Stand Fast in the Faith - 1 Corinthians 16:13

December 1, 1994

Hunt, Dave

Sears, Roebuck & Co. has long been considered a bastion of middle-American conservatism, which the average householder could trust. It has now become a major promoter of New Age ideas. Consider the following from the October 1994 first edition of "The Women's Newsletter from SEARS":

We need to consult "the therapist within".... The following program should get you started.

First, relax. Make your mind still and quiet—an absolute blank....

Picture your problem. In the quiet stillness of your mind, let an image of your problem appear....

Meet your inner adviser....invite a very loving, wise figure into your awareness. It could be an old man or woman, a plant, a dog. Sit patiently and let an image emerge. Then talk about whatever is troubling you....asking your inner adviser for answers....

That the above is the basic technique for contacting spirit guides (demons) should be obvious to our readers, as we have thoroughly documented in the past (see especially The New Spirituality). Shamanism has also entered evangelical circles through Christian psychology, inner healing, "two-way prayer," positive confession and positive/possibility thinking, and is being endorsed by trusted Christian leaders and media.

Consider a 1994 book by John Marks Templeton, the wealthy Wall Street money manager. He is best known for founding and funding the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, of which Charles Colson was last year's recipient, as Billy Graham had been previously.

That recipients are selected by a panel made up of Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, "Christians" and Jews and that its purpose is to "encourage understanding of the benefits of each of the great religions" should be more than enough reason for any Christian not to accept the tempting Templeton Prize. Moreover, Templeton is a leading advocate of the mind-science cults' heresies (Religious Science, Science of Mind, Unity, Christian Science, et al.).

Norman Vincent Peale and his protegé Robert Schuller were the first to promote Templeton and his metaphysical delusions among evangelicals. Templeton's photo filled the front cover of Schuller's Summer 1986 Possibilities magazine. The lead article quoted Templeton that "nothing exists except God" (that's pantheism) and that "the Christ spirit dwells in every human being whether the person knows it or not" (that's universalism). In the mind-science/religious science cults it works like this: "God is all and God is good; therefore, all is good. If you see something that looks like evil, sickness, suffering or death it doesn't exist. You have been deceived by your own 'negative' thinking and need to become a 'positive' thinker."

Templeton's latest book, Discovering the Laws of Life, is also pure Science of Mind. Yet instead of warning against it, Christianity Today devoted the entire back cover of its April 24, 1994 issue to an ad promoting this grossly heretical work. Headlined "Will Inspire Millions of Readers," the ad contained the endorsements from the book jacket by five "Christian" leaders. Norman Vincent Peale was, of course, one of the endorsers (he also wrote the foreword), as was Robert Schuller. Two prominent Catholics, who are also New Agers—Theodore M. Hesburgh, former president of Notre Dame University, and J. Peter Grace, head of the Knights of Malta, sworn to defend the pope—were the other endorsers, along with Billy Graham. Here are quotes from the book Graham and CT endorsed:

[T]he basic principles for leading a "sublime life"...may be derived from any religious tradition—Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and others as well as Christian....

We have the power to create whatever we need in our life...the power of the mind....There is a law of life that can be stated in these words: "Thoughts held in the mind will reproduce in the outer world after their own kind."

...[A]stronauts travel[ed] into outer space...[and] did not bring back any evidence of heaven. And whereas drills had penetrated the earth, they found oil, not hell...[so] spiritual theorists ...conceive of [heaven and hell] as states of mind. ...Through our choices and attitudes we create our own heaven or hell right here on earth....

Our innate goodness is an essential fact of our existence....When we perceive this truth, we will experience heaven on earth...peace and the presence of God within us.

Be honest. Be true. Love all parts of yourself...the godhood within you—the goodness within you—is in a state of becoming perfect.

The endorsements by Peale and Schuller, who have themselves taught the same mind-science lies for years, are not surprising. That Christianity Today, Chuck Colson and Billy Graham, however, would also endorse such satanic delusion (which they surely do not believe) is shocking evidence of today's tendency among leading evangelicals to compromise the truth and accommodate falsehood. Our readers are urged to write to Christianity Today, to Graham and to Colson (who praised Templeton for establishing his Prize) to ask them why they would endorse and promote such deadly heresies. Please also warn Christian bookstore owners and managers about this book. And pray earnestly that those who buy it because of such trusted endorsers will not be taken in by its seductive deception.

Unfortunately, Christianity Today seems to defend error instead of expose it. In a recent editorial, Philip Yancey rejects all correction as "Christian McCarthyism," the title of his article. Numerous leaders are defended for their false doctrine and not by dealing with the serious issues their critics raise, but by a dishonest whitewash.

For example, Yancey says, "Richard Foster dares to use words like meditation ...which puts him under suspicion as a New Ager." In fact, Foster gave detailed instructions on how to practice Eastern meditation to the extent that the visualized image of Jesus comes to life: "you can actually encounter the living Christ in the event, be addressed by His voice and be touched by His healing power....Jesus Christ will actually come to you."¹ Numerous Christian leaders around the world have joined Foster in his Renovaré movement for reviving Eastern mysticism in the church.

There is a similar exoneration of Karen Mains, who Yancey says has merely "written about her dream life." He fails even to mention the occultic delusion she promotes in her book Lonely No More. Tony Campolo is likewise defended as unfairly criticized without mentioning his blatant heresies. Like Templeton, Campolo says that Christ dwells in everyone; that "going to heaven is like going to Philadelphia....There are many ways....It doesn't make any difference how we go there. We all end up in the same place."^2* In his latest book, in a chapter titled "Embracing the Feminine Side of God," he declares, "I love the feminine in Jesus....There is that feminine side of me that must be recovered and strengthened if I am to be like Christ.... And until I feel the feminine in Jesus, there is a part of Him with which I cannot identify."³ It's "Christian McCarthyism" to point out that such ideas are unbiblical?

Templeton's science of mind and shamanism are rampant in the so-called inner healing movement, which came into the church through Agnes Sanford, one of Richard Foster's mentors. She taught that the "God-force" can be turned on by simply saying to it, "Whoever you are—whatever you are—come into me now!" What a great invitation to Satan! She taught that everything is a matter of thought vibrations which, if "negative," make us ill and, if "positive," heal us; indeed, that "positive thought vibrations" projected upon sinners can even turn them into Christians! She wrote, "A new age is being born...when love-power [projected] at the command of ministers [and others] is sufficient to change hearts....we [have] an inner source of power that can be tapped at will." ⁴ Templeton couldn't have said it better.

According to pollster George Barna, there is a strong trend toward an "inclusive [ecumenical] spirituality," while "evangelicals are dwindling in number," with only 7 percent in that category now compared with 9 percent in '93 and 12 percent in '92. Those who call themselves "born again" (with broader beliefs than evangelicals) have dropped from 40 percent of the population in 1992 to 35 percent today.⁶

Paul warned the Ephesian elders of the coming apostasy for "three years...night and day with tears" (Acts:20:31). We at TBC are sometimes accused of being too concerned about heresy and apostasy. Yet in comparison with Paul's anguish of heart we are shamefully lax. Continually on my heart, too, is Christ's warning that the last days prior to His return would be characterized by widespread religious deception which would be a perversion of Christianity by false Christs, false prophets and a false signs-and-wonders movement (Mat:24:4-5,11, 24). Christ's prophecy should concern us deeply, particularly when we see its fulfillment all around us. John Wimber's Signs and Wonders movement has long promoted all of the above heresies.

That Jesus Christ as Savior of sinners is mankind's only hope was the announcement of the angels at His birth. For nineteen centuries the world has rejected Him, producing instead worthless solutions to the problems of war, famine, greed, crime, jealousy, rage, divorce, frustration. There is only one hope: Jesus Christ. Many profess agreement with that statement but in reality hold and promote a perverted view of Christ and His gospel.

The Christmas season reveals much of what has happened to Christianity in our day. It has become self-centered and competes with the world in appealing to the flesh. Making Christianity "fun for the kids" and "relevant" to the baby boomers dilutes its life-changing, sin-cleansing power. That Christ is "the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever" (Heb:13:8) tells us that He is God, that He is perfect, that He needs no updating. The gospel needs no adaptation to our modern world and its proud sophistication. We need a return to the purity of God's truth; and, like Paul, we need to preach the pure gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2).

For all his inventions and modern developments, man has not changed in his character or behavior. He is still the descendant of Adam, fallen into sin and in need of reconciliation to his Creator. He still needs love and purpose and meaning not only in this life but beyond. Eternity is all that matters and that hasn't changed. God hasn't been renovating heaven to keep up with the ideas current upon earth, nor has he lowered the entrance requirements to broaden the spectrum of belief among its citizens.

God doesn't hire a Madison Avenue advertising and promotion team to persuade us that heaven will be a nice place for retirement. Faith in Christ, with repentance, no longer popular even among evangelicals, is still the only entrance ticket to that eternal abode. We must love God and allow Him to have His way with us, or we would be miserable in heaven.

Heaven and hell are not states of mind, as Templeton and his cohorts imagine. They are the real and eternal destinations of every human soul and spirit. Hell is where people go who are determined to have their own way, who enjoy their own passions, who attempt to create their own universe with their thoughts. Its inhabitants are self-centered and thus utterly lonely: self has become so all-consuming that there is room for nothing else.

Christ was born the Savior of sinners. Our hearts overflow with gratitude that He who is God loves us so much that He was willing to be born of a virgin into a world which hated, despised, rejected, mocked, scourged, and crucified Him. He is still mocked and rejected by the world and that fact breaks our hearts.

But heresy mocks Him as well. It rejects Him as He really is and undermines His real purpose for coming to earth. Every true Christian should be deeply offended and concerned that serious error is being promoted not only in the world but even in seemingly sound churches and by those who are respected as evangelical leaders. It is our love for Christ in response to His love for us, and our love for the lost whom He loves and for whom He suffered and died, that causes us to rebuke heresy and to earnestly contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints. May we remain true to Him until He takes us home! TBC

Endnotes

Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline (Hodder & Stoughton, 1984), 20-29.
World Vision, Nov. 1988.
Tony Campolo, Carpe Diem: Seize the Day (Word Publishing, 1994), 85-88.
Agnes Sanford, The Healing Light (1947 ed.), 21-22, 60, 75.
From the brochure, "What Is The Science of Mind?"
National & International Religion Report (Sept. 5, 1994), 4.

*Correction and Apology: The quote attributed to Tony Campolo in this article was erroneous: that “going to heaven is like going to Philadelphia....There are many ways....It doesn’t make any difference how we go there. We all end up in the same place.” Because several ministries had used that quote, we assumed it was correct and were lulled into doing what we try to avoid: relying upon a secondary source. We apologize to Tony Campolo and to our readers for this lapse. TBC

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