicago Sunday Evening Club,” Oct. 1991)
“The Bible is not a moral book. It is not an ethical book. It is a magnificent story book. It doesn’t give any answers, it just tells more stories.” Smith, p. 161, quoting L’Engle, interview in “The Door”, December 1986, p.25)
c. God
“If we accept that God is within each of us, then God will give us … the courage to accept the responsibility of being co-creators.” (Smith, p.42, quoting L’Engle, ‘And It Was Good’, p.19)
“From her feminist perch, she takes aim at the male gender of God, calling Him ‘the paternalistic male chauvinist pig Old Testament God’.” (Smith, p. ix, quoting L’Engle, ‘The Irrational Season’, p.159)
d. Judgment
“The judgment of God is the judgment of love, not of power plays or vindication or hate.” (Smith, p.176, quoting L’Engle, “Stone for a Pillow,” p.117)
e. Salvation
“I know a number of highly sensitive and intelligent people in my own community Who consider as a heresy my faith that…(God) will not rest until all of creation, including Satan, is reconciled to him, until there is no creature who cannot return his look of love with a joyful response of love.” (Smith, pp.175-6, quoting L’Engle, ‘The Irrational Season, p. 97)
f. Second Coming
“The Second Coming is the redemption of the entire cosmos, not just one small planet … All will be redeemed in God’s fulness of time, all, not just the small portion of the population who have been given the grace to know and accept Christ.” (Smith, p.176, quoting L’Engle, “Stone for a Pillow,” p.117)
g. Sin, morality
“In spite of what she says to the contrary, Madeleine L’Engle’s writings do contain, promote, and teach a whole gamut of New Age topics, philosophies, and techniques, including, but limited to: magic, divination, spirit guides, crystal balls, mediums, fortune telling, spells, monism, pantheism, nature worship, Zen meditation, lesbianism, graphic fornication, cosmic consciousness, druids, human sacrifice, demons, dragons, runes,…astral travel and on and on. These are all elements of the occult, which she has put in a box and marked ‘for Children’.” (Smith, p.40)
“Moralism belongs to the old law and old covenant. Jesus Christ … overturned the laws of moralism.” (Smith, p.169, quoting L’Engle, “The Irrational Season”, p. 102)
6. J.1. Packer
“In this crowded world of Bible versions, Eugene Peterson’s blend of accurate scholarship and vivid idiom make this rendering both distinctive and distinguished. ‘The Message’ catches the logical flow, personal energy, and imaginative overtones of the original very well.”
Note: Packer is also on the Board of Reference for Richard Foster’s Renovare – see above.
7. Luci Shaw
“In ‘The Message’ the ideas of the New Testament writers seem to take on flesh and blood, personality, and three-dimensional authenticity.”
Note: The New Testament contains God’s ideas, not man’s ideas.
Concerning Madeleine L’Engle’s book: “In the forward of ‘And It Was Good’, Luci Shaw, a former member of the English staff at Wheaton College, writes: ‘…As we worked together through the intricacies of the manuscripts of ‘And It Was Good’, time and time again, I literally caught my breath at some of Madeleine’s outrageous statements … protesting the radical nature of her declarations … But reading further … I would grasp the holy logic of her conclusions and find myself acknowledging, ‘You not only can say that, you should!” (Smith, p.41)
Note: Luci Shaw is a “Stylistic Consultant” for Peterson’s “The Message: Proverbs”, and she also endorses Richard Foster’s book, “Celebration of Discipline” on page 207. What a small world!
8. Prince Michael Stewart
“…the President of the International Parliament …. endorsed by the United Nations, ratified my legal rights as Head of the Royal House of Stewart and Head of the Celtic Church of the Sacred Kindred of Saint Columba, Under International Law, my titles were verified on 4 November 1985 as being Prince and Lord of Scotland …. Prince of … Jerusalem, … and legal Pretender to the Throne of Britain.” (HRH Prince Michael, p.305-6)
“My position at the Head of the Celtic Church was fully ratified in 1985 following the death of my grandfather, Julius Joseph James, in Brussels …. At this, I became 57th Archpriest and Temporal Head of Scotland’s ancient Druidic-Christian Church of the Culdees.” (HRH Prince Michael, p.308)
THE MYSTICAL BIBLE
‘THE MESSAGE’ Of MYSTICISM
PART III
DICTIONARY OF MYSTICAL TERMINOLOGY
CHRONOLOGY OF GNOSTIC SCRIPTURES
APPENDIX: THE MESSAGE COMPARED TO THE KJV
BIBLIOGRAPHY
VI. DICTIONARY
A. DEFINITION OF MYSTICISM
MYSTIC
1. Of occult or mysterious character, power, or significance …
2. Of or pertaining to mystics or mysticism
3. A person initiated into mysteries
4. A person who attains, or believes in the possibility of attaining insight into mysteries transcending ordinary human knowledge, as by immediate intuition in a state of spiritual ecstasy (Random House College Dictionary)
MYSTICISM
1. The beliefs, ideas, or mode of thought of mystics
2. The doctrine of an immediate spiritual intuition of truths believed to transcend ordinary understanding, or of a direct, intimate union of the soul with God through contemplation and love (Random House College Dictionary)
B. MYSTICAL INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE
ALLEGORY
1….- figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another (Random House College Dictionary)
“allegory: parable, fable, moral, myth, story, tale’ (McCutcheon, Roget’s Super Thesaurus)
C. MYSTICAL TERMS, KEY WORDS FOUND IN “THE MESSAGE” (SEE APPENDIX I)
“When confronted with legitimate concerns about her beliefs, L’Engle charges that those who criticize her books have ‘obviously never read them’. Instead, continues her rebuttal, they are fundamentalists looking for ‘key words’ and attacking her out of fear.” (Smith, p.xi)
AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
“The mystical belief ‘of the secret societies were, and indeed are, based on the Hermetic maxim ‘As above – so below’ which teaches that the natural world is a material reflection of the spiritual. It forms the esoteric basis for the Ancient Egyptian Mysteries, Gnosticism, Esoteric Christianity, the Cabbala, the Hermetic tradition, alchemy and societies such as the Templars, Freemasons and Rosicrucians. (Howard, Occult Conspiracy, p.170-1)
“The whole universe is the great world, the macrocosm; its parts are small universes in themselves, microcosms. Such a microcosm is man, who is in himself an image of the universe and a perfect being. But the great universe is likewise a man, and as it is ‘god’, God has a human form.” (Fox, p.213, quoting Otto Rank, “Art and Artist”, p.114-15)
BREAKTHROUGH
“New Age Dominican priest Matthew Fox calls Eckhart his favorite mystic and claims to actually communicate with this dead monk. Fox wrote a book called ‘Meditations with Meister Eckhart: A Centering Book’ for all those daring to make the mystical, spiritual journey … Fox quotes Eckhart as saying there is a four-fold path to God, the last being something ‘deep’ called ‘breakthrough’, where one begins to hear voices.” (Smith, p.156)
CENTER/CENTER DOWN
“Psychologist Richard Foster teaches that contemplative prayer requires ‘centering down’, a New Age term that means to quiet the mind and body to complete silence and stillness. It is defined as re-creating silence…’recollecting of ourselves until we are a unified whole’ … In reality, it is a practice of shutting down one’s mind to rational thought and opening it up to demonic influences and emotional responses.” (Smith, p.114)
CONTEMPLATION
“When contemplation appears … the Subject ceases to perceive himself in … his general consciousness. He is raised above himself …. In this state … the mystic is conscious of being in immediate relation with God Himself; of participating in Divinity.” (Underhill, p.330)
“The methods of contemplative prayer are similar in all traditions. Sit quietly, preferably comfortably …. breathe slowly, rhythmically, deeply. Fit the words of your mantra to this rhythm. And don’t be afraid of the word, ‘mantra’.” (Smith, p.109, quoting Madeleine L’Engle, ‘And It Was Good”, p.135-36)
“There are too many stories of mystics being able to move hundreds of miles through the power of contemplation for us to be able to toss them aside.” (Smith, p.17, quoting Madeleine L’Engle, ‘Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art, p.86)
DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL
“The most intense period of that great swing-back into darkness which usually divides the ‘first mystic life’, or Illuminative Way, from the ’second mystic life’, or Unitive Way, is generally a period of utter blankness and stagnation, so far as mystical activity is concerned. The ‘Dark Night of the Soul’, once firmly established, is seldom lit by visions or made homely by voices … The once-possessed power of .. contemplation now seems wholly lost.” (Underhill, p.381)
Note: Underhill has an entire chapter on “The Dark Night of The Soul”, p.380-412.
DEEP CONSCIOUSNESS/WORSHIP
Note: See BREAKTHROUGH above
GREAT WORK
“De Coppens says that the divinity of man through spiritual initiation is the ‘Great Work’ that is the central objective of the ‘Ageless Wisdom’.” (Marrs, Dark Secrets, p.124, quoting Peter Roche de Coppens’ forward to F. Aster Barnswell, “The Meaning of Christ for Our Age,” p.xix-xxxi.)
“Aleister Crowley … taught that the Great Work, the ‘transformation of humanity’, would be accomplished in the last decade of the 20th century.” (Marrs, Circle of Intrigue, p.230)
INSIDE OUT
“Probably (Larry) Crabb’s best known and most popular book is ‘Inside Out’, published by NavPress … The very title ‘Inside Out’ suggests the Freudian notion of the unconscious.” (Meisel, p.1)
Also see PANTHEISM below
INTERDEPENDENCE
See DECLARATION OF UNITY OF THE WORLD, Section IV.
KNOW THYSELF
“…the Arabian alchemist Abipipi:…’O man, know thyself! In thee is bid the treasure of treasures’.” (Kingsland, p.86, quoting Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled, Vol.2, p.617)
“A human being partakes of all emanations or planes of reality at once without knowing it until he or she achieves cosmic consciousness … This is the esoteric meaning of know thyself, which post-Freudian people are apt to understand as merely making the unconscious conscious, as psychological awareness … But the ultimate meaning of ‘know thyself’ seems to be ‘know thy Self’” (Moffatt, p.344)
See TRUE/REAL SELF below
PRESENCE Of GOD
“Practicing the ‘Presence of God’ is actually a form of Zen Meditation.” (Smith, p.120)
SACRED SITES/PLACES
“Joseph Campbell described the human sacrifices of the Aztecs and then called Mexico City, where these incredible horrors occurred, a ’sacred site’.” (Smith, p.139, quoting Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers, “The Power of Myth”)
SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES
“Out of the traditions of Quakerism, Richard Foster and William L. Vaswig, co-directors of Renovare, are selling books and holding conferences for the spiritually anemic’, offering spiritual disciplines well-known to the pagan world to induce deeper spirituality.” (Smith, p.119)
TRUE/REAL SELF
“In the creation tradition, all people are mystics. Mysticism is not elitist; it touches the true self in each one of us.” (Fox, p.58)
“The mystic in us … is unleashing and creating … the true self. Co-creation happens here, for the birth of the mystic is a birth with God of what is divine and truly oneself. It is the outward birth of the image of God from within. Each self is a unique mirror of divinity…” (Fox, p.64)
“A co-creator is one who births the mystic self or allows it to be born. In allowing the ‘true self” or mystic to be born one is already involved in a deep process of birthing the Cosmic Christ.,” (Fox, p.201)
See also DIVINITY OF MAN below.
D. DOCTRINES OF MYSTICISM FOUND IN “THE MESSAGE”
ANDROGYNY
“Primordial man. The early mystics in erred from Genesis 1:26 – ‘Let us make man in our image’ – that the physical Adam was created on the pattern of a spiritual Adam that existed in the celestial world … This became part of the later mystical view of the cosmos in which everything on earth had its counterpart in the realm of the Godhead.” (Rabinowicz, “Adam Kadmon”, p.8)
See AS ABOVE, SO BELOW above
“Adam Kadmon, or primordial man – … This being is sexless or bisexual…” (Hastings,”Kabbala”, p.626)
“The entire world process is necessary to shape the Perfect Man so that the original state of androgyny (male and maiden at the same time) will be restored.” (Eliade, “Gnosticism”, p.568)
See: Heeding Bible Prophecy: New Man: 16.C
DIRECT REVELATION
“… all the Gnostic sects … claimed to possess a secret doctrine, coming to them directly from Jesus Christ, different from that of the Gospels and Epistles and superior to those communications, which in their eyes, were merely exoteric.” (Pike, p.542)
“…the Camisards … like the Cathars … stressed the supremacy of gnosis, or direct knowledge, over faith …” (Baigent, p.431)
“Led by the rise in the popularity of the monastic lifestyle, contemplative prayer has found its way into the Christian community, providing instructions an ‘how to hear God’s voice’ – for those who are seeking ‘deeper truths’. Proponents have even managed to come up with a biblical foundation for the quest: Adam and Eve talked with God in the Garden; Cain, Abel, Noah, Abraham, and the prophets all heard from God; and Paul was taught by the Lord Himself. Therefore, since Christ has been resurrected and has not stopped ’speaking, teaching, and acting’, then surely He communicates with His people today in an ‘audible voice’.” (Smith, p.111)
See: Heeding Bible Prophecy: New Doctrine: 23.A; New Religion: 21.C; New Jerusalem: 24.F
DIVINE OR1GIN Of MAN
“Mysticism demands a return to our origins… Meister Eckhart … invites us to ‘return to God and the core, the soil, the ground, the stream and the source of the Godhead’.” (Fox, p.55)
DIVINITY OF MAN
“Robert Browning in his poem, ‘Paracelsus’…’There is an inmost centre in us all, Where truth abides in fulness…’ Now that ‘inmost centre’ is, in the teaching of the Ancient Gnosis, the real SELF; the eternal, immortal, divine self which is one with the universal SELF, commonly called God. Thus the root teaching of this Ancient Wisdom at all times has been the divine nature of Man; and what was taught in the inner schools of the Mysteries… was the method of achieving this supreme knowledge in a practical manner; that is to say the attainment of god-like character and powers. Every man is potentially a god, however feeble may be his powers at the present time. At root he is God.” (Kingsland, p.20) Note.
See also TRUE/REAL SELF above.
See: Heeding Bible Prophecy: New Religion: 21:D
PANENTHEISM
“Healthy mysticism is panentheistic. This means that it is not theistic, which envisions divinity ‘out there’ or even ‘in here’ in a dualistic manner that separates creation from divinity. Panentheism means ‘all things in God and God in all things’. This is the way mystics envision the relationship of world, self, and God … Panentheism melts the dualism of inside and outside…” (Fox, p.57) Note: Also see INSIDE OUT above.
POSITIVE THINKING
“‘ ..anything the human mind can believe, the human mind can achieve.’…This seductive idea lies behind the Human Potential movement, which is another name for the New Age movement.” (Hunt, p.19, quoting Napolean Hill, “Grow Rich with Peace of Mind,” p.176)
SACRED SEX
“According to Foster … Juliana of Norwich showed him the depths of Divine Love … of’ a somewhat sensual and ‘intimate’ relationship with God.” (Smith, p.129)
“And also our good Lord revealed that it is very greatly pleasing to him that a simple soul should come naked, openly and familiarly. And loving I pray to thee O God, give me yourself for you are enough for me.” “Therefore we may ask from our Lover to have all of him that we may desire. For it is our nature to long for him, and it is his nature to long for us. In this life we can never stop loving him.” (Foster, Devotional Classics, p.71, quoting Juliana of Norwich, “Revelations of Divine Love”)
“Her writings have been called the most perfect fruit of later medieval mysticism.” (Foster, Devotional Classics, p.68)
See: Heeding Bible Prophecy: New Man: 16.B
SELF-SACRIFICE
“…the Christian mystic has to be prepared to follow his faith to the point where he can look at the possible imminent end of Homo sapiens as an event of joy.” (Kirby, p-17)
“Christians … know that a man must die to himself before he can … be born again in spirit … It may well be that mankind as a whole must be crucified, even unto death, before coming into its inheritance … Christians can say with Teilhard de Chardin, that death itself is beneficent, the only way to grow beyond forms which have served their limited purpose …. but with the serious and the worried, they look upon the possible extermination of the human race secure in the knowledge that it could be but a prelude to the resurrection of the species.” (Kirby, p.201-02)
“The intent is for men to die … at the demand of his own soul. When man has reached a higher stage in evolution, with deliberation and definite choice of time, he will consciously withdraw from his physical body.” (Bailey, “Death the Great Adventure,” p.59)
See: Heeding Bible Prophecy: New Life: 20.G
UNIVERSAL SALVATION
Note: See beliefs of Madeleine L’Engle in Section V
VI. CHRONOLOGY
1945 – Nag Hammadi Gnostic scriptures discovered
1946 – Dead Sea Scrolls discovered
1947 – Eugene Nida wrote “Bible Translating.” See IV.A.3.a.3.
1974 – Lindesfarne began publishing
1978 – Richard Foster writes “Celebration of Discipline”
1984 – Declaration of Unity of the World written; includes mysticism in its inter-religious consensus. See IV.B.1.
1992-1993 – Richard Foster conference scheduled for Navigators
Note: it is unclear whether or not this actually took place. It is possible that it was cancelled by Richard Foster due to his busy schedule.
1993 – “The Message: The New Testament in Contemporary Language” written
1995 – Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s special edition of “The Message” New Testament
1998 – Navigator Summer Camp relates mysticism of King Arthur’s Camelot to kingdom of God
APPENDIX I.
“THE MESSAGE” COMPARED TO THE KING JAMES VERSION
Note: Please keep Dr. Letis’ remark in mind when reading the following verses – see section IV.A.4., as well as the dictionary terms in section VI. THE TEMINOLOGY USED IS THE POINT Of THIS STUDY! There are other doctrinal errors in the following verses, which have not been addressed in this study. Mystical terminology is highlighted in larger print.
A. MYSTICAL/OCCULT TERMS AND KEY WORDS USED IN “THE MESSAGE”
AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
Matthew 6:10
KJV – Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
MESSAGE – Set the world right; do what’s best – AS ABOVE, S0 BELOW
BREAKTHROUGH
Acts 11:18
KJV – Then Hath god also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
MESSAGE – God has BROKEN THROUGH to the other nations, opened them up to Life!
CENTER/CENTER DOWN
II Corinthians 5:14
KJV – For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead
MESSAGE – Christ’s love has moved me to such extremes. His love has the first and last word in everything we do. Our firm decision is to work from this FOCUSED CENTER: One man died for everyone.
II.Peter 1:19
KJV – We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts
MESSAGE – We couldn’t be more sure of what we saw and heard – God’s glory, God’s voice. The prophetic Word was confirmed to us. You’ll do well to keep FOCUSING on it. Its the one light you have in a dark time as you wait for daybreak and the rising of the MORNING STAR in your hearts.
CONTEMPLATION
I.Titus 2:1-2
KJV – I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
MESSAGE – The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so that we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble CONTEMPLATION,
DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL
Luke 22:53
KJV – When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no handsagainst me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.
MESSAGE – Day after day I’ve been with you in the Temple and you’ve not so much as lifted a hand against me. But do it your way – it’s a DARK NIGHT, a dark hour.
“DEEP” CONSCIOUSNESS/WORSHIP
I.Peter 1:17
KJV – pass the time of your sojourning here in fear
MESSAGE – Your life is a journey you must travel with a DEEP CONSCIOUSNESS of God.
Revelation 4:2
KJV – And immediately I was in the spirit: …
MESSAGE – I was caught up at once in DEEP WORSHIP.
GREAT WORK
Philippians 1:6
KJV – Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
MESSAGE – There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this GREAT WORK in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.
INSIDE OUT
Matthew 17:2
KJV – And was transfigured before them: …
MESSAGE – His appearance changed from the INSIDE OUT, right before their eyes
Mark 1:8
KJV – I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.
MESSAGE – His baptism – a holy baptism by the Holy Spirit – will change you from the INSIDE OUT.
Luke 3:16
KJV – …he shall baptize you with the Holy ghost, and with fire.
MESSAGE – The main character in this drama … will ignite the kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the INSIDE OUT.
Romans 12:2
KJV – …but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind ….
MESSAGE – …fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the INSIDE OUT.
INTERDEPENDENCE
Romans 1:14
KJV – I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.
MESSAGE – Everyone I meet – it matters little whether they’re mannered or rude, smart or simple – deepens my sense of INTERDEPENDENCE and obligation.
KNOW THYSELF
I John 2:27
KJV – But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie …
MESSAGE – Christ’s anointing teaches you the truth on everything you need to KNOW ABOUT YOURSELF and him, uncontaminated by a single lie.
PRESENCE OF GOD
Acts 22:17
KJV – And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; Message- After I was back in Jerusalem and praying one day in the Temple, lost in THE PRESENCE OF GOD,
Revelation. 20:11
KJV – And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them
MESSAGE – I saw a Great White Throne and the One Enthroned. Nothing could stand before or against the PRESENCE, nothing in Heaven, nothing on earth.
SACRED SITES/PLACES
Luke 7:16
KJV – And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God …
MESSAGE – They all realized they were in a PLACE Of HOLY MYSTERY, that God was at work among them.
See: Heeding Bible Prophecy: New Earth: 6.D
SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES
Acts 2:46
KJV – And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple …
MESSAGE – They followed a daily DISCIPLINE of worship in the Temple..,
I.Timothy 4:8
KJV – For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things …
MESSAGE – Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a DISCIPLINED LIFE in God is far more so …
TRUE/REAL SELF
Matthew 5:44-45
KJV – But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven …
MESSAGE – When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your TRUE SELVES, your God-created selves
Luke 12:2
KJV – There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.
MESSAGE – You can’t keep your TRUE SELF hidden forever; before long you’ll be exposed.
John 1:12
KJV – But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
MESSAGE – But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their TRUE SELVES, their child-of-God selves.
B. MYSTICAL/OCCULT DOCTRINES FOUND IN “THE MESSAGE”
Note: There are many more occult doctrines in THE MESSAGE, but these have been limited to correspond to the doctrines found in the dictionary section – VI.
ANDROGYNY
Matthew19:6
KJV – Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder
MESSAGE – Because God created this ORGANIC UNION OF THE TWO SEXES, no one should desecrate his art by cutting them apart.
Mark 10:6
KJV But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. Message In the original creation, God made MALE AND FEMALE TO BE TOGETHER.
I Timothy 2:15
KJV – Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing …
MESSAGE – On the other hand, her childbearing brought about salvation, REVERSING EVE.
See: Heeding Bible Prophecy: New Man: 16.C
BIBLE – NON-LITERAL INTERPRETATION
Matthew 22:46
KJV – And no man was able to answer him a word.
MESSAGE – That stumped them, LITERALISTS that they were.
See: Heeding Bible Prophecy: New Scripture: 22.D.
DIRECT REVELATION
I Corinthians 2:13
KJV – Which things we also speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
MESSAGE – We didn’t learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God, who taught us PERSON-TO-PERSON through Jesus, and WE’RE PASSING IT ON TO YOU IN THE SAME FIRSTHAND WAY.
Galatians 1 :12
KJV – For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
MESSAGE – I got it straight from God, received the Message DIRECTLY from Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 1:2
KJV – Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son …
MESSAGE – Recently he spoke to us DIRECTLY through his Son.
DIVINE ORIGIN/DIVINITY OF MAN
Hebrews 2:11
KJV – For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.
MESSAGE – Since the One who saves and those who are saved have a COMMON ORIGIN, Jesus doesn’t hesitate to treat them as family …
I John 2:22
KJV – Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ
MESSAGE – So who is lying here? It’s the person who denies that Jesus is the DIVINE Christ. (Note: compare I.Jn.3:2)
PANENTHEISM/UNITY
Ephesians 4:6
KJV – One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in YOU ALL
MESSAGE – One God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and IS PRESENT IN ALL
Ephesians 4:15
KJV – But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ
MESSAGE – God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love – like CHRIST IN EVERYTHING.
See: Heeding Bible Prophecy: New Religion: 21.F
POSITIVE THINKING
Matthew 9:29
KJV – Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.
MESSAGE – He touched their eyes and said, “BECOME WHAT YOU BELIEVE.”
SACRED SEX
Mark 12:25
KJV – For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.
MESSAGE – After the dead are raised up, we’re past the marriage business. As it is with angels now, ALL OUR ECSTASIES AND INTIMACIES THEN WILL BE WITH GOD.
Mark 12:30
KJV – And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; …
MESSAGE – The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord your God with all your PASSION and prayer and intelligence and energy ….
Romans 8:23
KJV – And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves …
MESSAGE – The Spirit of God is AROUSING US within.
I.Corinthians 6:16-18
KJV – What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication.
MESSAGE – There’s more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, “The two become one”. SINCE WE WANT TO BECOME SPIRITUALLY ONE WITH THE MASTER, WE MUST NOT PURSUE the kind of sex that that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever – THE KIND OF SEX THAT CAN NEVER “BECOME ONE”.
Philippians 3:8
KJV – Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord …
MESSAGE – I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could EMBRACE CHRIST AND BE EMBRACED BY HIM.
Philippians 3:10
KJV – That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death
MESSAGE – I gave up all that inferior stuff so that I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and GO ALL THE WAY WITH HIM to death itself.
I l.Peter 1:3
KJV – According to his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.
MESSAGE – Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know personally and INTIMATELY, the One who invited us to God.
SELF-SACRIFICE
Luke 9:24
KJV – For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
MESSAGE – Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your TRUE SELF.
UNIVERSAL SALVATION – Note. This is “the Message”
John 17.2
KJV – As thou has given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him.
MESSAGE – You put him in charge of everything human So he might give real and eternal life to ALL in his charge.
Acts 10:35-36
KJV – But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousenss, is accepted with him.
MESSAGE – The Message he sent to the children of Israel – that through Jesus Christ everything is being put together again – well, he’s doing it everywhere,among EVERYONE.
Acts 15:17
KJV – That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.
MESSAGE – ALL the pagan people included in what I’m doing.
I.Corinthians 15:22
KJV – For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
MESSAGE – Everybody dies in Adam; everybody comes alive in Christ.
II.Corinthians 5.15
KJV – And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
MESSAGE – He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.
Col .1:26-28
KJV – Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: … which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
MESSAGE – The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you … That is the substance of our Message.
Colossians 3:11
KJV – Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free. but Christ is all, and in all.
MESSAGE – From now on everyone is defined by Christ, EVERYONE IS INCLUDED IN CHRIST.
C. MYSTICAL/OCCULT/MASONIC PRACTICES FOUND IN ‘THE MESSAGE’
NOTE: Many of the Masonic rites if initiation are derived from The Legend of Hiram Abiff
APRON
Luke 12:37
KJV – he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat ….
MESSAGE – He’ll put on an APRON, sit them at the table, and serve them a meal,
CLIMB OUT OF COFFIN
Ephesians 5:14
KJV – Awake thou that steepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
MESSAGE – Wake up from your sleep, CLIMB OUT OF YOUR COFFINS; Christ will show you the light.
ONE-EYED
Matthew 5:29
KJV – And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee …
MESSAGE – You have to choose to live ONE-EYED or else be dumped on a moral trash pile.
See: Heeding Bible Prophecy: New Messiah: 11.L
RIGHT HAND PULLED ME UP
Revelation 1:17
KJV – and he laid his right hand upon me, saying onto me …
MESSAGE – His RIGHT HAND PULLED ME UPRIGHT, his voice reassured me:
STONE MASONS THREW OUT
Matthew 21:42
KJV – The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner …
MESSAGE – The stone THE MASONS threw out is now the cornerstone
THIRD DEGREE
Mark 10:34
KJV – And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.
MESSAGE – Then they will hand him over to the Romans, who will mock and spit on him, GIVE HIM THE THIRD DEGREE, and kill him.
Luke 18:33
KJV – And shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
MESSAGE – Then after giving him the THIRD DEGREE, they will kill him.
D. OTHER OCCULTIC CONCEPTS
HAUNTING
Acts 1:20
KJV – For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation become desolate, and let no man dwell therein …
MESSAGE – It’s exactly what we find written in the Psalms: “Let his farm become HAUNTED. So no one can ever live there”.
NEW WORLD ORDER
Ephesians 3:5
KJV – Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit
MESSAGE – Only in our time has it been made clear by God’s Spirit through his holy apostles and prophets of this NEW ORDER.
Revelation 21:4
KJV – …for the former things are passed away.
MESSAGE – …all the first ORDER of things gone.
See: Heeding Bible Prophecy: New Age: 15.A
PUT HEX ON
Gal.3.1
KJV – O foolish Galatians, who bath bewitched you …
Message – You crazy Galatians! Did someone PUT A HEX on you?
See: Heeding Bible Prophecy: New Language: 17.B
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
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Foster, Richard J. CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE: THE PATH TO SPIRITUAL GROVTH; Harper San Francisco, 1998 (1978)
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Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. –Jeremiah 6:16-17
Why wouldn’t the Israelites want the “good way” and “rest for their souls”? Why wouldn’t they “hearken to the sound of the trumpet,” i.e., want to hear what God has to say? Let me suggest one reason that could certainly apply. They were so far removed from doing things God’s way that they couldn’t relate to the “old paths.” Furthermore, their idea of “good” was not God’s good, and the “rest” they sought after was not the rest of God. Doing their own thing for their own selves for so long may have pushed God’s way well beyond their interests and comprehension. This condition was not unique to ancient Israel; we also see it in the church today.
For decades Dave Hunt and I have been addressing the detrimental influence of psychological counseling among evangelical Christians. Trying to convince believers that psychotherapy is both pseudoscience and antibiblical quite often has been like endeavoring to paddle a canoe upstream, mostly in the face of rapids and occasionally as though challenging a Niagara Falls. One reason for this is similar to what probably contributed to the rebellion documented by Jeremiah: the church has been so seduced by psychological counseling for so long that anything that seems at odds with the current counseling practices is usually considered a consequence of ignorance.
I recently received a book written by Dr. Martin and Deidre Bobgan titled Person to Person Ministry: Soul Care in the Body of Christ. It is, in part, an indictment of the unbiblical way the evangelical church has gone about counseling. It is also a call to return to the “old paths,” that is, God’s instructions for how He wants believers to minister to one another. This is not a critical treatise directed at the problems inherent within professional psychotherapy; the Bobgans have shined the light of Scripture in that dark arena in their many other books (see resource materials). Rather, Person to Person Ministry reproves those approaches that call themselves biblical counseling yet have gleaned much from the way the world counsels.
My experience has shown me that questions rush through the minds of many who take exception to our criticism of psychological counseling (although they may appreciate our addressing other things): “So what are you saying? Are you now telling us that even biblical counseling is wrong?” In a few words, yes–in most cases. The Bobgans’ book gives enough examples to make anyone who loves the Lord and His Word very cautious about recommending someone who calls himself a biblical counselor, even if he claims that he is anti-psychology. On the other hand, the greater value of what the Bobgans have written is in their “sounding the trumpet,” that is, exhorting and encouraging believers by reminding them that God has provided everything they need to deal with and benefit from the troubling issues of life “through the Word of God, the work of the Holy Spirit…[and] the fellowship of the saints….” (p.20172).
What will perhaps make Person to Person Ministry upsetting to some is not necessarily the content, which is simply and clearly biblical, but the fact that unbiblical ways and means of counseling have so permeated the church that anything that challenges them is likely to be regarded as extreme. Here are some “counseling” problems that should concern those who want to minister, and be ministered to, God’s way. As I list some of the errors they expose, see if there is either a practice or teaching found in the New Testament to support these current practices. In other words, in reference to the old hymn, was it “good for Paul and Silas”? Many “biblical” counselors mimic the way professional counselors counsel. They have a counseling office, a calendar of appointments, meet with people on an hourly basis often once a week or more, and that sometimes goes on for months or years. They charge fees or accept donations for their church (which pays their salaries). Some don’t see a problem here as long as the counselor is “using the Word of God.” Other than the fact that the methods are at odds with what Scripture teaches, I’m not sure what “using the Word of God” means, because the “biblical” concepts and methods vary from biblical counselor to biblical counselor. For example, most biblical counselors integrate psychological concepts in some fashion, often incorporating humanistic or behavioral psychology that has been spiritualized, so they sound as though they were=2 0biblically consistent.
Teachings such as Freudian psychic determinism and the unconscious or Jungian dream analysis and the collective unconscious or behaviorism or inner healing, etc. (without using those specific terms), are rampant among those who nevertheless claim to counsel sola Scriptura. Exploring the past and looking for causes for sinful decisions based upon one’s parents or one’s environment or a life trauma are also common. Some specialize in deliverance from demons while others major in the unbiblical four temperaments. Most of those who practice the healing of memories would argue that they are adhering to the Scriptures rather than psychology. However, as the Bobgans point out, “Each counselor uses the Bible according to some combination of personal experience, secular theories, biblical doctrines, and common sense….While some have attempted to control the field through certificates, diplomas, degrees, and organizations, there is no single model or method of biblical counseling” (p. 49). Yet for all the differences among biblical counselors, including those who attempt strictly to adhere to God’s Word, they all have this in common: they have set themselves up (some unwittingly) as experts in solving the problems of living that are adversely affecting Christians. This problem-solving approach is plagued with problems of its own, as the Bobgans demonstrate.
First of all, neither the God of the Bible, nor His instructions in Scripture, nor the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer is about fixing our daily mental, emotional, and behavioral problems. Every believer is a new creature in Christ, and his objective in life is to have Christ formed in him. That is the process of sanctification-being set apart from the ways, means, and lusts of the world to a life that is in submission to the Lord and in which choices are made that are pleasing to Him, the One with whom every true believer will spend eternity. It’s a growth process, which at times involves sufferings and trials that the Lord allows in our lives to help us depend upon Him and mature in our relationship with Him. Yet most biblical counseling is trapped in a “just fix the problem” or “get rid of the symptoms” mentality and mode, along with other concepts that are contrary to the biblical way. The Bobgans write,
Problem-centered counseling appeals to the flesh of both the counselor and the counselee….The counselor appears as the expert who has it all together and who is able to fix the one who does not….The appeal to the counselees’ flesh exists because the counselees can present their case usually without being contradicted, condemned, or judged, but with gaining great sympathy and support. The more directly problem-centered one becomes, the more self-centered the counseling is. Problem-centeredness and self-centeredness are linked.
[J]ust as the psychotherapists are looked up to as experts in the world, so too have their problem-centered biblical counterpart s been looked up to as experts in the church. The counselor is often regarded more highly than the pastor, and counseling is often regarded more highly than the teaching, preaching, and evangelizing. (pp. 24-25)
Preaching, teaching, and evangelizing are gifts of the Holy Spirit. Counseling, however, is noticeably absent from among the gifts. Why is counseling missing, especially since high profile counselors and others in that position are arguably the most influential people, either nationally or at the local church level, in the evangelical community today? The answer is that counseling is not a biblical ministry. Those who function as counselors (biblical or otherwise) are erroneously involved in an activity that is primarily a function of the Spirit of Christ. He is our Counselor. More often than not, counselors supplant the Spirit of Christ as they try to do in the life of a believer what only God can do. They attempt to peer into the heart of the counselee, grasping for motivations, connections, sin inducements, and other insights, in order to remedy troubling conditions. They are grasping at straws because such an activity can only result in man’s speculations at least, and, even more important, it displaces the convicting, correcting, and comforting ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God as the only true “discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
So, if psychological counseling is out, and biblical counsel ing is rarely–if ever–biblical, what are believers left with? The “old paths”! The old paths, as applied in this article, are simply the way God wants us to minister to one another. One third of the Bobgans’ book is titled “What Can Be Done: Christ-centered Ministry.” What they supply from the Word of God is so simple and true that it no doubt will seem alien, even incredulous, to multitudes of believers conditioned by psychology’s pervasive influence on the church. That, sadly, is not a wild guess. I’ve experienced such a reaction for years when I’ve voiced my concerns about the unbiblical nature of psychological counseling.
Let me give you a current situation, which I believe is analogous to what the Bobgans are encouraging in the Body of Christ. I hope that it will help some to better understand. The American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association have spent billions of dollars, over decades of years, searching for the cure for cancer and heart disease respectively. At some point, both organizations recognized that a better strategy would be to promote a program of prevention rather than putting all their time, energy, and funding into curing the illnesses themselves. Today, they are mostly committed to recommending changes in a person’s lifestyle that would help to prevent cancer and heart disease, particularly through health-sustaining diet and exercise. It’s a secular “old path” plan, and it has produced “good” results for those who have followed their advice. As Benjamin Franklin noted, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Yet many have decided, “We will not walk [or run or bicycle] therein.” The discipline necessary for a lifestyle involving a beneficial diet and reasonable exercise is not high on their agenda, preferring (wishfully) a quick fix or cure of the disease, should it show up in their bodies.
God’s “old paths” are primarily preventive. The emphasis is on the growth and maturity of the believer. Again, the Bobgans point the reader to the Scriptures: “‘The just shall live by faith’ (Habbakuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38). Therefore faith in all that Christ has done (to overcome sin, secure salvation, provide new life and power through the process of sanctification, and give believers the solid hope of eternity with Him) constitutes the primary emphasis of all New Testament ministry” (p. 171). A believer’s life in Christ is to be led of the Holy Spirit, who dwells within every believer, enables him to make righteous choices, helps him to be fruitful, to understand and know better the Word and the Word made flesh, to love Jesus more, and thus to do what pleases Him. Such an approach is not a method or technique or program or anything else conjured up by man but rather a miraculous life superintended by God. It is a life of faith, without which it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Problem-centered counseling is tragic by comparison. The Bobgans write,
Becoming mature in the faith far surpasses any change in circumstances or immediate solutions to temporal problems, though temporal change does accompany spiritual growth. What we are talking about here has eternal consequences, not just solutions that make people feel better for the time being. (pp. 171-72)
Those who have concluded that what the Bobgans are urging is impractical for dealing with life’s problems need to consider this: which troubling issues can you think of that do not involve “the lust of the flesh,” i.e., sin? They need to take that up with the Apostle Paul, who, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would….If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16-17, 25). These are God’s instructions, His “old paths,” which the church has followed successfully for two millennia. Nothing could be more practical. Furthermore, His words are for every believer, every one of whom He has equipped to minister to fellow believers. That is the clarion call of Person to Person Ministry:
By God’s grace and enabling, believers in the Lord Jesus C hrist who are walking daily with Him and maturing in the faith through the trials of life are already equipped to minister to fellow believers who are suffering from the same kinds of problems generally addressed by trained counselors. These believers are equipped to do this by what Christ has already done in them through the Word of God, the work of the Holy Spirit, the trials of life, the fellowship of the saints, and opportunities to serve.
Paul wrote the following for every one of us who desires to follow the Lord and minister in His truth: “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:1-2).
This should be the heart’s cry of each of us: Lord, concerning the “old paths”–Your ways–help Your Body of believers “to walk therein.”TBC
Quotable
In a world of constant flux, it is assuring to find something that is unchanging, namely, the love of Christ. Our love moves in cycles. It is an emotional roller coaster. Not so with our Lord. His love never tires or varies.
And it is a pure love, utterly free from selfishness, unrighteous compromise, or unworthy motive. It is untainted and without a breath of defilement.
Like His grace, His love is free. For this we can be everlastingly thankful because we are paupers, beggars, and bankrupt sinners. And even if we owned all the wealth in the world, we still could never put even a down payment on a love so priceless.
William MacDonald
The Disciples Manual
Q&A
From the TBC archives:
Question: Where do you get the courage to expose what you believe are false teachings of some of the best-known and most popular Christian leaders? Have you gone to each of them privately first, as the Scripture says we should? Can’t correction be accomplished simply by referring to the false teachings without bringing in personalities? Is it really productive to identify by name those who teach these things? Wouldn’t that instead be counterproductive by offending them and their admirers? And isn’t it very costly financially by causing you to lose the support of many people?
Response: This is the most frequently asked of any question and I am confronted with it everywhere. First of all, it is not a matter of courage but of obedience to our Lord and to His Word. We have no choice but to “earne stly contend for the faith” (Jude 3) and as we preach the Word to “reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Tm 4:2; 3:16). There is no alternative. We dare not ignore these commands–for the glory of our Lord and for the sake of those who have been deceived and whom we must do all we can to rescue.
We believe that correction must be as public and widespread as was the erroneous teaching. This is necessary both for the sake of the teacher and for his or her followers. Error which has been taught publicly must be corrected publicly. Private discussion about it does not benefit the multitudes who have been thereby deceived. We have found private discussion to be largely unproductive. Those whom we have confronted privately seem to agree with us at that time, then continue to teach the same error.
Yes, we believe that in most cases it is necessary and productive to identify false teachers by name. How else can reproof be accomplished? To identify false teaching in a general way is of little benefit. We must specifically identify not only the error taught but those who teach it because they are often so highly regarded that whatever they say is unquestioningly accepted without even noticing what is wrong with it–and thereby many are led astray.
The biblical requirement to go to someone alone is only when one has been personally “trespassed” against: “Moreover if thy brother shall tr espass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone” (Mt 18:15). Any Christian leaders we identify by name have not offended us individually but have publicly taught what we sincerely believe to be false doctrine harmful to hearers and readers by the thousands (in some cases by the millions).
Does it keep us off radio and TV shows and take away from donations we might otherwise receive by standing for the truth and identifying those more popular than we are who teach error? Yes, but that is something we leave with the Lord. God forbid that we should ever allow such concerns to influence in any way our fidelity to our Lord and to His Word! That would be as foolish as exchanging the praise of God for the praise of men and an eternal heavenly reward for a temporal earthly one.
Question: I know God’s Word is infallible and inerrant, but I can’t reconcile Jeremiah’s statement that Jerusalem would be desolate for 70 years either with history or the Bible. When did this 70year period begin and end? Nor can I get it straight concerning Darius, Cyrus, the rebuilding of the temple in Ezra’s time and the rebuilding of Jerusalem under Nehemiah.
Response: The entire subject of the 70-year desolation of Jerusalem seems to contain several apparently hopeless contradictions. I have learned that God allows seeming contradictions to force us to dig deeper and in the end to have=2 0our faith strengthened thereby.
First of all we encounter the apparent contradiction about the duration of Daniel’s time in Babylon. Daniel 1:21 says, “Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus….” But 10:1 says, “In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel….” If Daniel continued only unto the first year of Cyrus, how could he still be alive and receiving revelations in Cyrus’s third year?
Obviously 1:21 can’t mean that Daniel died in the first year of Cyrus. The statement is made because it was in his first year that Cyrus allowed the Jews to return. Thus we are told that Daniel lived to see the return of the captives under Cyrus. That the first wave of captives returned in the first year of Cyrus is stated clearly in 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 and Ezra 1:14, 5:13 and 6:3.
This brings us to what appears to be a hopeless contradiction due to the fact that Cyrus II, known as Cyrus the Great, ruled from about 550-529 B.C. The first year of his reign, in 550 B.C., would be much too early for a return of the captives to Jerusalem if that indeed marked the end of the 70-year desolation thereof. Even if we count from the first carrying away of captives into Babylon in 605 B.C., that gives only 55 years instead of the 70-year desolation of Jerusalem prophesied by Jeremiah (Jer 25:3-11; Dn 9:2). We could legitimately extend the period to the first year of his reign in Babylon, which he captured in 539 B.C. This is undoubtedly when the decree was given and what is meant by the first year of his reign (he had no jurisdiction over the Jewish captives until then) but that would still leave us 4 years short of the necessary 70-year desolation.
However, it seems clear that the first wave of returnees to Jerusalem by Cyrus’s decree, resulting in the commencement of temple reconstruction, did not end the 70-year desolation. Eight years after the death of Cyrus, Daniel is still praying for the restoration of Jerusalem (Dn 9:1-19) in the first year of Darius. Cyrus died in 529 B.C. and was succeeded by his son Cambyses, who in turn was succeeded by Darius in 521 B.C. (after an eight-month interlude of a usurper in 522 B.C.). So at least 18 years after the first wave of captives returned to Jerusalem and began to rebuild the temple, Daniel is still fervently praying for an end to the desolation of Jerusalem (Dn 9).
Obviously, then, the 70-year desolation of Jerusalem is not considered by Scripture to have ended with the decree of Cyrus allowing the captives to return. The unfounded belief that the desolation ended at that time creates this confusion. While we are told at least four times that this decree was given in the first year of Cyrus (the first year of his reign in Babylon), nowhere is it stated that this decree marked the end of the prophesied desolation of Jerusalem.
That the desolation did not end at that time becomes clear from a careful reading of the book of Ezra. The foundation of the temple had no sooner been laid than opposition arose. The adversaries “weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building…frustrate[d] their purpose, all the days of Cyrus…until the reign of Darius…” (Ezr 4:15). Although Cyrus no doubt had good intentions, apparently after giving the decree he was too preoccupied to make certain that it was being effected in Jerusalem. The captives had been allowed to return, and the fact that they were frustrated in building the temple was overlooked if ever reported to him. Verse 6 tells of the opposition during the reign of Ahasuerus (known as Cambyses in secular history). Verses 7-23 refer in more detail to the decree by Artaxerxes, which caused the work of the temple to cease by force and power. This Artaxerxes was also known as Smerdis, a usurper, who seized the throne in 522 B.C. and was murdered eight months later and was succeeded by Darius. The suspension of temple reconstruction held unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia (Ezr 4:23-24). Now we see the answer to Daniel’s prayer with the restoration of temple construction in 521 B.C.! The temple was then finished in the sixth year of the reign of Darius (Ezr 6:15), in 516 B.C.
Thus the 70-year desolations are actually counted from the destruction of the temple in 586 B.C. until its completion in 516 B.C., exactly 70 years. All of the apparent contradictions=2 0disappear and the biblical account perfectly fits a very complex scenario, further reason for absolute confidence in whatever else the Bible has to say.
Question: The Bible does seem to state a number of times that the Jews (the people of Israel) are God’s chosen people. They mean something special to Him. I don’t understand, however, why there even had to be a chosen people. Can you explain this?
Response: To bring the Messiah into the world is one reason for a chosen people. The Messiah had to come through a special line of descent; He couldn’t be a member of all races. One particular group of people had to be chosen, and God had to keep them isolated and identifiable in order to fulfill prophecies concerning Messiah’s coming first of all to them and their rejection of Him. Numerous prophecies were given so that there would be no doubt as to the identity of the Messiah and His mission. His genealogy was an important factor in His identity.
Another reason for a chosen people is that God needed a special people through whom He could reveal Himself and also to show, in them, the relationship He wanted with all nations. Yes, He wanted to bless all nations, but in order to do so He must start with a particular people.
The Jews were also chosen to receive and preserve God’s laws. They were chosen to be a holy people. They were chosen to be an example of both God’s discipline and His grac e. By their history of continued rebellion and God’s patience with them, the Jews have provided assurance that God does not go back on His promises and is infinite in grace and mercy.
Another major reason God chose a special people was to prove His existence to the world by foretelling through His prophets centuries and even thousands of years beforehand exactly what was going to happen to them. We have gone into this in detail biblically and historically in several books, among them A Woman Rides the Beast and Judgment Day!
To summarize briefly, God promised the people of Israel the land of Canaan; when He brought them into the land He warned them that if they disobeyed Him they would be cast out and scattered everywhere. They would be hated, persecuted, and killed as no other people (anti-Semitism is a phenomenon unparalleled in history), but God would not let them be totally destroyed. After hailing the Messiah as He rode into Jerusalem on the colt of an ass, bringing salvation, Israel would reject Him; He would be crucified, and Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed once again and the Jews scattered to every nation in the final diaspora. Nevertheless, they would be amazingly preserved as an identifiable, ethnic group of people and brought back into their land in the last days. At that time, as God foretold 2,500 years ago, He would make Jerusalem a cup of trembling and a burdensome stone around the necks=2 0of the nations of the world. Jesus foretold that Jerusalem would be trodden down of the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
We have seen in our generation, exactly as prophesied, Israel’s restoration as a nation to her own land (actually a small part of it thus far), the determination of the world not to let Israel have sovereignty over Jerusalem, the repeated attacks against her by her Muslim neighbors, and Israel’s triumph each time through God’s preservation. Today Jerusalem (and especially the Temple Mount) is a burdensome stone around the necks of all the nations of the world, as the news continually reports. The Bible tells how it will all end, but the world is unwilling to believe and to submit to God’s plan.
None of these proofs would have been possible without there having been a chosen people. There is much more in Scripture, but space limitations govern.
News Alert
The Denver Post, 08/09/2009:BUDDHISM STRENGTHENS TIES TO CHURCH [Excerpts]–
What in the recent past seemed exotic and foreign is now almost routinely folded into “the fold.” Buddhism is not only accepted as a mainstream American religion, it is a path increasingly trod by faithful Christians and Jews who infuse Eastern spiritual insights and practices such as meditation into their own religions.
When John Weber became a=2 0Buddhist at age 19, his devout Methodist parents were not particularly pleased. In recent years, however, they’ve invited their son, a religious studies expert…to speak at their church about Buddhism. “That never would have happened before,” Weber said. “They would have been embarrassed.”
The Pew Forum’s Religious Landscape Survey in 2007 found that seven in 10 Americans who have a religion believe there is more than one path to salvation. A growing number of people are contemplating more than one each. And they are contemplating contemplation itself.
There are Jubus–Jews who bring Buddhism into their practice of Judaism–and Bujus, who are Buddhists with Jewish parents. Then there are UUbus, or Unitarian Universalist Buddhists, and Ebus, or Episcopalian Buddhists. There are Zen Catholics.
“There is a definite trend and movement that will not be reversed,” said Ruben Habito, a laicized Jesuit priest, Zen master and professor of world religions at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “We are in a new spiritual age, an interreligious age.”
People are hungry for a deeper spiritual experience–meditation, mindfulness, personal transformation, deep insight, union with God or the universe….For many Christians cut off from the past, or alienated from the faith of their upbringing, Buddhism has served as the bridge to ancient wisdom.
“The problem is the contemplative tradition in the Christian Church has had its ups and downs over the centuries,” said Father Thomas Keating, a Trappist monk and leader i n the Centering Prayer movement, a modern revival of Christian contemplative practice. “We sensed that the Eastern religions, with their highly developed spirituality, had something we didn’t have….It’s important to recover the mystical aspects of the gospel.”
[TBC: No. "It's important to" understand and believe the simple gospel, which is mankind's only way to be reconciled to God. Buddhism is "a bridge to ancient" paganism, and as a "path increasingly trod by [un]faithful Christians,” it is a highway that leads to eternal separation from God.]
Letters
Dear Tom,
Thanks so much for the comments on The Shack in the August issue. We know many “Christians” who relish the book. I know the material you offer will help us defend the truth. F&MM (TX)
TBC,
Thank you for your faithful work each month. My only hope, as I open my Berean Call email, is that you might make it twice as long as it was the previous month! God certainly blessed me when I started receiving your newsletter. May God continually bless your work. SK (email)
Dear TBC,
[Thank you for] seventeen years of blessing and information I could get nowhere else. I wish you could do two newsletters a month, as I devour it the day it arrives. You are blessed by the Lord, and I so thank you for sharing what you have been given by Him with others. JW (OK)
Dear Dave and Staff,
I, along with doubtless thousands of us, am much relieved to hear you are on the mend. You and your staff are in my daily prayers and I am thrilled to hear how God is answering. I am so grateful for your love for and commitment to Israel. As we read of their superiority in military and intellectual arenas, it would be hard not to recognize God’s special influence on this people. Thank you for your biblical perspective and love for the Truth. May the Lord be pleased to keep you around for many more fruitful years. PB (MN)
Dear Brothers Dave & T. A.,
Before anything else, I want to thank you both for your ministry and your faithfulness in serving God and His people. I have been a Christian since shortly after my original arrest some 16 years ago, having been born again by the free, sovereign grace of God. During the course of those years, I have had the opportunity to have read a number of your books and have been blessed, encouraged, and challenged in the doing. I am also a regular reader of The Berean Call, which also has been a blessing. Thank you, and may our great God and Savior strengthen20and encourage you both as you continue to walk in His love. MF (prisoner, AZ)
Dave Hunt,
I just rec’d an e-mail from a customer, and she sent me info from your critical web-site. I asked her a question. Where do these guy’s make up this stuff? Then I mentioned, perhaps Mr. Dave Hunt and his friends were standing outside my window when I was worshiping Yahweh, while blending our Third Heaven Vision anointing oil. Thanks for the article, Dave Hunt [see TBC Extra, 5/06, "'New Reformation' Prophets Peddle Products With Promise Of Power"]. I made a copy of it years ago. I’ll be glad to send you a bottle of our Third Heaven Vision anointing oil, perhaps you would enjoy it. You’ve cursed us, for that I forgive you in Jesus’ name. Please consider taking those logs out of your eyes. TP (email)
Hi Dave,
I appreciated the many insights in your book, What Love Is This? [see Resource Pages] in regards to the false teaching of Calvinism. I totally related to the ficticious “Al” in your book. That really mirrored what I have gone through and at times am still going through. I was gloriously saved and believed Christ died for my sins, and with that came all the new desires and affections and changed actions. About four years after I got saved, I started to see election and=2 0predestination and started searching into that. Well, I became a “Calvinist.” The only problem with that was that doubts and fears started to arise [as to] whether I was one of the elect….It seems the Calvinists, or at least a lot I have read (Puritans, Pink, MacArthur, Shelton, Piper), always address the assurance of salvation and that examination is imperative, and yet they never really say (other than MacArthur) that you can be absolutely sure of your salvation. They stress this idea that those with a false faith can act very close to those who have a true faith (that’s a great shot in the arm!) and that our heart is so deceitful that we can really deceive ourselves, and that it seems to please God to bring people close to salvation, with apparent evidences of a new life, but actually still not be saved. That has been the hardest for me to overcome. It seems clear from Scripture that those who have trusted Christ and have been born again are clearly evidenced from those who haven’t (1 John 3:10). Anyway, thank you for the book. It has been a blessing. I’m sure I will refer to it several more times. From a recovering ex-Calvinist. JL (email)
Dear Dave,
Your TBC for July, “Stars and Stripes Forever?” was power-packed, timely, anointed! I’ve read it (every word) three times [and] will no doubt read it again. If only every=2 0″Christian” in America were sincere enough to take it to heart and pray God’s will for Israel and America in the days ahead. I am so glad (and know it’s no coincidence) that Benjamin Netanyahu leads Israel now. Clinton treated him shamefully! God bless, keep, and supply all of you with your needs to accomplish His will in the days ahead. JH (WV)
Hello Dave,
Just a short note to let you know that I thank our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for the ministry he has entrusted you and Tom with. I have been blessed with all of the learning materials I have, by the grace of God, been able to purchase during such a famine for the Word of God in the nation where I currently reside. I have listened to the Gospel of John discussions and expositions on mp3 and I have read many of your books from Beyond Seduction to In Defense of the Faith….Thank you for being faithful to the Word of God and for sharing what God has taught you. AD (Australia)
TBC Notes “Old Paths” Instructions
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall20be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)
T. A. McMahon
Executive Director
TBC Extra
The “Suitable Helper” Ruth Hunt
It’s an awesome responsibility for a man to take on the role of husband. Let’s consider some ways that a wife can help her husband to be a good one. In Genesis 2:18 we read that God provided Adam with a helper suited to his needs. Today’s “suitable helper” will desire to do her husband “good and not evil all the days of her life.” That’s Proverbs 31:12.
One: The suitable helper will make home a place of shelter and refuge. When the door is closed, the world’s turmoil is left outside. I like to think of the Christian home as a temporary abode where husband and children are sheltered and cared for on the way to their heavenly home.
Two: She will communicate wisely. I believe a wife should be her husband’s chief counselor, but in dispe nsing wisdom, “Let your speech always be with grace,” we’re told in Colossians 4:6. An alternative to discussing an issue verbally is to write it down. You’ll have no interruptions. You won’t get off track. Your emotions won’t spill over, and you can think as you write and revise. Your husband can then read, re-read, ponder, and respond by whatever means he chooses.
Three: She will have a genuine interest in her husband’s problems and concerns. Six PM is the danger hour of the day in many homes. Our husband comes through the door, and we can be so hung up on our horrible day that we can hardly wait to unload. The solution has something to do with Philippians 2:3: “Let each esteem others better [more important] than themselves.” Then there’s Galatians 6:2, where we’re told to “Bear one another’s burdens.” Best of all, we’d be following Christ’s example. He gave His very life for us, and He gives us His full attention when we pour out our hearts to Him in prayer.
Four: She will be trustworthy when he shares confidences. They are for her ears only. He doesn’t want his poorer moments advertised with the girls over coffee, or his confidences given away, even to her best friend, or her mother.
&n bsp; Five: She will be courteous. The sweet, gracious ways that won his heart during courtship are sometimes left behind at the altar. Consistent courtesy smooths the path in every situation.
Six: She is submissive to her husband. In God’s wisdom, it’s a command: “Wives, be in subjection to your own husbands,” we’re told in 1 Peter 3:1. Way back there, Satan wanted to be “like the most High” (Isaiah 14:14). But how many “most Highs” can there be in any relationship? Satan was cast out of heaven for demanding equal rights with God. God commands wives to obey their husbands (in the Lord). He commands husbands to love their wives “even as Christ loved the church [His bride].” That’s Ephesians 5:25. It shouldn’t be difficult to decide which is the greater challenge.
Seven: She is a good manager, a good executive over her little kingdom. “She looketh well to the ways of her household,” says Proverbs 31:27. The whole chapter is a recital of all that this amazing woman accomplishes. She had to be organized. And the result? Her husband could relax and do his job more efficiently because she was doing hers.
Eight: She will be contented with her lot. “Godliness with contentment is great gain,” says 1 Timothy 6:6. How can we be godly and not contented, when our Lord “daily loadeth us with benefits,” as Psalm 68:19 reminds us. Try thanking God for things you never dreamed of being thankful for before: the wildflowers growing among the weeds in your yard, the sun that’s drying your clothes because you don’t have an electric dryer, the coupons that have come just in time to buy the groceries you need. Practice being thankful for all those little things, which aren’t really little because they’re also God’s gifts.
Nine: A gracious wife accepts his love, however offered. Husbands are not all poets and romantics. They may work hard, be loyal, faithful, helpful, but have a problem saying the words she longs to hear. Love can be unspoken and just as real. Accept it.
Ten: Most important of all, the wise woman attends to her inner beauty because “Favor is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who feareth the Lord will be praised,” Proverbs 31:30 tells us. Those many virtues listed throughout chapter 31 add up to a zero if her relationship with the Lord is not the priority. So–number ten is really number one.
A final thought from an unknown author: “Who are better suited to wedlock than men and women who have already died to self? Already they have learned to serve and
please Another [our Lord Jesus Christ].”.
Happily, in this way, our relationship with our Heavenly Bridegroom can be the pattern for our earthly marriages.
How The ShackBecame the #1 Bestseller in Christianity
By Eric Barger
Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?- I Kings 3:9
I like Paul Young. Having heard him speak about his life and book three times recently in Portland, Oregon I found him to be passionate, witty and funny. While at Young’s alma mater (Warner Pacific College), I was able to spend a few moments with him privately during which time I asked him to personally respond to several criticisms and concerns that I and other Christians are raising about the theological contents of his book. I wish I could report that he allayed my apprehensions but instead, I went away convinced that The Shack is more than just a little offbeat but is, as Dr. Albert Mohler pegged it on his radio program, “blatant heresy.”
Yes, The Shack is indeed a novel. And many will wonder what could be wrong since it is identified as a Christian book and authored by a man who claims to be a Christian? After all, The Shack is heralded by many seasoned Christian leaders. Pastors are preaching from it. Sunday School classes and small groups are reading and discussing it. Many Christians are buying it by the case to give as gifts. Some ChristianSchools are even sanctioning and encouraging the reading of the book. But this is not just a benign story of man overcoming life’s challenges. Make no mistake, the book presents doctrine throughout its clever and gripping story – something the author clearly intended to do. Therein lays the problem.
Trading the Kingdom for a Shack
For those unaware of the book’s storyline, here is the description of The Shack from Amazon.com.
“Mackenzie Allen Philips’ youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness.
Four years later in the midst of what he refers to as ‘The Great Sadness,’ Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.
Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack’s world forever.
In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant ‘The Shack’ wrestles with the timeless question, “Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?”
The Shack is a publishing phenomenon but you may ask “is it really any big deal?” This self-published book has sold 4+ million copies since its May 2007 release. It debuted at #1 on The New York Times Bestseller List and has remained there for the past 25 weeks as of this writing. It has also held the #1 position on many other bestseller lists including Amazon.com, USA Today’s Top 150 Books, Barnes and Noble, Borders Books and is the #1 book of 2008 at ChristianBook.com. According to the author, the book is currently selling 87,000 copies a week in the secular book stores alone. All of this has allowed Young and his two publishing partners the luxury of holding out for just the right major motion picture deal as well. But there is a reason why several dozen publishers turned this book down. Here are a few of my observations – and objections.
The Shack’s Trinity
Several chapters into the book, a most unorthodox version of the Holy Trinity is revealed. Young’s tale diminishes Almighty God from His rightful position as a supernatural being. Instead of speaking by His Word and His Spirit, He is morphed into a feminine figure reduced to passing notes to those whom she wants to communicate with.
God is portrayed in The Shack as a large African-American woman named “Papa” also called “Elousia.” (Talk about gender confusion!) Jesus is a Jewish carpenter complete with a tool belt and the Holy Spirit is depicted as an Asian woman named after “Sarayu,” a mystical river in ancient India related to the Hindu deity Kali. Clearly, there is a trinity in The Shack but it is absolutely not the Trinity.
From my first glance at The Shack, it struck me that the idea of God in human form – even in the pages of a novel is more than just theologically questionable. It is forbidden by several passages from both the Old and New Testaments not the least of which is the Second Commandment (Exodus 20: 4-5). The Apostle Paul proclaims, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man…” (Romans 1:21-23a)
Of The Shack, Chuck Colson’s BreakPoint contributing editor Travis McSherley wrote, “This is the root of the book’s problems. In the course of the biblical narrative, God the Father never reveals Himself in the form of a human. In fact, Christ rebukes His disciples for even suggesting it. (See John 14:5-10)
The Shack would not dispute these limits of understanding-it dedicates many pages to chastising believers who cling too tightly to traditional views of God’s nature. Yet, instead of expanding our thinking and our appreciation for divine mysteries, the book shrinks them quite dramatically by creating a deity so clearly influenced by human expectations of what God should be.“
Sin, Hell, Judgment, Salvation, the Incarnation, Hierarchy and Authority in the Godhead, a Polynesian Goddess and other assorted problems
Here are just a few of the many issues raised by The Shack:
- Young’s Papa character insists that sin is its own punishment. This distorts the reality of Hell and discounts eternal retribution for sin.
- Readers of The Shack are told that Jesus is only the best way to know God – not the only way.
- The Shack teaches that when Jesus went to the cross, God Almighty died there too. This is a heresy known as patripassianism. (In our private conversation I challenged Young about this but to no avail.)
- The Shack states that there is no structure or hierarchy within the Trinity and that the three personages of God are all equally subject to one another and to humans as well. I challenge fans of The Shack to open a Bible and try to make that square with the Scriptures!
- Young’s “Papa” character is suspiciously akin to a Polynesian/Hawaiian goddess who also happens to be known as “Papa.” When I quizzed Young on this he denied any knowledge of such a deity. However, the similarities with The Shack’s God character are stunning.
Now lets move on to perhaps the biggest concern.
Is Paul Young still a “Reconciling Universalist?”
I have noticed that in nearly every electronic or print media interview Paul Young volunteers that he is “not a universalist” and does so without ever being asked about it. But is he merely parsing words? Young is obviously nervous about the Christian world becoming convinced of any such thing. That said, it strikes me as odd that on a web page intended to answer critics of the book one of his editors, Wayne Jacobson, acknowledges that Young had previously embraced a form of universalism known as “universal reconciliation” and that this belief indeed appeared throughout the original manuscript. (Jacobson refers to it as “ultimate reconciliation” to avoid using the dreaded “U” word, universalism.)
Does The Shack promote Ultimate Reconciliation (UR)?
“It does not. While some of that was in earlier versions because of the author’s partiality at the time to some aspects of what people call UR, I made it clear at the outset that I didn’t embrace UR as sound teaching and didn’t want to be involved in a project that promoted it. In my view UR is an extrapolation of Scripture to humanistic conclusions about our Father’s love that has to be forced on the biblical text.
Since I don’t believe in UR and wholeheartedly embrace the finished product, I think those who see UR here, either positively or negatively are reading into the text. To me that was the beauty of the collaboration.” (See: http://www.windblownmedia.com/shackresponse.html)
It is obvious that Young, Jacobson, and partner Brad Cummings all have a great deal to lose by not doing their best to debunk the book’s critics. They are very aware of where Young was theologically when he wrote the book. And that is the point isn’t it? It is the contents of the book (and presumably that of the forthcoming motion picture) that is being criticized here.
In the very beginning, I began to smell universalism in The Shack by simply reading it. These thoughts were more than confirmed through a very scholarly paper critiquing The Shack written by Dr. James De Young. Other leaders who have been critical of the book including Dr. Michael Youssef, Janet Parshall, Jan Markell and Dr. Larry DeBruyn have quoted Dr. De Young’s research – and for good reason.
Dr. De Young is a conservative professor at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. He is fluent in Greek and Hebrew and also teaches an elective on the early Church Fathers. He is well equipped to expose universalism from both biblical and historical perspectives. Perhaps equally important to our discussion here, is the fact that for several years both Dr. De Young and Paul Young were members of a theological discussion group or “think tank” known as the M3 Forum. In response to the bountiful amount of universalistic ideas found in The Shack, Dr. De Young has published a well-documented 39 page paper which can be accessed at: http://theshackreview.com.Once on the website you will also find several shorter documents and a discussion forum with remarks from readers, many of which defend The Shack. These comments serve to illustrate the tremendous confusion and lack of biblically thinking we see abounding inside the Christian community today.
After having Young tell me face to face that he was not a universalist, I asked him about Dr. De Young’s paper. He bristled at me and made several accusations about De Young which I now understand to be unfounded. Since the meeting with Paul Young, I had the opportunity to meet personally with Dr. De Young for several hours. In our meeting he shared another yet-to-be-released paper with me which he has written exposing Paul Young’s very bold defense of universal reconciliation. I can best describe the information in it as shocking. In fact, in the Spring of 2004, Paul gave one of the most complete defenses of universal reconciliation imaginable and reiterated this position on at least two occasions – the latest being in May-June 2007 – after writing The Shack.
Having had no previous indication that a staunch believer was in their midst, Paul Young’s revelations heralding universal reconciliation came as a complete blind-side to the M3 Forum members. After the group contested Young’s ideas, Dr. De Young gave a lengthy rebuttal to all of Paul’s points, branding Young’s position as heretical, citing a church council decision from the 6th century. After this event in 2004, Paul Young ceased participating in the M3 Forum.
In reflecting on my personal conversation with Young at Warner Pacific in October 2008, I wish I had asked specifically “Are you now or have you ever been an advocate of universal reconciliation?” (Note that classical universalists believe that all religions lead to the same place where as those who hold to universal reconciliation believe that all men <read that “ALL”> are already saved because of Jesus’ work on the cross.) This position purports that there is no penalty for sin, no literal hell and no need to accept Christ and repent of one’s sins. It dramatically undermines the work of the Church, evangelism and the core teachings of the New Testament. It is a satanic trap denying essential beliefs taught by Jesus, the Apostles and Bible believers throughout the Church Age. It is also exactly what Young believed in 2004. It is what he believed when he wrote The Shack and whether he believes it today or not you can be fairly certain that with millions of dollars at risk he is not about to re-edit The Shack to try and make theological corrections – at least without an act of God anyway. Again, it is not how skillfully Young may craft his words in denial of being a universalist or even what he may actually believe today that is the real question. It is the theological contents of The Shack that orthodox Christian critics are concerned with. Besides, universalism is but one of the many glaring unbiblical aspects of the book.
The REAL Problem
The bottom line concerning books, movies, television shows and other input like The Shack is that if our emotions rule and we fail to use scriptural discernmentwe can be taken captive by “evil imaginations”
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit… – Colossians 2:8
Knowing that the author actually portrayed himself as both Shack characters Missy (the violated-then-murdered six year-old) and her father, Mack (the one searching for God in a painful world) one’s heart surely breaks for what Paul Young has evidently endured in his lifetime. However, if readers fail to think biblically and allow only The Shack’s emotional storyline to grip them, they chance becoming prey to the very thing that I believe has duped many Christians into accepting and even endorsing the book. Empathy towards the author or his characters or becoming enamored by what many testify to as the positive real-world outcome of reading the book cannot trump one’s biblical analysis of the work. Young plays upon emotions constantly in the book and also as he lectures publically equating that because hearts are allegedly being touched that God must be giving approval to The Shack. When speaking to me personally, he emphasized the concept that results are all that matters. I responded that just because people testify that the book is somehow helping them, this does not necessarily mean that it is actually ordained by God. After all, God can use many means to reach people. God regularly uses disasters, accidents and tragedy of all sorts – even unorthodox or cultic books for His glory. This however doesn’t mean that God somehow deems heresy or terrible events as somehow good or positive in and of themselves.
The Nicest Heretic
Paul Young is perhaps the nicest heretic I have ever dealt with personally. That may sound flip but it’s true. He is a very nice guy who is presenting and defending some very dangerous even seductive heresies. As one who wears his emotions on his sleeve and who found himself being swayed by the heartbreaking storyline of The Shack, I must again caution. To allow a gripping story to cloud our ability to detect even the subtle theological errors strewn throughout its pages is exactly what Dr. Michael Youssef meant when he described The Shack as “a deep ditch that’s covered by beautiful landscape.”
One thing is certain – if a religious group taught the doctrines and beliefs found in the theology of The Shack, every apologist and minister worth his or her biblical salt would make exposing such a cult a relentless focus and would go to the greatest lengths to discredit the teachings of such a group as heretical!
More deceptively, through the veil of fiction Paul Young promotes heresies just as cultic – and damning – as the likes of Mormonism (who also portrays God as a human), Jehovah’s Witnesses or Christian Science. This is why I am devoting time in pulpit to The Shack and have produced an 80 minute DVD on the topic (info at www.ericbarger.com). Whether it be through fiction or organized cultism, this topic IS that important.
The disturbing truth is that books like The Shack would never become a bestseller in the Christian world if Christians were on guard, thinking biblically and were willing to follow the Scriptures! In these dangerous days it is paramount that we actively develop “eyes of understanding” which constantly check everything by the Word of God – especially the stuff that claims to be of God. The Scripture implores us to prove or test all things (I Thessalonians 5:21-22) and this test can only be accomplished one way – by knowing the Bible and then utilizing what we know from it. Every Believer needs to be alert to the reality that in these last days deception is going to come at a rate never fathomed before. Mark my words, as time passes Satan is preparing to use unheralded and brazen trickery that will look and sound very spiritual, even Christian. The only hope we have to successfully avoid the traps is by prayerful, dedicated and aggressive study of God’s unchangeable Word. Otherwise, sooner or later we’ll find ourselves amongst a growing number from previously trustworthy evangelical circles that are heading straight for apostasy.
Jesus warned us in Matthew 24 that if the end days were not shortened by His return even the very elect would be deceived. Can we not assume that many who currently hang around the Church – and even some who preach or write books now popularly accepted in Christian circles – may in reality never endure to the end and are thus actually wolves in sheep’s clothing?
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. – II Timothy 4:3-4
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. – Galatians 1:8-9
Branham started off as a Baptist and then changed over to a Oneness Pentecostal. He vehemently denied the Trinity of God and took a strong “Jesus Only” stance in regards to the godhead. This alone places him in the ranks of earlier heretics. The early church fathers fought long and hard battles against those who denied the reality of One God in three distinct persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thus, his Jesus was not the true Jesus of the Bible.
Branham also believed he was Elijah the prophet. What was more, other people believed him to be the prophet Elijah who was to come before the return of Christ Jesus. Branham was not Elijah, thus we can easily see the depth of the deception working in him and his followers.
Branham taught a works salvation. Thus, his doctrine of salvation was not sola gratia, sola fide, sola scriptura as the reformers correctly taught.
He also taught about the great pyramid and its Biblical meaning and significance to his ministry.
Regarding the Serpent Seed doctrine, here are some quotes from Branham. (Branham taught that Satan the Serpent had sex with Eve and produced a “seed” that has been passed on):
And now remember, the serpent was not a snake to begin with, a reptile. He was the next thing to a human being. Science has tried for thousands of years to find that missing link between man and beast. The closest they can come is to a chimpanzee. But they cannot get from the chimpanzee to the human being. Why? It was a serpent. Now, if you notice in Genesis 3:1, “The beast–the serpent was the most subtil of all the beast of the field.” A beast, not a reptile. He was more like a man. He looked like a man. He was that missing link in between there, because that’s the only way. The seed of a human will not coincide with the seed of a animal. But this fellow was the only one the devil could use because it was just between man and beast…
What did he do? He begin making love to Eve. And he lived with her as a husband. And she saw it was pleasant, so she went and told her husband; but she was already pregnant by Satan. And she brought forth her first son whose name was Cain, the son of Satan. Sermon Exerpt from Serpent Seed 58-0928E
She brought forth her first son which was Cain (Is that right?), the son of Satan, son of Satan. If they didn’t, where’d that–where’d that evil come from? Out of Adam which was the son of God? Come from the devil, his father. And he murdered; first murderer was the devil, the devil’s son. Sermon Exerpt from Ephesian Church Age 60-1205
I want you to show me one Scripture where it ever said a apple started the thing to going now. I want you to show me that they eat apples. I showed you that where Cain thought the same thing, and where his seed still thinks the same thing. But the spiritual revelation of God proves by the Bible that it was sexual intercourse between man and woman, illegally. There’s where your giants come from. That’s where your sin come from. That’s where your corruption come from. That’s where it’s come down. Exerpt from SERPENT’S SEED 58-0928E
A summary of Branham’s teaching is found here:
His doctrine of the “serpent’s seed” taught that Eve’s sin involved sexual relations with the serpent. Some humans are descended from the serpent’s seed and are destined for hell, which is not eternal, however. The seed of God, i.e., those who receive Branham’s teaching, are predestined to become the Bride of Christ. There are still others who possess free will and who may be saved out of the denominational churches, but they must suffer through the Great Tribulation.
Burgess and McGee, editors, Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan. p.96
William Branham’s heretical theology:
God’s Word consists of the zodiac, Egyptian pyramids and scripture.
Doctrine of trinity is considered demonic
The claim that he was Elijah the prophet
Millennium to begin in 1977.
That he was the seventh angelic messenger to the Laodicean Church Age (Footprints, pg. 620)..
That anyone belonging to any denomination had taken “the mark of the beast” (Footprints, pp. 627, 629, 643, 648).
That he received divinely inspired revelations above the Word of God (The Revelation of the Seven Seals, Branham; Spoken Word Publications, Tucson, Ariz., n.d.; pg.19; Questions and Answers, Book 1, Branham; Spoken Word Publications, Tucson, 1964; pg. 60.)
The fall of man happened when Eve had sexual relations with Satan, that his sexual union produced Cain.(Branham said that “every sin that ever was on the Earth was caused by a woman….the very lowest creature on the Earth” The Spoken Word, Vol. III Nos. 12, 13, 14;, Branham; Spoken Word Publications, Jeffersonville, Ind. 1976; pp. 81-82. Quoted in The Man and His Message, pg. 41).
Branham denied the biblical triune Godhead. He pronounced it a “gross error” (The Spoken Word, pg. 79) and as a prophet with the authority of a “Thus saith the Lord,” revealed that “trinitarianism is of the devil” (Footprints, pg. 606).
Unsaved descended from the serpent.
All the information given came from several websites on the internet, many scholars on cults, the occult, and heresies, and personal books and tapes by William Branham listen to and read.
Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for there is20none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. -2 Samuel 7:22 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. -John 17:3
Every man, woman, and child has the opportunity to spend eternity with God. That’s mind-boggling! There is nothing imaginable that could possibly be more exciting and wonderful. Moreover, that possibility isn’t something= that man has invented. From Genesis through the book of Revelation, the Scriptures declare and explain how that becomes a reality. It’s what the Bible is all about.
In God’s revelation of Himself through His Word, we learn of His attributes and personal qualities in the only way that mankind can know Him accurately. Without His revelation, we are left with finite man’s speculations and guesses about an infinite God. Such guesswork is often the basis of all the religions of the world. Their deities and their beliefs are the product of the imagination of fallen humanity (with the help of fallen angels). Biblical Christianity is the only exception. God has declared Himself in very specific terms to mankind. Without an accurate source of information, which only God Himself could and did provide, mankind would be left with nothing more than mythology, and most of the world is mired in this.
Tragically, a similar condition is infecting those who profess to be biblical Christians; they are slipping into the same swamp of delusion. That’s one of the reasons why so few Christians seem truly excited about eternity and spending it with the Lord. They can’t relate to it–or to Him–with real confidence. Many are tossed to and fro by their thoughts about God drawn from extra-biblical sources, from the latest best-selling Christian books, to Christian television programming, to what Oprah and her guests have conjured up. What’s being communicated about God is usually pleasing (albeit to the flesh) but is rarely true to His holy character. Even the most appealing ideas about God, when they don’t ring true to the Scriptures, contribute to a misleading and superficial relationship with the One we are to love in truth and with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
John, the beloved Apostle, tells us in his epistle that believers love God because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). That love for Him began with a basic understanding of who He is and what He has done for us. When we finally understood and believed the simple gospel (that God so loved us that He became a Man in order to reconcile us to Himself through His life, death, and resurrection), Jesus saved us. He did what only God could do–provided salvation for all mankind by payi ng the infinite penalty for sin that God’s perfect justice required.
At our new birth in Christ, which begins each believer’s personal relationship with Him, He gives us the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, to live within us, to teach us His Word, and to help us to grow in the knowledge of God our Savior. That’s the only way we can truly know, and mature in our relationship with, Jesus. Anything that deviates from God’s way of knowing Him is a delusion that leads down a slippery slope to destruction. In this day of quick fixes, running after instant gratification, and experiential catharses, we need to heed Isaiah’s counsel regarding spiritual maturity: “Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isaiah 28:9-10). These precepts are God’s instructions, His full counsel, which are completely sufficient for His children. As Peter declared, “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:3). That’s God’s way of developing maturity and fruitfulness (not to mention confidence in and a greater love for Him!) among His saints: “For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:8).
There is nothing complicated about God’s plan. So, what’s the problem? Each one of us has to ask himself or herself that question, whether indeed, we have not taken to heart, or have willfully deviated from, God’s instructions. As Isaiah pointed out, the learning/maturing process is quite simple (“precept upon precept”), but it does require learning what the precepts are and a willingness to do them. I’m speaking to my own heart as much as anyone else’s when it comes to whether or not I fall short of what God desires in all of this.
For thirty years prior to accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior by faith alone, I had many beliefs about Him that were without support from the Scriptures–even contradictory. Some of the ideas came from the nuns and priests who, in many ways, were a wonderful part of my life growing up Catholic, whether in elementary school, private school, or high school. What they taught me was mostly unbiblical, including many things that were not even accepted as official Church dogma. The most notable example was the common belief that Jesus, for all practical and even eternal purposes, was subject to His mother, Mary. Her position as Mater Dei, the Mother of God (we were told), made her the most a dvantageous source of obtaining favors from Jesus. That certainly made sen= se to me and to the friends of my youth. After all, what good son would refuse his mom anything? Imagery of Christ as a small child with the Madonna was seemingly everywhere Catholic, from classic art and statuary to the many apparitions of Mary holding a baby–from the 1600s right up to the present, including Medugorje and Egypt. No one I knew who had collected holy cards (a popular practice of Catholics of my generation) of the Infant Jesus of Prague, or St. Anthony, or St. Joseph holding the infant Jesus, gave any thought to the biblical fact that Jesus was in His early thirties when He ascended into heaven. Such things created an impression about Jesus that was endearing yet deadly in its straying from the truth about our all-knowing and all-powerful sovereign God.
The erroneous Catholic ideas about Jesus (that a piece of bread is changed into the body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist, that He did not pay the full penalty for our sins, etc.,) may not seem too surprising to evangelicals because, as most know, the Church of Rome doesn’t strictly adhere to the Bible. To that she has added Sacred Tradition and the Sacred Magisterium, through which the bishops claim to infallibly interpret Tradition and the Bible. What is tragic is that evangelicals, who traditionally have regarded the Bible alone as their authority in all matters of faith and practice, are increasingly turning to extrabi blical sources for their instruction regarding spiritual matters. That’s not exactly new; popular Christian books have displaced the books of the Bible in many so-called Bible studies throughout the land. Multitudes seem to prefer the insights of Beth Moore, John Eldredge, and Max Lucado over the Holy Spirit-inspired prophets of Scripture. Sadly, man’s opinions and subtle and not-so-subtle psychobabble have become the oracles of wisdom for most of Christianity.
For decades, because of the influence of psychology on the church, professing Christians have integrated psychotherapeutic concepts into the way they view themselves, as opposed to what the Bible teaches about humanity. For example, many if not most Christians, believe the humanistic concepts of self-esteem and self-love to be consistent with Scripture, although they are absolutely contrary to the Word of God. Why, then, are those concepts accepted by evangelicals? Primarily because Dr. James Dobson and a host of other influential Christian psychologists promote them. Man’s ideas and pseudo-scientific speculations have become the so-called guiding light of increasing numbers of Christian families. Yet there is something even more ominous than the leaven of man’s ways mixed with God’s way in the life of a Christian. It amounts to refashioning one’s view of God from a human perspective.
All of us, from time to time, have had thoughts about God that did not square exactly with what He himself has d eclared in the Scriptures, but that generation of misinformation has reached appalling levels among evangelical Christians today. This development has been stimulated primarily by the Church Growth and EmergingChurch movements in their approach to allegedly reaching our culture for Christ. Reinventing Christ and Christianity, in order to make them more acceptable to the unsaved masses, is both the method and the goal. It amounts to recreating God in the fallen image of man. As delusionary as that approach may seem in attempting to reach the lost, astonishingly, it has millions of professing Christians caught in its web of deception.
Though many examples could be cited, the most popular vehicle of this tactic is a fictional book that has been atop the New York Times best-seller list for about 60 weeks, is available in 35 languages, and has sold more than seven million copies. I’m referring to The Shack, by William Paul Young. Multitudes have claimed that the book has transformed thei= r lives by giving them a “new and wonderful awareness about God that they never understood from the Bible.” The story centers upon a man, Mack Philips, whose young daughter was abducted during a family vacation. Although her body hadn’t been found, evidence pointing to her murder was discovered in an abandoned shack in the wilderness of Eastern Oregon; hence the title.
After several years, which have played emotional havoc with Mack and his family (he calls this time “The Great Sadness”), he receives a note in his mailbox inviting him back to the shack. The note is signed, “Papa,” a very private and intimate name that Mack’s wife affectionately uses for God. Mack apprehensively follows through with the invitation and encounters the godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in ways, means, and manifestations that are both unbiblical and bizarre. God the Father appears as a stereotyped, overweight black woman, who, nevertheless, is called Papa. She’s a bit crude at times, likes to boogie to funk music, and some of her dialogue makes you wonder if she got past the third grade: “Well, Mackenzie, don’t just stand there gawkin’ with your mouth open like your pants are full”; “Take it easy on those greens, young man. Those things can give you the trots if you ain’t careful.” And when asked if there was anyone in the world of whom she was not especially fond, she replies, “Nope, I haven’t been able to find any. Guess that’s jes’ the way I is.”
The book may be fiction, but God is not. If God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit say and do things in this novel that are out of character with how they are revealed in Scripture, they are obviously false representations. Insights and explanations about God constitute doctrine. They are either true to God’s Word, reflecting sound doctrine, or they are lie s or fables that men concoct. Paul’s prophetic words of warning in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 are evident in the popularity of The Shack: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
The Jesus character is a giggling “good ol’ boy” who is enamored by His creation. A bit of a klutz, he drops a bowl of sauce that splatters all over Papa’s skirt, giving the three persons of the “Trinity” a good laugh. When questioned by Mack about his less-than-good looks, Jesus blames it on his “big Jewish nose,” which he says he got from Mary’s side of the family, specifically his grandfather. We learn that Jesus likes to fish for trout by trying to chase them down as he runs on water. He has yet to be successful but thoroughly enjoys the sport. Referring to the female Papa’s unexpected crudeness, he declares, “She’s a riot.” Throughout the story, Jesus can’t seem to restrain his giggles and chuckles. He and the other persons of the Trinity are so like us that many readers claim they are now “more comfortable” with God. It’s astonishing that what amounts to slandering the character of our holy God could make a professing Christian comfortable.
Nearly all of the literary devic es in the book are either emotional or psychological hooks. The bait is “meeting felt needs.” For example, Jesus the Carpenter constructs a coffin for the now-found body of Mack’s daughter, although she makes her daddy feel better by communicating to him from heaven (necromancy?) that she’s quite happy. As another example, the reason that God the Father appears as a woman to Mack is because he had a bad attitude toward his own dysfunctional father (who made it to heaven anyway, in keeping with the universalism [everyone is finally reconciled to God] implied in the novel). Heresies and distortions of biblical truth are found in page after page of The Shack(see Extra Page).
Thinking of Jesus’ words in Matthew 24 that false Christs would arise and lead many astray, the Jesus of The Shack readily qualifies as a fulfillment of that prophecy. Again, more than seven million people have thus far been presented a bogus Jesus, and, for some, that may be their one and only introduction to him. That grieves me deeply. A false Jesus can save no one. Erroneous ideas about Jesus will destroy any hope of a truly fruitful relationship with Him. Jesus was, and is, certainly human. But He is also God, and His humanity was and is perfect in every aspect. In that light, all attempts to make Him seem more like us–sinful humanity–either in a book or in ou r minds, is an act of blasphemy. Blasphemy isn’t just bad-mouthing God or Jesus; it’s attributing characteristics to Him that are not true–any false characteristics. It is conjuring up “another Jesus,” which Scripture condemns.
“This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Ephesians 4:17-18). The success of The Shack among those who profess to be evangelicals is as shameful as it is destructive, yet it also indicates that “vanity” of mind and “ignorance” are not the exclusive domain of unbelievers. Only a love for the truth and a willingness to do what the Word of God says will preserve us from the apostasy that Scripture tells us will overtake the world. Lord, help us to remain steadfast in the faith, submitting to You in all things, and worshiping You in Spirit and in truth. Maranatha! TBC Quotable
Error is like leaven, of which we read, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” Truth mi xed with error is equivalent to all error, except that it is more innocent looking and, therefore, more dangerous. God hates such a mixture! Any error, or any truth-and-error mixture, calls for definite exposure and repudiation. To condone such is to be unfaithful to God and His Word and treacherous to imperiled souls for whom Christ died.
H. A. Ironside
Q & A
Question: Hebrews 9:27 says: “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Lazarus of Bethany, who died physically, was resurrected and then, of course, died again. So, how many times did Lazarus die? The answer is “twice.” We have other cases where Jesus gave His disciples the power to raise people from the dead who later died again physically. How are we to understand? Which is it, once or twice?
Response: As you point out, Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” “Men” is generic, speaking of all mankind. That the Lord, of His own will and sovereign choice, has, on occasion, brought back to life individuals (temporarily) does not affect this general ruling. Both Elijah and Elisha raised individuals from the dead by the power of God. Jesus raised a number of people from the dead. Again, these exceptions did not change the ruling under which humanity lives (an d dies), as Hebrews 9:27 summarizes.
The fact that the Lord Jesus walked on water (Mt 14:26) or that Elisha made the head of an axe float (2 Ki 6:6) did not overturn the law of gravity. In short, we need to discern the plain meaning of the Scriptures.
This is important, as Muslim “apologists,” for the sake of argument, often bring this up as “yet another contradiction” in the Bible. With careful examination of context and word meanings in Scripture, such a conclusion is insupportable. Let us strive to be diligent as we search the Scriptures daily.
Question: Many of the younger people (and some of the older ones) at our fellowship are getting tattoos. Some are saying that a tattoo can be used as a witnessing tool. What do you think about this?
Response:It must be noted that this appears to be growing in acceptance among professing Christians and with the profusion of “Christian” tattoo artists, someone voicing their disapproval may soon discover that they threaten another person’s source of income (Acts 19:24-27). Further, it is commonly heard that those disapproving of tattoos appeal to Old Testament passages no longer applicable to believers. What do the Scriptures say concerning tattoos and body piercing?
It is important to see in what context the prohibition against tattoos appears. In Leviticus 19:26-29, the admonition against marking or cu tting the flesh comes in a section that forbids eating blood, using enchantments, observing times, or prostituting one’s daughter. No one would say that these instructions were abrogated because they are “Old Testament.” Further, some would point to verse 27: “Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard” and presume that this is a simple command regarding shaving. It is not. Elements of pagan worship include cutting or otherwise marring the face and body. Hair was cut from the face and head (Lv 19:27; Dt 14:1; 1 Ki 18:28). Both blood and hair had a role in idol worship and pagan ceremonies.
Further, since the Leviticus prohibition against marking the flesh comes in a sequence including eating blood, we know from Acts 15:20 that abstaining from eating blood is one thing specifically enjoined upon Gentile believers. Other passages in the New Testament also leave no doubt that believers are not to be involved with occult practices such as enchantments or astrology. It seems logical to conclude that God’s intent concerning “marks upon you” covers more than pagan funeral rites.
It is difficult to see how one can avoid the pagan connections tattoos have. Scripture and history are unanimous in noting that the pagan priests of most cultures either inflicted ritual scarring or tattoos upon themselves. The Lord wants us to be different from the nations. The apostle Peter tells us (as Christians) that we are a “peculiar” or special, peop le (1 Pt 2:9). The fact that so many believers are getting tattoos shows no leadership on our part but rather a tendency to be little more than followers of trends.
God certainly has absolute ideas on how we, as His creation, can decorate or adorn ourselves. Consistently, throughout Scripture (1 Pt 3:3-5), God respects the inward adorning of humanity over external marks or signs. Paul spoke of bearing “in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus” (Gal 6:17). These were not self-inflicted wounds–persecutors inflicted every single one. “Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep” (2 Cor 11:12).
Finally, despite our best intentions, tattoos by their very nature draw attention to us. We don’t need that. James warned about those who say they have faith, but their works deny it. One may have all kinds of evangelistic slogans liberally tattooed that allegedly proclaim one’s faith. James didn’t need to advertise. He said, “I will show thee my faith by my works” (Jas 2:18).
What is that work? “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (Jas 1:27). May we take up that challenge.
Some have asked the question: “What about those who come to the Lord and are already covered with=2 0tattoos? What should they do? One of the blessings of the gospel is that the Lord receives us as we are. As the hymn so wonderfully puts it, “just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me.” Although we repented of the sins of the past as we came to Christ, we still have the same bodies we have always had, including tattoos. Some choose to keep their tattoos as a reminder of what Christ has delivered them from, but perhaps our tattoos are immoral or occultic in nature.
The Lord may call one into missionary service. Depending on the culture, our tattoos may very well be a stumbling block to those we are trying to reach with the message of the gospel. Paul discloses his heart for the lost: “Conscience, I say, not your own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience?…Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved” (1 Cor 10:29-33). In such cases, there are certainly a number of alternatives for tattoo removal. Paul writes, “Ye are not your own: for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor 6:19-20). How indeed can tattoos glorify the Lord?
Question: I have been receiving TBC’s mailing for more than 10 years and am=2 0normally highly impressed with the level of scholarship supporting the information presented. That is why I was extremely shocked by the obvious lack of scholarship in your figures [in the June issue] regarding the African slave trade, and your very limited explanation of it as being of Arab and African making. First, the minimal figures of the number of Africans (not “blacks”, these people all had a country, culture, language, heritage) brought to the “new world” is between 9-12 million, not thousands, as you reported.
Secondly, though it is correct that Africans and Arabs had been involved in slave trades for centuries before European participation, there was a difference in the way the slaves were treated (as evidenced by the fact= that Europeans did not want slaves from North African [Muslim] areas because many had been educated and were rife for rebellion; further, in many African kingdoms the slaves were eventually given full privileges including land ownership)….It is extremely disheartening and frustrating that the far-reaching ramifications of the African slave trade are largely ignored in this country, especially when we are continually reminded of genocides and holocausts that happened on other lands, while the vile abuse suffered by those whose labor largely forged not only U.S. existence but that of just about every country in the Western hemisphere, goes largely ignored, undervalued, and un recognized.
Response: We are clearly compelled to be as accurate and correct as possible. We know that to underestimate the magnitude of slavery is a disservice to the truth, and we also note that exaggeration tends to destroy credibility. What is in view here, however, is our mistake not in quoting statistics but failing to distinguish that the reference was specifically regarding the American colonies, to which some 645,000 slaves were taken. We have since corrected that.
“Twelve million Africans were shipped to the Americas from the 16th to the 19th centuries” [Ronald Segal (1995) The Black Diaspora: Five Centuries of the Black Experience Outside Africa, (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux), 4.)] “It is now estimated that 11,863,000 slaves were shipped across the Atlantic.” [Note in original: Paul E. Lovejoy, "The Impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on Africa: A Review of the Literature," in Journal of African History 30 (1989), 368.] Of these, an estimated 645,000 were brought to what is now the United States. The largest number were shipped to Brazil.
Second, it was after 1832 that specific anti-literacy laws were enacted, codifying the practice that you mention. They were not there at the beginning but represented a hardened attitude of those whose institutionalization of slavery was viewed as essential to economic survival. We mention this because your20statement can undermine the points being made: “those [slaves] whose labor largely forged not only U.S. existence but that of just about every country in the Western hemisphere, goes largely ignored, undervalued, and unrecognized.”
On the contrary, slavery actually limits the development of economies. Compare industrial and economic development prior to the Civil War. The North far outstripped the South (as well as Central and South America), in economic development, arguably because it was not based upon the labor of slaves but of free men. This is another reminder that great evil can never produce long-term success.
Regarding the alleged better treatment of slaves in Muslim lands, slavery is horrendous regardless of who practices it:
Harrowing eyewitness accounts tell of the vast scale and miserable conditions of the slave trade in Africa. In the 1570s, many thousands of black Africans were seen for sale in Cairo on market days. In 1796 a caravan was seen by a British traveller leaving Darfur with 5,000 slaves. Black eunuchs became favoured for the royal harems. Even after Britain outlawed the slave trade in 1807, a further 2 million Africans were enslaved by Muslim traders. (The Barnabas Fund, published in Barnabas Aid, April-May 2007).
While education was viewed as subversive by Western slavemasters, “Two-thirds of African slaves were female. The=2 0males were considered to be troublesome. Further, while Western slaveholders preferred men as workers, in North Africa the women were incorporated into harems and served as concubines. ‘High prices were paid for eunuchs…Islam prohibits physical mutilation, so many eunuchs were castrated before entering Islamic territory’” (Ibid.).
Question: Why do Christians quote Leviticus condemning homosexuality, while they ignore the rest of the prohibitions?
Response: Leviticus contains two types of prohibitions for a precise reason. Much of the book (as well as Numbers, Deuteronomy) is given over to specific prohibitions the nation of Israel was to observe as “a special people unto Me.” Consistently, whether these prohibitions concern eating of particular foods, wearing of specific garments, or other ceremonial considerations, the Lord says to Israel, “these are unclean [or an abomination] to you” (Lv 11:7,11, etc.). This is one kind of prohibition, clearly applicable to Israel alone.
On the other hand, moral issues, such as adultery, sorcery, child sacrifice, bestiality, incest, homosexuality, etc., are said to be abominations (period). Penalties against those who commit these behaviors are assessed because it is “My [God's] judgment” (Lv 18:4).
News Alert
Charleston Daily Mail, 6/23/09 Excerpts: “Joy is rel ated to the presence of God,” [William Paul Young, author of The Shack] said. “God is about relationship. There is a God who loves us. There is a God involved in details we don’t see.”
These comments were sprinkled throughout the presentation Young offered at the ClayCenter Monday for a fundraiser for the Christian ministry organization called Young Life. Young also was to speak Monday evening at MorrisMemorialUnitedMethodistChurch.
Young talked about his bestseller The Shack, a work of fiction filled with genuine pain he experienced throughout life. The miraculous success of the book can only be attributed to God being involved in the details of life, he said.
Young never set out to write a bestseller and had no idea how to market a book. Young is a Canadian native who now lives in Happy Valley, Ore. “I’ve never considered myself a writer,” he said. “My wife, Kim, wanted me to write something for the kids. She said, ‘Would you put in one place how you think–because it is so outside the box?’”
He began that process in 2005 on the commuter train…as he scribbled thoughts on napkins, receipts and legal pads…eventually…compiled into a book for his six children, now ages 16 to 28…telling them how he dealt with hurdles in life that caused him so much pain, shame and grief…from sexual abuse as a child and an affair that threatened his marriage to devastating family deaths. He was worki ng three jobs and struggling to make ends meet when he turned his notes into a work of fiction flecked with emotional baggage….He found peace and healing in the letting go of secrets. When the manuscript was done, he headed to a local Office Depot…to print 15 copies for family and friends.
Then something amazing happened. Friends loaned the book to their friends and more copies were requested. “I was soon getting emails from people I didn’t know,” he said. Many of the notes were filled with personal details about people’s lives. Eventually, friends with some writing and movie knowledge decided to check into publishing the manuscript. It was turned down by 26 publishers before the group of friends pooled cash and credit cards to publish it themselves. In May 2007, they ordered 10,000 copies.
The book has since sold more than 7 million copies and made the New York Times bestseller list. “It wasn’t anything we did,” said Young, 54. “When the book touches people, they buy multiple copies. We can’t claim how brilliant we are.” He said the book is a result of the power of prayer. He asked God, “Let me hang around something you are blessing. The book is just something God decided to bless.”
“The book has opened relationships and opportunities,” he said. “I can watch people’s lives because of a little story I wrote. How cool is that?” He even sees the controversy it has created as a positive way of encouraging dialogue among a variety of peop le. The book has attracted readers of virtually every religion.
“I trust the Holy Spirit is present in my life and the right things will be drawn out,” he said. Plans are in the works to turn his current book into a movie within the next couple of years.
[TBC: "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to (God's) word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20).]
Letters
Dear Saints of Berean Call,
Thank you for the many faithful years of your newsletters–they are so informative. So much of the time I’ve not even heard of the information you’re writing about. What is sad to me is that when I realize that it’s true and try to pass it on, there are people who just don’t want to hear it! So many want to stay uninformed, period! Sad! But I look forward to your wonderful newsletters every month…. AH (TX)
Dear Dave and Tom,
Thank you so much for your TBC newsletter and for your time in putting it together. I do so much appreciate how you back up what you write with the truth of God’s Word. Being an ex-Catholic, I remember much doctrine that was scripturally untrue….I am thankful for the Lord’s leading my family and me to a Bible-based church some years=2 0back, and, through His word preached accurately, our eyes were opened. We praise Him for your ministry. There are so few truly accurate ones today. JD (WI)
Dave,
Thank God for those who still believe that the Bible is sufficient. I am so tired of all the illustrational sermons and theatrical gimmicks used in proclaiming the Gospel. Dave, I wonder how you have survived without sports cars, etc., on your platform to help you illustrate the Gospel….God gave us the greatest illustration and example in His Son Jesus. Thanks for just preaching the Word of God! BM (IA)
Dear Mr. Hunt,
Thank you so much for the welcome arrival each month of The Berean Call. In these difficult times it is so good to read sound Biblical teaching from God’s Word. Here in the U.K.,= we are seeing such a determined turning away from the Lord Jesus and open persecution of His people. This present government seems quite triumphant in its assault on the Body of Christ, and proud of our sinful record in HIV, teenage pregnancy, abortion, and growing numbers of homosexuals and pagans. We so need a true revival and repentance before our Holy God. Instead of so many distractions and events in our church life we need to “go forth and preach the gospel” so that souls may be saved in our Lord Jesus. BB (UK)
Dave Hunt,< /SPAN>
What a sleazy mischaracterization of Calvinism. I used to be a fan of yours–attended several of your seminars and purchased your books. Now I wouldn’t waste my time–your snippy insinuations–strident exaggerations to make a misguided point. God is in control not you. You’ve gone the way of sensational journalism and even worse is your adoption of Roman Catholic pelagianism. EL (email)
Dear Dave & T. A.,
Are we, who are the Lord’s, being overwhelmed by the signs of the time we’re in now–or what?! I would liken this to what Noah & family must have experienced as the last animals were herded onto the Ark and the ominous black clouds & lightning became so intense! Even as the Lord sealed the Ark doors shut! And instead of begging for God’s chastening, cleansing, holiness, that they be made ready, most of the church-world’s still looking for “that big break-through”–health, wealth, and their dream come true! No love of God’s truth, so they’ve been deceived & blinded! And God’s Spirit-led ministers have never needed to beg, bribe, and threaten their listeners to supply their needs, as long as they faithfully trusted Him. May He continue to strengthen, bless & keep you in all things! JH (WV)
Mr. Hunt & McMahon,
I enjoy your books and the work both of you are doing. I pastor a small church and have seen several families [leave] us for social and politica l reasons. Your ministry is large…reaching many millions, and I pray for you as you don’t hold back on telling the truth in a society today that seems to only want their ears tickled–a so-called Christian society that wants to keep their pet lust and still feel they are good, Bible- believing, obedient saints. Hope and pray that you both are feeling and doing much better health-wise. JM (email)
TBC,
Too often in our fast paced world we do not thank people for what they do for others. I share your thoughts and they make me think. In the end, my walk with Christ is strengthened. Thanks! MR (prisoner, ID)
TBC Notes
The Heresy Lode
One of the problems that Dave Hunt and I had nearly a quarter of a century ago was convincing Christians that there was a substantial seduction taking place in the church that was undermining “the faith…once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3). As frustrating as that experience was, those were the “good old days!” A wry grin comes across my face when I think about how many times we were accused of “digging for heresies among God’s anointed servants.” Although one did not have to “dig up” the false doctrines that were being taught back then, neither were they as common as rocks.
Today, heresies are coming out of the religious mines by the truckloads and ope nly sold on every corner. Christians are lining up for this spiritual fool’s gold! Here are two examples, though hardly the most ludicrous or outrageous of those coming across my desk daily.
Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, blames individualistic views of salvation for ills plaguing the church in the United States. She argues that Christians should reject the belief “that we can be saved as individuals, that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God.” Obviously, Paul badly misinformed the Philippian jailor. Or not!
Melanie Phillips, author of Londonistan, warns about Christian Palestinianism, a pro-Islamic movement that the Anglican Church, as well as some evangelical leaders are supporting: “Arab Christians [have] reinterpreted Scripture in order to delegitimize the Jews’ claim to the land of Israel, this kick-started replacement theology, which roared back into the imaginations, sermons and thinking of the Anglican Church. The Anglican bishop of Jerusalem, Riah Abu el-Assal, claimed of Palestinian Christians: ‘We are the true Israel….’” Another writer notes that this heretical agenda is guilty of “de-biblicizing the Bible,” expelling “the Jews from their own Scriptures,” and reinterpreting it “from the viewpoint of the Qur’an.”
Saints, we sorely need our “loins girt about with truth” (Ephesians 6:14) in these days of rampant apostasy. A seatbelt of righteousness is also necessary safety equipment.
Recently The Shack has been approaching sales of [seven] million copies. There is even talk about making the book into a movie. But while the novel breaks sales records, it also breaks with the traditional understanding of God and Christian theology. And therein lies the rub. Does a work of Christian fiction have to be doctrinally correct?
Who is the author? William P. Young [Paul], a man I have known for over a dozen years. About four years ago, Paul embraced “Christian universalism” and has defended this view on several occasions. While he frequently disavows “general universalism,” the idea that many roads lead to God, he has affirmed his hope that all will be reconciled to God either this side of death or after death. Christian universalism (also known as universal reconciliation) asserts that love is the s upreme attribute of God that trumps all others. His love reaches beyond the grave to save all those who refuse Christ throughout their lifetimes. Even fallen angels, and the Devil himself, will one day repent, be delivered from hell, and enter heaven. There cannot be left in the universe any being whom the love of God does not conquer; hence the words, universal reconciliation.
Many others have pointed out the theological errors they find in the book. They fault Young’s view of revelation and the Bible, his presentation of God, the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ death and the meaning of reconciliation, and the subversion of institutions that God has ordered, such as the government and the local church. But the common thread tying all these errors together is Christian universalism. A study of the history of universal reconciliation, which goes back to as early as the third century, shows that all of these doctrinal deviations, including opposition to the local church, are characteristic of universalism. In modern times, it has undermined evangelical faith in Europe and America. It has joined with Unitarianism to form the Unitarian-Universalist church.
By comparing the creeds of universalism with a careful reading of The Shack, one discovers how deeply universalism is embedded within the book. Here is the evidence in brief:
1) The universalist creed of 1899 affirmed that “there is one God whose nature is love.” Young asserts that God “cannot act apart from love” (p. 102), and that God purposes what he does always as an expression of love (p. 191);
2) There is no eternal punishment for sin. The creed of 1899 again asserts that God “will finally restore the whole family of mankind to holiness and happiness.” Similarly, Young denies that Papa (God) “pours out wrath and throws people” into hell. God does not punish sin; it’s his “joy to cure it” (p. 120). Papa “redeems” final judgment (p. 127). God will not “condemn most to an eternity of torment, away from his presence and apart from his love” (p. 162);
3) There is an incomplete picture of the enormity of sin and evil. Satan as the great deceiver and instigator of the temptation to sin goes unmentioned in Young’s discussion of the fall (pp. 134-37);
4) There is a subjugation of God’s justice to his love–a central tenet of universalism. The creed of 1878 asserts that God’s attribute of justice is “born of love and limited by love.” Young affirms that God chose “the way of the cross where mercy triumphs over justice because of love,” and that this is a better way than that God should have exercised justice (pp. 164-65);
5) There is great error in the portrayal of the Trinity. Young asserts that the whole Trinity became incarnate as the Son of God, and the whole Trinity was crucified (p. 99). Both Jesus and Papa (God) bear the marks of crucifixion in their hands (contra. Isa. 53:4-10). Young’s error leads to modalism, that God is singular and at different times assumes the different modes of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a heresy condemned by the early church. Young also makes God into a goddess; moreover, he breaks the second commandment by imaging God the Father as a person;
6) Reconciliation is effective for all without exercising faith. Papa asserts that he is reconciled to the whole world, not just to those who believe (p. 192). The creeds of universalism, both of 1878 and 1899, never mention faith;
7) There is no future judgment. God will never force his will on anyone, even in his capacity as judge, for this is contrary to love (p. 145). God submits to humans, and humans submit to God in a “circle of relationship”;
All are equally children of God and loved equally by him (p. 155-56). In a future revolution of “love and kindness,” all people, out of love, will confess Jesus as Lord (p. 248).
9) The institution of the church is rejected as diabolical. Jesus claims that he “never has, never will” create institutions (p. 178). Evangelical churches are an obstacle to universalism.
10) Finally, the Bible is discounted in this novel. It is a book of guilt rather than hope, encouragement, and revelation.
Near the beginning of this review I raised the question: “Does a work of fiction have to be doctrinally correct?” In this case, the answer is yes, for Young is deliberately theological. The fiction serves the theology, not vice-versa.& nbsp; Another question is: “Do not the good points of the novel outweigh the bad?” Again, if one uses doctrinal impurity to teach how to be restored to God, the end result is that one is not restored in a biblical way to the God of the Bible. Finally, one may ask: “Could not this book lay the foundation for seeking a growing relationship with God based in the Bible?” Of course, this may be possible. But, in light of the errors, the potential for going astray is as great as the potential for growth. Young offers no direction regarding spiritual growth. He discounts the Bible and the institutional church with its ordinances. If one finds a deeper relationship with God that reflects biblical fidelity it will be in spite of The Shack and not because of it.
The occult experts warned back in the 80’s that Christian faith was being attacked from within. There must be a death wish at work in our churches. The people of authority are dismantling the very structure of belief they exist to expound, promote, and protect.
Christianity is being remade right before our eyes. Many of our modern theologians, clergy, and seminaries are remaking the Christian faith into the very form of New Age pantheism, Gnosticism, scientific reductionism, ancient superstition, and sexual license.
In these days, compromise is full in the air.We are being pushed very hard to compromise the very basics of Christianity.We are being pushed to accept every wind of doctrine and every bizarre manifestation that can be seen or felt.The church must come back to her sanity.
In particular, the Pentecostals and Charismatics must again face the very fact that very little discernment is found within their circles.We, as Pentecostals and Charismatics, must seek God for a renewal of discernment. In many respects, we have no discernment.We have become so gullible that no one can discern that which is of God and that which is not of God.
The pod people have now arrived, thinking of the science fiction movie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. People are losing their minds, becoming irrational and lifeless in their faces because of accepting the spirits of the ancient world. These evil spirits are taking over the minds and even bodies of human beings. The people who are being taken over by these spirits are seen to maintain the Christian labels, words, and appearances, but what is inside has been replaced with something alien, something strange, and loony.
Last year, I firmly witnessed what I am speaking about. There has been an invasion of evil spirits into our country. These spirits are the vilest spirits that I have ever witnessed. Their manifestations are for the book. In recent years, I have dealt with exorcisms, but not like what is going on in the country today. People have been so contaminated with these spirits that they cannot even think. I am talking about even Christians who are grossly being oppressed with these spirits. The minds truly have been snatched. Their rational behavior has been jeopardized. No spirit can be of God that keeps you from praying and reading the Word of God. I beheld Christians who could not pray, read the Word of God, and whose behavior was for the books. The irrational behavior, the cloudiness of mind, was all present for me to see. Their hatred for the truth or anyone who did not want this strange anointing was greatly noted by me. Thank God that some were delivered!
These evil spirits are working behind a false anointing. The Apostle John spoke of the spirit of Antichrist. This term deals with the power that will produce the personal Antichrist in the last days, but this very term also means that there is a counterfeit anointing out there being controlled and released by evil spirits working behind the scenes to deceive and destroy the people of God in the churches. Some of the symptoms of this strange anointing or power can well be summarized as the following:
Non-lucid mind; cloudiness; irrational behavior; confusion of the mind.
Unable to pray, unable to read the Word of God; unable to focus.
Strong anger; strong hatred; not believing that this is of the devil or wrong.
Many have spoke of a hissing sound that follows them.
Demon possession.
If you accept it, you will be blessed for a season and then be destroyed. If you reject it, you will be attacked. If you have the true anointing, you will be saved and protected.
Descriptions of being washed back and forth like the waves in the ocean.
People with their eyes rolled in the back of their heads and weaving around like they’re lost.
Women just gyrating and pulsating like they’re being ravaged from behind from some unseen force.
Hearing voices in the head telling people to drown themselves.
People sounding and acting like animals.
Rgardless of the norm today and that of the mass of people infected by this invasion, we must contend for the faith.
Back, way back, before America become a nation, spirit guides were very normal to have. It was the fad of the times. Demonization was common among people. Whole towns were invaded by demon spirits. And again, we see that spirit guides have become the in thing within America. Everyone must have a spirit guide, even if the spirit guide has to be named Jesus, not the real Jesus, but a fake Jesus. The very term “Spirit Guide” as understood by Spiritualist Churches, mediums, and psychics is a term that describes an entity that is a disembodied spirit, a spirit of a dead person, in order to act as a spiritual counselor or protector to a living person. The occultists believe that the entity is a disembodied spirit while the Bible says that the spirit guide is in fact a demon impersonating the spirit of a dead person. The Bible speaks of such entities as familiar spirits. Deut 18:10-12 speaks well of this type of spirit. The Bible speaks of such trafficking of demon spirits as an abomination.
This type of demon makes you think that it is your friend and offers you information concerning your life. According to the occultists, this type of spirit has lived many former lifetimes, paid their karmic debts, and advanced to godhood. According to the occultist, please note this; your spirit guide could well present itself as an animal. Spirit guides have been described in various ways. Helena Blavatsky talked about being advised by “Mahatmas”, a person from India and especially Tibet, who dressed and behaved according to the dictates of their respective cultures. Alice Bailey also described having contact with a spirit teacher whom she called “The Tibetan”. And it is very common in America to describe spirit guides as Native Americans.
Further, it is common for one’s spirit guide to take the form of a loved one or an angel upon the preference of the person it looks over. But when it comes to Jesus, the real intention of the entity is revealed. The entity rejects Jesus, denounces Him, or includes Jesus among other great spiritual leaders. And if that is not enough, the entity may try to make the person think that it is Jesus. From Astral projection techniques to mind visualization exercises, the spirit guide is summoned at will. And we are told that if we want such experiences, we only have to empty our minds, becoming mindless Christians. Christians are opening themselves up to demonization like never before seen. These days rival the early days of the church and their battle against Gnosticism. God, bring up more prophets like Jeremiah who will warn the people of God about their fallacies or better word, abominations.
In the Book of Revelation, the Spirit of God revealed to John in a vision that in the last days demon spirits would be released upon the earth and would go forth to deceive the world (Rev. 16:13–14). John saw three spirits that represented the lying, deceiving, and seducing demon spirits that are going to be released by Satan (Rev. 16:14).
While these three spirits will be released in the Tribulation, we are already seeing that the Body of Christ is facing a greater and more horrendous Satanic and demonic confrontation than at any other time in history. We are rapidly moving into a time of intensified spiritual warfare where demons will manifest themselves and will fight in direct confrontation with God’s people. The Lord Jesus told us in Matthew 10:22, “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” And then in Matthew 6:33 He said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.”
Way back in the 80s, occult experts warned us of wizards and witches operating within the church as mystical Christians. The desire of these wolves in sheep’s clothing is for the Body of Christ to be disconnected from the Jesus of the Bible. Their goal is to link Christians to a New Age Jesus and to the Awakened Beings who, they believe, are from the divine realm that exists in the Third Heaven. These mystical Christians want us to go through the cultic wormhole, the sorceries, and the long-sought “Stargate of the gods.” They use Christian lingo to camouflage their teachings of witchcraft experiences and the powerful new “electrical energies” that they believe are bathing our spirits with the anointing of the Ascended Masters’ powers of the New Age.
One of the biggest problems in the WesternChurch is that the WesternChurch does not take the powers of witchcraft seriously. Many Christians generally believe that witchcraft is not real or that it’s just fantasy and make believe. Others believe that if witches and wizards are real and possess demonic powers their powers do not have any effect upon them because they are Christians. Actually, they are right. Witchcraft can only have power over a Christian if he or she has open doors. These doors are opened by sin in their lives; they are doorways for stepping into Satan’s territory.
What we are witnessing in this New Age strange-fire revival is a blasphemous tragedy. It’s a black mark on the Christian Church, an embarrassment initiated by extremist, delusionary, unruly radicals; representing a deluded message to the world that Christians are crazy.
It is very possible that we are experiencing the mass demonization of our society. It is very possible that we are experiencing the mass demonization of many within the churches of our society. Many have opened themselves up to the Kundalini demons of the Far East, India.
Occult experts have warned us to be careful of physical manifestations and other such manifestations. Make sure that such experiences agree with the Word of God, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and that they point to the Real Jesus. Hebrews 12:2 reminds us to look and continue to look “unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” We can look to no one else.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Feb. 6 (UPI) — Scholars and voodoo priests said increasing numbers of South Florida Haitian-Americans in their 20s and 30s are turning to the voodoo religion.
Elizabeth McAlister, a professor of religion at Wesleyan University, said voodoo is often practiced at home, making it difficult to measure the number of adherents, but research indicates the religion is growing among first and second generation Haitians, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Friday.
Adherents said voodoo, a blending of beliefs from African religions and Catholicism, is attractive to Haitian-Americans looking to reconnect with their roots.
“I was looking to find out more about myself, about being Haitian and what that means,” Ruby LaCroix, 39, of West Palm Beach said of her initiation into the religion.
Leaders said voodoo has just recently begun to emerge from the stigma arising from Hollywood portrayals that feature zombies, dolls and sorcery.
“A lot of people think voodoo is devilish. They think it’s a doll with spirits, but it’s not that,” said voodoo priest Erol Josue. “Voodoo is a way of life. Voodoo is dignity, it’s a celebration.”
The Pope plans to publish criteria to help his bishops distinguish between true and false claims of visions of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, messages, stigmata, weeping and bleeding statues and Eucharistic miracles.
He is hoping to cut down on an explosion in the number of bogus heavenly apparitions with new guidelines to help his bishops to root out frauds.
Benedict XVI plans to publish criteria to help them to distinguish between true and false claims of visions of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, messages, stigmata, weeping and bleeding statues and Eucharistic miracles.
In some cases exorcists will be used to determine if a credible apparition is of divine origin or whether it is demonic.
The guidelines will come in a “vademecum”, or handbook, which is in its final stages and will be published soon by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
It sets out step-by-step instructions on how Church authorities should deal with claims of such supernatural phenomena.
The Pope is said to be deeply concerned by the explosion in the number of pseudo-mystics who, claiming a direct line to God, set themselves against the bishops and lure the Catholic faithful out of the Church and into disobedient cults.
When a claim of heavenly apparitions occurs, the local bishop will need to set up a commission of psychiatrists, psychologists, theologians and priests who will investigate the claims systematically.
The first step will be to impose silence on the alleged visionaries and if they refuse to obey then this will be taken as a sign that their claims are false.
The visionaries will next be visited by psychiatrists, either atheists or Catholics, to certify their mental health and to verify whether they are suffering from conditions of a hysterical or hallucinatory character or from delusions of leadership.
The third step will be to investigate the person’s level of education and to determine if they have had access to material that could be used to falsely support their claims.
The new document will also instruct the bishops to see if the visionaries and their associates stand to gain financially from making their claims.
The content of any heavenly messages will also be scrutinised to see if it is harmony with the teachings of the Church.
If the visionary is considered credible they will ultimately be questioned by one or more demonologists and exorcists to exclude the possibility that Satan is hiding behind the apparitions in order to deceive the faithful.
The Pope decided to act because instances of private revelations continue to multiply, with new cases reported around the world every year.
[TBC: Increasingly popular with many today, new age teachers like Neale Donald Walsch would have all of humanity believe the lie "ye shall be as gods" (Genesis 3:5). That teaching is demonstrated in the following "inspirational message of the day," available as a new age alternative to "Our Daily Bread." Walsch, who received messages while channeling an entity, also presents cultic teachings such as "reincarnation in multiple lifetimes across the space-time continuum (Star Trek and science fiction fans will enjoy this), communication with spirits, and highly evolved civilizations" (Excerpt from a review of "Conversations With God").]
HENDERSON — They claim they were trying to drive the demons out of the 13-month-old, but law enforcement officers say the bottom line is a Rusk County couple bludgeoned the little girl to death with a hammer and other objects and bit her more than 20 times in the most grotesque murder the seasoned officers can remember.Blaine Keith Milam, 19 and Jesseca Bain Carson, 18, both of Henderson, remain jailed on $2 million bonds each. They are charged with capital murder for the Tuesday morning death of Carson’s daughter Amora Bain Carson.
Lt. Reynold Humber said Rusk County Sheriff’s Office dispatchers received a 911 call from a home at 13717 County Road 2125 shortly after 10:35 Tuesday morning that a child was not breathing.“When the first deputies arrived, Champion EMS was on the scene and they told the deputies the child was deceased and there were suspicious circumstances,”Humber said during a press conference Wednesday at the RSCO just moments after the couple was arraigned on the charges.When the detectives entered the residence they found Amora on the floor in a bedroom and they immediately knew they had a homicide.Humber said the couple told detectives multiple stories of how the child suffered the injuries, including a fabricated auto accident and then a story of how the child was attacked by the family’s dogs. The couple then told investigators they had left the child unattended and someone else must have gone into the home and harmed the child. Carson and Milam even said the child beat herself in the head with the hammer.“They had multiple stories they went through before they told us they had beaten the child to death,” he said. “It is their version of the truth.”
Humber said the couple then told deputies the child was possessed and they were trying to rid her of demons.An arrest affidavit states Milam performed an exorcism of the demons possessing their child. The affidavit continues to state after Milam killed the child with Carson looking on the couple “drove to Henderson to pawn some items to pay for an exorcism.”Officials said Milam and Carson told detectives they decided to hire a priest after the exorcism went badly.
However, Humber said there was no information of any clergy being called to the home.As the couple waited for arraignment on the charges, Carson crossed her arms and silently sobbed. Milam casually looked around the courtroom then occasionally looked back at his hand where he had a visible bite mark.Milam was sentenced in August of this year on a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child and received a probated sentence. He has also been arrested on charges of causing a disturbance and assault/family violence.
Humber said Carson graduated as an honor student last year and she seemed very intelligent and added she had not been in any trouble with police.When asked if he bought the couple’s story about what happened,
Humber replied, “The child had been beaten so much we couldn’t tell how many times it was hit and then there were more than 20 bite marks on her body. The bottom line regardless of any stories is that they killed that sweet little innocent child.”
Today, we are facing the times like they were in the days of Noah. Evil is producing a perversion of nature. And the world is moving closer and closer to the emergence of the Great Whore of Babylon mentioned in Revelation 17. Christianity is now merging with spiritualism, and mysticism to create a universal Christianity. It is the “Constantinizing” of modern Christianity all over again. It is not politically though, but spiritually.
The leaders of this movement are more powerful because they are getting directions from beings claiming to be angels, Jesus, dead saints, prophets, and apostles. These leaders are rejecting the authority of Scripture and the boundaries of Scripture. Even prophecy, words of knowledge, words of wisdom, and other such manifestations of the Holy Spirit must agree with the Holy Bible (Gal. 1:8; 1 John 5:5-10), but this is forgotten by these leaders. Because Scripture is removed, these leaders are free to merge with Eastern religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam, and yes, even Satanism. This is the inception of the rebirth of a universal religion and the beginning of the Great Whore of Babylon in fury.
The Archbishop of Canterbury today sent his annual message to Hindu communities for the festival of Diwali. In his message he expresses his hope for ’reconciliation where there has been division and hurt’, for ‘peace and the rejection of all resort to violence’ and the appreciation and enjoyment of each other’s festivals ‘as a common sign to the world of our commitment to mutual goodwill and faith in each other.
In his message the Archbishop refers to his forthcoming visit to the Shri Venkateswara (Balaji) temple near Walsall. Dr Williams has accepted the trustees’ invitation to visit the temple as a sign of the ‘celebration of friendship and the facing of challenges with hope’ which was the theme of the Lambeth Inter Faith lecture given in April by the prominent Hindu scholar Professor Anantanand Rambachan.
The full text of the message can be found below:
To friends and co workers for peace in the Hindu communities
As the progress of the year brings you once again to the festival of Diwali, I offer you my greetings and my warm wishes that this will be again a time of celebration and of renewal of goodwill and faith.
In both Christianity and Hinduism, we dedicate times of the year to the renewal of our lives and of our faith. We seek to reflect on what has gone before and to reconnect with the light which lies within us and which is at the heart of all that is. Christians know this as the Light of Light and can appreciate and share in the ways in which at Diwali you celebrate your awareness of the inner light. Together, and through the celebration of our festivals, we can increase our consciousness of the ways in which light can triumph over darkness and good over evil. We can recommit ourselves to be light in the world.
It was in this spirit that Professor Anatanand Rambachan spoke profoundly to Hindu and Christian leadership about ‘Celebrating friendship and facing challenges with hope’ in his Lambeth Inter Faith Lecture in May this year; and it was also in this spirit that Hindu leaders joined the bishops of the Lambeth Conference in witnessing to our common commitment to the Millennium Development Goals. How important it is in this Diwali and for Christians in the coming Advent and Christmas season, that we hold to this vision of justice and transformation for all, especially for the poor and excluded, in face of the present economic crisis in which the temptation is to fall back upon ourselves and our own interests at their expense.
It is in this spirit that I shall be visiting the Shri Venkateswara (Balaji) Temple next month. I warmly welcome the invitation by the Trustees of the Temple, and at this time of year my visit will carry particular significance and many hopes for the year ahead.
My hope for this year ahead is that in this spirit of looking to the light, we shall be able to find reconciliation where there has been division and hurt; to work for peace and the rejection of all resort to violence; and that together we may appreciate and enjoy each other’s festivals as a common sign to the world of our commitment to mutual goodwill and faith in each other.
Ends
Notes to editors:
The Archbishop’s visit to the Shri Venkateswara (Balaji) temple is part of a wider visit to Birmingham Diocese and will include the opening of a new Children’s Centre, preaching in Birmingham Cathedral as well as a meeting with the Birmingham Faith Leaders Group. Further details about this visit will be released in due course.
The Balaji temple complex is built in a traditional Indian Dravidian architectural style, and was opened as a place of worship in 1999, is open to the general public for prayer, meditation, spiritual, cultural and educational activities including full participation in inter faith work for promoting mutual understanding and respect between Faiths.
The Archbishop will be welcomed in the traditional Thirupathi manner with a garland and will be shown around the interior of the temple where he will have the opportunity of meeting with members of the temple community. In the course of his visit, the Archbishop will unveil a plaque commemorating his visit and friendship between Christian and Hindu communities in the United Kingdom. His Excellency Mr. Shiv Kumar Mukherjee, High Commissioner of India will be amongst the distinguished guests, who will also include representatives from major Faiths in the United Kingdom
Last Edited: Wednesday, 19 Nov 2008, 9:31 AM EST
Created On: Tuesday, 18 Nov 2008, 9:53 PM EST
New Haven (WTNH) – Is there a cult climate around one church in New Haven? One woman fears her mother has been lost to a cult in the Elm City.
Theresa Biagiarelli has boxes and boxes of photos her mother took of her. And that’s not all.
“My little photo album. Her photo album her father made for her. All our family things. And all of her clothes.”
She has them, because her mother Julia got rid of them.
“She brought it to my aunts house and just left it there,” she said.
“It made me feel terrible to know my mother didn’t want to have any pictures of me as a baby anymore.”
“Did you question ‘what did I do?’”
“At that point it was more like what did they do.”
They are the Order of Christ~Sophia or the Center of Light. The group has chapters across the U.S. including New Haven at an unassuming building on Grand Avenue, where some members, including Theresa’s mother Julia, live.
Reverend Michael runs the group locally and says no one, including Theresa’s mother, is a prisoner here.
“People are free to come and go. Julia has an apartment here in the building as I do,” Reverend Michael said.
They call themselves Christian Mystics, but some experts on mind control like Steve Hassan, call them “a destructive mind control cult where dependence and obedience is demanded.”
The fact is the founder of the group, Peter Bowes, doesn’t shy away from the term “cult”. He even talks about it on a YouTube posting.
“A cult is a new religion that people hate,” he says on the video. “I think we can say we are one then.”
Peter Bowes’ was a psychologist in Wisconsin until he surrendered his license. Is there sometimes strain between members and their families? Yes, he says.
“We don’t take people away from their parents, but sometimes the relationship is so bruised,” Bowes said.
“What he was doing and saying about being honest reminds me of Chinese Communist brain washing techniques of the 1950’s when people would have to be honest and refute their families,” Hassan said.
“Do you ever wonder what kind of faith would result in you becoming disassociated with the dearest people to you?”
“Well, everything I have ever learned about Christian values shows you you should become closer to your family,” Theresa said.
Theresa’s mother, a teacher, wouldn’t talk to News Channel 8, but her picture is right on the group’s New Haven web site. That web site also shows members working booths at community events, with face painting for kids or selling smoothies. The group often leaves fliers in area coffee houses.
“We teach meditation and we have classes on the bible,” Reverend Michael said.
But Theresa asks where in the bible does it say leave those you love behind? “What it seems to me is that they are being taught to judge the people closest to them who have known them for years, and they are being taught to take in these new people as almost a replacement for the family that they used to have.”
Steve Hassan says a lot of people who belong to these groups are able to hold down regular 9-5 jobs. One we’re told is a doctor at a local hospital.
Many of my christian friends and today’s christian youth still desire worldly things. Now comes the question, “Is it a sin to tattoo?”
Heres a great look at a book called “To Tattoo or not to Tattoo”, by Terry Walkins. I chose just a few paragraphs.
“Throughout history the cutting of the flesh and blood-letting are rituals performed to unleash demonic and supernatural powers. Because the “life of the flesh is in the blood” [Leviticus 17:11], the blood is highly valued in the occult as the “power source”. And by releasing or letting the blood or the “power source” – supernatural power is unleashed.”
There’s no question that tattoos originated from the satanic ritual of blood-letting and cutting of the flesh as described in 1 Kings 18.
In fact, in Leviticus chapter 19 verse 28, where the Lord clearly condemns the tattoo, “Ye shall not make any . . . print any marks upon you.” Notice what else is included in the same verse. . . Obviously, by the context, the Lord connects the forbidden “marks” or tattoo, – “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh. . .” (more on Leviticus 19:28 later)
“Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.”
(Leviticus 19:28)”
THE TATTOO’S GREATEST ENEMY. . . THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
In the pages of history, whenever and wherever “tattooing” pagan tribes were converted to Christianity, without exception, one of their first pagan practices to “pass away” [ 2 Corinthians 5:17] – was the tattoo. Why? Because, unlike today’s disobedient carnal “tattooed” Christians (or so-called?), the converted pagan KNEW the tattoo was against the Word of God. The Holy Spirit quickly “told” the converted pagan – no tattoo.
“Just as occurred in other cultures with tattoo traditions, when these pagan tribes were ‘converted’ to the Christian religion, their spiritual and cultural rites (which included tattooing, piercing and scarification) were outlawed. . .”
(Jean-Chris Miller, The Body Art Book : A Complete, Illustrated Guide to Tattoos, Piercings, and Other Body Modifications, p.9)
Amazing. . . When the Lord Jesus Christ enters in – the tattoo goes out.
“Whenever missionaries encountered tattooing they eradicated it.”
(Gilbert, Steve, Tattoo History: A Source Book, p. 101)
“While these and other body modifications continued to be practiced underground as a way for non-Christian people to identify each other, God forbid you got caught and your mark was revealed.”
(Jean-Chris Miller, The Body Art Book : A Complete, Illustrated Guide to Tattoos, Piercings, and Other Body Modifications, p.11)
I have many friends before they were saved received a tattoo. And without exception, everyone of them is ashamed, and as much as possible they cover it. But before they got saved – like the pagan tribes – they proudly displayed their tattoo. And let me add – most of the time, this is before they’ve read Leviticus 19:28, or before anyone even told them a tattoo is wrong. After receiving the Lord Jesus Christ, with the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit, they KNEW the tattoo was displeasing to their God. What about you?
A booming testimony to the author of the tattoo is recorded by Steve Gilbert:
“When Cortez and his conquistadors arrived on the coast of Mexico in 1519, they were horrified to discover that natives not only worshipped devils in the form of status and idols, but also had somehow managed to imprint indelible images of these idols on their skin. The Spaniards, who had never heard of tattooing, recognized it at once as the work of Satan.”
(Gilbert, Steve, Tattoo History: A Source Book, p. 99)
Even though, these Spaniards “had never heard of tattooing” – they “recognized it at ONCE as the work of Satan”.
And some of today’s carnal, rebellious and disobedient Christians (or so-called Christians?) gibber-gabber nonsense about “marking themselves for Jesus”. . .
According to survey and statistics, Scutt lists the reasons why people get a tattoo and the number two reason – “to secure a place in heaven”.
“Reasons for getting a tattoo: 2. To secure a place in heaven.
5. To propitiate malignant spirits at time of death.
6. To acquire special characteristics through totemism and ancestor worship.
9. To make the body sexually interesting.”
(Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 13)
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE TATTOOS OF TODAY?
I know what some are thinking. . . Sure, in the past tattoos were linked to criminals, depravity, and immoral behavior – but not today.
Today, the tattoo is worn by celebrities, athletes, politicians and business people. It’s adorned in high fashion mags and sports mags. There’s absolutely no data to even remotely suggest tattoos are linked to criminal or immoral behavior. No sir. Today’s tattoo is high-fashion and cool.
Oh. . . Really?
A very comprehensive study and analysis of tattoos, was recently published in April, 2001. The study was performed by Dr. Timothy Roberts, a pediatrician at the University of Rochester Children’s Hospital. The detailed analysis was taken from a study of 6072 young people, ages 11 to 21. From all over the United States. From all different ethnic groups. From all economic and social backgrounds. In other words, very thorough and reliable data models were constructed for the study. In fact, this study is probably the most comprehensive and conclusive analysis of tattoos ever conducted.
According to the study, today’s tattooed young people:
Are nearly four times more likely to engage in sexual intercourse
Over two times more likely to experience alcohol related problems
Nearly two times more likely to use illegal drugs
Over two times more likely to express violent behavior
Over two times more likely to drop out of high school
Dr. Roberts writes, that the results of the study reveal:
“Tattooing in adolescents was significantly associated with sexual intercourse, substance use, violence and school problems in bivariate analyses and in logistic regressions adjusting for sociodemographic factors and peer substance use.”
(Timothy A. Roberts, M.D. and Sheryl A. Ryan, M.D., Tattooing and High-Risk Behavior in Adolescents, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Strong Children’s Research Center, University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, NY)
Dr. Roberts, writes in the “conclusion” of the study that tattoos “have strong associations with high-risk behaviors in adolescents”
“Conclusion: Permanent tattoos have strong associations with high-risk behaviors in adolescents. The presence of a tattoo during examination of an adolescent should prompt in-depth assessment for high-risk behaviors.”
(Timothy A. Roberts, M.D. and Sheryl A. Ryan, M.D., Tattooing and High-Risk Behavior in Adolescents, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Strong Children’s Research Center, University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, NY)
It is worth mentioning, Dr. Roberts, himself has a tattoo. And before the study, Dr. Roberts admittedly believed that people with tattoos were unfairly stereotyped. One of his purposes of the study was to prove that point. After the overwhelming results, Dr Roberts, admitted, “I was more than a little surprised at the result.”
After evaluating the data, Dr. Roberts says, “A tattoo is a sign that doctors, parents, teachers ought to be asking about the teenager’s behaviour.”
BUT WASN’T JESUS A REBEL?
I hear this “rebel-party-line” from Christians:
“Hey dude, yea man, I’m a rebel just like Jesus. Yea, man, He was the real rebel. He rebelled against the system, man. Yea, man, He’s the ultimate rebel. Man, like, that’s why I wear my tattoos – I’m rebelling against the system.”
Heavily tattooed, Sonny of the “Rastafarianism-Christianity-AND-God-Knows-What-Else” punk-rap-metal rock band P.O.D. claims Jesus Christ was the first rebel — and the “first punk rocker”!
“We believe that Jesus was the first rebel. He was the first punk rocker going against all the rest of it”
Sonny, P.O.D.
(http://www.shoutweb.com/interviews/pod0700.phtml)
Let’s get something straight! The Lord Jesus Christ was NOT A REBEL! The Bible is very clear. The Lord Jesus Christ was OBEDIENT unto death – even the death of the cross!
Phil. 2:8
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Even in the Garden of Gethsemane, knowing that every wicked, abominable sin committed in history was going to be placed upon Him (2 Cor. 5:17), knowing that He was going to drink the cup of wrath of God, and in great agony, His sinless sweat was dropping as it were great drops of blood — even then, Thank God, Thank God — HE DID NOT REBEL! As He prayed “. . .not my will, but thine, be done.”
42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Luke 22:42-44
Yes. The Lord Jesus Christ was ‘against’ the world and the system – but it was because the world was the REBEL – not the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank God – He was OBEDIENT to the will of God. The world, the flesh and the devil REBELLED and is REBELLING against the Word of God. Just like anyone that disgraces themselves with a “God-forbidden” tattoo
The book is filled with much, much more information and facts. It answers anyones questions and does not leave any reason for a christian to defend tattoos. We need to study history more.
1. New Agers believe in recognition of cults and their dangers, spiritual hunger, and conflict in the human family. See Alice Ann Bailey, THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE CHRIST, Chapter 6, pages 147-155.
2. They will then explore religious facts we can AGREE upon.
3. The fact of GOD will be universally agreed upon.
4. “Karma” and semantic variations upon it will be increasingly expressed. In western religion it will be based upon “Whatsoever a man soweth, that will he also reap. (Galatians 1:7). This may be alternatively expressed as “the law of cause and effect”; “The Law of Reciprocity” (Pat Robertson); “The Law of Rebirth,” depending on beginning religious orientation and the presentation and/or presenter, i.e. the target audience.
5. CONTINUITY OF REVELATION will be stressed. This should be carefully considered in view of Catholic debates over SOLA SCRIPTURA and Protestant presentations of “BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT” and/or “WORDS OF KNOWLEDGE.” Traditional careful tests of what is and what is not of God will be largely abandoned in hunger for “NEW REVELATION,” “SIGNS AND WONDERS, etc., abandoning past caution and careful caution of all such claims.
6. Doctrine of AVATARS or continuing “saviors” will be tied in with stress upon spiritual hunger of man and man’s reaching out to God. Supposedly, God will respond with new messengers.
7. Man will be given an expectancy that another great REVELATION is on its way from an all caring God.
8. This new REVELATION will prove the “truth” of the IMMANENCY OF GOD (“God within”).
9. We will also be told that God is TRANSCENDENT. This is so we will look outside for NEW REVELATION. People who restrict themselves to Biblical verification and/or consistency (God can speak anytime, anywhere, but internal consistency is a test of authenticity — the Holy Spirit never contradicts himself) will be increasingly marginalized – inside and outside the Church.
10. A SCIENCE of prayer and worship will be stressed. Cf. CONCERTS OF PRAYER for Evangelicals; “Centering Prayer” and “Renewal” for Catholics, Lutherans and Episcopalians; TRIANGLES, “Meditation Groups”, etc., for New Agers groups and activities such as “Triangles,” “Praying will rough this” is a belief in the establishment of THE KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH as be done according to a FORMULA and/or “altered state” process.
11. Hovering all through this is a belief in the establishment of THE KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH as “GOD REALIZED” peoples manifest “Christ,” “God,” “The Holy Spirit,” or their various New Age “walk-ins” inside themselves as they increasingly absorb all of the above.
12. Astrology will be HARMONIZED with the Bible and “Bible Study.” Historical investigation will “reveal” that actually it is a “Godly thing.” Cf. Prophecies in stone, some Protestant teachings that actually astrology stood for the twelve apostles,” “12 tribes of Israel, etc.”
13. Throughout all of this the watchwords will be DIALOGUE and UNDERSTANDING. There will be presentations through CROSS CULTURAL MINISTRIES, and the Missionary Process itself will be largely subverted in the interests of liberty to teach to indigenous peoples by stressing commonality with the native religions rather than a simple presentation of the Gospel.
14. CONNECTEDNESS and GROUP EXERCISES to make people feel CONNECTED will be increasingly stressed. Sometimes this will be done to “promote righteousness. In the New Age, the only “sin” is to be “the sin of separation.” Cf. Promisekeepers, eastern religions rites, “Native American Spiritualities,” and small group processes.
God has told us in His precious word that we should know a tree by its fruit. Wherever we find the real, we find the counterfeit also. Praise God for the real! We find in the time of Peter, when men and women were receiving the power of the Holy Spirit, the counterfeit appeared in Annanias and Sapphira. God’s power was mightier than all the forces of hell, so their sin found them out. Be careful, dear loved ones for your sin will surely find you out. “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
In our meetings, we have had people to come and claim that they had received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, but when they were put to the test by the Holy Spirit, they were found wanting. They got down and were saved, sanctified and baptized with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues by the Holy Spirit. Again people have imitated the gift of tongues, but how quickly the Holy Spirit would reveal to every one of the true children that had the Pentecostal baptism, until the counterfeits were silenced and condemned. God’s promises are true and sure.
People are trying to imitate the work of the Holy Spirit these days. It is just as they did when the Lord sent Moses to Pharaoh in Exodus 7:8, and gave him a miracle or sign to show before Pharaoh, that when Aaron should cast his rod before Pharaoh, it should become a serpent. When Pharaoh saw that Aaron’s rod had become a serpent, he called for his wise men and the counterfeit sorcerers and magicians of Egypt. They also did in like manner with their enchantments, for they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents, but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. The power of the Holy Spirit in God’s people today condemns and swallows up the counterfeit. It digs up and exposes all the power of Satan: Christian Science, Theosophy, and Spiritualism. All are uncovered before the Son of God. Glory to God.
Spiritualists have come to our meetings and had the demons cast out of them and have been saved and sanctified. Christian Scientists have come to the meetings and had the Christian Science demons cast out of them and have accepted the Blood. Every plant that my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up.
People have come to this place full of demons. God has cast them out, and they have gone out crying with loud voices. Then when all the demons were cast out, the people were saved, sanctified, and baptized with the Holy Spirit, clothed in their right minds and filled with glory and power.
Dear loved ones, it is not by might nor by power but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. “Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence.” These were Jesus departing words. May you tarry until you receive your personal Pentecost. Amen.
A number of fundamental beliefs are held by many New Age followers;
Monism: All that exists is derived from a single source of divine energy.
Pantheism: All that exists is God; God is all that exists. This leads naturally to the concept of the divinity of the individual, that we are all Gods. They do not seek God as revealed in a sacred text or as exists in a remote heaven; they seek God within the self and throughout the entire universe.
Panentheism: God is all that exists. God is at once the entire universe, and transcends the universe as well.
A denial of Monotheism. A belief in only one God.
A denial of a personal God.
A denial of Christ as God eternally.
A belief in Christ becoming God, since Christ-consciousness came upon him.
A belief that Jesus and Christ are not the same.
A denial of Christ as the only means for salvation.
A denial of Christ’s resurrection.
A denial of the resurrection of the Just and the Unjust.
A denial of the Doctrine of Christ.
A denial of all the essentials of Christianity.
An acceptance of all occultism, witchcraft, sorcery, divination, communicating with the dead, and other such practices.
A belief in Polytheism–a belief that there are many upon many gods.
A denial of the Trinity.
Reincarnation: After death, we are reborn and live another life as a human. This cycle repeats itself many times. This belief is similar to the concept of transmigration of the soul in Hinduism.
Karma: The good and bad deeds that we do adds and subtracts from our accumulated record, our karma. At the end of our life, we are rewarded or punished according to our karma by being reincarnated into either a painful or good new life. This belief is linked to that of reincarnation and is also derived from Hinduism.
An Aura is believed to be an energy field radiated by the body. Invisible to most people, it can be detected by some as a shimmering, multi-colored field surrounding the body. Those skilled in detecting and interpreting auras can diagnose an individual’s state of mind, and their spiritual and physical health.
Personal Transformation A profoundly intense mystical experience will lead to the acceptance and use of New Age beliefs and practices. Guided imagery, hypnosis, meditation, and (sometimes) the use of hallucinogenic drugs are useful to bring about and enhance this transformation. Believers hope to develop new potentials within themselves: the ability to heal oneself and others, psychic powers, a new understanding of the workings of the universe, etc. Later, when sufficient numbers of people have achieved these powers, a major spiritual, physical, psychological and cultural planet-wide transformation is expected.
Ecological Responsibility: A belief in the importance of uniting to preserve the health of the earth, which is often looked upon as Gaia, (Mother Earth) a living entity.
Universal Religion: Since all is God, then only one reality exists, and all religions are simply different paths to that ultimate reality. The universal religion can be visualized as a mountain, with many sadhanas (spiritual paths) to the summit. Some are hard; others easy. There is no one correct path. All paths eventually reach the top. They anticipate that a new universal religion which contains elements of all current faiths will evolve and become generally accepted worldwide.
New World Order As the Age of Aquarius unfolds, a New Age will develop. This will be a utopia in which there is world government, and end to wars, disease, hunger, pollution, and poverty. Gender, racial, religious and other forms of discrimination will cease. People’s allegiance to their tribe or nation will be replaced by a concern for the entire world and its people.
The idea that “revelation” and “understanding” of the secrets of God must bypass the mind, and human reason, and reside only in faith is a strong error known as fideism.
In no way does the Bible justify fideism. Undeniably, the human mind is just as much of an instrument to be used by God to express revelation than the human spirit.
Jesus himself said that the saints should love the Lord God with their heart, soul, and mind (Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:30). Here, “heart” is taken to denote the inward affections, desires, and will.
Paul exhorted his fellows to “set your minds on things above” (Col. 3:2).
Paul told the Corinthians not to be children in understanding, but be men in understanding (1 Cor. 14:20).
Peter taught his fellows to “gird your minds for action” (1 Pet. 1:13).
Christ taught that eternal life consists in the knowledge of the True God (John 17:3; Luke 1:77).
Hosea taught that God’s people shall be destroyed for lack of knowledge, because they had rejected knowledge (Hosea 4:6). To reject knowledge will always bring destruction.
In the early church, a wave of heathenism spread throughout Christendom known as Gnosticism.The best definition of Gnosticism is that it is a belief and religious system that exalts knowledge and revelation over grace and faith as the key to one’s salvation, and incorporates many philosophies into itself, especially heathenism, exalting heathenism above all.Gnosticism consists of Oriental mysticism, Greek philosophy, Alexander, Platonistic, Cabbalistic Judaism, and other heathen philosophies combined with a perverted Christian thought.Gnosticism taught quite well also that it was impossible to grasp knowledge about God through the mind, understanding, and reason, and that true knowledge can only come through the spirit (or spiritual means).20
This belief system destroys the need of the Bible, and as such makes each person his own god (as it can be said), for the final authority becomes each person rather than the Scriptures themselves.Undeniably, the Gnostics had several schemes of redemption, having day by day new spiritual revelations that contradicted the Word of God, and a knowledge thought of as perfect redemption.The hatred of the Gnostics to that of anything of matter, or anything of the senses leads them to deny that genuine divine knowledge could come through physical means, and be in a written form.As such, the Word of God to them is nothing more than whatever they so make it to be.
IrenFus himself gives one account of the Gnostics, and their hatred of the outward senses.So much so that only those who knew as animal man should follow the outward senses.21
The ancient and modern Gnostics will attack this notion that the reason of a man should judge in the things of God.However, the very fact that God imparted his mind and counsels in words and writing unto men is more a final authority than anyone can imagine, and oppose.
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