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When the motivation is to know God, God reveals himself.
Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.
This has proven to be absolutely true for me.
Oh my, thankyou thankyou thankyou, Lord.
(For even placing the desire in my heart for You and
showing me how to set a quiet, still place for You to come.)
Anything with eastern religion thought is usually considered new age by bible fundamentalists. I personally believe a lot of what eastern religions have is what christiamity actually lost through infiltration of fundamentalist thought.
Well, then, Thomas Merton was my favorite ''New Ager''!!
New Age refers to a resurgence in interest in mysticism, including Christian mysticism.
It is certainly not a threat to fundamentalism which is rife with mysticism. In fact, the rise of Fundamentalist Christianity at the expense of Catholic and Mainline denominations, especially after WWII, is perhaps the most blatant example of the New Age resurgence in the West, not yoga and crystal therapy.
Example of mysticism in Fundamentalist Christianity:
Praying directly to God without an intermediary, bible study and interpretation, faith healing, and the "weirder stuff" like shaking and quaking, speaking in tongues, receiving messages from God, ecstatic dancing and music during services.
All that is Christian mysticism and it all technically falls under the rubric of New Age though few practitioners would admit it, because to them 'New Age' means crystals, incense, hippies, Buddhism, Wicca, and Satan.
New Age refers to a resurgence in interest in mysticism, including Christian mysticism.
It is certainly not a threat to fundamentalism which is rife with mysticism. In fact, the rise of Fundamentalist Christianity at the expense of Catholic and Mainline denominations, especially after WWII, is perhaps the most blatant example of the New Age resurgence in the West, not yoga and crystal therapy.
Example of mysticism in Fundamentalist Christianity:
Praying directly to God without an intermediary, bible study and interpretation, faith healing, and the "weirder stuff" like shaking and quaking, speaking in tongues, receiving messages from God, ecstatic dancing and music during services.
All that is Christian mysticism and it all technically falls under the rubric of New Age though few practitioners would admit it, because to them 'New Age' means crystals, incense, hippies, Buddhism, Wicca, and Satan.
Well I think your last paragraph is a decent summary of what most people associate with "new age", including most fundamentalists, who, I can assure you, would object mightily to being associated with such things.
Also in my experience, "Christian mysticism" is far less broad than you make it out to be. It is seeking peak experiences and subjective transcendence of the human condition through things like meditative and contemplative prayer, monasticism and other ascetic practices like vows of poverty, "union" with god, alchemic understanding of things like the so-called "dark night of the soul", etc. The wikipedia article on Christian mysticism is a fairly good introduction to the topic. To put it gently: you use the phrase "Christian mysticism" but I think it does not mean what you think it means.
It is not simply "doing weird stuff". Mysticism does have an emphasis on personal experience, and an openness to altered states of consciousness, but in the service of increased self-awareness and god-awareness. In contrast, from what I've seen for example of the charismatic movement, there's little self-awareness going on there, it is more of an attempt to generate excitement and enthusiasm and to gin up experiences that suggest god is in fact active in the church and in people's lives, but the goal is often less "union with god" and more getting one's needs met, particularly, for good health, prosperity, and general success / favor with god and man, and a more positive personal outlook. Also, Christian mysticism tends to be more individualistic in its orientation, focusing on the psyche, whereas faith healing and the gifts of the spirit and the like are far more group-oriented and in fact, almost require group hysteria to engage in them.
When fundamentalists talk about "New Age", your statement is tempting to regard as quite true. Although they are terribly afraid of Satan (some of them seem to talk about him and ways to ward him and his hordes off, more than they talk about and respect their god), and that bugbear has been around long before the 1960s. Oh, and they are terrified of sex (which probably predates Satan!); of enjoyment in general; of equality in general; of the erosion of patriarchy and male privilege; of anarchy and lawlessness which they seem convinced is at the door if people are not constantly told what to do and how to act -- in short they cower before a whole range of stuff that's not New Age.
More than anything else they're terrified of being WRONG, because they have claimed doctrinal purity and correctness for so long that it's central to their identity and thus an existential threat to simply question it.
Well I think your last paragraph is a decent summary of what most people associate with "new age", including most fundamentalists, who, I can assure you, would object mightily to being associated with such things.
Also in my experience, "Christian mysticism" is far less broad than you make it out to be. It is seeking peak experiences and subjective transcendence of the human condition through things like meditative and contemplative prayer, monasticism and other ascetic practices like vows of poverty, "union" with god, alchemic understanding of things like the so-called "dark night of the soul", etc. The wikipedia article on Christian mysticism is a fairly good introduction to the topic. To put it gently: you use the phrase "Christian mysticism" but I think it does not mean what you think it means.
It is not simply "doing weird stuff". Mysticism does have an emphasis on personal experience, and an openness to altered states of consciousness, but in the service of increased self-awareness and god-awareness. In contrast, from what I've seen for example of the charismatic movement, there's little self-awareness going on there, it is more of an attempt to generate excitement and enthusiasm and to gin up experiences that suggest god is in fact active in the church and in people's lives, but the goal is often less "union with god" and more getting one's needs met, particularly, for good health, prosperity, and general success / favor with god and man, and a more positive personal outlook. Also, Christian mysticism tends to be more individualistic in its orientation, focusing on the psyche, whereas faith healing and the gifts of the spirit and the like are far more group-oriented and in fact, almost require group hysteria to engage in them.
Well stated description of Christian Mysticism which unfairly gets short shrift among Fundamentalists and mainstream Christians simply because of the name "Mysticism" - much as my posts tend to be dismissed because of my screen name.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mordant
When fundamentalists talk about "New Age", your statement is tempting to regard as quite true. Although they are terribly afraid of Satan (some of them seem to talk about him and ways to ward him and his hordes off, more than they talk about and respect their god), and that bugbear has been around long before the 1960s. Oh, and they are terrified of sex (which probably predates Satan!); of enjoyment in general; of equality in general; of the erosion of patriarchy and male privilege; of anarchy and lawlessness which they seem convinced is at the door if people are not constantly told what to do and how to act -- in short they cower before a whole range of stuff that's not New Age.
More than anything else they're terrified of being WRONG, because they have claimed doctrinal purity and correctness for so long that it's central to their identity and thus an existential threat to simply question it.
Coming from you, mordant, this post has tremendous credibility given your previous status as a devout fundamentalist.
I think what frightens fundies most about New Age stuff is that it posits ideas/themes/belief systems which are outside the box.* And it captures the imagination of young people. Which of course, threatens the perpetuation of fundie-ism.
I think what frightens fundies most about New Age stuff is that it posits ideas/themes/belief systems which are outside the box.* And it captures the imagination of young people. Which of course, threatens the perpetuation of fundie-ism.
*box = bible or other ancient "holy" book
No, it's just the fact that it is all pure evil. Not a question of fear at all, more of common sense. If a stove is red hot, you touch it, you get burned. Some people don't have enough sense not to touch it. So consider this a public service announcement.
Despite its popularity, the New Age is hard to define. It includes a variety of beliefs, fads, and rituals. It seems to be a marriage of Science & Easternism Cult-religious organizations and can be a mixture of Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Spiritualism such as, Church Universal & Triumphant (Elizabeth Clare Prophet). Some New Agers subscribe to some parts, some to others. It is a religious movement that is centered in SELF- all you need is within – with no defined order of sin, repentance or salvation! You become your own god! The people worship the god of forces and promote The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Jesus was not and is not the only Christ, nor is he God.
Some may think that everyone means the same thing when they say “Christ.” Christians see the one and only begotten Son of God, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Many New Age writers on the other hand refer to a Christ spirit. They believe there have been many Christ, Jesus being only one of many.
New Age prophetess Alice Bailey and author of many occult books, including The Reappearance of The Christ, describes the “Avatar of Synthesis,” who she says is a “close Associate” of “the Christ.” She says: “He works under the great natural Law of Synthesis, producing at-one-ment, unification and fusion. His function (in unison with the energy of Christ) is to generate spiritual will in humanity, the will-to good.
The New Ager understands Christ as a reincarnated avatar, Messiah, or messenger sent from the ‘hierarchy’ to give the living on earth spiritually advanced revelation. The New Age accepts that Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, Jesus, and many others were ‘Christ’.
Do not be deceived! New Agers do not mean God or Jesus Christ of the Bible. Most New Age teachers hold that Mother Earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars, indeed all of Nature can be worshiped as God.
Man is himself God, for he consists of and is the creator of “the forces.” Man already exercises the powers inherent in his divinity and needs only to awaken to this fact.
New Ageism embraces super-naturalism, but ascribes it to the creature, not the Creator (as in Romans 1:22-24). They flaunt the “I am God” concept as it naturally appeals to man’s ego and thirst for power, an appeal as old as the Garden of Eden. Satan promised Eve: “Ye shall be as God.”
People don’t seem to want to hear what God has to say, they want information and direction from someone else who “knows”; a psychic, a channeler, a palm-reader, a card-reader, Ouija boards, astrology, magic charming, automatic writing, or the spirit of a dead friend of relative. In a sense these are God-given desire, but they are intended to be fulfilled by the knowledge and power which comes from God. However, Satan is busy trying to pass off his counterfeits for God’s knowledge and power as the real thing. If he can get us to accept his versions of knowledge and power, he has a foothold in our life.
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