DO YOU HAVE THE MIND OF
JESUS OR A GREEK MIND?
By: Frank Guasto
The italicized commentary
portions of this article are excerpts from articles written in two parts by Mr.
Tim Hegg that appeared in issues 93 and 94 of Messiah Magazine. I wish
to thank Mr. Hegg for his approval to use his material in this writing. There is other information contained in this
article that have been gleaned from a variety of web-sites and books that are
in my opinion consistent with the message of Scripture. There are Christian’s
and Messianic’s who are doing what they can to expose the works of darkness. This to a world that seems to be in a hypnotic
trance and is increasingly embracing the mysticism of The New Age as an
alternative to the unchanging truth of the Word of God.
In our western culture,
the world view ‘glasses’ we wear come mostly from Greek philosophies of ancient
times. Even if we are unaware of Greek thinkers, such as Plato and Aristotle,
their philosophical suppositions have shaped and molded how we think about God
and His activity within human history. When we read the Bible with our Greek
mindset, we inevitably misinterpret it because the human authors of the
Scriptures were Hebrews, not Greeks. The eternal inspired words of the Almighty
are clothed in a Semitic worldview, not the garb of Greek philosophers.
Granted, there are areas of commonality between the two, but there are also
stark contrasts. In many ways the two views are worlds apart.
Much of Greek thinking has
been shaped through Platonic thinking. For in Platonic thought reality exists
in the concept of an idea of a thing rather than the thing itself, and what we
experience through our senses in the physical world are only shadows of
reality. Thus, truth is obtained through the intellectual exercises of
philosophy, by which additional ideas and concepts are discovered. In this way
the world of our existence is dualistic. The material world has no meaning in
and of itself. Only the form or idea gives meaning rather than
the function. If a person is to have true knowledge, then he must find
it in his mind, not in the world in which he lives.
Such Platonic dualism
entered the theology of the emerging Christian Church in a number of ways.
First, as the Christian Church separated from the synagogue, most of her
leaders had been educated in the Greek academies, and therefore the early Greek
Church Fathers brought with them the Greek worldview in which they had been trained.
Perhaps this is best seen in the way they regularly interpret Scripture allegorically,
looking for the ‘idea’ behind the text rather than taking the text literally.
Moreover, the rise of Gnosticism in the early Christian Church is directly
linked to a Platonic worldview. Second, Augustine (354-430CE), who became one
of the most prominent theologians in the fourth-century Church, was a student
and renowned proponent of Plato’s philosophy before coming into the faith.
After his conversion to Christianity, he sought to show how Platonic philosophy
was essentially correct, and how it grabbed the essence of biblical truth. Augustine is considered a primary pillar of
Christian thought, “standing between Paul and Luther.’ As such, his influence
over Christian thought - particularly his interpretations of Paul’s epistles through
the grid of Platonic philosophy-remain well entrenched in Christianity
today. While Platonic thought teaches “it’s the thought that counts” God tells
us “it’s the action (mitvah) that counts.”
In contrast to the Greek
worldview, the Hebrew perspective was unified rather than dualistic. The
created universe, which consists of both visible and invisible realms, is a
unified whole. Reality exists in both realms. When God created the world in
which we live, He declared that it was good, and so the physical world is not innately
evil or somehow inferior to the non-material world. Ideas or ideals have no
value unless they are lived out in the physical world. It is not hard to see
how the dualistic Greek worldview has become the norm in much of western
Christianity. Foremost is the notion that true faith
exists in the realm of
ideas-agreeing intellectually with a list of doctrines or a Church creed. Faith
is a private matter that takes place in
one’s heart or mind, and as such is primarily manifested by one’s confession.
Some might argue that Paul affirms such a definition of faith:
If you confess with your mouth Yeshua as Lord, and
believe in your heart that God raised Him
from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)
But Paul is not writing
from a dualistic perspective, as though one’s confession and belief could be
divorced from one’s actions. To confess
Yeshua as Lord means that one is willing and determined to obey Him as Lord.
Moreover, verse ten explains that such a confession and a belief results in
righteousness, which in context means righteous living, as well as right
standing in God’s court of justice. For a person to think that he or she
could obey God “in my heart” without a conformity to God’s commandments is to
miss Paul‘s point. Indeed chapters
six and seven of Romans deal primarily with how genuine faith results in a
radical change in one’s actions. And earlier in Romans, Paul wrote:
…for it is not the hearers of the Torah who are
just before God, but the doers of the Torah will
Be justified.
(Romans 2:13)
By this Paul is not
suggesting that one gains justification before God through good works. What he
is teaching is that those who are justified (righteous) in God’s eyes will
inevitably demonstrate this righteousness in how they obey God. Paul agrees
with James: “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26) In fact “dead faith”
isn’t faith at all.
If we fail to
read the Scriptures from the Hebraic perspective in which they were written, we
will inevitably misinterpret them by importing a Greek dualism and contorting
the sacred text into a system of linear logic. By adopting linear logic into
our mindset, we erroneously usher in as valid, a replacement for truth that
emanates from the environment we live in. By this descent to relativism, truth
is no longer based on absolutes that transcend time, but instead introduces a
truth that can change from one circumstance to another. This in essence
compliments the models of Hegel and others of like mind that have embraced
relativism, situations ethics, and new age spirituality. It comes in age old
forms of Gnosticism and has been invading our government, schools, churches and
businesses. My main concern in all of this is how this Greek mindset has added
so much confusion to the way we think. It has seriously affected our morality
as individuals, the Christian Church and our nation as a whole. The
inevitability of the degradation of society can be attributed to erroneously building
its foundation on the sinking sand of Greek linear logic.
To start with, I
would like to explain that by adopting a Greek mindset, it has led to the
present day confusion that exists in every element of society. The Christian Church from the second and
third century to the present transitioned from the ways of the one true God of
the Apostles, into syncretism. The infusion of other belief systems into the
Body of Messiah is the mortar that over time that has caused the foundation of
the Christian Church to crumble. The sand and the mortar are separating and
the crumbling is occurring at an alarming rate, grain by grain. This is due to having
improperly mixed the mortar of Messiah with the mortar of other gods. In other words,
For unto us was the gospel
preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit
them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard [it].Hebrews 4:2
As explained in
Chapter 15 of Ezekiel, the walls that were plastered over with untempered
mortar were merely an external covering, hiding the improper construction which
caused the internal structure to become unstable. This can be likened to
prophets (present day included) that have covered over serious cracks in the
moral foundation of their day. This ministry of deception can be compared to a
flimsy wall covered over with whitewash or plaster to hide its deficiencies.
Many well meaning
spiritual leaders are victims of the Greek mindset. In ignorance they have
received the same instructions as those who have preceded them, and the pattern
has been one of others following right in line. Unfortunately, I also believe
there are those in the ministry that are using clever marketing techniques to
advance their personal agendas. It isn’t any wonder that world conditions are
so bad, considering that we have been shaped to understand the Scriptures from
a Greek worldview. We can no longer plead ignorance. If we are truly children
of light then it is our responsibility to handle the Word of God properly. For
instance……….
The Greek View of Salvation
The
creeds from the early emerging Christian Church are a useful resource for us
today because they provide historical groundwork information for what once
constituted the accepted ”confession of faith” required by those in the Church
hundreds of years prior to us. In other words, the creed listed the ideas that
formed the boundary markers distinguishing Christians from non-Christians.
To
put it another way, one became ‘saved’ by agreeing with a particular doctrinal
statement.
In
practice, therefore, faith was understood as an intellectual agreement with a
set of formulated doctrines. This is also essentially true in our day. In most
churches, membership is dependant primarily upon agreement to a ‘statement of
faith’ or doctrinal creed. While the Church required that a person confess
certain things to be true, the Synagogue required that a person be willing
to accept a certain way of living.
The
fact that creeds played such a central role in formative Christianity greatly
influenced the Church’s understanding and definition of faith. Even though the
word groups for ’faith/believe’ in the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures mean both to
“believe” as well as to be “faithful,” the Christian concept of ‘faith’ is
heavily weighted on the side of agreeing to the truth. Many contemporary
evangelism methods seek to persuade people to believe in Jesus by raising one’s
hand or walking forward to the front of the auditorium or signing a
confessional statement on a pamphlet or a gospel tract. Once the person has
agreed that they believe in Jesus, they are pronounced “saved.” As a result,
salvation is viewed as granted to those who agree with a theological statement
or confession of faith. What one believes is more important than what
one does. Such a perspective is the
logical outcome of a Greek worldview.
The
problem with the Greek world view is that ideas (confession) can easily be
separated from the world in which we live (actions), because truth exists in
the intellect rather than in the everyday world of our lives. Thus, one can
genuinely believe the truth while living contrary to it. Not so from the
Hebrew worldview: believing the truth results in living out the truth. If we
fail to understand our Master’s words from a Hebrew perspective, we might think
that our eternal salvation is based upon doing good works. But that is not what
Yeshua is teaching. Rather, He is saying that if one truly confesses Him to be
the Son of Man who will return in His glory (Mt 25:21), then one will do deeds
of kindness to his brothers in need, as though it were Yeshua Himself. He will
say, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” not “Well confessed,
good and faithful servant” (Mt 25:21-23)
The
linear logic of the Greek worldview greatly influenced the systematic theology
among the various branches of the Christian Church. Systematic theology refers
to a comprehensive
theological
system that seeks to present the doctrines of the Bible in a way that avoids
inconsistencies or contradictions, since only a theological system devoid of
contradictions could be received as true. In other words, it is theology fit in
to the scheme of linear logic. This thought process finds no parallel in
rabbinic literature. We find no ancient Jewish creeds, nor did the rabbis ever
develop a systematic theology, for the very framework in which the rabbis worked
was one in which different viewpoints were encouraged rather than dismissed. From
the Hebrew perspective contradictions provided the necessary push/pull energy
required for seeing any given subject from every vantage point. Their discussions
often include contradictory viewpoints of various teachers, without having to
decide who was right and who was wrong.
In
the Greek worldview or a Cathedral Mentality the church has been fashioned to
interpret such phrases as “kingdom of heaven” as some place far off with the
goal of one’s religion is to escape this world and go to heaven. From the Hebrew or a Tabernacle/Temple
Mentality perspective, however, this is foreign. >From the
beginning of the Israelite nation, God revealed His intentions by dwelling among His people. Below are the
views of the Greek and Hebrew perspectives.
Greek:
The goal of salvation is to escape this world and go to God’s dwelling place
in heaven.
Hebrew: The goal of salvation is to prepare a
place fit for God’s dwelling here, among His people.
Greek: The kingdom of Heaven exists in heaven,
not upon the earth.
Hebrew: The kingdom of Heaven is God’s reign among
people here on earth.
Greek: The Messiah is coming to take us away from
this world.
Hebrew: The Messiah is coming in order to reign over
this world.
Greek:
Message: “Get your ticket now or you might miss the train.”
Hebrew: Message: “The kingdom of Heaven is coming!
Get ready to receive and serve the King.”
The
common phrase “kingdom of heaven” as well as Paul’s term “heavenly kingdom” do
not use “heaven” to describe the location of the kingdom but its nature.
In this case heaven is another way of saying ‘God,” so that Kingdom of Heaven
is equivalent to Kingdom of God. In its final sense, the Kingdom of Heaven
describes the uncontested rule of God where everyone winningly submits to His
Kingship with joy. In the same way that the rule of God in the heavenlies is
absolute and without rival, so when the kingdom of this world becomes the
“kingdom of our Lord and His Messiah,” it means all rebellion against God has
been vanquished, and God’s Name is finally sanctified upon the earth as it is
in heaven. Moreover, when Yeshua taught that His kingdom was “not of this
world,” He was speaking of the means by which His kingdom would be established.
Rather than gaining victory through military might as do earthly kings, His
kingdom would be established by the triumph of the truth in the hearts of those
who believe.
By
reasonable assumption, it would appear that people are coming into the faith in
great numbers. But are they? It seems
too good to be true. People are saying the sinner’s prayer and confessing
Jesus. What is the message they are hearing? Is this a great revival, or a falling away? Chapter two of Second Thessalonians warns us that a falling away will
occur before the son of perdition is revealed. The term “falling away” or in
the Greek ‘Apostasia’ is considered to be a departure, withdrawal or removal
(known as the rapture) of the Church. Another
view is the “falling away” refers to repentance and the departure of believers out
of the Institutional Church, and a turning back to the full truth of the
Scriptures. A
third view is of those who will be caught up in the secular Christian Church is
best answered by following a lie as explained in the following verses.
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them
that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might
be saved. 2 The 2:10
And for this cause God shall send them a strong delusion, that
they should believe a lie: 2
The 2:11
Paul says in 2 Cor 6:17, “Come
out from among them and be ye separate, saith LORD YHWH, and touch not the unclean
thing; and I will receive you. From the very beginning YHWH has been pleading
with His people though the prophets, Yeshua and the Apostles to return to the
Torah. God’s Torah is His teaching and instructions in the first five books of
the Bible. The TaNaK (Old Testament) is the proof text from which all of
Scripture is measured. Continue reading
and then make your choice as to what you think the great falling away is.
The early church was made up almost entirely of Jews believing in
Messiah Yeshua, and the New Testament is living testimony to this. There were
those of the Religious Sects who were determined to maintain control and keep
the people subject to them and to their Oral Laws. Sometime later, as great numbers of gentile
believers were coming into the faith these same judaizers were also working
hard to convince them to undergo a doctrinal circumcision as a means of bringing
them under their control.
To become saved, it meant that one must first come under the
authority of the ranking religious hierarchy and subject to their Oral
Tradition and to “The Law of Moses.” These two Laws became mixed and after a
time they were viewed as one Law; but if there was a judgment that needed to be
made, the Oral Tradition ruled over God’s Torah known as the “Law of Moses.”
that God commanded Moses to write down.
(This can be found in Exodus 34:27-28)
This is how Paul thought and acted as he
persecuted new Jewish believers in Messiah, before his “Damascus Road’
encounter with Yeshua. From there he went into seclusion for three years in
Arabia and was taught the truth only by the Spirit of Messiah Yeshua and not
from men. After fourteen years of further departure Paul’s face was unknown to
the people of Judea. Gal 1:11-2:1
To go in the direction of the judaizers, one would be taught the
“Oral Tradition and the ”Law of Moses.”
Upon completion of their indoctrination they would be formally baptized
by being submersed in water, and would emerge as a new creation, and all in
attendance would joyously cry out “Born Again. ” So there you have it “Voila” You Are Now A
New Creation---”A JEW” !
Let us not forget, fellow gentile believers, that spiritual Israel
as well as Israel in the flesh has paid, and is paying, a very dear price so
that we could be joined to the covenants God gave to Israel. Eph 2:11-22 They
were given the word of God to keep alive, (Ro 3:1-2)--- at the expense of the
greatest continuous and ongoing persecution of a people that the world has
ever, or will ever, know. They eventually had their hearts made stony, for a
time, for the sake of the gentiles…that the gospel would be taken to the entire
GENTILE world. Ro 11:13-15
Ø
Israel
had no business being proud or haughty of their lofty place before God as they
viewed what God did to Egypt, Canaan, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece and then
Rome, all for the sake of “Spiritual National Israel.” Paul tells us gentile believers that WE have
no business thinking that somehow we are better than the Israelites, who God
has and is using for His purposes, because God gave US the Gentiles the task of
spreading the Gospel.
Ø
Look
at all that had to happen leading up to Messiah’s coming. All that had to be
prepared; nations built and destroyed, entire peoples decimated, persecution of
the Jews….the Church Age” as we like to
call it, or the Time of the Gentiles as the Bible refers to it, that 2000 years
since Messiah, is just for a time and a purpose. In God’s great scheme of
things, our spreading of the Gospel is just one piece of a very big puzzle,
that many other people and nations played roles in since the beginning of the
world.
Ø
We
need to remember that the Gospel is primarily about redemption. And, redemption
is NOT God’s end plan: redemption is NOT the be-all end-all of the Creator’s
divine purposes; redemption is just a step, among many other earlier steps,
along the way to the final stage of His vision of having a Universe of
perfection, full of beings that love Him and commune with Him, for all
eternity. So, we don’t stop at “the asking Jesus into our heart cliché” and
then walk contrary to the way He has shown us to walk.
Ø
You
never saw Yeshua or John The Baptism walking into a town saying “Ask Jesus into
your heart and you will be saved”. NO,
they said REPENT. Initial salvation is a very important step in a series of
important steps and just the beginning of the maturation process
Ø
Scripture
is the world’s most amazing book. NO Wonder.. it is authored by the Universe’s
most amazing author. Not only does it read as if the same author (The Spirit)
wrote the whole thing, but it reads like a new book every time. Unlike most
puzzles, when you piece 85-90% of it together you have an idea of what the
final picture looks like. With Scripture, however, when one has pieced some
85-90% of it together, one usually ends up with an inverted picture. No other
puzzle is like that.
Ø
Christians
understand that all they have is some 85-90% of the puzzle; but in
understanding so much, they think they understand it all. For this reason they
refuse to learn the other 10-15%, because to do so would upset the cozy
mistaken picture they have become accustomed to. The Spirit had the Apostles
write Scripture in such a way as to allow it to be easily misinterpreted. The
purpose of inspiring it this way was just exactly so that misunderstandings
could exist (so the Church could easily expand) until the prophesied
two–thousand years of Hosea “After two
days He will revive us: in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live
in His sight. Hos 6:2
Ø
The
Church needed to be able to misinterpret the 85-90% of the Scriptures they
understood, in order that the Good News of Yeshua might be spread to the ends
of the earth just that much faster. That was not something that the small sect
of the Nazarenes could do, but Rome who held great influence over most of the
entire world could, and God used them to get it started. Later, Luther’s contribution of ”Salvation by
Faith Alone” was the major move that brought about the Protest movement to free
people from the bondage of Rome (Egypt). There have been many other
contributions made by the Church !
Ø
God
has used the Church to confound the wisdom of the wise, (Satan, Rome, etc and
their disciples) to get the Gospel of Messiah delivered. God Is So Beyond Brilliant! While
the Christian church has been one step in bringing us back to freedom, it must
be recognized for what it is: Part Of Our Exile. What is meant by in
being in exile will have to be covered in another writing. Basically, it means to be away from the rule
of Messiah and the glory of His original plan for us because of our
disobedience.
Ø
Now
He is telling, us not to be wise in our own eyes. It is time to return, repent,
and go back to the former things, T0 His Torah... Come out of Institutional
Judaism and Christianity which is far from its origin, and be ye separate SAITH
THE LORD ALMIGHTY.
One can look at the Catholic Church, with their perverse doctrines
and pagan practices (Sun-day, Easter, Christmas, demonization of Torah, a
‘Mary’ who is worshipped as a perpetual virgin, who never died and is herself
divine, a clergy that cannot marry, and so have extramarital affairs or become
pedophiles; etc.), and to see an institution where most of its billion
adherents, thinking themselves as ‘saved’.
We will leave the salvation part to the Father.
Ø
This
is very sad, and it is the work of the enemy, the ‘prince and power of the
air’, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” and
his work is sadistically real.
Ø
Then
there are the Protestant churches that have taken much from Catholicism and
either do not realize it or do not want to deal with it, (Sun-day, Easter,
Christmas demonization of Torah, mixing God’s ways with the world ways, etc.
Ø
Paul
says: Wherefore come out from among
them, and be ye separate, saith YHWH, and touch not the unclean thing; and I
will receive you. 2 Cor 6:17
Ø
Once
a sincere movement numerically and intellectually outgrows its purpose it
becomes an institution, and the preservation of the institution becomes the
reason for its existence, and not God’s Truth. This becomes the new paradigm of
error even though the leadership may genuinely believe it is walking in (all
of) God’s Truth.
Ø
Because
of the shift to a new standard, the institution, in order for it to survive it must
establish doctrine that creates a need for one to commit to and be dependant on.
The eventual outcome is being put into bondage to the doctrines of men.
Ø
TRUTH
REQUIRES NO SUCH NEED !
That
which we see happening in the church today in large part is due to the
organization of the world wide ecumenical evangelical movement. They have for
many years been seriously and actively engaged in the assimilation of many
faiths. The thrust of this movement is about the inclusion of other faiths into
a compound unity, and includes almost every world religion. In this new
evangelism, Yeshua (Jesus) is only one of many other ways to salvation. There
are many very prominent pastors and theologians involved in this movement. We also see Seeker Church mentality, involved
in the assimilation process, which does not exclude New Age teaching. The
Seeker model emphasis seems to be on meeting "felt needs" rather than
proclaiming the gospel of Messiah Yeshua. In fact, the gospel is often
re-packaged as the answer for low self-esteem, marital discord, career
problems, psychological distress, etc. Rather than being perceived as sinners
in need of salvation, they are perceived as lonely singles, bored executives,
victims of dysfunctional families, or whatever, instead of presenting a bold,
truly Biblical message. Too often the pastor presents the type of message that
he hopes will appeal to the seekers and meet their "felt needs".
The
seeker model of the church does not square with the church of Scripture. This
is not the church of the "Body of Messiah,” a gathering of saints, the local
assembly of the elect, or any of the definitions commonly held over the ages
within orthodox Christianity. Instead, it is what someone described as a
"sort of halfway house for recovering nonreligious people". The focus
of the seeker model seems to be too often on the seeker rather than on God. By
the above models we should easily see that the church not only could be, but
has allowed New Age Spirituality to filter in. By
examination this seeker, ecumenical evangelistic assimilation movement is
really not about God’s movement at all. This is worldly marketing at its best, and
is opening the doors to New Age Spiritualism thus, allowing entry into the Body
of Messiah, and into the Sanctuary which is the holy (set apart) Temple of God.
I am listing below by category the unholy influences that are flooding into the
great majority of churches in America. These things are not new; they are just
repackaged in another wrapper, but the contents continue to be fashioned in the
depths of the Pit.
Buddhism
The Occult Hinduism
Self
Empowerment Paganism
Astrology TM Human-Potential Witchcraft/Wicca
Physics Reincarnation Visualization Goddess Worship
Ouija Board Monism Guided Imagery Crystal Healing
Channeling Yoga Reiki Shamanism
Auras Labyrinths
Attached
to this Greek mindset is a return to Gnosticism in many of its forms. The
implementation of this worldly thought process plays into, at least in part, to
the Marxist dialectic, a derivative of the Hegelian principal, a revived Socratic
Method. It is the thought and practice especially of cults in the late
pre-Christian and early Christian centuries distinguished by the Socratic
Method (or method of elenchos or Socratic debate). It is a dialectic method of inquiry, largely
applied to the examination of key moral concepts and first described by Plato in
the Socratic
Dialogues. For this, Socrates is customarily regarded as the father
and fountainhead for western ethics or moral philosophy. It is a form of
philosophical inquiry. It typically involves two speakers at any one time, with
one leading the discussion and the other agreeing to certain assumptions put
forward for his acceptance or rejection. The method is credited to Socrates, who began
to engage in such discussion with his fellow Athenians after a visit to the Oracle
of Delphi. This practice is implemented by what is called the Delphi
Technique.
This technique embodies a particular view or a thesis, and then
provides an opposing or contrary position or an antithesis, and finally by
synthesis to a place which reconciles the two positions and then becomes the
basis of a new thesis. This logic continues on and on through time until the objective
is reached, which of course it never does, because this worldly
philosophical approach to unite all of mankind depends on change rather than
the surety that only abides in the unchanging Torah of the God of Abraham,
Isaac & Jacob. From my perspective it is a downward slide to Sodom and
Gomorrah. Here is how it works…..
DELPHI TECHNIQUE OR CONCENSUS PROCESS RELATED TO HEGELIAN PRINCIPLE
Goal:
The goal of the Delphi
technique is to lead a targeted group of people to a pre-determined outcome,
while giving the illusion of taking public input under the pretext of being
accountable to the public.
For the Delphi to work, it
is critical that the targeted group be kept away from knowledgeable people who
could lead them away from the Delphier’s predetermined outcome.
DEFINITIONS
Consensus -- group
solidarity in sentiment and belief; unanimity; collective opinion.
Process -- a series
of actions or operations conducing to an end.
Consensus circle -- A soviet - term used for the same process in the
former Soviet Union
Systems thinking -- Sees
everything as “wholes”- as a system, analogous to all other systems
irrespective of physical appearance. All
things are equal, whether the ecosystem or mankind - man is no better than
animal or a tree. (Underlying philosophy is Humanism.)
HEGELIAN PRINCIPLE
a. Thesis -- Embodying a particular view.
b. Antithesis – Provides an opposing or contrary position.
c. Synthesis -- It reconciles the two previous positions and then
becomes the basis of a new thesis.
All of this to bring by
compromise; (no relationship to right or wrong) a oneness that concludes that all
is relative, situational. Through a process of evolution, Oneness of Mind
supposedly occurs. The reality is quite different. Only an ILLUSION of Oneness
of Mind occurs - with those who refuse to be Delphi’d being alienated from
participating in the process. Only those who agree with the process are allowed
on the “teams.” New participants are
carefully screened to ensure that the predetermined outcome goes forward
unquestioned. The outcome is preset - but the “overseers” can say: We had community input.
Changing The Word of
God
What we have just written was
to reveal the mishandling of God’s word since the first century. The Greek mindset embraced Gnostic views
which in part led to the reshaping of the form of God’s Word as it was
originally written. This opened the doors for Scripture to be allegorized with
impunity. When this occurs one is now able to make the text mean anything you
wish. This is not to say that some of what is written is always expressed in
the literal. For example: John 10:9 I
am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go
in and out, and find pasture. You can
see here that Jesus refers to Himself as the door. We know that Jesus is not a
literal door, but He is the way of entry into the Most Holy Place. It
can be viewed from a literal standpoint that a door, as in this case, is
the means by which we may gain entry into Holy Place of God. The allegorical
and the literal must agree as would two or three witnesses testifying to the
truth.
When we see all of the books being written such
as The Message, and the New Century Version just to name a few, we see that
they have been written in a form other than what was given to the Prophets and
Apostles. The
technique that is being used to implement change is called DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE which
means, “f or pertaining to dynamics, active, opposed to static; pertaining to
change or process.” 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 do not have the words carried over into English (or
another language) word for word.
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,
and in 1947, Nida wrote the book, 'Bible Translating', published by the United
Bible Society of London. The concept of Dynamic
Equivalency interprets the text rather than translates the text." "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.
Here two examples to make the point
“The Message” (Bible)by
Eugene Peterson -----The goal is not to render a word-for-word
conversion of Greek into English...'
2.Tim1:13
1. 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.
2.Tim1:13
KJB - Hold fast the FORM OF SOUND WORDS, which thou hast
heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
We are to guard the sound words of Scripture,
not guard our faith and love
2 Ro.16:17-18
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.
Ro.16:17-18
KJB - Now I beseech you,
brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences CONTRARY TO THE DOCTRINE WHICH YE HAVE
LEARNED; and avoid them.
"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. Result….. Serving man becomes more
important than preserving God's Word - Ro.1:25
New principles -
contrasted with Scriptural principles
Concerning languages of the Bible
a.
New Principle
"The languages of the Bible are subject
to the same limitations as any other natural language
Scriptural Principal
God specifically
chose the Hebrew as the basis of Scripture.
2Ti.3:16, 2Pet.1-.21
b. Concerning form of words of the
Bible
N. P. "To preserve the content of the message
the FORM MUST BE CHANGED
S. P. The
form of the words of Scripture must remain unchanged - 2.Tim. 1:13
c. Concerning translation of the
Bible
N.P. "The
translator must attempt to reproduce the meaning of a passage as understood by
the writer
S.P.
The writers did not always understand what they wrote - Dan.12:8-9, I.Pet.1:10-12,
Is.55:8-9.
d. Concerning interpretation of the
Bible
N.P. "The
writers of the Biblical books expected to be understood." ( Nida, Theory
& Practice, p.7)
S.P. The writers did not expect to be
understood, except by the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit
II.Pet.3:16,
I.Cor.2:6-16, Jn.16.12-13, I.Jn.2:27
There
are many in the assimilation movement playing their part in changing the word
of God. Unfortunately, many are being caught up in this web of deceit that has
attracted many thousands even millions of people. It is not my place to judge
or to condemn anyone or their intent. Only God knows the intent of the heart. I
am only addressing the error of much of what is being propagated. Other areas
of change being introduced into the church are the unholy covert, seductive
practices of Contemplative Prayer, Labyrinths, TM, Human-Potential,
and Christian Yoga to mention a few of the horrors. Contemplative Prayer is a method that is being
used in a silent manner to invade the church and falls into three categories of
methodology.
·
Silence
of the mind by focusing on the breath.
·
Silence
of the repetition of a word or phrase.
·
Silence
the mind by focusing on an object
By the way, is there any such thing as Christian Yoga? If there is,
could there possibly be such a thing as Christian Prostitution?
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Brennan Manning Richard Foster Billy Graham
Oprah Winfrey Rick Warren Tony Campolo Ken Blanchard
Brother Lawrence Dallas Willard Wayne
Teasdale Bruce Wilkinson
Ruth Haley Barton Bill Hybel John Orbterg John Edwards Tilden Edwards David Spangler Robert
Schuller Brian Mc Claren
Neale Donald Walsch Thomas Merton Thomas
Keating Helen Shucman
Marianne Williamson Barbara Marx Hubbard Dr. Bernie Siegel Henri Nouwen
Josh McDowell Dan Kimball David Jeremiah Chuck Swindoll
Jack Hayford
These are some of the names
of people who are involved in New Age in at least one way or another, whether knowingly
or unknowingly. It seems to me that there is more than enough evidence to
conclude that this statement is true. Shown in the following are two excellent books
written by former men who were deeply into the New Age. They have come out of
it, are born again believers and are now exposing what is happening in the
Church of Jesus Christ. These men are not merely supposing these things to be
so. They both have based their writings on their first hand experience, and
have excellent documentation, as well as explaining how these insidious works
of the Adversary are deceiving even those whom we believe are bulletproof.. May the Blessed One give you discernment
and…….See that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but be as wise,
redeeming the time because the days are evil.(Eph 5:15-16)
Book Author
ISBN
Running Against the Wind Brian
Flynn ISBN
0-9721512-7 2nd Edition
Brian Flynn’s Website is www.onetruthministries.com
The book may be ordered
on-line at www.lighthousetrails.com
or phone 866/876-3910
Or e-mail editor@lighthouse.com
Also available online and
major book stores
For more information about
contemplative spirituality; www.lighthousetrailresearch.com
Deceived On Purpose Warren Smith ISBN 0-9763492-0-5 2nd Edition
New Age Implications of the Purpose Driven Church