Autor: SIEP

NEO-PENTECOSTALISMO Y GLOBALIZACIÓN

Jesùs García-Ruiz & Patrick Michel

La inauguración en São Paulo del « Templo de Salomón », sede central del culto de la Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus, fundada y dirigida por el obispo Edir Macedo, tendrá lugar el 31 de julio de 2014, en presencia de Dilma Rousseff, jefe del Estado brasileño. Con una superficie equivalente a la de dieciséis estadios de fútbol y una altura dos veces mayor que la del Cristo Redentor de Rio de Janeiro, la que será la mayor iglesia de la ciudad tendrá cabida para 10.000 fieles sentados. Estará equipada con todas las tecnologías más modernas y dispondrá de un aparcamiento para 1200 vehículos.

Dicha creación es ya visita “obligada” de la gira turística de la ciudad de São Paulo. Es testigo y testimonio de la fuerte visibilidad de un movimiento evangélico que en los últimos cincuenta años ha demostrado ser capaz, tanto en Latinoamérica como en el resto del mundo, de una progresión constante y generalizada (1)».

Pero si bien el evangelismo (2) constituye « la rama religiosa más dinámica del mundo occidental desarrollado», lo que progresa prioritariamente progresa no es tanto el evangelismo o el pentecostalismo ni el pentecostalismo « clásico » si no un « neo-pentecostalismo » según el cual la segunda venida de Cristo no podría ser objeto de una mera espera pasiva: el Reino ya está en este mundo y se requiere una estrategia activa de conquista, de ocupación y, por qué no, de saturación del espacio público.

Dicha progresión, mayor aún que la del Islam, nos obliga a poner en duda la idea de una secularización continuada e irreversible de las sociedades modernas, tanto es así que ha llegado incluso a sustentar la tesis de una des-secularización, presentada como una « retorno de Dios » o un «reencantamiento del mundo » por no citar más que los títulos de las obras publicadas por Harvey Cox (3)y Peter Berger.

Estos últimos, grandes teóricos en su tiempo de la secularización, confiesan
haberse equivocado diametralmente sobre la interpretación de un mundo, en su opinión, « más furiosamente religioso que nunca » (4). Desde esta perspectiva, el neo-pentecostalismo ha podido presentarse como « la religión del siglo XXI (5)». Y también, por ende, como la religión del mundo global.

LA RELIGIÓN DEL MUNDO GLOBAL

En una obra reciente (6), Peter Beyer evoca el lazo « histórico, conceptual e institucional », que une, a su juicio, globalización y religión, manifestándose ésta última por partida doble, como una « expresión del procesos histórico de globalización » y como uno « de los resultados (outcomes) de las transformaciones y evoluciones sucesivas que han culminado en la sociedad mundial contemporánea ».

(1) D. Martin, « La poussée évangéliste et ses effets politiques », in P. Berger [dir.], Le réenchantement du monde, Paris, Bayart, 2001, p. 81-82.
(2) « Evangélico » es un término genérico utilizado casi siempre por miembros de Iglesias protestantes para recalcar la centralidad de la Biblia, la justificación por la fe y la necesidad de la conversión personal.
(3) H. Cox, Retour de Dieu. Voyage en pays pentecôtiste, París, Desclée de Brouwer, 1995.
(4) P. Berger , « La désécularisation du monde :un point de vue global », in P. Berger (dir), Le réenchantement du monde, op cit.,p. 15.
(5) H. Tincq, « La montée d’un “christianisme de conversion” », Le Monde, 1de abril 2002 y « Le choc de deux fondamentalismes », Le Monde, 1 de abril de 2003 ; H. Cox, op.cit.
(6) P. Beyer, Religion in the Context of Globalisation – Essays on concept, Form, and Political Implication, Routledge, 2013, 232 p.

No cabe la menor duda de que lo religioso es un indicador y una modalidad de gestión o el producto de un proceso de transformación que afecta al conjunto de sociedades contemporáneas. Pero constituye, además, uno de los espacios privilegiados de la propia efectuación de la recomposiciones que induce dicho proceso.

Como esas recomposiciones hacen tambalearse todos los referentes que les
servían de apoyo, los actores sociales las experimentan y viven a modo de « crisis », una crisis a la que la progresión generalizada de los neo-pentecostalistas serviría tanto de indicador como de herramienta de gestión.

De hecho, el movimiento evangélico, y dentro de éste, el neo-pentecostalismo, resultan ser un recurso privilegiado de redeinición de la identidad y de inserción de dicha identidad reconstruida en un universo de circulación fluida. El evangelismo brinda un espacio idóneo para la observación de los nuevos valores de las sociedades, elaborados por un movimiento con el que parecerían guardar ciertas afinidades. Sirve asimismo de valioso indicador de la manera en que las sociedades entablan la relación con el pluralismo, del que es, además, elemento constituyente. Allí donde se encuentre, se ve tentado a pasar, explícitamente, de su condición de actor religioso a la de actor social, económico y, por ende, político.

La doble función de ese religioso, a la vez indicador y modalidad de gestión de las recomposiciones, se analiza a través de cuatro dimensiones estrechamente articuladas entre sí: – la producción, a través de lo religioso, de una individuación compatible con los procesos de globalización/mundialización en curso; dicho de otro modo, la manera en que las nuevas instituciones comunitarias neo-pentecostalistas tienden a fabricar un individuo globalizado, ajustándose a una lógica de mercado plenamente integrada. – La gestión, a través de lo religioso, de la rearticulación, dentro del movimiento, de la relación individuo-comunidad-universal; en una palabra, cómo se forjan las nuevas adhesiones comunitarias y las nuevas lealtades, en consonancia con las movilidades sociales inducidas por los usos de lo religioso. – La creación, a través de lo religioso, de una nueva relación con lo político; y ello obedeciendo a una lógica en la que religión y política, lejos de considerarse autónomas, se entremezclan y redistribuyen sin cesar dentro de una espacio caracterizado por la extremada fluidez de las circulaciones que lo conforman. – La instauración, a través de lo religioso, de redes mundializadas que favorecen la emergencia de actores globales, complementarios unos de otros y capaces de practicar lo religioso en un modo des-territorializado.

UNA TEOLOGÍA DEL EXITÓ

El que el neo-pentecostalismo resulte capaz de constituir un espacio privilegiado de transformación de las sociedades, se debe a que se encuentra en situación, por todas partes, de articular una oferta acorde con las expectativas presentes. Pero también – y sobre todo, posiblemente – en situación de radicalizar una relación individualizada a lo simbólico que se preste a los numerosos usos contradictorios a los que le destinan los actores.

El éxito de la oferta neo-pentecostalista radica pues en la acertada articulación entre cristianismo mercantil, teleología del éxito individual, basado en una teología de la eficacia, y moral conservadora.
El cristianismo mercantil apunta a privatizar lo religioso – la Iglesia no es sino una empresa privada individual – pero también a constituir, bajo los auspicios y en beneficio de los empresarios « religiosos » (pastores – propietarios) unos holdings con los que poner a disposición de una clientela – a la que se procurará mantener lo más cautiva posible – toda una gama de bienes y servicios adaptada al máximo a las necesidades observadas que en ningún modo se limitan únicamente al registro espiritual.

El neo-pentecostalismo, que pretende gozar de una especial cercanía con el mundo globalizado y los valores que lo sustentan será pues juzgado en función de la movilidad social que promete (y se propone favorecer) y de las prestaciones que esté en condiciones de ofrecer. El sinnúmero de Iglesias Evangélicas que acogen a colectivos de migrantes procedentes de África, Asia o Latinoamérica en las periferias de las grandes ciudades europeas o norteamericanas, proponen a sus fieles, además de una socialización religiosa, ayudas diversas para lograr, por ejemplo, un permiso de estancia, un trabajo, una vivienda, una pareja … (7)

Con arreglo a esa lógica, el enriquecimiento personal es la meta a alcanzar con la creación y desarrollo de la empresa religiosa; pero es también el objetivo que persigue el convertido, y, más allá, el fundamento para la legitimidad de la propia empresa.

Refiriéndose al caso de Nigeria, Obi Igwara consideraba que la religión – sin distinción de confesión, por cierto – era ante todo un negocio, un business y que la proliferación de Iglesias obedecía principalmente a los intereses económicos de sus líderes (8).
(7) Véase a este respecto Damien Mottier, Une ethnographie des pentecôtismes africains en France – Le temps des prophètes, Ed. Academia, Bruselas, 2014.
(8) O. Igwara, « Holy Nigerian Nationalism and Apocalyptic Visions of the Nation », Nations and nationalism, 1(3), 1995, pp. 327-355.

Hecho que no desmiente la revista Forbes al publicar, en su edición de enero de 2014, la lista de millonarios brasileños en la que cita « al obispo » Edir Macedo, fundador de la Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus (también conocida como Pare de Sufrir), a quien se le calcula un patrimonio de 950 millones de dólares ; « al apóstol » Valdemiro Santiago, fundador de la Igreja Mundial do Poder de Deus, que ha amasado 220 millones de dólares; al pastor Silas Malafaia, líder del Ministerio Vitória em Cristo (150 millones) ; a R.R. Soares fundador de la Igreja Internacional da Graça de Deus (125 millones) ; a Estevam y Sonia Hernandes, fundadores de la Igreja Apostólica Renascer em Cristo (65 millones).

Lo que importa es saber cómo logra Dios, con los neo-pentecostalistas y su teleología del éxito personal, subcontratar la salvación al mercado – el religioso -, erigiéndolo en árbitro supremo y sacralizándolo. Ese es el reto de la Teología de la Prosperidad: convertir los bienes materiales del creyente en garantía de la benevolencia de Dios hacia él y en confirmación de la lealtad que el creyente le manifiesta. Ahora bien, los valores defendidos y sacralizados por medio de lo religioso no son sino los valores dominantes del mundo globalizado. El sistema funciona pues en forma de circuito cerrado: lo religioso, sin ser el origen, constituye uno de los puntos de la circunferencia de un círculo.

UN ACTOR POLÍTICO

Dentro de la perspectiva del neo-protestantismo conservador norte-americano, la Teología de la Prosperidad prefiere al individuo – y no a la comunidad – como registro de acción privilegiado, erigiendo la pobreza en índice de no sumisión a Dios que desemboca en la imposibilidad de la Salvación. En efecto, si los bienes de este mundo pertenecen al Padre, éstos se revierten prioritariamente en sus Hijos.

Con arreglo a esa lógica, la elección divina abre al fiel el acceso a los bienes de este mundo. En otras palabras, la Teología de la Prosperidad se propone transformar al individuo para que dicha transformación transforme, a la larga, a la sociedad. La ascensión social del individuo se presenta como el único vector posible de transformación de la sociedad, al legitimar, por voluntad divina, la evolución deseada. Ello explica el hincapié que hace en el formateo del individuo en el seno de la neo-comunidad que forma la Iglesia.

No es de extrañar entonces que el neo-pentecostalismo reivindique la renovación de lo político por lo religioso, como lo prueban los principios a que se refiere: cambio de doctrina en cuanto a la propia concepción de lo político; modelo eclesiástico aplicado a lo político, tanto en materia de organización como de estrategia de crecimiento; moral rígida dotada de normas que una vez interiorizadas, forjan una « fuerte identidad » en los miembros; afirmada cohesión de la estructura familiar; responsabilidades religiosas y políticas atribuidas a las mujeres.
Dichos principios, formalizados sobre todo por el Partido Nacional Cristiano colombiano, pero comunes a todo el movimiento, pueden impulsar un proyecto de ediicación de « naciones cristianas ». Así ocurre, por ejemplo, con el objetivo « la nación para Cristo » que se asigna la Fraternidad Cristiana de Guatemala, con el que se propone anunciar a Jesús « para transformar la nación ». Otra Iglesia guatemalteca, El Shaddai, tiene también un programa llamado « Jesús es el Señor de Guatemala ».

Son iniciativas que muestran el interés muy especial que otorgan los
neo-pentecostalistas a las reformas constitucionales, como medio de someter el sistema jurídico a las prescripciones bíblicas. Ello da lugar a una triple crítica de lo que se ha dado en llamar el « humanismo constitucional », acusado de entorpecer la visión bíblica de la ley; de querer trasladar la responsabilidad del sistema educativo y sanitario a los pentecostalistas; y, por último, de revisar y endurecer las leyes relativas a la « moral social » (divorcio, aborto…).

En definitiva, la progresión del neo-pentecostalismo constituye pues una señal, triple, de una pluralización de las sociedades, de la renovación de los sistemas axiológicos vinculados con la transformación de las mismas, y, por último, del estado de progreso y de los efectos de la globalización.

No obstante, sería arriesgado ver en esa progresión la victoria de un «religioso
nuevo» sobre un « religioso clásico» o bien un reencantamiento que pusiera en
entredicho la secularización. El peligro mayor para el futuro de las Iglesias, tanto las tradicionales como las nuevas, podría en realidad venir de las evoluciones sociales.

Al comentar, por ejemplo, la legalización de las uniones homosexuales en la Ciudad de México y en Argentina y la inquietud que éstas suscitan en las jerarquías religiosas, Marco Vicenzino plantea la tesis de que «católicos y pentecostalistas podrían llegar a considerar la lenta ascensión en Latinoamérica del secularismo y del ateísmo como una gran amenaza común a ambos, independientemente de los conflictos que les oponen […] En definitiva, cabría hablar de una amplia convergencia de intereses en el terreno político, sobre la base de una oposición común al secularismo creciente » (9).

(9) M. Vicenzino, « America latina : la sida dell’evangelismo », in « Religione e politica », Aspenia, Roma, n° 42, 2008, p. 152.

Doutrinas estranhas das igrejas “evangélicas”
https://nihilsubsolenovum.wordpress.com/2008/12/26/doutrinas-estranhas-das-igrejas-evangelicas/
Rubem Ximenes

Cair no Poder
Fanerose é um termo que vem do grego e quer dizer visível. Trata-se da prática na qual as pessoas que estão sentindo a presença de Deus caem como se estivessem desacordadas, em um estado que a psicanálise chama de alfa. É considerada uma manifestação visível da presença do Espírito Santo.

Essa nova unção está sendo anunciada também com o nome de passar por um arrebatamento de sentidos. Esse modismo foi trazido para o Brasil pelo casal norte-americano Charles e Francis Hanter na década de 1980.
Confissão Positiva
Trazemos à existência aquilo que declaramos com fé. A fé é a capacidade de antecipar acontecimentos, tomando como já realizado aquilo que ainda não se sentiu ou viu. Assim, a pessoa afirma que já recebeu a cura ou a bênção financeira quando física ou materialmente ainda não aconteceu nada. Como resultado dessa convicção, o milagre realiza-se.
Correntes de Libertação
São práticas utilizadas em igrejas neopentecostais, onde o dirigente conclama o povo: Faça uma corrente em uma das nossas igrejas. Muitos têm sido abençoados dessa maneira. Escolha o dia que melhor lhe convier: Corrente da prosperidade (pessoa desempregada), Corrente dos 70 apóstolos, Corrente dos filhos de Deus, Corrente da sagrada família (para resolver problemas sentimentais em família), Corrente da libertação, Corrente das grandezas de Deus (riquezas), Corrente do encontro com Deus, Corrente da Fogueira Santa (financiamento de viagem de pastores ao Monte Sinai, em Israel), Corrente da Sarça Ardente.
Cura Interior
A prática de certos líderes evangélicos admitirem que mesmo a pessoa tendo se entregue a nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo, ainda perdura maldição sobre ela decorrente de eventuais pecados dos pais (maldição hereditária). Para se livrar dessas maldições, as pessoas são submetidas a práticas muito semelhantes àquelas realizadas pelos cursos de controle da mente: participar de um grupo, ser levado à hipnose e ser submetido à regressão espiritual.
Com isso induzem a pessoa, com orações e palavras de ordem, a voltar no tempo, até que, em determinados momentos ou idades, estas se deparam com o mal que deu origem ao seu atual problema. Esse mal pode ser de ordem física (uma doença ou uma agressão), moral (um pecado cometido, uma omissão) ou espiritual (um problema de fé, um espírito demoníaco, um pacto feito com o diabo). Também se dá nessas ocasiões a quebra de maldição quando se faz uma oração para essa quebra do mal.
Deificação do Ser Humano
Prática encontrada no mormonismo e em alguns grupos ditos cristãos de considerar que o ser humano se torna um Deus. Os mórmons dizem: Como o homem é, Deus foi; como Deus é, o homem poderá vir a ser. (Regras de Fé).
Kenneth Hagin disse: Você é tanto uma encarnação de Deus quanto Jesus Cristo o foi. Cada homem que nasceu de Deus é uma encarnação e o cristianismo é um milagre. O crente é uma encarnação tanto quanto o foi Jesus de Nazaré.
Valnice Milhomens declarou: Deus assumiu a natureza humana para que o homem assuma a natureza divina.
Demônios Territoriais
O mapeamento dos demônios que atuam e gerenciam uma determinada região geográfica. A partir dos testemunhos de ex-pais de santos e da doutrina da Umbanda sobre estas entidades são feitas especulações sobre o mapeamento dos demônios que dominam o Brasil.
Dentes de Ouro
O fenômeno dos dentes de ouro consistiu em algumas pessoas apresentarem restaurações antigas brilhando como ouro.
Os cultos onde se observam essa dádiva de dentes de ouro são conhecidos como o Culto do Garimpo devido ao fato de muitas pessoas estarem com pequenos espelhinhos dentários examinando as bocas dos que afirmam ter recebido essa bênção atribuída como um milagre de Deus.
Emagrecimento Instantâneo
O Emagrecimento Instantâneo, a Campanha para o Embelezamento do Corpo e do Espírito (Hadassa, Salmo 45.8) ou a Unção com Mirra, a Essência Divina (Joel 2.28 e 29) é a prática de consagrar um jejum na parte da manhã e a noite receber a visita da preciosa pessoa do Espírito, com os 9 frutos do Espírito e os 99 dons espirituais e muito mais…
Por incrível que pareça, as mulheres encontraram um meio rápido de emagrecimento instantâneo, mesmo deixando de fazer dieta. É ridículo observar pessoas dando testemunhos públicos de que entraram na Igreja gordas e agora seus vestidos estão mais soltos depois que receberam a unção do emagrecimento.
Entrevistar Demônios
A prática de algumas igrejas neopentecostais de proporcionar aos telespectadores um entretenimento, que só se via em filmes de terror, com entrevistas a possessos de demônios ouvindo falar de suas traquinagens e maldades. Os líderes de algumas igrejas dão ordem aos demônios incorporados nas pessoas que se manifestem, dizendo Comecem a se manifestar e aí identificam esses espíritos como deuses da Umbanda e Quimbanda: Exu Pomba Gira, Exu Tranca-Rua, Exu Caveira. Os possessos dão esses nomes das seitas afro-brasileiras e assim são chamados pelos nomes conhecidos.
Em seguida, os crentes mandam que os demônios estejam amarrados com a célebre frase: Está amarrado! Com isso pensam que suas ordens são obedecidos e que os demônios estão mesmo amarrados.
Evangelho da Prosperidade
Deus deseja que todo cristão seja próspero financeiramente. Assim, se dermos o suficiente e tivermos fé enriqueceremos, e o nosso elevado nível de vida será um testemunho do poder e da riqueza de Deus.
Evangelho da Saúde
Deus quer que todo cristão tenha saúde plena. O cristão só não desfruta de saúde perfeita nesta vida se não tiver fé suficiente. Isso porque a expiação de Cristo, de acordo com o ensino de Is 53.4-5, abrange a salvação do nosso espírito e a cura do nosso corpo. É aqui nesta vida, e não só depois na ressurreição, que devemos nos beneficiar desta realidade.
Leilão da Fé
Prática de culto em igrejas neopentecostais onde o dirigente constrange os fiéis a entregarem tudo, dizendo: vamos desafiar o Senhor! Vamos experimentar o Senhor! Oferte agora tudo o que você tem em dinheiro, cheques, jóias ou outros objetos de valor para o Senhor. Use sua fé! Amanhã você terá o dobro do que você der, e a bênção que você quer acontecerá. Não deixe o demônio dominar a sua vontade! O que você tiver na bolsa. Traga tudo na presença do Senhor, e ele abrirá as portas e janelas do céu para o que você deseja. Vamos! Está na hora de experimentar o nosso Deus.
Maldição Hereditária
A doutrina que afirma que as pessoas crentes podem estar sujeitas a maldições provindas de antepassados, isto é, admitem que elas podem se encontrar de posse de uma herança maldita, desconhecida por elas, e difícil de ser detectada no tempo e no espaço. Essa doutrina é chamada de maldição hereditária, maldição de família ou pecado de geração.
Movimento da Fé
Acredita que a mente e a língua humanas contêm uma habilidade ou poder sobrenatural. Assim, quando alguém fala, expressando a sua fé em leis supostamente divinas, seus pensamentos e expressão verbal positivos produzem uma força supostamente divina que irá curar, proporcionar riqueza, trazer sucesso e, de outras maneiras, influenciar o ambiente. Deus responde automaticamente e realiza o que ordenamos quando confessamos nossas necessidades e desejos pela fé, de maneira positiva.
Objetos de Culto
As Igrejas neopentecostais estão utilizando objetos como amuletos ou talismãs em cultos à semelhança da Igreja Católica e dos cultos afro-brasileiros, tais como: rosa ungida, óleo ungido, aliança ungida, lenço ungido, água do Rio Jordão, azeite do Monte das Oliveiras, sarça, areia da Praia da Galiléia, varinha de Jacó, galho de oliveira (do Monte das Oliveiras), folha (da árvore da Vida), túnel do amor, fitinhas no pulso, copo d’água em cima do rádio ou TV, tapete ungido, uso de enxofre, trombeta de Jericó, bênção da carteira de trabalho, do envelope do pagamento, do cartão de crédito, do talão de cheques, da peça de roupa, de carros, de eletrodomésticos para que não tenham mais defeitos; cântaro e espada de Gideão, na Campanha da Derrota. Esses objetos são vendidos a preços absurdos.
Unção do Riso
A Unção do Riso, Gargalhada Santa ou Bênção de Toronto é a prática de pessoas, durante o culto, começarem a darem gargalhadas, a urrar, a latir e outras imitações de animais. É considerado o riso de alegria pelo retorno do cativeiro (Sl 126.1, 2).
Tudo começou na Igreja Airport Vineyard (A Vinha do Aeroporto), em Toronto, Canadá.

Com tantas doutrinas estranhas, diferentes e emocionantes, quem vai se interessar em ser como Jesus e ficar com a simplicidade do evangelho?

The Electronic Church: An Echo of American Culture
Richard G. Kyle
Television in the form of the electronic church has powerfully impacted American religion, especially the evangelical variety. But it is a two-way street. Like many aspects of American evangelicalism, the electronic church mirrors American cultural characteristics. 1
What is the electronic church? Broadly speaking, it refers to a variety of religious broadcasting methods and organizations, including both radio and television. By the 1980s, the term electronic church came to refer to the television programs produced by evangelicals, fundamentalists, and Pentecostals. 2 While mainline Protestants and even Catholics were active in the early years of television, in the last thirty years or so it has been the domain of evangelicals—especially the Pentecostals.
Evangelicals have always used the most advanced technology to promote the gospel, and the televangelists are no exception to this trend.
Quentin Schultze lists six characteristics that distinguish the electronic church and televangelism from religious broadcasting in general. One, they are “audience supported,” meaning that the television viewers must donate to the ministry to keep it on the air. Two, the electronic churches are “personality-led.” The programs center around a charismatic personality who can attract large numbers of viewers. Three, the broadcasts are “experientially validated,” that is, viewing the program provides people with a religious experience.
Four, the electronic churches are “technologically sophisticated.” They employ the most current broadcasting technology, rivaling in professional quality even popular secular programs. Five, televangelism is “entertainment-oriented.” In an entertainment age, religious programs cannot be boring. They must capture the interest of the viewers or they will turn the dial. Six, the electronic church is “expansionary-minded.” The audience, ratings, and donations must grow. If not, the ministry may go off the air. 3
Given these six criteria, Schultze would not regard an evangelist such as Billy Graham as a televangelist. But he does contend that three-quarters of the highest-rated religious programs meet these standards and must be regarded as part of the electronic church. Some past and present examples of those he would list as televangelists include Oral Roberts, Rex Humbard, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Kenneth Copeland, Jimmy Swaggart, and Jim Bakker.
With the rise of cable television, the televangelists have another outlet for their programs. The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TNB), operated by Paul Crouch, carries primarily religious programs. A majority of these broadcasts feature televangelists, especially those of a health and wealth gospel (or Word-Faith movement) persuasion. 4
Why did mainline Protestants and Catholics largely abandon television? Why have evangelicals been so successful in this regard? In part, the mainline Protestants and Catholics have not accommodated American popular culture to the degree that evangelicals have. And adaptation to American culture is a huge factor in the numerical success of the televangelists. Second, liturgical and sacramental services as found in the mainline Protestant and Catholic churches do not entertain television audiences. 5
For that matter, the more traditional sermons from mainline pulpits are often sophisticated and boring. Television is not suited for complex religious ideas. It best conveys simple concepts that connect with a person’s feelings. Entertainment, indeed, is a necessary ingredient for holding the attention of a television audience. Conversely, evangelicals—especially those from the South—preach with a popular gusto that captivates television audiences. Exciting and emotional revivals, which are a staple of evangelicalism, lend themselves to television.
Lastly, liberals were given free broadcasting time on radio and early television and did not develop strategies for financing such broadcasts. Conservative Protestants had to raise money for their programs and thus honed these skills. When in 1960 the FCC mandated that networks did not have to give free broadcasts in order to meet their public service obligations, paid religious broadcasting became the norm. The evangelicals were well positioned for the new age of self-financed religious television programs. Their years of successful radio broadcasting had prepared them well for the television era. They knew how to use the technology, finance programs, and reach target audiences. 6
A BRIEF HISTORY
The roots of televangelism go back to America’s great evangelists—Whitefield, Finney, Moody and Sunday. They employed well-organized strategies and entertaining ways to promote the gospel. As Razelle Frankl notes, the televangelists are a hybrid of earlier revivalism and modern secular television programming. To this could be added the parachurches. Some television ministries have no formal church affiliation and perform specialized religious tasks.
Modern televangelists such as Rex Humbard, Oral Roberts, Billy Graham, and Jimmy Swaggart are “direct descendants” of the urban revivalists. Others such as Pat Robertson and Jim Bakker are more directly related to commercial television. The roots of televangelism must also include the nineteenth-century Bible and tract societies that pioneered in the publishing and distribution of religious literature. In particular, the successful radio broadcasts, financed by many small donations, paved the way for televangelism. 7
ABC televised the first religious program in 1949. The broadcast featured prominent theologians discussing the relevance of religion for daily life. The 1950s saw an increase in religious programs. While Bishop Fulton Sheen excited many with his weekly programs, most broadcasts featured Protestants. During the 1950s, conservative Protestants also took to the airwaves. Several Pentecostals led the charge: Rex Humbard was the first, followed by Oral Roberts and Kathryn Kuhlman. Billy Graham appeared on national television. While an evangelical, he was becoming a prominent figure and acceptable to the national networks. 8
Despite rising costs, during the 1960s and 1970s paid television programs—dominated by evangelicals, fundamentalists, and Pentecostals—increased significantly. Such broadcasts jumped from about 50 to 90 percent of all religious programs. Free public programs, featuring mainline Protestants, had become a thing of the past. The networks realized that religious broadcasting could be profitable, and conservative Protestants became eager customers, purchasing the great bulk of the airtime. Many of their programs appeared on local stations and at off-peak times. In fact, Sunday morning, when there are fewer viewers and the costs are reduced, became known as “The Sunday Morning (Religious) Ghetto.” 9
The rising costs of airtime also prompted the televangelists to explore ways to attract larger audiences. One method was to adopt different formats for their television programs. To stereotype the television evangelists in respect to their programs would be a mistake. While they had much in common, considerable variety existed in respect to their broadcasts. Beginning in the 1960s, a number of different program and evangelistic styles emerged. In the 1950s, before auditoriums were designed for television programs,
Rex Humbard had his church built specifically for high-tech TV. While he televised traditional services, he also imitated the musical and variety shows so popular in secular television.
Billy Graham had his weekly radio program, “Hour of Decision,” but he never undertook the expense of a weekly television program. Rather, he televised his revival services over national networks. His programs, however, had their trademark: the altar call. Every telecast ended with the call to leave your seats, come forward, and give yourself to Jesus. 10
Another pioneer was Oral Roberts, who must be regarded as a descendant of revivalism. First a Pentecostal, later a Methodist and a university president, Roberts employed several types of broadcast formats. Typical of his Pentecostal ministry, his early programs featured spiritual and physical healing. Millions of people observed his vigorous prayers, the laying on of hands, and the testimonies of individuals claiming to be healed.
The faithful supported him with their prayers and donations. Roberts’ critics regarded his ministry as showmanship, his claims to healing as scientifically unverifiable, and his pleas for money as a turn-off. As a Methodist and a university president, Roberts changed his broadcast format. In 1969, he launched his remarkable prime-time specials. Shorn of their Pentecostal distinctives, these programs were attractive, professional, entertaining, and attracted a range of viewers. 11
The success of these pioneers encouraged other preachers to start television ministries. A number of televangelists began as local pastors and then took their churches into television. Examples include Robert Schuller, D. James Kennedy, Charles Stanley, and Lloyd Ogilvie. Their churches are part of traditional denominations and, except for Schuller, these pastors have effectively submitted themselves to a local congregation. 12
Broadcasting revival crusades and church services were not the only options for the televangelists. As cable television gained strength, some of them turned to the format of talk shows. Three examples are Pat Robertson, Jim Bakker, and Paul Crouch. Televangelists such as Roberts, Swaggart, and Falwell are the descendants of the revivalists. Not so with Robertson, Bakker, and Crouch. They have taken their format from television, not from the church or revival meetings. As Robertson told an interviewer, “The biggest mistake that pastors make is to superimpose their ‘thing’ on the media. They should discover what the media are doing and then adapt their format.” 13
This talk-show approach combined the revivalist sentiment with the folksy variety and talk-show format. Drawing from Arthur Godrey’s radio programs and Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show,” Robertson fashioned his television ministry, and others followed in his wake. His talk show, the “700 Club,” began in 1963 from scratch.
In order to finance his monthly budget, he asked 700 people to pledge $10 a month. The “700 Club” was born. Within two years came the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN)—a strong cable network and production studio. By the late 1970s, Robertson had established a full graduate university focusing on communications. 14 In describing how all of this began, he stated, “We simply took a format that had worked on commercial networks and applied it to CBN. It was a proven format that had reached millions of Americans.” 15
In the late twentieth century, largely because of financial and sexual irregularities, televangelism acquired a negative reputation. The scandals of 1987 severely tarnished the public image of the televangelists. They became the butt of jokes and sensational news coverage. Money, sex, and religion have always provided a volatile mixture for the news media and fiction writers. Sinclair Lewis’ Elmer Gantry (1927) told the story of a lecherous minister and a seductive prophetess and has since provided the stereotype for clerical misconduct.
John Updike’s A Month of Sundays (1975) introduces us to a sexually promiscuous minister who pursues his female parishioners. Truth, however, can be stranger than fiction. Enter Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart. Even fiction writers would have a hard time topping their stories. 16
Scandals are not new or representative of evangelists and religious broadcasting, however. For example, Aimee Semple McPherson, who had been previously divorced, disappeared in 1926 for several weeks—allegedly with a male friend. Also, evangelists like Billy Graham have been above the fray. He and others have neither engaged in sexual affairs nor lavish living. The financial issue, nevertheless, continues to dog those in the electronic church. While constantly begging for donations, a number of them have lived extravagantly.
To combat this problem, the National Religious Broadcasting association (NRB) devised new ethical guidelines for the electronic church. Still, compliance is voluntary and cannot be enforced by either the NRB or the government, and it has not curtailed financial irregularities. As late as 2004, for example, Christianity Today noted the lavish lifestyles of televangelist Joyce Meyer, Trinity Broadcasting Network president Paul Crouch, and Hank Hanegraaft, host of the “Bible Answer Man”—a nationally syndicated daily radio program. 17
ELECTRONIC CHURCH THEOLOGY
Does the electronic church have a theology? In any pure sense the answer is no. Some people, indeed, would regard the terms electronic church and theology as an oxymoron. Not having a theology, however, is a key to the success of the electronic church. Or as Ben Armstrong approvingly says, “Relying on the everyday language of the work-day world rather than the language of theologians and Bible commentaries, Schuller (and most others as well) captures the interest of the viewer.” 18
In a disapproving way, William F. Fore contends that the televangelists have an “inherent bias toward gross, simplified linear messages which fit commercial needs.” 19 Some individuals even contend that theology is an elitist discipline. If this is so, it runs counter to the ethos of the televangelists, who are populists and practical to the core. Simplicity is the key characteristic of the electronic church’s belief system. 20
While the electronic church may not have a formal theology, the televangelists repeatedly target certain religious themes. From their messages, Jeffrey Hadden and Charles Swann have distilled twelve elements. The Bible is the “central authority” for all areas of life and it is interpreted literally. Or as one bumper sticker declared, “God spoke it. The Bible declares it. I believe it.” Two, they staunchly oppose evolution. Three, the televangelists adopt “a mechanical view of providence,” viewing the hand of God in most activities. Four, they clearly distinguish between God’s love and wrath, believing that God blesses the righteous and punishes the wrong doers.
Five, missions are given a high priority. The gospel must be proclaimed throughout the world before the return of Christ. Closely related is their “conversionist theology,” which makes the new birth the criterion for being a Christian. Seven, many televangelists have a Pentecostal orientation and speak of being “Spirit-filled.” Eight, an active satanology reinforces their Manichaean worldview. Satan is at work in the world and is the source of all evil and disagreements. Nine, nearly all televangelists embrace a premillennial theology, insisting that the Second Coming of Christ looms on the horizon.
Ten, their theological-political views were staunchly anti-communist (before communism collapsed) and are still pro Israel—a position that coincides with their eschatology. Eleven, the televangelists embrace American nationalism, insisting that the nation has been chosen by God to perform his work in the world and fight the Antichrist. Finally, they proclaim moral absolutes that uphold their social views: family values, the male-dominated family, prayer in the schools and opposition to abortion, homosexual rights, and the ACLU. 21
AT HOME IN THE CULTURE
American culture has powerfully influenced the electronic church as it has nearly all aspects of religion. Television, in turn, has had a tremendous impact on the nation’s economic, social, cultural, and political trends. As a result, the electronic church more accurately reflects American culture than it does the Christian faith. One should regard it as more of an American phenomenon than a Christian development. As in many aspects of evangelicalism, it is difficult to tell just where the culture lets off and the faith begins. The electronic church can be legitimately criticized at many points. But an attack on televangelism is an assault on American culture itself. 22
In what general ways does the electronic church mirror American culture? Americans love entertainment and dramatic presentations, which the televangelists provide. They also proclaim messages of affluence, individualism, and answers to felt needs. Like the rest of American society, the electronic church is market driven—it must give its viewers what they want to hear. Reflecting the impulses of the evangelical subculture, the televangelists are populists and pragmatists. Their message is simple and avoids complex ideas and is proclaimed in emotional tones. Television provides its viewers with an experience, and evangelicals insist on a personal experience as central to the Christian faith.
America is an entertainment-driven culture, and in the late twentieth-century television became the primary vehicle for amusement. Thanks to television, Americans expect to be entertained in many areas of life, including the church. There is only a fine line between entertainment and worship. Instead of being an expression of adoration to God, contemporary worship has often become a form of entertainment, and the electronic church has excelled in this. Televangelists are first and foremost entertainers. They package a church service in a dramatic way that captivates their audiences. They have figured out “how to dress the old-fashioned gospel in novel, entertaining clothing.” 23
A sense of the dramatic can captivate a congregation. Evangelicals have been employing drama as a means to present the gospel since the days of George Whitfield. Television, however, magnifies the drama inherent in Christianity and often sensationalizes the Christian life by hyperbole and excesses. The televangelists present the Christian faith in the most dramatic terms. A great cosmic battle is raging. In this conflict, Christians are aligned with the forces of God against Satan. The struggles of life do not have natural causes; they are caused by Satan. The liberals, secular humanists, Hollywood entertainers, media (except Fox News) and feminists are doing the work of Satan. 24
Television has caused major problems for the local pastor. Entertainment programs present life in simple black-and-white terms. In doing so, television has enhanced its viewers’ taste for entertainment and drama, and has reduced their ability to think about complex issues. To accommodate this trend, successful televangelists entertain and present their message in simple dramatic terms. The traditional seminary-trained pastor, who preaches a content-based sermon with notes, cannot compete with the televangelist.
Such sermons are not as entertaining or dramatic, and often raise complex issues. Television also elevates a sense of the dramatic by portraying evil as outside of us: the criminal, the gunslinger, the drug dealer, the Indian, or terrorist. The hero has no taint of evil. Thus evangelicals often do not see the “speck in their own eye.” Rather, they tend to neglect spiritual discernment and embrace a “knee-jerk” morality. Moral or social wrongs are always in the enemies’ camp, not in their own backyard. 25
THE CULT OF PERSONALITY
A closely related issue is the cult of the personality. Lacking religious traditions, Americans, especially evangelicals, have always been obsessed with celebrities. They are not primarily interested in issues and ideas but in people and personalities. Radio and television have only accelerated this trend. The electronic church rests on this foundation. Without the celebrity status of the pastor or host, such churches would collapse.
Conservative Protestants long for their own popes or gurus, and the televangelists meet this need. They are the last word in nearly everything. They are the interpreter of God’s Word, whether it be Scripture or God speaking directly to them. Or, as Quentin Schultze puts it, “The televangelist presumed to be like God, communicating through space directly to millions of individuals and personalities. He is not only a person, but the special person that represents God to his people.” 26
Evangelical Christianity has been a primary ground for aberrant or fringe religious groups, often labeled as cults. Several factors account for this development, but one reason is that evangelicals are caught up with the “cult of the personality” and defer to authoritarian leaders who have a “new word of truth.” This tendency is not limited to some groups on the fringes of evangelicalism.
Rather, it can be detected close to the center of evangelicalism—in the mega and electronic churches, especially those that embrace the health and wealth gospel. These churches are often dominated by charismatic personalities who have created personal kingdoms in which the king is beyond discipline. 27
This obsession with personalities has led to another problem for the electronic church—succession of leadership. The electronic church’s existence rests on the shoulders of one charismatic leader. It does not have strong denominational or institutional roots. What happens when the leader is gone or discredited? Sometimes the ministry dissolves. A number of televangelists have attempted to deal with this problem by grooming their sons as their successors. Roberts, Schuller, Robertson, Falwell, Swaggart, and Graham have made it a family affair. Their sons and even grandsons have either replaced them or are waiting in the wings. 28
In yet other ways, celebrity status is important. Throughout history, Christians have been enthralled by testimonies of successful people. Television has increased this fascination. Evangelicals love to hear testimonies. The electronic church meets this need by focusing on the testimonies of unique or famous people.
Quite often, such testimonies tend to dwell on the material or physical blessings that God has bestowed or even their own accomplishments. The televangelists and megachurch leaders gain celebrity status in another way—quantity. The televangelist points to the stack of letters, donations, or TV ratings. The super-church pastor looks to the size of his church. In doing this, both churches are more American than they are Christian. 29
BIBLICAL ILLITERACY
The cult of the personality rests on another evangelical characteristic—biblical illiteracy. Such ignorance can be traced back to the colonial days, but the electronic church has given it a new boost. In the old democratic market-driven spirit, the nineteenth-century revivalists gave their listeners what they wanted to hear—the simple gospel in a very popular style. This type of preaching has reduced what evangelicals know about the Bible.
Despite people parading into churches with Bibles, twenty-first-century evangelicals have only a shallow understanding of Scripture. And the electronic church has furthered this ignorance. From the televangelists, one hears the simple gospel, a shallow pop faith, or sermons that rant and rave about secular society. This biblical ignorance is one of the reasons evangelicals tend to donate millions of dollars to questionable enterprises, especially programs advocating the health-and wealth-gospel. 30
Related to this biblical illiteracy is the educational background of the televangelists. The vast majority of them have a limited education: Bible school or less. Some regard a seminary education as a disadvantage: it dulls the voice of the Holy Spirit and introduces one to complex and unnecessary ideas. The lack of respect for higher education, of course, squares with evangelicalism’s populist and pragmatic character. Early in the nineteenth century, the educated elite ceased to direct the thinking of popular evangelicalism. And they still do not. On a popular level, the modern evangelical mind is largely being shaped by uneducated preachers or writers.
Also connected with personality types is the southern character of the televangelists. Most popular televangelists either come from the South or have had a southern orientation: Roberts, Robertson, Falwell, Stanley, Swaggart, Robinson, Copeland, Humbard, and Graham. But Schuller and Bakker did not come from the South. Northern churches tend to be more middle-class, professional, and rational.
Their sermons often resemble academic lectures. Not so with southern evangelicals who were reared on revivalism. Reflecting the oral tradition of the South, their sermons tended to be simple, spontaneous, emotional, and resembled story telling. Such sermons engage a television audience and have become the norm with the televangelists. In turn, the electronic church has influenced preaching styles in all areas of the country, including the local church. 31
Closely related to this southern style of preaching is the Pentecostal orientation of the televangelists. Even more than southern preachers, Pentecostals can whip up an audience into an emotional frenzy. Such fervent expressions of feeling connect well with television’s emphasis on the experiential, not the rational. With the rise of cable television, the dominance of Pentecostals in the electronic church has become even more pronounced.
ENTREPRENEURIAL RELIGION
Perhaps the closest relationship between the electronic church and American culture rests in their market orientation. In America’s free market, religion must compete with many cultural attractions or it will not survive. Of any religious group, evangelicals have evidenced a competitive and entrepreneurial spirit. Throughout history, they have constantly adapted their methods of presenting the gospel to the surrounding culture and changing circumstances. The old-fashioned gospel has been shaped to the tastes of its audience. Consequently, this Americanized gospel reflects the values of popular culture and not the historic faith. 32
The electronic church has carried these entrepreneurial trends even further. Television airtime is very expensive. So the televangelists must not just preach the gospel, they must convince viewers that their ministry deserves financial support. Such a situation has many implications. The televangelists are under pressure to increase their audience, ratings, and contributions. This prompts them to embrace an old American marketing concept, that is, to adjust their message to suit their audience. They cannot preach “what people ought to hear, but must preach what people desire to hear.” 33
In American society, only a fine line separates the preacher from the salesman (or a politician for that matter). And in fund raising the televangelists often step over this line and become hucksters. In persuading their viewers to finance their ministry, they issue threats and claims. They say that their ministry will go off the air if money does not come in. Or, it is God’s will that you give and he will bless you if you do. The televangelists may exaggerate the influence of their ministry and insist that any opposition comes from Satan. 34
The electronic church’s marketing strategies can also be seen in its embrace of technology. Throughout their history Americans, including evangelicals, have been fascinated with technology. Evangelicals have always used the most advanced technology to promote the gospel, and the televangelists are no exception to this trend. In its television productions and presentations, the electronic church is very sophisticated, often on the cutting edge of technological innovations.
The old stereotype of a backward people does not hold up in most respects, especially in the use of technology. In fundraising and promoting its product, the electronic church is also quite advanced. On the air, televangelists offer “specials” as do businesses. If you make a donation of a certain amount, you will receive some object—a cup, a memento, a book, a tape, jewelry, and more. With the advent of computer-driven direct mail solicitations, the televangelists jumped on board. Like a business, they mass mail to millions of viewers, soliciting money or publicizing their ministry. 35
WHAT’S THE IMPACT?
What impact is the electronic church having on the local church? Is it drawing people and money away from local congregations? The answer is generally no. The faithful still attend and support the local church. Are large numbers of people being converted to Christianity through the programs of the electronic church? No! Studies show that few people are converted because of the ministry of the electronic church. The major impact of the electronic church is subtle but profound. It is changing the way evangelicals are doing church. 36
Most important, because the electronic church is market driven it caters to popular expectations. It is entertainment and experience driven. In moving in this direction, it forces the local church to compete or decline. Compared to the electronic church or megachurch, traditional services are boring and not “spirit-filled.” Denominational leaders and pastors thus change the way church life is practiced.
They also strive to accommodate popular tastes in music, sermons, and church activities. Worship becomes a form of entertainment and popular music replaces traditional songs. Sermons are watered down; charismatic preaching replaces biblical exposition. Experience and feelings become more important than serious thinking. 37
The electronic church is a private religion. You do not have to meet people; you turn the dial to the right station. On the contrary, the New Testament knows only one kind of Christianity—a congregational faith. The electronic church will not become a denomination, largely because it is so independent. Still, as described by Robert Wuthnow, the electronic church is furthering the restructuring of American religion. Religion is moving away from the denominational structure to more decentralized forms—the parachurch, nondenominational churches, loose federations, and private forms of the faith. And the electronic church should be seen as a factor in this transition. 38
NOTES
1. Much of this article has been excerpted from my book, Evangelicalism: An Americanized Christianity, published by Transaction Publishers of Rutgers University. This book contends that much of American evangelicalism reflects American culture. So much is this the case that many aspects of the evangelical subculture have baptized American culture, especially its political and economic systems. Thus segments of the culture have been endowed with Christian characteristics.
2. Quentin J. Schultze, “The Electronic Church,” in Dictionary of Christianity in America, ed. Daniel G. Reid et al. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1990), 385.
3. Quentin J. Schultze, Televangelism and American Culture (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1991), 28.
4. Schultze, Television and American Culture, 29; Robert M. Bowman Jr., The Word-Faith Controversy: Understanding the Health and Wealth Gospel (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2001), 8, 9.
5. See Gregor T.Goethals, The TV Ritual: Worship at the Altar (Boston: Beacon, 1981), 125–44.
6. R. Lawrence Moore, Selling God: American Religion in the Marketplace (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994), 245; Quentin J. Schultze, “Evangelical Radio the and Rise of the Electronic Church, 1921–1948,” Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 3, 32 (1988): 292–94; Tona J. Hangen, Redeeming the Dial: Radio, Religion, and Popular Culture in America (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2002), 48–53; Douglas Carl Abrams, Selling the Old-Time Religion: American Fundamemtalism and Mass Culture, 1920–1940 (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2001), 58, 59; Dave Berkman, “Long Before Falwell: Early Radio and Religion—As Reported by the Nation’s Periodical Press,” Journal of Popular Culture 21 (Spring 1988): 1–11; Spencer Miller, Jr. “Radio and Religion,” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 177 (January 1935): 135–40.
7. Rozelle Frankl, Televangelism: The Marketing of Popular Religion (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1987), 5, 6; Quentin J. Schultze, “TV Revivalism: Show Biz and Big Biz,” Christianity Today 7 (August 1987): 51, 52; Jeffrey K. Hadden and Anson Shupe, Televangelism: Power and Politics on God’s Frontier (New York: Henry Holt, 1988), 44.
8. Bobby C. Alexander, Televangelism Reconsidered: Ritual in the Search for Human Community (Atlanta: Scholars, 1994), 59, 60; Frankl, Televangelism, 65–73.
9. Alexander, Televangelism, 59,60 (quote); Peter G. Horsfield, Religious Television: The American Experience (New York: Longman, 1984), 9, 10; Thomas C. Durfey and James A. Ferrier, Religious Broadcast Management Handbook (Grand Rapids, MI: Academic, 1986), 34.
10. Schultze, Televangelism and American Culture, 38, 55; Schultze, “Electronic Church,” 385; Erling Jorstad, The Politics of Moralism (Minneapolis: Augusburg, 1981), 26, 27; Frankl, Televangelism, 106–15; Hadden and Shupe, Televangelism, 119.
11. David Edwin Harrell, Jr. Oral Roberts: An American Life (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1985), 268–70; Jorstad, Politics of Moralism, 26; Schultze, Televangelism and American Culture, 55; John Mariani, “Milking the Flock: Television Evangelism,” Saturday Review 3 (February 1979): 79; David Edwin Harrel, Jr., All Things Are Possible: The Healing and Charismatic Revivals in Modern America (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1975), 155, 156.
12. Schultze, Televangelism and American Culture, 29, 205, 228.
13. Ibid., 66 (quote).
14. Frankl, Televangelism, 108, 109; Schultze, Televangelism and American Culture, 102; Mark G. Toulouse, “Marion Gordon ‘Pat’ Robertson,” in Dictionary of Christianity in America, 1021, 1022; Moore, Selling God, 249, 250; Carol Flake, Redemptorama: Culture, Politics, and New Evangelicalism (New York: Penguin, 1984), 135.
15. “The Gospel Boom,” Saturday Evening Post (April 1979): 36 (quote). See also Richard A. Blake, “Catholic, Protestant, Electric,” America 15 (March 1980): 213.
16. Patrick Allitt, Religion in America Since 1945: A History (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003), 191; Richard N. Ostling, “Enterprising Evangelicalism, “ Time, 3 August 1987, 50–53.
17. Schultze, Televangelism and American Culture, 27; Schultze, “Electronic Church,” 386; Marshall Allen, “Naïve Bookkeeping,” Christianity Today (August 2003): 19, 20; Corrie Cuter, “Joyce Meyer Ministry Flap,” Christianity Today (March 2004): 22; Thomas C. Oden, “Truth or Consequences: A Biblical Guide to Accountability,” Christianity Today 18 (March 1988); “TBN Under Microscope,” Christianity Today (November 2004), 19.
18. Ben Armstrong, The Electronic Church (New York: Thomas Nelson, 1979), 112.
19. William F. Fore, “The Church and the Electronic Media,” Ministry (January 1979): 5.
20. William Hendricks, “The Theology of the Electronic Church,” Review and Expositor 81 (Winter): 59.
21. Jeffrey K. Hadden and Charles E. Swann, Prime Time Preachers: The Rising Power of Televangelism (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1981), 85–102 (quotes). See also Hendricks, “The Theology of the Electronic Church,” 59–75.
22. Schultze, “Electronic Church,” 386.
23. Bruce David Forbes, “Introduction,” in Religion and Popular Culture in America, ed. Bruce David Forbes and Jeffrey H. Mahan (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000), 13; Schultze, Television and American Culture, 39, 40 (quote).
24. Schultze, Television and American Culture, 98, 117. See Harry S. Stout, The Divine Dramatist: George Whitefield and the Rise of Modern Evangelicalism (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991); Frank Lambert, “Peddlar in Divinity: George Whitefield and the Great Awakening, 1737–47,” Journal of American History 77, no. 3 (1990): 812–29.
25. Schultze, Televangelism and American Culture, 19, 117, 118. See John Shelton Lawrence and Robert Jewett, The Myth of the American Superhero (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002.
26. Schultze, Televangelism and American Culture, 32, 33, 70, 74, 79 (quote); Richard Quebedeaux, By What Authority: The Rise of Personality Cults in American Christianity (New York: Harper and Row, 1982), 53–69. See Douglas F. Barnes, “Charisma and Religious Leadership: An Historical Analysis,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 17, 1 (1978): 1–18.
27. Richard Kyle, The Religious Fringe: A History of Alternative Religions in America (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1993), 328, 329.
28. Schultze, Televangelism and American Culture, 87, 90: Richard N. Ostling, “Enterprising Evangelicalism,” Time, 3 August 1987, 53.
29. Schultze, Televangelism and American Culture, 36, 72; Martin Marty, “I Think,” The Lutheran Standard (2) January 1979: 13.
30. Schultze, Televangelism and American Culture, 19, 129; Quebedeaux, By What Authority, 76, 77.
31. Schultze, Televangelism and American Culture, 19, 83, 84; Mark A. Shibley, Resurgent Evangelicalism in the United States: Mapping Cultural Change since 1970 (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1996), 1–23.
32. Schultze, Televangelism and American Culture, 31, 159.
33. Ibid. 26, 17, 131 (quote).
34. Ibid. 162, 163.
35. Schultze, Televangelism and American Culture, 37,38; Randall Balmer, Blessed Assurance: A History of Evangelicalism (Boston: Beacon, 1999), 10.
36. J. Thomas Bisset, “Religious Broadcasting: Assessing the State of the Art,” Christianity Today 12 (December 1980): 28–31; Schultze, Televangelism and American Culture, 203, 204; Marty, “I Think”; William D. Romanowski, Eyes WideOpen: Looking for God in Popular Culture (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2001), 71.
37. William F. Fore, “Beyond the Electronic Church,” The Christian Century, 7–14 January 1981, 29, 30.
38. Marty, “I Think,” 11, 12; Robert Wuthow, The Restructuring of American Religion (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988), 71–99. See Thomas Luckmann, The Invisible Religion (New York: Macmillian, 1967): Alan Jamieson, A Churchless Faith (London: SPCK, 2002).
Richard Kyle is professor of history and religion at Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas. He is the author of Evangelicalism: An Americanized Christianity, published in 2006.

De los protestantismos históricos a los pentecostalismos latinoamericanos:
análisis de una mutación religiosa
Jean-Pierre Bastian

Mi intervención girará en torno a un tema sumamente importante
para el estudio de las sociedades latinoamericanas, el factor religioso minoritario, y en particular el que se suele llamar protestantismo. Los protestantismos tienen una larga trayectoria en la región latinoamericana y, sin
duda alguna, su desarrollo y su crecimiento exponencial en estos últimos
treinta o cuarenta años han llamado la atención de los científicos sociales
con estudios generalmente enfocados a ciertas expresiones religiosas pentecostales.

No faltan algunas monografías acerca de movimientos específicos
en ciertos países privilegiados al respecto, en particular Brasil y la Iglesia
Universal del Reino de Dios, por ejemplo.

Esta ponencia tiene la virtud de referirse a los fenómenos actuales pero
a través del análisis de la larga duración y del lazo entre los protestantismos de ayer y los pentecostalismos de hoy. Creo que esta perspectiva histórica en general no está presente en los estudios sociológicos que se dedican al estudio de los pentecostalismos, y es muy necesario mantener el enlace entre las formas originarias de disidencias religiosas protestantes que se desarrollaron en la región con las expresiones actuales de los pentecostalismos.

Eso para entender mejor qué tipo de cambio y qué tipo de mutación
religiosa están desarrollándose en la región. De hecho, en torno al acercamiento de larga duración del fenómeno religioso disidente de protestantes en la región latinoamericana, mis estudios han sido pioneros, en gran parte porque me interesé por el desarrollo del protestantismo antes y durante la revolución mexicana de 1910, para explicar la influencia que tuvieron esas minorías religiosas activas en la ruptura que desencadenó el movimiento revolucionario mexicano.

Eso me llevó a tomar en cuenta el protestantismo como un fenómeno social que había que estudiar en relación con el contexto social, económico y político que permitió su inserción en la región latinoamericana. Esos estudios han sido necesarios para interrogar la significación de la ruptura del campo religioso que implicó esta irrupción de un nuevo movimiento religioso en la región. Además, estudiar este fenómeno en la larga duración ha permitido salir de una visión hagiográfica de estos movimientos, para entenderlos contextualmente.

Me di cuenta de que el protestantismo existe, no sólo como fenómeno socio-religioso, sino también como interrogación y como cuestión central en la perspectiva de entender el desarrollo de la modernidad en la región latinoamericana.

Históricamente, es un movimiento que pone en tela de juicio los
mecanismos de poder y de legitimación ligados a la sociedad colonial en
América Latina. Por eso, abordar estos movimientos en la larga duración
es entenderlos como constitutivos de la historia de América Latina. Han
estado presentes más bien como interrogación desde el periodo colonial,
y esto en particular porque la sociedad colonial latinoamericana se construyó en enlace con el movimiento de contrarreforma católica.

Esto explica por qué el protestantismo, aunque presente a través de libros y de corsarios, ha sido reprimido desde el inicio de la colonia, en particular
a través de la Inquisición. Por tanto fue sólo a partir del siglo XIX y el
comienzo de las independencias que empezó a dibujarse la posibilidad de
otorgar una cierta tolerancia religiosa para los extranjeros radicados en la
región. Eso dio lugar a la aparición de algunas manifestaciones religiosas
protestantes que quedaron restringidas a las poblaciones de comerciantes
y de artesanos o de técnicos que vinieron con las compañías norteamericanas,
inglesas o alemanas.

La perspectiva de larga duración tiene que incluir esta protohistoria
de los movimientos religiosos disidentes. Sin embargo, la historia de
estos movimientos empieza fundamentalmente con la ruptura liberal de
la mitad del siglo XIX. Voy a desarrollar entonces la ponencia en torno
a dos elementos centrales para entender la perspectiva de larga duración.

La primera tratará el lazo entre lo que llamamos los protestantismos históricos y el liberalismo decimonónico, y la segunda parte se centrará en
la transformación de estos protestantismos y a la vez en la transformación
del mundo religioso latinoamericano con la expansión fenomenal de los
movimientos pentecostales; esto nos llevará directamente a la situación
actual de pluralismo y de diversificación religiosa en cada país y en toda
la región latinoamericana.

Para abordar la expansión de los movimientos protestantes históricos
desde el periodo de las reformas liberales, tienen que tomarse en cuenta
cinco puntos centrales.

El primer punto tocará el lazo con la reforma liberal; el segundo punto intentará examinar la expansión y la geografía de estos movimientos durante los regímenes oligárquicos y conservadores; el tercer punto girará en torno a la pedagogía liberal de aquellos movimientos; el cuarto punto intentará comprender su participación en las luchas revolucionarias antioligárquicas, y un quinto punto abarcará la situación de estos movimientos a partir de los años treinta hasta la mutación religiosa
de los años cincuenta del siglo XX.

El primer aspecto esencial es entender que, si bien estos movimientos
vinieron desde afuera de América Latina con influencia de las misiones
norteamericanas, fue la irrupción del liberalismo y el triunfo del liberalismo radical en toda la región latinoamericana los que permitieron precisamente su expansión y difusión.

Estas reformas liberales fueron clave para desarrollar en toda la región nuevas constituciones que otorgaron, entre otras cosas, la libertad de culto, y permitieron otras medidas como la laicización y secularización del registro civil, la secularización de los cementerios, la separación de la Iglesia y el Estado, y en algunos países como México, fueron incluso hasta la ruptura con los lazos diplomáticos con el Vaticano.

Esta radicalización anticatólica fue un elemento central para que algunas minorías liberales tomaran iniciativas para desarrollar nuevas
asociaciones, en particular nuevas logias masónicas, pero también otras
asociaciones religiosas como los movimientos espiritistas y protestantes.

Por tanto, es en el marco del conflicto constitutivo de la modernidad
latinoamericana que se tiene que entender la emergencia de las asociaciones
religiosas protestantes y su sentido. Lejos de ser sólo o principalmente la
consecuencia de una iniciativa de expansión misionera norteamericana,
podemos decir que las sociedades protestantes estaban ligadas al desarrollo
de la cultura política del liberalismo radical latinoamericano y a la efervescencia asociativa que los mismos liberales intentaron propiciar dentro de la sociedad civil con el fin de ir creándose una base de poder.

La historiografía latinoamericanista ha empezado a interesarse en estas asociaciones no sólo religiosas sino también políticas. Pienso en las sociedades democráticas en Colombia, entre 1850 y 1854, las sociedades de la igualdad en Chile, también alrededor de los años cincuenta, o las sociedades llamadas de reforma en México. Estas formas asociativas nuevas participaron de una dinámica de la sociedad civil que intentó crear un nuevo espíritu, un
espíritu de asociación que se oponía al espíritu corporativo y colonial que concebía la sociedad como una estructura vertical y patrimonial.
Esta nuevas sociedades fueron percibidas por los liberales como una manera de ir quebrando el eje religioso y cultural de las sociedades coloniales, y eso en particular porque los intentos de cismas católicos abortaron1.
Los liberales radicalizados vieron en los protestantismos históricos una de las pocas posibilidades de ir combatiendo a la Iglesia católica sobre el propio terreno religioso. Por tanto no fue un accidente el hecho de que poco a poco en los años sesenta y setenta del siglo XIX se hayan estructurado movimientos religiosos disidentes y protestantes que rápidamente, aunque al inicio fruto de las iniciativas liberales, se vincularon con las sociedades misioneras protestantes norteamericanas.
Eso es el punto determinante para explicar el contexto en el que surgieron los movimientos protestantes históricos desde adentro de las minorías liberales radicalizadas de la mitad del siglo XIX.
Ahora bien, la expansión de las comunidades religiosas protestantes
fue realmente rápida a partir del final de los años 1870, pero se dio ya no en
el contexto del liberalismo radical sino en el de los regímenes oligárquicos
liberales o en el de los regímenes conservadores o neoconservadores que
por doquier tomaron el poder. Aquí hay que tomar en cuenta un elemento
clave que es el hecho de que la Iglesia católica reaccionó al radicalismo de
mediados de siglo con una política religiosa de alianza con los regímenes
liberales oligárquicos y, por supuesto, de enlace estrecho con los regímenes
conservadores.
En este contexto, el protestantismo siguió una expansión geográfica que fue la de la geografía de las minorías liberales que se oponían a los regímenes oligárquicos liberales y, obviamente, a los conservadores.
Al contrario de los liberales llamados “de conveniencia”, estas minorías
liberales se opusieron en particular a las políticas de conciliación, como se
las llamó, con un catolicismo que de hecho se articuló a la encíclica Quanta
Cura y al Syllabus de 1864 de Pío IX que denunciaba los movimientos
liberales y las disidencias religiosas.

Este mismo catolicismo, que había sido más bien defensivo, pasó a la ofensiva con la encíclica Rerum Novarum de 1891 del papa León XIII. Durante este periodo el catolicismo intentó reconquistar los espacios que había perdido en la sociedad civil a través de la creación de redes nuevas de escuelas católicas, de una prensa católica, de alianzas políticas que pasaron por la creación de movimientos católicos y, por supuesto, a través de los concordatos que el Vaticano mismo pudo concretar con los diferentes regímenes políticos en la región.

1 Los hubo en varios países, en particular en México.
Por consiguiente, es en este contexto político oligárquico y neoconservador,
de reconquista católica, que hay que ubicar la expansión de las sociedades protestantes. En este contexto, y este es el tercer punto, los espacios
abiertos fueron espacios de radicalización religiosa pero a la vez política.

Aunque su importancia numérica fue realmente reducida, no hay que
menospreciar el espacio y el laboratorio que ellas propiciaron para unas minorías liberales. De hecho, para medir su importancia no debemos tomar
en cuenta el factor numérico sino el factor asociativo y de diseminación de
los núcleos asociativos en los diferentes países de América Latina, siguiendo
esta geografía liberal radicalizada. En esta geografía, las sociedades protestantes históricas, al igual que las logias masónicas y los movimientos espiritistas, por ejemplo, sirvieron como laboratorios donde se inculcaron nuevos valores que estaban en ruptura con los de la sociedad tradicional.

Fueron laboratorios en los que se fue creando el individuo ciudadano de la
modernidad liberal y democrática. En aquellas sociedades se propiciaban
elecciones de mesas directivas y en general se desarrollaron organizaciones
de tipo parlamentario con sínodos, con consejos y con formas de dirección
que permitían ensayar formas democráticas de control social. Eso pasó
también a través de las escuelas, primarias y secundarias, preparatorias o
técnicas, que aquellas sociedades fueron desarrollando y que dirigieron a
los jóvenes venidos de estas minorías liberales a nivel rural y urbano.

Propiciaron para estos jóvenes el acceso y el fortalecimiento de una cultura política liberal radicalizada, anticatólica y antioligárquica. Eso pasó a través de ceremonias cívicas en las que recordaron las hazañas de los héroes liberales de mitad del siglo XIX, del tipo Juárez para México, pero también con las grandes fiestas cívicas que los liberales solían celebrar, como en México el aniversario de la Constitución de 1857 en el mes de febrero o la independencia, el 15 de septiembre.

Eso permitió ir rescatando la memoria de las grandes figuras liberales y desarrollar un discurso antioligárquico y anticatólico, que favoreció precisamente esta cultura política. Estas asociaciones fueron momentos y espacios privilegiados para ir creando redes sociales que en cada país sirvieron como crisol y como fermento para propiciar los cambios sociales y políticos que luego tomaron cuerpo a partir del inicio de las primeras décadas del siglo XX en la región.

El cuarto punto que me parece importante es que estas sociedades
protestantes, portadoras de una cultura liberal radical, sirvieron como base
para promover una participación social y política en la región. Participaron activamente en las luchas antioligárquicas en varios países aunque el ejemplo excepcional es el contexto mexicano, pues como lo he demostrado en mi obra Los disidentes (1989), estas sociedades protestantes fueron clave en la ruptura revolucionaria, y sus dirigentes y socios fueron en algunos casos los dirigentes políticos de los movimientos revolucionarios; pienso en el caso de Pascual Orozco en el noroeste de México y del general Gutiérrez en la zona sureste de Tabasco.

Esto se reprodujo de una manera u otra en otros contextos. En Perú, el Colegio Anglo-peruano de la ciudad de Lima fue el lugar donde ejerció Víctor Haya de la Torre, el fundador de la Alianza Revolucionaria Popular Americana, APRA. Este colegio protestante sirvió de crisol en donde jóvenes intelectuales se fueron enlazando en momentos previos a la lucha política en torno a Haya de la Torre, aunque este movimiento, a diferencia del mexicano, nunca triunfó. Lo mismo ocurrió también en Cuba, en donde las sociedades protestantes estuvieron estrechamente ligadas al movimiento independentista de 1898, aunque con una participación en la sociedad cubana desde los años de 1870. Podríamos analizar esta situación en otros países como Brasil o Argentina e incluso Colombia, pero lo importante es subrayar que estas sociedades protestantes significaron un espacio privilegiado para este tipo de actuación alrededor del cambio social y político liberal radicalizado.

El quinto punto tiene que ver con qué ocurrió con estos movimientos
a partir de los años 1930 y en adelante. Estos movimientos en algunos países
perdieron su importancia política, en parte porque en algunos de ellos
triunfaron las revoluciones, y por tanto otros actores entraron en la vanguardia
y aquellos se marginaron. En otros países vivieron una persecución
y una represión realmente ejemplares. Fue el caso de Colombia después
del Bogotazo de 1948, durante el régimen de Laureano Gómez, cuando
la persecución a las minorías liberales, que produjeron unos 85.000 muertos,
ocasionaron también cierto número de muertos entre los protestantes.

Éstos quedaron francamente reducidos en aquel momento a causa de una
asidua represión hacia las escuelas, los templos y la prensa. En otros países de América Latina se mezcló anti-radicalismo y antiprotestantismo,
de tal modo que al final de los años 1940 y 1950 este movimiento
religioso solía ser denunciado como vanguardia del imperialismo
norteamericano, a pesar de un pasado que, repito, fue totalmente distinto.

Podemos decir que en los años cincuenta los protestantismos históricos
eran un fenómeno religioso anecdótico, extremadamente marginal pues ni
siquiera representaba el 1% de la población en la región. Sobrevivían dentro
de un contexto en donde los actores que habían sido necesarios para su
expansión habían en gran parte desaparecido. El liberalismo en particular
estaba siendo transformado por nuevas perspectivas ideológicas, al lado del marxismo y de los movimientos revolucionarios de los años sesenta, que hicieron que el protestantismo no viviera un segundo periodo de enlace con aquellas ideologías nuevas que de hecho eran no solamente anticatólicas sino también antirreligiosas y anticlericales.
Por tanto, en los años 1950, el protestantismo en América Latina parecía sin futuro, condenado a la marginalidad y a la oscuridad a pesar de su intensa participación en los intentos democráticos anteriores. Nadie se imaginaba lo que iba ocurrir con la expansión exponencial de los pentecostalismos.
Lo anterior nos lleva a abordar la segunda parte de esta ponencia, en
torno al movimiento religioso que rápidamente estuvo sustituyendo a los
protestantismos históricos: hablo de los pentecostalismos. Éstos empezaron
a alcanzar cierta visibilidad durante los años de 1950, pero habían surgido
al inicio del siglo XX. El movimiento pentecostal irrumpió en 1906 en los
suburbios de la ciudad de Los Ángeles, en la llamada Asuza Street, como
una primera manifestación de una expresión religiosa protestante efervescente
en torno a las expresiones entusiastas de fieles de origen popular
sacudidos por lo que llamaban el “poder del Espíritu Santo”.

El movimiento rápidamente se expandió en el resto de Estados Unidos pero también hacia América Latina con una primera expresión en Chile, en el puerto de Valparaíso, donde en una sociedad metodista surgió una tendencia pentecostal en 1910. Rápidamente unas expresiones de este pentecostalismo se
manifestaron desde 1914 en el noreste de Brasil y en el noroeste de México,
y así poco a poco surgieron otros estallidos pentecostales en toda la región
latinoamericana.

Sin embargo fue un movimiento que pasó completamente desapercibido hasta los años cincuenta, quedando restringido a unas poblaciones marginadas y analfabetas, entre sectores sociales oprimidos y marginados, ignorados por las elites sociales y las vanguardias ideológicas liberales y protestantes. En este sentido, la observación realizada por un periódico chileno sobre el fenómeno de Valparaíso, donde encontraban que era un movimiento de indígenas, tipificaba la percepción que los liberales se hacían del pentecostalismo en sus inicios.

Este movimiento ignorado, despreciado incluso por los protestantismos
históricos hasta los años sesenta, empezó a partir de los años veinte
una difusión y una expansión que de hecho hoy día han cambiado las
relaciones de fuerzas en el campo religioso latinoamericano.

La difusión y expansión se aceleraron con los años de 1950 en la medida en que las poblaciones y las sociedades latinoamericanas vivieron cambios drásticos a partir de entonces, con las migraciones masivas de campesinos hacia lo que iban a ser las grandes metrópolis de los distintos países de la región. Estos campesinos llegados a las ciudades vivieron lo que se llama un estado de anomia, de pérdida de valores, perdiendo su mundo tradicional y llegando hacia un contexto donde predominaba la racionalidad del trabajo y una sociedad “moderna” que sacudía las formas de comprensión que estos migrantes tenían de sí mismos.

Por tanto, los pentecostalismos como formas asociativas nuevas, centradas en la oralidad, en la emoción, en la creencia cristiana en el Espíritu Santo y en fenómenos de tipo glosolálico, de hablar en lenguas extrañas, experiencias ligadas también a las viejas tradiciones de taumaturgia
y en el exorcismo, fueron movimientos que de hecho interesaron a los
campesinos migrantes hacia las grandes urbes. Aquellos encontraron en el
pentecostalismo un espacio de reestructuración comunitaria y una manera
de reformular sus tradiciones dentro de un marco y un contexto urbano
nuevos.

Este pentecostalismo, si bien era de origen norteamericano, se manifestó como un movimiento esencialmente endógeno y latinoamericano, a través de las tres prácticas que fueron centrales en su modo de expresión religiosa: la glosolalia (el habla en lenguas extrañas), la taumaturgia (las
prácticas de sanidad) y el exorcismo (el combate contra los demonios),
como prácticas religiosas que de hecho no eran propiamente pentecostales
sino que existían en la religiosidad popular latinoamericana.

El primer punto que podemos subrayar, con la gran y rápida expansión
de esta ola religiosa, es una latinización de estos movimientos en medio
de un contexto de competencia generalizada de las sociedades religiosas
en la región. Una lógica de mercado se impuso sobre la lógica anterior, que
era una lógica de articulación de los actores religiosos disidentes con la
tradición liberal radical.

Esta lógica de mercado fue impuesta por las mismas condiciones internacionales de expansión de lo religioso, a través de redes internacionales que hicieron que a partir de los años de 1950 América Latina fuera receptora de movimientos religiosos de distintas índoles, religiones orientales en particular, pero también movimientos esotéricos y movimientos místicos que venían desde Europa y Estados Unidos, y a la misma vez, fuera productora de expresiones religiosas endógenas que se fueron vislumbrando, en particular con nuevos mesianismos de todo tipo.

Dentro de este contexto podemos decir que los pentecostalismos han
desarrollado una “hibridez” que se señala por la yuxtaposición de varios
registros de creencias, formas de comunicación y de transmisión de recursos
que pueden ser a la vez muy arcaicos, como los que he señalado, y a
la vez extremadamente modernos, en particular con la apropiación de los
medios modernos de comunicación; pienso en la televisión y en la radio,
que de hecho fueron elementos privilegiados para la comunicación de una expresión religiosa efervescente que, repito, es de tradición oral y que pone el acento sobre la emoción.
Podríamos decir que en esta “hibridez” se está jugando no sólo la adaptación al mercado latinoamericano, sino también la creación de productos originales, híbridos, que los pentecostalismos han ofrecido en toda la región. Eso se nota en particular a partir de la producción musical con la himnología, que de hecho hasta los años setenta era de origen anglosajón, y que a partir de entonces se transformó en cantos directamente inspirados por las tradiciones musicales populares endógenas.
Hoy día, vemos por doquier desarrollar lo que estos movimientos llaman
“Ministerios de alabanza”, que adoptan la música local, en particular la
samba u otros géneros tropicales como la salsa, etc. Incluso se ha llamado a
este tipo de expresiones musicales con algún tipo de anglicismo “salsa-gospel”
o “zamba-gospel”.

Lo importante es que los pentecostalismos fueron articulándose a la cultura popular, y podemos decir que se han manifestado
como religiones populares latinoamericanas, lo que no habían sido
los protestantismos anteriores, históricos, que habían sido reducidos a los
actores liberales radicales, a sectores medios y no a los sectores populares.
Eso nos lleva entonces a interrogar lo que ha pasado en el campo religioso
latinoamericano a partir de la expansión fenomenal de los pentecostalismos,
que hoy día reclutan entre el 10% y el 15% de la población de toda la
región, con algunos países donde la participación y la presencia pentecostal
son mayores; pienso en Brasil, Guatemala o Chile. Podemos decir que son
países donde el pentecostalismo ha crecido de manera exponencial y supera
el 20% de la población.

Este fenómeno realmente notorio en toda la región latinoamericana
implica una mutación acelerada del campo religioso. Por cierto, la Iglesia
católica romana sigue siendo hegemónica en toda la región, pero en ciertos
espacios regionales está perdiendo su hegemonía. Esto se nota en algunos
contextos específicos a nivel regional; pienso en Chiapas, para México por
ejemplo, pero pienso también en ciertas poblaciones de Guatemala como
la ciudad de Almolonga, cerca de la ciudad de Quetzaltenango, donde
más del 70% de la población se ha vuelto pentecostal. Algunos fenómenos
similares ocurren en poblaciones al sur de Chile y en ciertas regiones
del Brasil, en particular en la Amazonía, en donde el pentecostalismo se
vuelve un movimiento mayoritario, aunque fragmentado, por supuesto,
en multitud de grupos distintos. Las cifras son difíciles de averiguar; en
ocasiones tenemos algunas estadísticas nacionales confiables, pero basta
tomar en cuenta la visibilidad social del fenómeno pentecostal para notar
su importancia. Por doquier se manifiesta a través de catedrales y de grandes manifestaciones públicas que se llevan a cabo con la toma de las calles o con concentraciones religiosas en estadios y centros deportivos.

Quisiera centrarme sobre el tema de hoy que es el estudio de la dinámica
en la larga duración del desarrollo de estas disidencias religiosas
protestantes, y diría yo que una de las primeras consecuencias metodológicas de la expansión y de la evolución del campo religioso pentecostal es la imposibilidad de ir estudiando los protestantismos solamente en sí y para sí, y menos de pensar poder explicar las mutaciones del campo religioso latinoamericano actual limitándose a los movimientos protestantes y pentecostales.

Los estudios comparativos tienen que permitir abordar, dentro
del análisis del campo religioso, precisamente lo que está pasando, en aras
de evitar todo reduccionismo o toda sobrevaloración de unos fenómenos
sobre otros.

Podemos, y debemos, a mi modo de ver, examinar estos fenómenos
religiosos contemporáneos remitiéndonos a los análisis que desarrollaron en
los años sesenta y setenta dos sociólogos, uno europeo y otro norteamericano,
Christian Lalive d’Epinay y Emilio Willems, quienes fueron pioneros
en el estudio de estos fenómenos pentecostales. Por supuesto con sus límites.

La obra de Lalive d’Epinay se restringió a la región argentina y chilena,
y esta región es un tanto atípica frente al contexto étnico de países como
Guatemala, Bolivia o México, al ser países con poca población indígena y
negra. No obstante, Lalive d’Epinay ha elaborado una tipología que sigue
siendo operativa para intentar clasificar el largo espectro de movimientos
religiosos, protestantes y pentecostales, dentro del continum sociológico tipológico “de la secta hacia la iglesia”; creo que eso es un aporte.
Además, Lalive d’Epinay percibió correctamente, al contrario de Emilio Willems, el proceso de aculturación de los protestantismos y de los pentecostalismos de origen norteamericano hacia los valores de la religión y de la cultura popular latinoamericanas.

En el marco de una teoría de la crisis económica y social, y de la correspondiente anomia, Lalive d’Epinay (1968 y 1975) ha entendido las sociedades de tipo pentecostal como “contra-sociedades”, dentro de las cuales se reestructuraba lo que él ha llamado “el modelo de la hacienda”. En las sociedades religiosas disidentes, el pastor está desempeñando
el rol del patrón, estableciendo relaciones de clientelismo con sus fieles sobre un modelo de gestión de lo religioso de tipo fundamentalmente autoritario, y podíamos decir, patrimonial.

Los protestantismos pentecostales constituyeron entonces, desde los años sesenta, la mayoría de las expresiones protestantes en la región, y Lalive d’Epinay ha subrayado entonces la tendencia masiva de aquellos hacia la aculturación corporativista.

Sin embargo, creo que no situó bien la ruptura que esto implicaba con los
modelos protestantes anteriores, y no logró tampoco interrogar el uso del
término protestantismo para, precisamente, pintar lo que eran estos movimientos religiosos latinoamericanos, fundamentalmente sincréticos.
Lalive d’Epinay aborda sin embargo los pentecostalismos en el sentido
de la continuidad y de la reelaboración de una cultura religiosa popular,
y se pregunta si precisamente estos protestantismos no tienen que ser interpretados como una reforma del catolicismo popular más que como una
renovación interna del protestantismo.

Mientras Willems (1967) intentaba explicar el crecimiento de los pentecostalismos a través de la urbanización y de la racionalización, Lalive constataba la implantación tanto rural como urbana de estos pentecostalismos, y por tanto los ha ubicado en la lógica de la adaptación a las mentalidades populares en América Latina. El análisis pertinente de la relación del pentecostalismo con lo político fue definida
por Lalive d’Epinay como un tipo de atestación pasiva de la realidad social
y política.

De ahí el título de su primer obra, El refugio de las masas. Esta cuestión merece retomarse hoy en día, pero podemos adelantar que las
preguntas que él subrayó y las conclusiones a las cuales llegó, son fundamentales para discutir el rol y el papel de los pentecostalismos actuales en América Latina.

No obstante, desde mi punto de vista, la expansión de las sociedades
pentecostales no corresponde ni a una reforma del catolicismo popular ni
a una renovación del protestantismo.

Se trata más bien de una transformación de la religión popular en el sentido de un parche y de una aculturación de los protestantismos a los valores y a las prácticas de la cultura católica popular. A lo largo de los años setenta, mientras el tema de la religión popular estaba de moda entre los sociólogos, varios investigadores subrayaron la autonomía de las prácticas religiosas populares frente a los controles jerárquicos, en el sentido de lo que podemos llamar una yuxtaposición de prácticas articuladas pero no integradas.

Es muy probable que tanto una evolución centralizadora y vertical del catolicismo en el marco de lo que se ha llamado “la romanización” del catolicismo latinoamericano como la desestructuración de las relaciones tradicionales de producción en los contextos rurales, así como las migraciones que esto provocó, hayan favorecido ensayos de reelaboración simbólica autónoma por parte de sectores subalternos de las sociedades latinoamericanas.

En esta perspectiva, una hipótesis lanzada en 1965 por el historiador francés Pierre Chaunu puede aparecer fecunda para saber efectivamente lo que está ocurriendo con el pentecostalismo en relación con los protestantismos históricos y el resto de la sociedad. Observa atinadamente Chaunu que los protestantismos populares serían más bien unos verdaderos catolicismos populares de sustitución ocupando en cierto sentido un vacío.

Tal como lo escribía él, este protestantismo radical sin exigencias dogmáticas, enteramente orientado hacia la inspiración, enteramente dado al instante emocional de la teofanía, ¿no sería al fin de cuentas más cercano al catolicismo sin sacerdote de una parte de las masas, que al protestantismo histórico, a su concienciación liberal y a su vanguardia ideológica?

Varias monografías han mostrado la plausibilidad de la hipótesis,
especialmente los estudios en los contextos indígenas realizados por distintos
antropólogos en América Latina, en particular sobre los tobas del
Chaco argentino de Elmer Miller (1979) o de Pablo G. Wright (1983 y
1988), por ejemplo. Ambos han mostrado la continuidad entre el chamanismo toba y el pentecostalismo de los líderes indígenas, o los trabajos de Luis Samandú (1988 y 1991) dentro del contexto centroamericano, en los que él ha demostrado que las creencias pentecostales hacen posible la libre expresión del mundo religioso popular habitado por demonios, espíritus, revelaciones y curas divinas.

De tal manera que los creyentes reconocen en el pentecostalismo su religión, con profundas raíces en la cultura popular, desde luego despreciada como superstición por las clases educadas en la región. Esta articulación con formas populares de religiosidad, ya no es sólo específica de los pentecostalismos a partir de los años sesenta y setenta, sino que es también lo que pasó con algunas iglesias protestantes históricas que se han pentecostalizado en sus prácticas religiosas y han logrado una cierta proyección numérica, especialmente en los medios rurales e indígenas.

Pienso en la iglesia nacional presbiteriana en México, por ejemplo, o
en algunas iglesias históricas metodistas en Brasil. Esta permanencia de la
cultura religiosa y social popular en el protestantismo latinoamericano ha
sido también muy bien observada en los años setenta por el antropólogo
francés Roger Bastide (1973), en torno a Puerto Rico, por ejemplo, cuando
subrayaba que lo que más le llamaba la atención como antropólogo era
el proceso de aculturación del protestantismo puertorriqueño a la cultura
católica de masa.

Observaba que los seminaristas protestantes llevaban cadenas con cruces o medallas de santos; los hombres y las mujeres se separaban en dos grupos opuestos en los templos, las fiestas servían de pretextos para desarrollar el espíritu comunitario y eran más importantes que los estudios bíblicos. El caudillismo hispánico se mantenía a través de los conflictos entre las diferentes iglesias, reinterpretadas solamente en diferencias de dogmas o de referencias litúrgicas, y encontraba allí formas de liderazgo que remitían a las formas tradicionales de liderazgo autoritario.

La asimilación de estos protestantismos por la cultura religiosa y política
de los milenarismos y los mesianismos, permite que los percibamos
hoy día más bien en continuidad que en ruptura con el universo cultural
y religioso latinoamericano. Es por eso que es posible preguntarse si es
preciso hablar aún de protestantismos como tales, y si no se trata más bien
de nuevos movimientos religiosos, sincréticos, que se inscriben en una estrategia de eficacia simbólica de resistencia y de sobrevivencia por parte de
los sectores subalternos de la población, con un tipo de religiosidad que es
más similar a un parche que a una tradición ligada a la reforma protestante
del siglo XVI, por ejemplo.

De hecho, desde hace unos cuantos años, los investigadores han resaltado
el crecimiento exponencial de estos pentecostalismos dentro de las
sociedades rurales, donde los conflictos políticos de origen agrario son violentos.

Varios estudios han revelado el poder caciquil creciente de parte de elites indígenas o mestizas tradicionales, y es en este contexto en el que otros caciques, otros líderes religiosos de tipo pentecostal se manifiestan
para intentar quebrar el monolitismo de las estructuras políticas de control,
verticales y autoritarias, reforzadas por el catolicismo popular, e intentando
asegurar así una cierta pluralización del contexto indígena.

Esto no se hace dentro del marco de una cultura política democrática, sino en el marco de una cultura corporativa. Sin embargo, estos actores religiosos, aunque siguen pautas de control ligadas a las culturas políticas endógenas, no son portadores de movimientos reaccionarios en términos políticos, sino más
bien de movimientos que pueden servir hacia una cierta pluralización, una
cierta puesta en competencia de los actores patrimoniales y tradicionales.
De hecho, la pluralización religiosa en contexto indígena conlleva un cierto
elemento democratizante pero que no se puede equiparar en nada con la
cultura política del liberalismo democrático.

Modos de resistencia y modos de expresión endógena son dos aspectos
que podemos subrayar a través de estos movimientos pentecostales en
un medio rural e indígena. Pero también a nivel urbano y a nivel nacional
vemos estos movimientos desarrollarse en el ámbito político, en particular
con partidos políticos que han surgido a partir de los años ochenta,
partidos políticos confesionales que han sido apropiados por líderes religiosos pentecostales y protestantes dentro de la cultura política corporativa, es decir, dentro de estrategias de elaboración del poder enmarcadas en la captación clientelista de bases cautivas o relativamente cautivas a través del intercambio de favores y del intercambio de facilidades en términos de acceso a ciertos recursos.

Eso ha llevado a la emergencia incluso de líderes pentecostales a nivel nacional. Pienso en las elecciones del año 1991 en Guatemala, con el triunfo del pentecostal Jorge Elías Serrano, o las de Perú en 1990, donde la elección del señor Fujimori fue en gran parte favorecida por la captación de actores religiosos protestantes, sirviendo de clientelas religiosas para asegurar un cierto triunfo momentáneo. Su segundo vicepresidente era un pastor bautista presidente de la federación evangélica de Perú.

De manera global podemos decir que estos protestantismos y pentecostalismos
hoy día no son elementos portadores de una cultura religiosa y política democrática, sino más bien sirven para desarrollar prácticas de tipo corporativista y clientelista. En conclusión, podemos decir que
si uno toma en cuenta la evolución global de los protestantismos latinoamericanos desde la segunda mitad del siglo XIX hasta hoy, uno tiene
que estar impactado por la mutación que han vivido a partir de los años
sesenta.

Globalmente, es posible afirmar que si los protestantismos del siglo XIX han surgido de la cultura del liberalismo radical, democrático y vinculado a una pedagogía de la voluntad individual, los protestantismos populares contemporáneos surgen más bien de la cultura religiosa católica popular, corporativa y caudillesca.

Mientras los primeros eran una religión de lo escrito, una religión cívica y racional, los segundos son una religión de la oralidad, una religión emocional, efervescente y de tradición endógena. Mientras que los primeros eran portadores de prácticas inculcadoras de valores democráticos a través del civismo y la educación en particular, los segundos reproducen modelos caciquiles y caudillescos de control religioso y social.

El peso de los protestantismos populares como modelo en expansión es tal que los propios protestantismos históricos hoy día han roto con su herencia liberal y se han aculturado hacia los valores corporativistas, adhiriendo en ocasiones a proyectos políticos autoritarios. En este sentido el estudio de este fenómeno corresponde a una sociología de las mutaciones religiosas, tal como lo había sugerido el gran antropólogo francés Roger Bastide.

A grandes rasgos, es permitido afirmar que los protestantismos latinoamericanos, con la excepción quizás de las iglesias de trasplante europeo
del sur del continente y de algunos organismos eclesiásticos provenientes
de las iglesias históricas, globalmente son sincréticos y se han
latinizado. En este sentido no difieren demasiado de otros movimientos religiosos de tipo endógeno, y tienen que ser analizados dentro de una perspectiva comparativa.
Podemos preguntarnos si estos protestantismos populares, caracterizados
por un milenarismo y un mesianismo efervescentes, en una cultura
muy diferente a la del siglo XIX, no son una reformulación de la religión
popular latinoamericana. Es en el contexto de la afinidad electiva con
la cultura política corporativista que tenemos que preguntarnos si estos
movimientos son todavía portadores de un movimiento de reforma religiosa,
intelectual y moral, o si más bien son una nueva modalidad de la
cultura religiosa popular latinoamericana, dentro del sentido de la adaptación
y del refuerzo de los mecanismos tradicionales de control social.

En la medida en que el principio protestante ha sido eliminado de los
protestantismos populares pentecostales, podemos decir que se trata menos
de un fenómeno religioso protestante que de un conjunto de nuevos
movimientos religiosos no católicos romanos, que se encuentran en una
posición similar a la religión popular católica, relativamente autónomos
frente a la Iglesia católica.

En consecuencia, en lugar de seguir la hipótesis de David Stoll (1990)
o incluso de David Martin (1990) según la cual América Latina se estaría
volviendo protestante hoy en día, por el contrario, pienso que los protestantismos durante este siglo y medio de desarrollo que hemos analizado se han latinoamericanizado con el pentecostalismo, al punto de asimilarse a la cultura religiosa de la región. En fin, uno puede preguntarse si la diferenciación del campo religioso latinoamericano y su atomización en decenas de sociedades religiosas en competencia va en el sentido del reforzamiento de actores sociales autónomos y del desarrollo de una sociedad civil fuerte, condición de la formación de una opinión pública autónoma y de prácticas democráticas.

Creo que eso es uno de los puntos por discutir, y seguramente será objeto de la discusión que se necesita llevar a cabo para interrogar críticamente esta significativa mutación religiosa que representa para la región
la expansión de los movimientos religiosos pentecostales de masa.

Bibliografía
Bastian, Jean-Pierre. 1994. Le Protestantisme en Amérique Latine, une aproche socio-historique, Genève: Labor et fides.. 1997 y 2003. La mutación religiosa de América Latina ,México: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
Bastide, Roger. 1973. “Contributions à une sociologie des religions en Amérique Latine”. En: Archives des sciences sociales des religions, No. 85.
Chaunu, Pierre. 1965. “Pour une sociologie du protestantisme latino-américain”. En: Cahiers de sociologie économique (Le Havre), No. 12.
Lalive d’Epinay, Christian. 1968. El refugio de las masas, Santiago: Editorial del Pacífico.. 1975. Religion, dynamique sociale et dépendance, les mouvements protestants en Argentine et au Chili, Paris: Mouton.
Martin, David. 1990. Tongues of fire. The explosion of Protestantism in Latin
America, Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Miller, Elmer S. 1979. Los tobas argentinos, armonía y disonancia en la sociedad, Mexico: Siglo XXI.
Samandu, Luis. 1988. “El pentecostalismo en Nicaragua y sus raíces populares”. En: Pasos, No. 17, mai-juin, San José, Costa Rica.. 1991. “Religión e identidades en América Central”. En: Cristianismo
y sociedad, No. 109, xxix 3, México.
Stoll, David. 1990. Is Latin America turning protestant? The politics of evangelical growth in Latin America, Berkeley: University of California Press.
Willems, Emilio. 1967. Followers of the new faith, culture change and the rise of protestantism in Brazil and Chile, Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.
Wright, Pablo G. 1983. “Presencia protestante entre los aborígenes del Chaco
argentino”. En: Scripta antropológica, Buenos Aires, vol. vii.. 1988. “Tradición y aculturación en una organización socio-religiosa toba contemporánea”. En: Cristianismo y Sociedad, No. 95, México.

Evangélicos se desmarcan de ARENA

http://archivo.archivoscp.net/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=1385

Por Edgardo Ayala

SAN SALVADOR- El 12 de julio de 1896, Samuel A. Purdie, un misionero de Baltimore, Estados Unidos, se bajó del vapor Panamá tras atracar en el Puerto de Acajutla, y pisó suelo salvadoreño. Era mediodía y el primer pastor evangélico había llegado.

Purdie llegó a estas tierras para montar un puesto de avanzada de la Misión Centroamericana, un proyecto concebido por el misionero evangélico Ciro Ingerson Scofield, de Dallas, interesado en sembrar la semilla del protestantismo en esta región. Los primeros misioneros estadounidenses habían llegado a Costa Rica en febrero de 1891.

Dos días después de su llegada, El 14 de julio, Purdie, que dejaba ver una abultada barba blanca, rentó una habitación en San Salvador, en la 1ª Calle Poniente, cerca del Hospital Rosales, y pensaba alquilar una casa amplia para abrir un culto cuanto antes. Pero no pudo. Así que fabricó tres bancas de madera y allí mismo, en su cuarto, montó el que sería el primer culto evangélico en El Salvador.

A ese histórico primer culto, de la Misión Centroamericana, sólo se hizo presente un borracho nicaragüense, según se narra en el libro Cien años de presencia evangélica en El Salvador, una compilación sobre el origen del evangelismo en el país, editado en 1996.

112 años han pasado desde entonces. Purdie difícilmente habría imaginado cómo aquella primera membresía, constituida por el borracho nicaragüense, se extendería tanto y llegaría a conformar entre el 30 y 32% de la población total, según varios estudios. Eso equivale a 1.8 millones de fieles. Tampoco habría concebido que los evangélicos serían un factor importante en el juego político del país e incluso podrían ser fuerza decisiva en una elección presidencial.

El vínculo entre iglesias evangélicas y política electoral tomó forma definitiva en los comicios presidenciales del 2004, cuando se dice que buena parte de la feligresía evangélica, víctima de la propaganda que dibujaba a Schafik Handal con un ateo quemabiblias, votó mayoritariamente por Arena, dándole el triunfo a Elías Antonio Saca.

Génesis pro derecha

Los evangélicos han sido un sector cuya visión del mundo ha sido, en general, de corte conservador, pro derecha. Habrá que diferenciar, sin embargo, a las iglesias evangélicas llamadas “históricas”, como la Luterana o la Anglicana o un sector de la Bautista, que en los años 70s se identificaron plenamente con las luchas de los movimientos sociales de izquierda, en plena guerra civil, lo cual resultaba peligroso.

“A uno de nuestros pastores lo mató el Batallón Atlacatl en 1984, y le cortaron la lengua”, recuerda Medardo Gómez, Obispo de la Iglesia Luterana.

Aparte de esas “históricas”, el resto de evangélicos abrazan más una visión conservadora, y desde allí podría resultar fácil que salten hacia posiciones de derecha. Los preceptos bíblicos son, en esencia, radicalmente conservadores. Temas como el aborto, los homosexuales, prostitución, drogadicción, etc., son vistos desde una perspectiva religiosa poco tolerante, distanciadas de posiciones más liberales, abrazadas más por la izquierda.

También está de por medio la conexión entre marxismo y ateismo, que fue justamente el elemento que jugó en contra de Handal en 2004.

Además, a finales de los años 60 hubo también un claro interés del gobierno de los Estados Unidos de contrarrestar los movimientos católicos que apoyaban cambios sociales en Latinoamérica, y el Documento Santa Fe, de 1975, deja en claro el peligro que eso representaba para los intereses norteamericanos, reforzando la visión de apoyar las dictaduras militares.

Estados Unidos apoyó, entonces, el crecimiento de las sectas protestantes de corte fundamentalistas. También en los años 80, el predicador Pat Robertson, un televangelista de la derecha estadounidense, utilizaba su programa Club 700, transmitido en El Salvador por Canal 4, para lanzar peroratas cristianas a favor de dictaduras militares en Centroamérica. Club 700 era visto por miles de evangélicos salvadoreños, y las prédicas de Robertson fueron parte importante en cómo iban a ver el mundo no solo religioso, sino también político.

Los amigos de Saca y Rodrigo

Dentro del actual espectro evangélico, es posible identificar aquellas denominaciones y congregaciones más notorias y su inclinación política ideológica.

Se sabe que los pentecostales conforman alrededor del 80% de la comunidad evangélica. De ese grupo se dividen unas 50 denominaciones, entre las que sobre salen las Asambleas de Dios, Príncipes de Paz, Apóstoles y Profetas, los Apostólicos, etc. Todos muy cercanos a la derecha. Hay que aclarar, empero, que la feligresía no necesariamente sigue siempre “una línea” dictada por la cúpula.

El Tabernáculo Bíblico Bautista Amigos de Israel, liderado por el pastor Edgard López Bertrand, conocido como “Toby”, es quizá el más fácil de identificar con Arena y el Gobierno. Toby dice contar con unos 740,000 fieles, pero ese dato resulta abultado para todos las fuentes del sector evangélico consultados por ContraPunto. Un dato más real, dicen,
sería la mitad o menos.

Las Asambleas de Dios, de corte pentecostés, es sin duda la congregación más grande del país. Son alrededor de 10,000 iglesias las diseminadas por todo el territorio nacional, con miles de pastores y feligreses. Si bien
institucionalmente no se puede decir que las Asambleas han endosado un apoyo directo a algún partido, su línea conservadora la ubican dentro de la derecha. Y no sólo eso.

Algunos de sus pastores han conformado organizaciones vinculadas con Arena, o en algunos casos, nacidas específicamente para apoyar a ese partido, como es el caso de la Comisión Nacional de Pastores y Líderes (Conapal),
surgida para apoyar a Saca en las elecciones del 2004. Allí estaban pastores como Mauricio Navas, de la Iglesia El Camino, entre otros. La cúpula de las Asambleas de Dios permitió ese apoyo, pues no lo vetó.

A las Asambleas de Dios pertenecen también estas iglesias de regular membresía y con una clara posición de derecha: Iglesia Josué, el Centro Evangelístico y el Templo Cristiano, así como el Centro Misionero El Sembrador.

Hay también iglesias “independientes”, escindidas de congregaciones más grandes, que jalan hacia la derecha. Una de ellas es la Iglesia Kemuel, del pastor Juan Carlos Hasbún, amigo de Saca y de Rodrigo Ávila. Hasbún acaba de ser nombrado presidente de la Alianza Evangélica, que aglutina a la mayoría de congregaciones evangélicas del país.

Además de congregaciones e iglesias, en la derecha se han gestado organizaciones con claros fines político electorales. Allí confluyen pastores de varias denominaciones, aunque no todas, agrupados en un frente común contra
la izquierda.

La ya mencionada Conapal es una de ellas. La Red Nacional de Pastores Torre Fuerte surgió como una nueva versión de Conapal, obteniendo recursos financieros de la partida secreta del Presidente Saca, según Rómel Guadrón, uno de sus fundadores. “Falsos profetas que apoyan a los corruptos”, dice el pastor William Chamagua, director general de Radio Cadena Mi Gente, quien construyen en el país la Iglesia de los Nueve Millones.

Ahora Guadrón se ha desvinculado de Torre Fuerte, y ha hecho renacer Conapal pero desmarcada del Gobierno. Dice que Tony Saca les falló al no nombrar un Comisionado Presidencial para las iglesias evangélicas. “Sólo querían los votos, nada más”, dice.

Izquierda bíblica

Pero también hay pastores y cultos que muestran más independencia del poder; incluso algunos son etiquetados de izquierda.

La Iglesia Elim, también pentecostal, que posee una membresía que sobrepasa los 120,000 seguidores, se encuentra en el sector que podría ser catalogado, en términos políticos, como centro izquierda. El pastor Mario Vega incluso ha sido calificado ya como “rojo” por algunos medios de comunicación, debido a las posiciones críticas mostradas en temas de
actualidad, que lo desvinculan de aquellos otros grupos cercanos al poder.

Probablemente no es que Vega abrace opciones de izquierda. Sus convicciones religiosas lo llevan a criticar duramente aquellas injusticias o abusos de poder gestadas en las esferas gubernamentales. “Nunca he mencionado en mis cultos (preferencias políticas), y ni siquiera en pláticas”, dice. A la pregunta de si él personalmente abraza una línea política, dice: “Prefiero no hacerla pública”. Vega es considerado por líderes de otras congregaciones como uno de los pastores más pensantes del gremio.

En esa misma línea va Carlos Rivas, del Tabernáculo de Avivamiento Internacional (TAI). Este pastor recuerda que fue convocado por los colegas que estaban ya en la gestación de Conapal para empujar la candidatura de Saca en el 2004, y en efecto se reunió con cuadros de Arena, como René Figueroa, Francisco Laínez y el mismo Saca. “Me invitaron, pero cuando vi el panorama, supe que era manipular a la iglesia evangélica. Entonces me dije: puya, esta onda no me llega”.

Rivas agrega: “Me han etiquetado de izquierda, pero es porque al que es crítico inmediatamente lo vinculan con el otro lado”.

En cambio, William Chamagua, de la Radio Cadena Mi Gente, es un pastor que sí tiene claro su apoyo a la izquierda y, concretamente, al FMLN: “El Frente es la única opción de cambio, y ese sentido, indirectamente o directamente lo estoy apoyando, para beneficio del pueblo”, dice.

Chamagua sufrió un giro radical. De inmigrante ilegal en Estados Unidos pasó a soldado estadounidense, atiborrado de propaganda republicana anticomunista. “Ronald Reagan era mi Commander in Chief (comandante general)”, recuerda, “sin saber las masacres que él estaba cometiendo contra el pueblo salvadoreño”. Destacado en Alemania, se hizo evangélico, y de allí pasó a pastor con una clara visión de izquierda.

La tortilla dio vuelta: Arena pierde a evangélicos

Datos del Instituto Universitario de Opinión Pública (IUDOP), de la Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Canias (UCA), revelan que, en las elecciones del 2004, un 44.1 de los electores que dijeron ser evangélicos votaron por Arena, mientras que un 28.6% por el FMLN. “Hay algo de cierto de que el voto cristiano evangélico aportó al triunfo de Arena”, dice Jeannette Aguilar, directora del IUDOP, citando la campaña del miedo al ateismo de Handal como uno de los elementos determinantes en esa tendencia.

Pero eso ha cambiado radicalmente, para desdicha del partido en el gobierno.
La encuesta del IUDOP de septiembre del 2008 revela que, si las elecciones presidenciales fueran el próximo domingo, un 41.8% del voto evangélico votaría por el FMLN, mientras que un 30.9%, por Arena.

“Hay un desencanto generalizado sobre el rumbo de país”, dice Aguilar, y agrega que las preferencias de los evangélicos van aproximándose cada vez a la tendencia del electorado general.

¿La razón de ese cambio? “La difícil situación económica del país”, explica la directora del IUDOP.

Efrén Reyes, presidente de la Unidad Cristiana Vida Nueva para El Salvador, actualmente en gestación, dice que a los evangélicos, como parte de la población, les ha calado el deterioro de la economía. “Los evangélicos, en términos de votos, son un terreno en disputa, ya no son dominio de la derecha”, señala.

Además, ya no está de por medio el elemento ateismo-quemabiblias que jugó en contra de Handal en el 2004. Ven a Funes, por el contrario, como un símbolo de cambio dentro del FMLN.

“Arena sabe que el voto evangélico ha girado, y están preocupados viendo cómo hacen”, dice el rector de la Universidad Evangélica, Víctor Segura. Y agrega: Por eso, Saca y Ávila van al acto en el estadio (Cuscatlán) de Toby. No van por Toby, van por reforzar su imagen ante la población evangélica. Y por eso va también Mauricio Funes”.

El Dr. Edgar López Bertrand

nació en Chalatenango, El Salvador, el 30 de septiembre de
1939. Sus estudios de Primaria y Secundaria los realizó en el Liceo Salvadoreño. Estudió su primera carrera en la Escuela Nacional de Agronomía(ENA). Continuó sus estudios en Los Estados Unidos de Norte América, en donde se gradúa como Ingeniero Mecánico.

Luego de unos años de trabajo como ejecutivo de multinacionales, se convirtió en un próspero empresario. Recibe a Jesucristo durante una campaña evangelística en Huichtla, México el 11 de septiembre de 1970.

Escuchando el llamado del Señor, deja sus empresas e ingresa a Temple University en Chattanooga, Tennessee, ordenándose como pastor el 17 de julio de 1975. Posteriormente obtiene 2 doctorados, en Teología y Psicología.

Por más de 30 años ha predicado el Evangelio por los 5 continentes. Es el predicador preferido por muchas iglesias y denominaciones. Sus sermones se escuchan por la radio en todo El salvador, Guatemala y
Honduras. A través del Internet se le escucha en todo el mundo.
Dios le ha utilizado grandemente, edificando una obra ministerial gigantesca. Su iglesia cuenta con más de 65,000 miembros, los cuales, con su fidelidad como diezmadores han hecho posible la apertura de más de 200 iglesias y 200 campos misioneros.

La historia de nuestra iglesia comienza hace 30 años [ca. 1978] en la casa de habitación de nuestro pastor general, aquí comienza a reunirse con un grupo de familias que querían estudiar la Biblia. Este grupo de personas aumentó a un punto que ya no cupieron, y buscaron otro lugar, pasando así al Centro comercial El Rosal, ubicándose en los locales comerciales.

Las personas que llegaban invitaban a otras, esto aunado a la tarea evangelizadora que siempre inculcó el pastor, hace que estos locales se queden pequeños, y después de un tiempo, nuevamente ya no cabían y buscan un nuevo lugar; llegan al local de La Sultana, en donde ya había un edificio para los cultos de los adultos y otro para la Escuela Bíblica, pero el crecimiento no se detuvo, y llegó un momento en que otra vez ya no se cupo; pero la visión fue más allá, no se buscó un local, se buscó un terreno para construir un templo que cumpliera con los requisitos de espacio y comodidad, es así como llegamos al local que actualmente tenemos; y aun así con el paso de los años poco a poco nos hemos ido expandiendo comprando los terrenos aledaños, construyendo edificios y parqueos para ofrecer las mejores comodidades a nuestra creciente congregación. El nuevo templo tiene capacidad para 10.000 personas.

A popular Salvadoran Christian evangelical minister remains in the custody of US federal authorities in Houston, Texas. According to
news stories, Edgar Lopez Bertrand, known as “Brother Toby” was arrested in Houston for falsely claiming that a young girl was his
daughter on a passport application. Because he is a naturalized US citizen, the false passport declaration obtained US citizenship for his purported daughter as well. He is said to be working out a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Brother Toby is one of the highest profile evangelical preachers in El Salvador. Since his May 16 arrest, his story has been front page news in El Salvador. He leads the church the Baptist Biblical Tabernacle Friends of Israel, which has 80,000 members in El Salvador. He also heads a television channel, a radio station, and a newspaper. His ministry has spread to the Internet as well: http://www.tabernaculo.net/.

The web site of the church reports that 12 inmates have been converted in Christianity while Brother Toby was in custody with them.
The faithful of his flock have been holding prayer vigils and tying yellow ribbons in hopes of his liberation from US custody.
SOURCE:
http://luterano.blogspot.com/2005/05/case-of-brother-toby.html

STRANGE FIRE. The Rise of Gnosticism in the Church.
Van Der Merwe, Travers and Jewel

Table of Contents
Dedication and Foreword 2
Chapter 1: Strange Fire 3
Chapter 2: Gnosticism 9
Chapter 3: A Gnostic Gospel? 14
Chapter 4: The Supernatural 20
Chapter 5: The “Elite” Concept 26
Chapter 6: The Mystic “Link” 31
Chapter 7: Spirituality 41
Chapter 8: The Exaltation of Man 47
Chapter 9: False Prophets 49
Chapter 10: Neo-Gnosticism 56

DEDICATION

This Book is dedicated to Travers van der Merwe (1935-1995). The burning passion of Travers’ heart was to give a clarion call to the Church that he saw falling in line with Gnosticism and leaving the simplicity of the Word of God.
In severe pain he preached his last message on the subject of mysticism. After his departure from this life, the following definition was found in his
jacket pocket, in his handwriting:
“Mysticism: The timeless quest for higher/hidden truth, spiritual experiences and knowledge of God by using imagination, intuition, so-called’Holy Spirit revelations’ and subjective feelings rather than fact, reason and the undistorted Word of God.”

FOREWORD

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is
that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there
anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old
time, which was before us. (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10)

Some books are written before their time. This is one such book. It was
never our privilege to know Travers van der Merwe but we had heard of his
exemplary walk before God and man while on Earth. While battling cancer,
a painful ordeal that lasted for many years, Travers and his wife Jewel
penned this book. He saw an ancient heresy arising in the modern Christian
church and it weighed heavily on his heart.

After the book was completed, it lay dormant for several years. In the
meantime much was happening in the Christian church nationally and
internationally to confirm that there was a revival going on – not
accompanied by repentance and a turning away from dead works – but of
Gnosticism.

Gnosticism has a chameleon-like ability to appear like the genuine article,
true Christianity, and thus has managed to transform itself to fit the times in
countless new wrappings over the centuries. It particularly adapts itself to
that place where the ideas of the east and west meet. Whenever eastern
mysticism and western rationalism collide, one can find there the seedbed
for a pseudo-Gospel that mimics the real thing.

Gnosticism is fool’s gold, shiny and beckoning on the surface yet phony.
Modern Saints are poorly equipped to recognize the counterfeit. Much
Gnosticism enters the Church via the popular Christian media, where the
real and the false get mixed up in a garbled soup of doctrines and teachings.
The rise of the New Age movement, and the extent to which it has permeated
Christian thinking, further clouds the issue. How is a Christian to sort out
these strange teachings?

When Jewel first sent us the unpublished manuscript for the book it was
because we had been asking her for more information about the rise of
modern Gnosticism. The book, she said, would answer many of our questions. Indeed, it did. So many, in fact, that we then began pressing her to let us publish the book. We believed that it should be widely disseminated and read by Christians who were seeking to understand their growing uneasiness with the “new” moves of God, signs and wonders, “laughing revivals”, and ecumenical unity.

Strange Fire is a brief, easy-to-understand book that explains how to tell the
Truth from the Lie. It doesn’t dwell on the spectacular manifestations, but
concisely illustrates modern Gnosticism. The real gold of the Gospel is
presented in such a way that it outshines the fool’s gold of Gnosticism.
Readers will have no doubt as to which is which. This handy tool enables
even the unlearned to discern Gnosticism the next time they encounter it.
This is one little book that may save many a soul from walking into the error
and falsehood so prevalent in our time.

Lynn & Sarah Leslie; December 1995

Chapter 1: Strange Fire

“And Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord, when they offered strange fire
before the Lord, in the wilderness of Sinai, . . .”
(Numbers 3:4).

Even though Nadab and Abihu were the sons of Aaron the high priest, they failed when they presented their offering to God. They knew they were in the wrong. However, like Cain, they thought their way was better! They had obviously taken up with a “new thing” with which they thought God would be pleased.

God created man and woman to live on this planet called Earth. In his Infinite Wisdom, He set forth the laws of nature, looked upon His creation and was satisfied. He said, “it is good”. The universe continues day by day, ordered by God’s commands that issued forth in the first book of the Bible.

God’s Plan and Purposes

From the beginning God set forth His PLAN and PURPOSES in clear
unmistakable language. Beginning with His directives to Adam and Eve, and throughout Scripture, He did not do anything that was not explicitly laid out to His creation, who were the inhabitants of this planet. What an all-Wise and all-Knowing God! He made known His Ways to the children of men!

Every prophecy given in the Old Testament concerning the coming
of the Messiah was fulfilled literally and in minute detail at the coming to earth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. God’s PLAN and PURPOSES were on course!

Down through the annals of human history, man in his disobedience, has continually tried to take matters into his own hands. Eve desired to eat of the fruit that God had commanded Adam to avoid. Cain determined that his sacrifice was sufficient as it was the fruit of his labours. Even to this present day, man continues to try in his own strength to replace God. God is abandoned from his thoughts and replaced instead by his accomplishments.

Man becomes tired and impatient. He does not like to wait for God and
instead tries to help God along in His work. Man’s efforts at the best
are not sufficient! However hard he tries, his wisdom comes to naught.

Despite the attempts of mankind to improve on His wisdom and programme, the PLAN and PURPOSES of God move steadily forward with infinite precision. The courses of empires are ordained by God. All things are created by HIM and for HIM. Even the heathen king Nebuchadnezzar had to come to acknowledge this fact. After his humiliation he declared:

I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever,
whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from
generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as
nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and
among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto
him, What doest thou? (Daniel 4:34, 35)

Every Scripture concerning Christ’s return to this planet, this planet
Earth that God loves, will be literally fulfilled. God gave His Son, His
only Begotten Son to die for this sinful Earth in order to fulfill His
PLAN and PURPOSES. Because man was corrupt in all his ways
(having forfeited God’s commands and reign) God in His infinite
Mercy gave His only begotten Son to die for corrupt man in order to
redeem him and thereby fulfill His PLAN and PURPOSES.

The supernatural realm has always been held in fascination. Imagine
being able to partake of the supernatural! Experiences of the beyond
continue to titillate the imagination. Yet man was not created to live
in that (the invisible) realm. He was created to glorify God on this
Earth. Man’s obedience in the natural world and faith in God’s Word
serves as a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to man (1
Cor. 4:9). The supernatural realm regards God’s creation in wonder.

The angels are amazed at God’s glorious plan of salvation as they
see mortal man (through Jesus Christ) faithfully follow the Word that
God has spoken. As believers we are being closely watched by
angels and men – as the revelation of redemption unfolds as the
prophets foretold:

Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us, they did
minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have
preached the Gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven;
which things the angels desire to look into. (1 Peter 1:12).

To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in the
heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom
of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in
Christ Jesus our Lord: (Eph. 3:10-11)

To live according to God’s PLAN and PURPOSES here on this Earth
takes faith! It is the faith of Hebrews 11 that trusts unquestionably in
the God whose mercy endures forever. In the face of trials, whether
by tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril or
sword – we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us!
The child of God rests in the knowledge that God is faithful!

Heresy Hunters or Bereans?

As menacing teachings permeate the fibre of the Church, there is a vigorous attempt being made to silence anyone who opposes the status quo! Labels are handed out freely if you question what is happening. The most popular label is “heresy hunter”. Anyone who does not “go with the flow” for unity is considered “divisive”.

Whatever happened to the ability to contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to the saints? Many pastors who are “going with the flow” refuse to even read an article that will question some of the popular practices posing as “new revelation” and “deeper truths”.

When asked if they have read a book or an article documenting some of the heretical thoughts being propagated, pastors will invariably have several excuses among which are: (a) “the author only wants to sell books”, (b) “I’m too busy”, or© “I’m not really interested”. In the meantime the hole in the dyke has given way to an avalanche of false teaching and heretical thought.
It is frightening to realise that beliefs can be created merely by passively accepting information without attempting to analyse if what is preached or taught is truth! Unfortunately today much depends on the personality delivering the message. If it is a charismatic figure with a certain appeal, he/she can say anything they want and get away with it! The only criteria for truth seems to be if a book has been published and sold many copies, the author must be right.

This is why the knowledge of the Word of God is so important. It is
not enough to parrot off someone else’s teaching and sound like a
great name in miniature. Any man can lead you astray – no matter
how nice or how spiritual he sounds. You have to stand before God
yourself! The Word of God says explicitly, Study to show thyself
approved, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. (1 Tim.2:15).

Listening to hours and hours of tapes or watching “Christian TV” is not a substitute for honest and earnest study of the Word of God. Be like the Bereans who checked out everything they heard to see if those things were so. (Acts 17:10-11). They were commended for doing so – not told they were divisive, critics, fault-finders and “heresy hunters”.

An astonishing event was an outburst by Paul Crouch on the world’s largest Christian TV network as he denounced anyone who would speak out for sound doctrine and against the “gnostic” trends in the church today.. . . that old rotten Sanhedrin crow, twice dead, plucked up by the roots . . .they’re damned and on their way to hell and I don’t think there’s any redemption for them . . . the hypocrites, the heresy hunters that want to find a little mote of illegal doctrine in some Christians’ eyes . . . when they’ve got a whole forest in their own lives . . .I say, ‘To hell with you! Get out of my life! Get out of the way! Quit blockin’ God’s bridges!’ [CIB Bulletin, vol.7, no.7, July 1991]

There is a concentrated attack on those who have been labeled “heresy hunters”. Unfortunately there are those who hold to the contention that “most Christian truths were formulated and defined in response to heretical half-truths. Thus, heresy comes before orthodoxy – and may in fact be a precondition for orthodoxy.” [‘Confusing the Roots with the Fruits’, William L. DeArteaga, Ministries Today, July/August 1991, p.56]

The DeArteaga article also said that The critics have tragically misunderstood how the Holy Spirit accomplishes His work in instructing, reminding and moving the body of Christ into truth. From a biblical and historical perspective, the process is plain: The Holy Spirit sovereignly uses both heathen and heretics to move the church from a status quo of theological laziness and conventionally accepted error to a position of corrected, renewed and invigorated truth.

So the author actually says that:

The idealist cults understood the critically important role that the mind,
acting in faith, had in prayer and the miraculous – especially in healing.
Christian Scientists, regardless of their heretical view of sin and evil and
their muddled view of God, did have successes in their healing ministry . . . it was semipagan, but persistent enough to channel God’s healing power.

He continues by saying that New Thought leaders “moved steadily closer to biblical reality”. Among these he included Emmet Fox and Glenn Clark, yet he admitted they never separated from their Gnostic origins. In mentioning Agnes Sandford he said that:

Her healing theology might best be considered a second-level ‘Bible filtration’ by which the half-truths of Christian Science were discerned, separated and amplified in a biblically valid form for the Christian community.

So DeArteaga’s conclusion is that:

The church has experienced heightened power for ministry and
evangelisation – all because God chose to repeat the ironic heresy-before orthodoxy process that has occurred many times before in the life of the
church. [‘Confusing the Roots with the Fruits’, William L. DeArteaga,
Ministries Today, July/August 1991]

This is pure “Gnosticism” and it was in response to the impact of Gnosticism in the early church that the church decided on the “Canonicity of Scripture” and the “Apostles Creed”. Most of the heretical trends in the church can be traced to the ancient religion of Gnosticism. Benjamin Walker writes: “There are few unorthodox, schismatic or heretical movements in Christian history that cannot be traced back to gnostic sources.” [Benjamin Walker, Gnosticism: Its History and Influence, The Borgo Press, 1983, p.163]

This was precisely the philosophical and mystical religious concept of the Gnostics, propagated in John the Revelators day. It was called “the doctrines of the depths of God”, while in fact it was the doctrine of the depths of Satan. (Revelation 2:24).

What is Gnosticism?

Gnosticism was an esoteric religious movement that flourished during the
second and third century A.D. and presented a major challenge to orthodox Christianity. Most Gnostic sects professed Christianity but their beliefs sharply diverged from those of Christianity in the early Church. To its
adherents, Gnosticism promised a secret knowledge of the divine realm.

Sparks or seeds of the Divine Being fell from this transcendent realm into
the material universe, which is wholly evil, and were imprisoned in human bodies. Re-awakened by knowledge, the divine element in humanity can return to its proper home in the transcendental spiritual realm. [Gnosticism, Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, Vol.12, p.10]

The definition of Gnosticism is “a system of religion mixed with Greek and Oriental philosophy (1st-6th century A.D.), intermediate between Christianity and paganism, which taught that knowledge, rather than faith, was the greatest good, and that through knowledge alone could salvation be attained.” [Webster’s Encyclopedia of Dictionaries; Baltimore, Maryland, Ottenheimer, 1978].

Basically what is being said here implies that man’s redemption and
justification is not by faith in God according to the Scriptures, but rather in “mystical knowledge” acquired by a personal experience. This is the theme that is intrinsically intertwined in all the doctrines of the cults and occults.

The issues at stake are serious. It is not merely a “cosmetic” problem. The “roots” are not only being threatened, they are being “chopped off”. As this dreadful surgery is being carried out, the life is slowly sapped and in its place is another gospel. This is a gospel that puts man on the throne.

A gospel that does not need the cross, the blood or even acknowledge the deity of Jesus Christ.

The more you get to be like Me, the more they’re going to think that way of
you. They crucified Me for claiming that I was God. But I didn’t claim I was
God; I just claimed I walked with Him and that He was in Me. Hallelujah.
That’s what you’re doing. [Voice of Victory, Feb.1987, Kenneth Copeland
prophecy, Dallas, Texas]

This “divine utterance” is given in the first person. We must take this as Jesus Himself speaking to the Church. But, if Jesus didn’t claim to be God, who was He?

The Scriptures are very clear: Jesus is called God. Isaiah 9:6 says:
For unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given: and the government
shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
2. Jesus accepted worship. Jesus expressed to Satan in Matthew
4:10 that:
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Jesus accepted worship in Matthew 14:33:
Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, of a truth thou art the Son of God.

Are we to sit by and let these strange teachings develop without a word? Must we just ignore what is happening and smile passively in agreement without a protest?

A popular evangelist will stand before a congregation and ask, “how many here have read my books?” As hands go up, the evangelist will nod his approval and continue. He will give a Scripture text, but does not refer to it again. Instead he will quip out phrases that are met with cheering and clapping from an adoring audience. Before long it sounds like a pep rally with enthusiasts ready to jump on whatever bandwagon is presented with no thought to what has even been said.

The more vociferous the participants become in proclaiming useless
verbalisation of nonsensical half-truths, the more the cry goes out,
“Do not name names”. In other words, you can freely quote the
heretical statements, but just don’t let anyone know who is
preaching the error!

We have to use caution and not lump many names together and paint them all with a single brush. The Latter Rain Movement will be alluded to in the course of this book. Within the movement were many children of God who remained true to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, there were those that started out well, but along the way were influenced by “strange” fires that has brought the church to accepting so many different teachings today.

Chapter 2: Gnosticism

The word itself conjures up an image of obscure men in long robes, poring for hours over ancient texts and scrolls, seeking in musty tomes the essence of truth. In reality this teaching was in existence long before the formalization of Christianity. Today it is also among the most prevalent new concepts. Its influences are not confined to the long dusty bookshelves in some forgotten college library, but are seen and heard worldwide.

An abundance of information on Gnosticism is readily available. Many books and articles on the subject have been written and can be obtained in any quality bookstore or library. Old manuscripts with reference to Gnosticism dating back to the early Church are also available, and provide great insight into the teachings and influence of Gnosticism on the world and in particular, the Church.

W.H.C. Frend writes that “in the second century Gnosticism was a world-wide movement.” [The Early Church, W.H.C.Frend, Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1965, p.62]. Gnostic sects sprang up all over the world. Jacques Laccariane says, “No sooner was Gnostic thought born than it began to be disseminated along the great routes of the Orient”. [The Early Church, W.H.C.Frend, Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1965].

Since that time Gnosticism has entrenched itself in the major religions of the world and not least of all Christianity. Gnosticism, while appearing to be a complex system of thoughts, is really quite simplistic and can be rather easily defined and understood.

The following attempt to set forth and explain some of the basic Gnostic thoughts will help some Christians to be on guard against the “winds of doctrine” blowing through the Church. The greatest challenge in the Church today is to discern between Gnostic thought and Christian thought.

What is Gnosticism? According to Webster, it is “an occult salvational system . . . stressing [knowledge of spiritual things] as essential . . . combining ideas derived especially from mythology, ancient Greek philosophy, ancient religions, and eventually, from Christianity”. [Webster’s New World Dictionary, Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1988, p.577].

The doctrinal core of Gnosticism is basically a form of mystical
religious or philosophical doctrines which other adherents and
some early Christian sects spread and which the early Church
leaders vehemently rejected as heresy. Believers in Gnosticism are
called Gnostics. The word “Gnostic” is derived from the greek word
gnostiko or gnosis (inner mystic knowledge).

The Gnostics believe that “gnosis” is subjective (internally perceived by the mind or feelings) knowledge of the divine element or spark in every man that needs to be discovered to be known. They believe the divine spark
originally came from the “realm of light” (totally alienated from the world and the flesh), and is resident in the soul of man and is held there in captivity by the flesh (a product of demons).

The only way to release the divine spark is through divine “revelation knowledge”, experienced within in the spirit. Also they believe that only when the unconscious spirit in man is awakened by revelation from the “realm
of light” can he come to know his real self – the god within.

Explained in a nutshell:

God is within, waiting to be revealed. Any external influence (matter) is evil.
Finding the god within comes only via your mind or feelings. There are no
external checks or balances, only those which your inner spirit appropriates as you progress in your revelation.

Characteristics of Gnosticism

1. Man is Co-Substantial with God

As soon as man by “gnosis” (self knowledge) discovers and releases the imprisoned divine spark (spirit), he then starts on a mystic ascent to divine substance and on into the “realm of light”.

Through divine revelation knowledge experienced in self, man becomes conscious of his origin with God, his essence as God and his transcendent destiny – all God. The unconscious self of man (the unawakened inner spirit) is co-substantial with the Godhead, i.e. having the same substance or essential nature. This is the kernel Gnostic thought that has led to the creature being deified, worshipped and served more than the Creator.

2. Elitism

The mystic “gnosis” (or knowledge) is only taught to the elite – those
who have a special capacity beyond the force of reason and the flesh. According to Gnostic writings, this special capacity was imparted by a messenger bearing a “spark” of light from the “realm of light” even before the creation of the world. The goal of the Gnostic is the release of the inner man by virtue of gnosis (inner knowing) and his return to his native “realm of light”. There seems to be a special “place” for a special “people” who are called out or chosen. That is how the spiritual elitism comes forth. It is this
Gnostic thought that is behind many of the aberrant teachings of the
Latter Rain Movement. (This will be discussed at length in Chapter 3).

3. Intuitive

The Gnostic concept of God is determined by the depth of illumination and revelation subjectively (by mind or feeling) experienced “about God”. The concept rejects external faith in God the Person. The reference point for godhood is in self. Gnostic revelation must be distinguished from Christian revelation because it is not rooted in history and transmitted by Scripture. It is rather the intuition of the mystery of self. The dark cloud of mysticism that
overshadows the Church can readily be traced to the Gnostic’s “intuition of the mystery of self”.

4. Self-Knowledge

The Gnostic believes that gnosis (selfe knowledge) is redemptive and as such needs to be discovered and known. As a result of gnosis, man subjectively discovers as a creature, the reality of his lasting unity with the transcendent God. He discovers that his life is immortal and that he is an ongoing manifestation of the light and the god that dwells in his inner self. This knowledge, it is believed, has a redemptive quality that takes the spirit in man to the ultimate realm of light such as the fulness of God.

5. Redefinition of the New Birth

Love and salvation are reckoned obvious consequences of “gnosis”. Pure knowledge without subjective reality provides intellectual enlightenment that comes from force of reason and must be avoided because it suppresses the gnosis of Divine Reality. The only substantial evidence of Divine Salvation comes from within the self-consciousness of man. It is in the experience of the inner gnosis that the Gnostic is “born-again”.

The redemptive quality in man must not be sought in the incarnation of God in Christ through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Holy Scriptures or in faith through grace, but rather in the self-conscious seat of his own divinity. In
other words, the fullness of divine self-consciousness is the source
and evidence of the Gnostic’s “New Birth”.

6. Divinity

To the Gnostic the mystery of God was already unveiled (at least in secret) long before the birth of Jesus Christ and even before the Scriptures were written. In fact, they say it was revealed and buried in man before the creation of the world. Therefore, the only way for man to know about God is through gnosis (self knowledge). As a result, he will experience and know the Divine Spark within himself and know he is a member of the Elite – a “Manifest Son of God”.

He who exalts and prizes above everything else, the Divine Spark within
himself and sincerely believes that eternal life is found only in the Divine
Element will be certain to come into harmony with all of life and thereby
bring into consciousness the Spark of Divinity and so immortalize his soul … by obedience to the Divine Law, man attains unto Christhood, become the
Son of God. [Jacques Lacarriere, The Gnostics, Peter Owen, London, 1977,
p.43]

The Gnostic strives to find God in the creation, i.e., in “self” rather than in the Person, Christ, who is the Creator! This pursuit winds up in pantheism.

Perturbing Trends

Unfortunately, Gnostic trends are developing at an alarming rate within the Church. As early as the Second Century, Gnosticism infiltrated Christian theology. Since that time, it has gradually saturated the Church and is now, in these last days exploding not only within the Church, but also within secular institutions. The world is being prepared for a predominant Gnostic religious form, a New Order that will govern a great part of the world before Christ
returns.

Because certain “popular” theological concepts are not being measured and subjected to strict Scriptural scrutiny, Gnosticism is gaining a stronghold. As a result of new theological thought, even fundamental orthodox doctrines are being grossly changed into seed-beds for Gnosticism.

The statements below (originally in chart form) is adapted from Which Jesus Do You Follow? by M. Dauer.

FUNDAMENTAL ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY:
• Based on: God’s Word.
• Acknowledges: Deity of Jesus Christ.
• Believes: Man is basically sinful, and only GOD can correct the evil in
him.
• Gives glory to: GOD
• God: Believe in a PERSONAL GOD who is all good.
• Salvation: Spiritual rebirth that takes place when an individual chooses to
believe by faith the DEITY of JESUS CHRIST, recognizes the SIN in his life
and chooses to follow Christ and turn from his sin according to the Scriptures.
• Faith based on: The Word of God.
• The Answer: Jesus Christ – according to the Scriptures.
• Christ: Jesus Christ, the one and only fully God and fully man.
• The Bible: NOTHING should be added and NOTHING should be taken
away from the Bible. It is the COMPLETE WORD OF GOD. Interpreted
literally and the literal meaning received.
• Commitment: To the Lord Jesus Christ according to the Scriptures.

GNOSTIC/NEW AGE THOUGHT:
• Based on: Man’s word.
• Acknowledges: Deity of man.
• Believes: Man is good and getting better.
• Gives glory to: Self
• God: Belief in God or a great force or energy or One Mind. An impersonal God with both good and bad.
• Salvation: Spiritual awakening that comes when an individual experiences
“his own divinity”.
• Faith based on: Experience.
• The Answer: Finding the “self” or “god” within and striving with “works”.
• Christ: A position of status held by all deserving members. Arrived at by
“self”, “experience” and “works”.
• The Bible: They pick and choose Scriptures to suit their purposes. They
say the Scriptures can be “interpreted” in many different ways.
Spiritualised to say whatever they want.
• Commitment: To self – or God through a passive or emotional experiential
form of religion.
. . . they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also other Scriptures, unto their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16)

Chapter 3: A Gnostic Gospel?

Having defined and illustrated the doctrinal core of Gnosticism, we can now effectively identify Gnostic thought as it emerges in the church today. There is a growing network comprised of loosely linked groups with a common Gnostic theme. They refer to themselves in many ways. They use Biblical sounding titles such as “Overcomers”, “The First Fruits”, “Manifest Sons of God”, “The Elect”, “A New Breed”, “Son of Man Company” and even “The Manchild Company”. These groups can be involved in a wide spectrum of teaching from anti-Semitism, Prophets and Apostles, Restoration, Kingdom Now Theology, and most sinister of all – the New Age philosophy.

Though diverse in their outworking, these groups have a common origin in three main bodies of teaching: the Latter Rain Movement, the New Order and the Rosicrucian Order. We will study these three groups in detail, and as we do, the underlying Gnostic philosophy will be evident. Bear in mind, the essence of Gnosticism is finding your divinity – the god within you, by subjective experience.

The Latter Rain Movement

Most Pentecostal history books date the historic Pentecostal revival of the Latter Rain movement to 1948 and attribute its geographical origin to North Battleford, Canada. Its beginning was explosive among the Pentecostals and like a wild fire spread quickly throughout North America and many places around the world.

The movement was characterized by many healings and miraculous phenomena . . . There was an emphasis on spiritual gifts which were to be
received by the laying on of hands. [Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, Zondervan Publishing House]

Leaders felt that God was giving the Church, in these last days, great insight into the mind of God by prophetic revelation and manifestations. With the outburst of the revival the ministry of an apostle and a prophet was elevated to the rank of an “office”. “The ministries were not restricted to penetrating the mysteries within the Bible but included the unveiling of people’s lives and heart.” [Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, Zondervan Publishing House (emphasis added)].

New revelations into the spiritual world emerged – communication with angels, divine visitations, and out-of-body experiences. Dangers Revealing a “new thing” or gaining knowledge either by allegorizing the Scriptures or by personal prophetic revelation was the spirit of absurdity that overtook what initially seemed to be a move of God.

The records show that the revival started out well. Unfortunately, in certain major respects, it ended in abuse and apostasy, thus showing once again the need for the teaching of true Biblical doctrine.

The Latter Rain Movement had a notorious reputation for imparting
an assortment of strange teachings. The origin of these teachings,
which have no thread of Scriptural foundation except where the
Scriptures have been applied out of context, can be traced beyond
any reasonable doubt to the occult. These teachings are invariably
accompanied by what seems to be supernatural manifestations,
which when examined, are characteristically descriptive of the
occult. There is evidence that with the Latter Rain revival came a
blaze of subjective theology that centred on man, his senses,
imagination and intuition above the objective and scriptural knowledge of truth.

This new emphasis started a paradigm shift. The initial paradigm, an
orthodox perspective of Christ shifted or changed, caused
Christians to be receptive to subjective impressions of Christ,
experiences and ideas. To maintain the interest of followers, new
ideas and new revelations were (and are) continually in the making.
Most people who have had any history in Pentecostalism at all have
been influenced at some time in their lives by the Latter Rain
Movement.

There have been many sincere people who felt they were part of the move of God for the Last Days and were earnestly partaking of the fruit that was offered. Since 1948 the Latter Rain influence has permeated the churches, Bible Colleges, evangelism and Christian television broadcasting networks. The overall magnitude of its influence makes it more difficult to warn of the inherent dangers that are involved.

As a result of the Latter Rain influence in the Christian Church two basic streams of thought exist side by side. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish the one from the other. Like the tares and wheat they have grown up together. Only through God’s written Word can a true separation be discerned. The first stream is “Gnostic” thought – the inspiration of many masquerading as apostles and prophets. The second is “Christian orthodoxy” thought based on the Holy Scriptures. It is the Gnostic stream of thought that divides the
Christian Church into a dichotomy.

Tangents

Here are some of the subtle doctrinal concepts the Latter Rain fraternity have come to popularise:
• Positive Confession and Prosperity Message
(Hagin, Copeland, Capps, Price)
• Restoration – Apostles, Prophets and the “Inner Voice”
(Bickle, Hamon, Cain)
• Shepherding/Covenantalism
(Simpson, Godwin, Mumford)
• Kingdom Now Theology
(Paulk, Hamon)
• Manifest Sons of God
(Cerullo)

There are many more names and new ways these streams are flowing together now. In spite of these erroneous teachings, many souls around the world have come to receive Jesus Christ as Saviour. However, through these aberrant doctrines, many Christians have or are being swept into a form of religion that too often fits the description of the cults and occult.

Prophets and The New Order

Today with the rise of new “prophets” and “apostles”, we are hearing terminology that is clearly unscriptural. Yet, enough Scripture references are used to make the teachings palatable to the average Christian.

The elevation of prophets and apostles obviously made way for individuals to abuse Scripture. It allowed some to give the ‘Spoken Word’ equality with Scripture. ‘There could be no greater error’, denominational leaders warned. . . [The Assemblies of God] General Secretary, J. Roswell Flower cautioned, ‘Predictive prophecy resulted in untold disaster wherever it had been given free course’.

Flower was well-versed in the history of Pentecostalism and recalled numerous prophecies that had come to nothing. The New Order of the Latter Rain in fact was nothing new. The ground had been covered before, with lessons learned through costly mistakes. Now a new generation seemed to want to repeat it all. [The Assemblies of God, A Chapter in the Story of American Pentecostalism, Vol.2, Edith Blumhofer]

This “New Order” has survived and has influenced the course of Pentecostal history. All along there has been interaction among the salvation/healing revivals and the Charismatic movement for the past 40 years. Now another generation later, we are facing the same situation that our forefathers faced, only this time it is exacerbated because of the mass media, telecommunications, huge conferences and a strong interlocking network.

When the terms “Illumination”, “New Revelation” and “New Order” are used, immediately the imagination is titillated into wondering, “What does God have new in store for me?” Promises of a “New Anointing” and a “New Thing” keep the conferences filled and the tape and book sales rolling! When the term “New Thing” is used, the following are some of the thoughts behind the term:

1. New “mysteries” revealed;
2. New “knowledge” of the Christ within – self consciousness;
3. New “form of godliness” that will be the light of the world;
4. New “power” that will do marvelous new things;
5. New “Law of Love” without Scripture;
6. New “Inner Voice” above the Scriptures to guide and govern;
7. New centre of divinity – the soul;
8. New ministries that exceed even those of the prophets and apostles of old; and
9. New consciousness/self potential – self-esteem, selfimmortalisation
and self-the temple of illumination.

These thoughts are the bedrock of Gnostic experience and its objective of self-realisation of the god within and its subsequent fruit of love and works (born not out of the working of the Holy Spirit but of connecting with your inner self.)

The Rosicrucian Order

There is a clear link in modern trends and the above teachings to what is known as “The Rosicrucian Order”. (A Gnostic religion). This seems like a bold drastic statement. However, in 1925 there was a book written entitled The Sons of God. It was “A Foreshadowing of the Coming World of the Messenger of The New Age” (R. Swinburne Clymer). Note the similarities in the following quote:

In each life is a spark, a germ of the Divine Nature. This spark is the
potential Christos or the potential individual Soul or that “light which
lighteth all the world of man’s consciousness”. When man becomes conscious
of this light within his own being and recognizes and obeys its ‘still small
voice’, he has reached a state bordering on Illumination of Soul or
Immortalisation. When he has found within himself the CENTRE whence
cometh the LIGHT, Soul Consciousness is attained. This is the beginning of
Initiation; the first revealment of the Divine Mysteries.

The Divine Spark in each individual may be developed into a centre or globe of pure white fire; it may become a dynamic nucleus of living fires – the Fire of Love and Immortality. This fact gives the key to the significance of the term ‘Temple of Illumination’. Man in toto, is the nuceau of Illumination, the Temple of the living, radiating Christos . . . ‘God in me and I in you’. Thus, by obedience to the Divine Law, man attains unto Christhood, becomes the Son of God. (page 15)

Out of Gnosticism a variety of religious cults and orders emerged, one of which was Druidism that spread rapidly during the mediaeval era throughout Europe including Britain. It became a prime factor in the direction of all European culture, religion and society. From Gnosticism and Druidism evolved what has come to be known as the Rosicrucian Order that openly admits to having originated in Gnosticism.

We can date the Rosicrucian Order back to 1379. According to their own writings, a Rosicrucian is one who has learned, or is learning a philosophy of life – a path to confident living. Among famous people who were known Rosicrucians were to name a few: Gottfried Leibnitz 1646-1716, Francis Bacon 1561-1626 and Benjamin Franklin 1706-1790. The Rosicrucians boldly advertise “Become united with enlightened minds everywhere”. The tragedy is that men who were great thinkers and spiritual leaders in their day became influenced by the Rosicrucians, just as the same thinking is influencing the church in varying degrees today.

As a result of the Rosicrucian philosophy in the eighteenth century, the Freemason Society became one of the strongest influences in Europe and North America. Thus, in the USA as well as in other parts of the world, Gnosticism helped shape much of the Christian thought, culture and politics of the day.

The book Ancient Wisdom and Secret Sects by Time-Life Books not
only seems to confirm the fact that Freemasonry in part owes its existence to Rosicrucianism, but also substantiates the fact that Gnosticism is at the core of Freemasonry. With reference to the enormity of Freemasonry influence on North America, this book says:
Today of course, the fraternal service group known as the Free and
Accepted Masons is a secure strand in the social fabric of the developed
world. In the United States alone, some 16,000 lodges welcome several
million member Masons, and the leading citizens of many a town consider it
a privilege to belong. In some ways, however – in the observance of hidden
rituals, the profusion of symbols and honorary titles and high-flown
ceremonial language – the Masonic order remains the secret society it has
been for centuries untold. (page 83)

Needless to say, a great portion of Freemasonry membership comprises of the Christian clergy and to some extent accounts for the strong Gnostic influence in the Church.

According to the same book, on page 53:

Rosicrucianism’s spread in seventeenth-century Germany may have gained impetus from a Gorlitz cobbler named Jakob Boehme. Boehme reportedly has his first spiritual ‘illumination’ in 1600 when, at the age of twenty-five, he sat gazing at the light reflected from a pewter dish. The revelation led the shoemaker to abandon his trade for mystical studies. It was William Law’s introduction to Jakob Boehme which poured light into Law and inspired him to write The Spirit of Love and The Spirit of Prayer. People who love William Law’s writings and respect his teachings cannot believe he was influenced in any way by Rosicrucian thought that was basically Gnostic.

The founder of InterVarsity, Norman Grubb, testifies in his biography,
. . . from Boehme, most difficult to read because he could not easily put the
depths of his illuminations into readable form, I got my answer, and to this
day know no writer to match him . . . He is the last word to me . . . I am
saying that everything is a form by which He manifests Himself, much as my
body is not exactly I, but an outward form of the inner me. This fact,
gleaned through Boehme, confirmed through the writings of many others,
with the foundations in Scripture, has given me my anchor. [Once Caught,
No Escape, Norman Grubb, Intervarsity Press]

Norman Grubb confessed to receiving more from mystic writings than from studying the Bible. Apart from Boehme and William Law, other great mystic writers that proved a spiritual help to him were as follows: Saint Teresa, Meister Eckhart, Henry Suso, John Tauler, John of Rusbroeck, Walter Hilton, Plotinus, Angelus Silesius, Richard Rolle, Lady Julian of Norwich, Evelyn Underhill, William Kingsland and Rufus Jones.

These names are well known for their Gnostic and even theosophical ideas. With reference to some of the mystic writers he said, “These are out of bounds to the orthodox; but I have often got more from them than from normal Bible exegesis”. According to his own testimony, during a time of severe despair and doubt as to the existence of God, he desperately sought
for answers amongst the writings of mystics. “My answer came
through the mystics and has been widening ever since”, he writes.

Norman Grubb is a typical example of countless others, who for
whatever reason, struggled to walk by faith and unfortunately turned
to Gnostic ideas (mysticism) to experience a sense of spirituality
and a feeling of belonging to God. Like Norman Grubb, numerous
Christians, in spite of all of their experiences, are floundering in
doubt for lack of faith in God’s Word and instead are searching for
answers in mysticism – the spirit of Gnosticism.

No wonder the masses are receptive to the modern Gnostic apostles and prophets. Scripture very clearly gives us insight into the realm of the
supernatural. We know that the supernatural realm suffered a terrible rebellion as Lucifer made his bid for godhood. God became man, and this man was Jesus Christ who was born of corrupt humanity. He bridged the supernatural chasm between God and man. All things work and progress according to God’s PLAN and PURPOSES and the supernatural realm functions within the parameters God has set. As natural man, we are forbidden to attempt to even peer into those unseen things that scripture refers to. We are presently to be occupied with bringing the Gospel to the natural realm, the creation.

However, there is a time soon coming, even the angels know that at this appointed time, when the last trumpet heralds the return of Jesus Christ, the saints will put on immortality, cross the supernatural barriers and judge angels (1 Cor. 6:3).

Today we are seeing a strange trend as again, man, but his own endeavours (experientially and philosophically), tried hard to relate to the “supernatural realm” and walk in a sense of godhood. The nature of this is clearly characterised as the New Age philosophy, as opposed to Orthodox Christianity. Regretfully, a great part of the church has latched on to this trend.

By all appearances, Christians are knowingly or unknowingly dabbling in eastern mysticism and the spirit world. Unless they resist this temptation, they will ultimately fall prey to Satan’s control. Deeper spiritual understanding seems to be the motivation behind it all. The problem is that Christians are no longer satisfied with the literal Word of God. They are looking for experiences “beyond the sacred page”. The Bread of Heaven, according to their inner “sacred feelings”, has become stale and outmoded.

Scripture indicates that participation in the supernatural realm is ours to be had. However, not until the prescribed Biblical time – the literal return of Jesus Christ! Any participation in the supernatural realm apart from this is treading on the same path that Lucifer walked in pursuit of going beyond his limits. Until this appointed time, the saints should be content to live and rest in the Word of God. They are to live by faith, keep God’s commandments and with a passion, resist dabbling in the spirit world.

To Believe or Not to Believe

With the variety available on the “gospel menu today, how does the ordinary person discern between truth and error? We are hearing tales from those who are preaching on “spiritual warfare” that make the toes curl. Their so-called experiences and encounters with the spirit world not only renders the cross of Christ of no effect, but clearly manifests spiritual deception and a departure from the Holy Scriptures. We have heard reports of people, when engaging in the recent “spiritual warfare” craze, that have received actual bruises and injuries from their encounter with territorial spirits or demonic
beings.

Almost a reward in itself, the recipients’ reaction to this phenomenon is one of gratitude, as if he or she has truly entered into a high spiritual level to have been so offensive to the enemy to experience such an attack.

Prophets are proclaiming that God is now “birthing” the supernatural, and new revelations, based on dreams, visions and personal experiences.

Mysticism is on the increase. Yet, we hear with all sincerity, “It must be God” because the advocates have an intuitive witness that it is true, whether it
accords with Scripture or not. Be on your guard whenever you hear this defense. It is not a defense, it is an excuse for deception!

It is abundantly clear in the history of the human race that humanity
finds it easier to believe in mysticism rather than doubt it. Inquiring
minds always tend to want to know or experience something new. In
religion, this is especially true. More than 2,300 years ago even the
Greek philosopher Aristotle said, “the ability to doubt (mysticism) is
rare, . . .” The general responses of Christians to pagan practices and Gnostic doctrines shows that many are gullible and ignorant of the Scriptures.

Mysticism

In listening to many tapes that are coming out of the present day “prophetic movement”, the underlying current is mysticism. Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopaedia defines “mysticism” as “an immediate, direct, intuitive knowledge of God or of ultimate reality attained through personal religious experience”. Experiences are being set up as the criteria for truth. There are many Christians who cannot communicate spiritual knowledge without the use of this term. The danger lies in that when experience is the basis for faith instead of the Word of God, erroneous theological ideas arise. This gives way for a deviance from the Word of God.

The interest in mysticism grows strongly as the churches become ever emptier and the religious festivals become mere periods of recreation amid a boisterous, heedless world. It is evident that contemporary society, if it is at
all interested in spiritual things demands direct experience and not merely
teaching that comes from ancient texts, nor is it impressed with traditional
doctrine that does not have a savour of a living force behind it. [The Mission
of Mysticism, Richard Kirby, London SPCK, 1979]

A lady had called to a local radio talk show exuberantly declaring her belief in Inner Healing. When referring to Ruth Carter Stapleton, she just oozed with the “wonder experiences” she had had as a result of Ruth’s ministry. When questioned about some of Mrs. Stapleton’s strange beliefs that did not accord with orthodox Christianity, the caller assured her listeners that she had been to
Bible College. Yet she could not establish a basis for Mrs. Stapleton’s teaching other than her own experiences.

Those associated with the “prophetic ministries” on the scene today bristle when they hear that some say they are New Age. A New Age book states that “Charismatic congregations in mainline churches are entry points into the Aquarian frontier”. [Unfinished Animal: The Aquarian Frontier and the Evolution of Consciousness by Theodore Rosak]

Why would a New-Ager even try to make an inroad with someone
who makes a claim to be part of the blood-washed body of Christ?
We believe that instead of the attention being drawn to the cross of
Christ, it is being directed to supernatural experiences which have
become the basis of faith. This has caused an almost imperceptible
cross-over. Johanna Michaelsen said it well:

We have ever so subtly allowed our base to shift from the solid objective
grounding of God’s Word and have come instead to place our focus on our
experiences as the standard for our beliefs. [Ministries Magazine, Spring
1985]

The apostate church is a bearer of mysticism as her structure and
institutions are subtly being overtaken. From the very beginning,
mysticism has plagued the church. In these last days we are witnessing ominous manifestations. This should not be surprising for the Scriptures foretold this:
The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine . . . they shall
turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned to fables. (2 Tim.
4:3-4)

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there
shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in
damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and
bring upon themselves swift destruction. (2 Peter 2:1)

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines
of devils . . . (1 Tim. 4:1)

The following quote is how a Gnostic looks at the Church today:
The implication of the continuation of Christian mysticism (admittedly
under the guise of spirituality, with which it is none the less almost
synonymous) is simply that Christianity cannot be thought . . . to be
redundant in the face of the proliferation of modern mysticism. Far from it:
Christianity has always been the womb and the cradle of western mysticism, and it welcomes rather than fears modern mysticism. [The Mission of Mysticism, Richard Kirby, London SPCK, 1979]

This takes us back to Gnosticism. It was already manifest in John’s day. It was called “the doctrines of the depths of God”, while in fact it was the doctrine of the depths of Satan (Revelation 2:24). It boils down to the fact that in Gnosticism man’s redemption and justification is not by faith in God according to the Scriptures, but rather in “mystical knowledge” acquired by personal experience.

This theme is intertwined in all the cults and occults.Though the heavens disappear in a burst of fervent heat and the earth is obliterated out of existence – what will abide? Your experience – or the Word of God?

TAKE HEED PASTORS! You may not want to agree with every
statement listed below; however, for the sake of your flock and the
Lordship of Christ, discern every form of mysticism clearly adverse
to Scripture and deal with it. By no means do I suggest a witch hunt.
At this time in the history of the Church, extreme caution is of the
utmost importance.

Signs and Entry Points to Mysticism
1. The cross of Christ is not the sole basis for redemption.
2. The Holy Scriptures are not the complete single revelation of God
to man.
3. Experience is the way to perfection and knowledge.
4. Experience takes the precedence over the Scriptures.
5. Intuition is given preference to Scripture and sometimes a
substitute for the Holy Spirit.
6. Faith in the Word of God is defected to faith in the Church, man,
self, experience, etc.
7. Transubstantiation of the Eucharist becomes Christ in you – i.e.
symbols of Holy Communion namely the bread and the wine are
transformed into the literal flesh and blood of Jesus Christ.
8. Mediators other than Jesus Christ are acknowledged and believed on.
9. Self is deified.
10. The allegorical method of interpretation replaces the literal.
11. Salvation is based on experience and not the Word of God.
12. The coming of Christ for His Church is spiritualized.
13. The presence of God is sought in a mystical sense.
14. Astrology (the Zodiac) is seen as an accessory to the Gospel – a
source of enlightenment.
15. The Church is the ongoing incarnation of the literal presence of Christ.
16. Inner Healing, imagery, centering and “psychology” are
substituted for the power of the Gospel.
17. Personal revelations, dreams and visions are given priority to
Scripture as final reference in judgments, decisions and guidance.
18. Experiences are sought rather than God’s will and His
righteousness.
19. A euphoric form of love and unity with little or no regard for
Scripture or sound doctrine.
20. Like Simon the sorcerer, signs and wonders are sought instead of true repentance and a right heart before God.
21. Hyper-faith, positive thinking, self-potential, and self-deification are taught as gospel truths.
22. Finding Christ or forming Christ within according to Eastern mysticism or New Age philosophy.
23. Meditation void of the Scriptures and reality.
24. The obsession of “spiritual warfare” with a Gnostic and “New Age” slant – allegedly doing battle in the supernatural realm to free cities and areas from the control of spirit beings before the Gospel can be preached effectively or have power to save sinners in the natural world.

True Spiritual Warfare

The Christian’s battle (true spiritual warfare) is not a reeling, an intuition or an imaginative experience in the spirit realm – however real it might seem. On the contrary, the warfare is against every form of mysticism that ties the feelings, intuition and imagination into the spirit world which God strictly forbids. (Deut. 18:10-12).

As Christians we war against the strongholds of spirit mysticism that war against our minds, feelings and intuitions. By the power of the Gospel of Christ and Him crucified we cast down:
• Reasonings, pagan philosophies, Gnostic concepts and carnal dogmas that
nullify the Word of God.
• Imaginations, theories, religion, fables, metaphysics, theosophy and
meditations that defy the knowledge of God; and
• Every thought, form of godliness and spiritual intent or practice opposed
to the Gospel of Christ.

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God
to the pulling down of strongholds: Casting down imaginations, and
every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and
bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ . . . (2 Cor. 10:4-5)

Chapter 5: The “Elite” Concept

No matter how we view Gnosticism, it is always an elitist faith. Each member esteems himself superior to heaven (no wonder the “Gnostic Christian” shows no interest in heaven or the personal return of Christ). Only the “elite” (the subjectively illuminated ones) can achieve godhood.

All evidence of the writings of the Gnostics leads to an egocentric direction which is a religious life with self as the object of its devotion. It is a form of narcissism with an escape from the real world into a world of myth and fantasy where no absolutes, parameters or judgements apply. This is why “spiritual warfare” as promulgated today has such an appeal to many. The imagination is titillated as the “spirit realm” is unveiled, and excited warriors find they can do battle with creatures of the netherworld.

The essence of a “Gnostic” is a life-long journey into self. His (imaginary) pursuit is perfection, immortality, godhood and an “elite” form of godliness that sets him apart from the flesh and the world and takes him into the “unknown”.

Elitism

There are certain groups of Christians that fall into the category of “elitism” notwithstanding their affiliations. They use the same catch phrases: “Come out of your man-made systems”, “Denominational walls are breaking down”, and “Christians need to be ‘delivered’ from ‘Spirits of Religion’ and sound doctrine”.

The guilty groups are primarily among the Charismatics. They go by many names and sometimes no name at all. We spot them by the teachers that are involved and by similarities in their teachings. There may be some variations among the different groups; however the common denominator that ties them together is the “elitism” concept. This is set out as follows:

God is forming an overcoming company within the body of Christ called,
among other names, “The Manchild Company”, etc. (Revelation 12:5). The
Manchild is the true church. Those that are the real Christians are the
Overcomers (Revelation 2 & 3) and are becoming more and more perfected so that they will be able to drive Satan from the world. This must be done before Jesus can return. They believe that the church is not ready for the coming of the Lord. They are not looking for His imminent coming. They believe that Christ must come TO His Church before He comes FOR His Church.

All do not necessarily use this terminology, but the premises are the same. The language is becoming increasingly militant as the “Army of God”, “Gideon’s Army”, or “Joel’s Army” take shape. A common thread is that they are expecting a “New Order”: “In all revolutions there are noisy and dangerous times as the OLD ORDER is replaced by the new . . . after the dust settles, we can proceed to build the beautiful kingdom that the Lord has purposed from the foundations of the world”, says Vinson Synan, one of the leaders of A.D.2000. [Fulness, Jan-Feb 1990, Vinson Synan, p. 24]

Gary North, a leader of the Reconstructionists, proclaims:
We are now witnessing the beginning of a true paradigm shift . . . the
Christian community in the United States has at last begun to adopt the
intellectual foundations of a new world view, and this is always the first step
in the replacement of a dying civilization which is based on a dying world
view . . . the rotten wood is ready for burning, and a new civilization is being
prepared to replace it. [Dominion and Common Grace, The Biblical Basis of
Progress, Gary North.]

It all has such a spiritual sounding ring. One of the modern day prophets, Paul Cain, calls this elitism the “inner court experience”. He announces joyfully that there is an empty place on Jesus’ bosom for those who can “enter in”. The problem with this “elitism” theory is that Christians are to enter into the “inner court” of God, not by the way of the Cross, through faith, but through a subjective experience of a “nirvana” experience.

A Manifest Son adherent says:
But the purpose of God reaches from before the foundation of the world. It
plans the transplanting of his sons and his daughters. It plans the creation of
a NEW ORDER (the elite) on the earth and thus it transplanted celestial
children to a physical world. It brought them forth into being in the bodies
of the Adamic race. [Tape recording by William Swift]

A “prophet” from the Kansas City Fellowship in an interview session
in 1988 proclaims that the Lord looked at him and said, “I have called the best of every blood line in earth unto this generation . . . I have elected to bring them forth in this generation . . . the ELECT GENERATION. [Bob Jones transcribed from 1988 tapes]

This “New Breed” does not believe in the Rapture eschatology.

According to Rick Joyner, one of the “Prophets”:
. . .the doctrine of the Rapture was a great and effective ruse of the enemy to
implant in the Church a retreat mentality . . . already this yoke has been cast off by the majority in the advancing church, and it will soon be cast off by
all. [The Harvest, Rick Joyner]

The Scripture, Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken and the other left. (Luke 17:34-36) is being construed to mean that the imperfect one shall be taken (removed from the earth) and the perfect one left. Since the Elite (The Manifest Sons) are being perfected on earth, the true Church is to become The Christ – the ongoing Incarnation of Christ. Therefore, the Church as “The Christ” is empowered to drive all demons from the earth, perfect the Church and establish the Elect’s reign. The emphasis is always on the super
spiritual race rather than on the person, Jesus Christ. One well known teacher summed it up as follows: “It is time to take him (Jesus) off and move up into the place God has ordained for us.” This is heresy in its diabolic essence.

The Foremost Danger in Elitism

The foremost danger in these divisive teachings is that Jesus Christ is removed from His high place as God the Son, to the level of all the sons of God. The sons of God are moved up to Christ’s place. The truth of the humanity of Christ is taken to an extreme. This is one of Satan’s chief ways to discredit and finally destroy God’s Word – to add to His message by pushing it to the extreme. History shows that the worst danger in Gnosticism, especially in the concept of elitism, is its inherent propensity to extremism. Given free reign, it inevitably leads to moral, political and spiritual extremism.

An immediate case in point is its extremist abuse of the Scriptures.
Gnosticism has a notorious reputation for riding roughshod over the
Scriptures then adding and subtracting in pursuit of extreme
religious ideals. Revelation 22:19 clearly reveals what happens to
anyone who adds to God’s Word.

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.

Undermines Evangelism

The new Elite doctrine undermines the message of evangelism. Everyone is just where he is supposed to be – where God wants him at that time. Recruits for the movement are not obtained from the ranks of the unsaved, but are plucked off one or two at a time from Christian groups by phrases like “Wouldn’t you like to learn new, deep truths?”, “Have you entered in?”, “Come into the inner court”, or “Surely, you want to move on with God?”.

These phrases stir spiritual pride and elitism in most, as well as a sense of inferiority or feeling of being unspiritual if we do not understand and want to
participate. Everyone else seems to understand, why not us?
Spiritual pride comes to those who think they understand and are
part of the “New Thing” because they have these “new deeper
truths” and the rest are just poor babes.

The Restoration Movement has had a profound impact on the
Charismatic movement. With the new call to “unity” with no regard
to doctrine, the influence is flooding all aspects of evangelical
Christianity. Restorationism presents a great challenge to
conservative Biblical interpretations and is successful because it
appears to be more “spiritual”. This “spirituality” actually causes a
deterioration, becomes divisive and splits churches. A spiritual
“elitism” is formed. Others who do not get into the same “deep
revelations” of the hidden meanings of Scriptures are left out and
made to feel that they are not “spiritual”.

Elitism Undermines the Word of God

The new and yet old elite doctrine that has suddenly burst forth in
the church is in actuality the brain child of New Age Christian
Gnostics. Many of them do not even realize they are “Gnostics”. At
the expense of God’s Word, the Scriptures are spiritualized to
illustrate “The Church” (as they define it) as a special “breed” of
God’s people.

The Bible is perceived as a symbolic book. As a result of symbolic
interpretations, preposterous thoughts and blatant cultish concepts
have emerged. Rejecting the literal sense of the Word allows the
Scriptures to be interpreted and applied indiscriminately. For
example, 2 Corinthians 3:6 (The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth
life) is allegorized to mean the Scriptures is a dead letter without the
Spirit. However, that is not what the Apostle Paul is saying. Paul is
making a difference between the Old Covenant and the New
Covenant. The old brought death whereas the new as a life-giving
spirit.

To the mind of the Gnostic, the true meaning of the Scriptures
appears only when they are allegorised or spiritualised. Unless this
rule is applied, the Scriptures remain a dead letter. By this nonliteral
method of interpretation, the neo-Gnostics have spiritualized
themselves into being “Sons” equal with Christ and part of the “elite
order” in the Church.

Immortality for the Elite

This teaching is becoming more widespread as popular circuit “Prophets” proclaim in Kansas City:
. . . There is a ministry after the five-fold called the ministry of perfection -the Melchisedek Priesthood . . . your children will be moving into the
ministries of Perfection . . . coming into that Divine Nature of Jesus Christ . .
. they themselves will be that generation that’s raised up to put death itself
underneath their feet . . . because the Lord Jesus is worthy to be lifted up by
a church that has reached the full maturity of the GOD-MAN! [Bob Jones,
(Kansas City Fellowship) transcribed from 1988 tape]

Those who are overcomers believe they will never be sick or die and
they will be here when Christ returns. They believe they are now
living in the prophetic time when the Church is being restored and
perfected by the five-fold ministries (apostles, prophets, etc.). The
Elite (Overcomers) are now in the process of putting on immortality,
perfection and godhood and taking dominion of the earth. The
Church is about to birth the Man-child – the Sons of God, the
incarnation of Christ and brotherhood of Christ.

The essence of this concept is pure Gnosticism and actually accords with the following New Age thought (Gnosticism):
The real object of man’s life on earth is primarily his self-improvement and
his own ultimate perfection. This perfecting process depends upon the
attainment of unity within himself, a harmonizing between his physical and
spiritual forces; the unity of human with the Divine nature, which is the
essence and, in a spiritual sense, the NEW BIRTH. This perfection, or unity,
becomes a STATE of the Soul, a degree of being, a SENSING and FEELING
rather than a mere belief. This condition or state of being is possible only
through the development of the divine nature of man from WITHIN himself
and is the result of a process by which whatever is evil and unworthy is
transmuted, i.e. changed or SUBLIMATED into the higher or spiritual
entity – IT IS A BECOMING; the change from the purely animal-human to
the human-Divine.

The second object of man’s life on earth is to lead other men VIA the
same path so that ultimately all men shall have developed and
brought into manifestation and activity this same nature and thus
will God’s church or universal Brotherhood become an established
fact. [The Sons of God by R. Swinburnbe Clymer, Published by The
Philosophical Publishing Company (emphasis theirs)]

Secret Coming for the Elite

The neo-Gnostic believes the manifestation of the Sons of God comes about in a secret inner coming of Christ TO some Christians which would transform them into “Overcomers”. “Christ should visit the saints . . . and minister His life ‘in secret’ before He is openly manifest.” [The Feast of Tabernacles, George Warnock, Springfield, MO – Bill Britton, 1951, pp 108]. In doing this they reject the literal resurrection and Rapture (the personal coming of Jesus Christ FOR His Church). It is interesting to note they will acknowledge Christ is coming, but His coming is off in the future. The emphasis is not on
Christ’s soon appearance but on the great “power” or “new anointing” that is to be manifest in the Church. Again, a subtle change of emphasis.

Chapter 6: The Mystic “Link”

The Apostate Church, New Age and Elitism. The exaltation of self, “I am a god”, or “I am divine” is the Gnostic connection with the “New Age” and “elitism”.
The following quotes identify the Church’s new wave link with New Age thought. It shows the source of the elite mindset taking over in the Church as well as the secular world:

1. The Principle of the Cosmic Christ = Pantheism.

. . . it is not those who rely upon a personal historical Jesus for their
salvation by ‘belief’, but the real Christians are those who have recognized
that the Cosmic Christ principle is verily and truly their own higher Self,
and who strive to have that ‘brought to birth’ in them, so that even here and
now they may act in the power of that supreme divine nature, even as the
historical man Jesus is reputed to have done. It is these alone who can
truly say that their ‘life is hid with Christ in God.’ (Col. 3:8)

‘The discovery of the Mystic Christ in you is being “born from above”. This
knowledge is of the utmost importance to human victory over the lower
self. The imperishable secret of human life is the mystic Christ in all men,
their hope of glory.’ [Archdeacon Wilberforce, Mystic Immanence, p.5]

2. Man is inherently divine – a ‘god’.

Yet verily, this is a mystery. We can but dimly apprehend the heights and
depths of it. We can but follow, each in his own manner and circumstances,
that Road, that PATH BY WHICH TO DEITY WE CLIMB, which has been
pointed out to us by the great teachers of the past, and of the present . . .
‘enter in at the straight gate’ which leads to life eternal; it will only be a few
who will accept that underlying teaching of the Christian Scriptures which I
have here endeavoured to elucidate as being in line with what the Sages
and Initiates of the Ancient Wisdom have taught in all ages, i.e. the great
fact of Man’s inherent divine nature, and the potentiality which every
individual possesses of realizing that divine nature in all its potency to
overcome every human disability – sin, sickness, death – and thereby to
attain, even here and now, ‘the peace which passeth all understanding . . . ‘

It is by belief in or recognition of this great fact of the indwelling ‘Christ’
(not the historical Jesus) that the individual may start on his return journey
to his ‘Father’s home’, and step by step may attain at last, here and now, to
the conquest of sin, suffering, and death, even as the man Jesus is
represented as having attained. [The Gnosis or Ancient Wisdom in the
Christian Scriptures, Bradford and Dickens, London, 1936, pp. 211-15]
The Soul or Spirit of man is the centre of divinity – making subjectivity and not objectivity of the Word of God the final authority.

Truth is within ourselves; it takes no rise From outward things whate’er you
may believe. There is an inmost centre in us all Where truth abides in
fullness; but around, Wall upon wall, the gross flesh hems it in. In the CENTRE of our being is to be found the Soul, the source of all truth,
and the Christos, wherein will come the Father. Toward this CENTRE we
must direct our search. But before we can drink of this fountain of life and
wisdom, which as a spring of clear and living water, we must break through
“wall upon wall” of “the gross flesh” that “hems it in” [The Sons of God by
R. Swinburne Clymer, Published by The Philosophical Publishing
Company, 1925]

From the above three quotes we learn:
• The Rosicrucian and the modern “New Age” Christians believe in the “Cosmic Christ principal”, i.e. the divine nature element resident in every man.
• The “god-man”, “the Christ” is the dormant or quickened spirit/inner soul of every man.
• The way to conquer sin, suffering and death is through the divine spirit (force or spark) in man.
• The power of redemption lies within the soul or spirit and is therefore independent of the Gospel of Christ and redemption through the blood of Christ.

The following quote chosen from a vast file of material gathered from modern T.V. evangelists proves how current Christian thought ties in with Rosicrucian (New Age) and “Manifest Sons of God”. It shows how an “elitist” mentality is
permeating Christian thought.

Your spirit, ladies and gentlemen, is God-like, he’s God-like in every way . . . The second this spirit-man comes into our being, pops into our bodies, we’re born again. He’s spirit, what’s born of the spirit is spirit. Say after me, within me is a God-man.

Say it again, within me is a God-man. [congregation repeats]. Now let’s say even better than that, let’s say, I am a God-man. When you say I am a God-man you’re talking about your spirit-man. Become spirit-man conscious. Become new creation conscious . . . This spirit-man within me is a God-man. Say after me, he’s born of heaven, he’s a super being. This spirit-man within me never makes a mistake. I do but he never. This spirit-man within me never sins, I do but he never does . . . Say after me, my body is the sinner, my spirit is the saint . . .

Say I’m born of heaven – God man. I’m a God-man. I’m a sample of Jesus. I’m a super being. Say it! Say it! Who’s a super being? I walk in the realm of the supernatural. Say it! Who walks in the realm of the supernatural? . . . Say after me . . . Here’s what I want you to say after me OK?

Col. 3:10 Get the knowledge, get the spirit-man renewed, get him strong,
and when he’s strong, he’ll hold off sickness. He’ll keep your body well, and
brother, you want to prosper. Money will be falling on you from left, right
and centre. God will begin to prosper you, for money always follows
righteousness and righteous living . . . Say after me, I hold my destiny . . . The reason many of us ask and never get is because our spirit-man isn’t strong enough to give it to us. Say after me, everything I ever want is in me already. [Benny Hinn, aired on Saturday, October 20, 1990 on TBN]

Although Benny Hinn has since made a public statement to the effect that he has recanted much of his earlier teaching, the mindset and receptivity among
Christians toward this Gnostic philosophy is very evident. At the time of the airing of these ideas, few believers responded in the Berean-like way, comparing Hinn’s ideas with Scripture. Those that did respond with justified criticism were often met with counter-criticism. The majority of listeners, already receptive to the idea of “new deeper truths”, sat passively glued to the T.V. sets, absorbing yet another “deep truth” and becoming more entrenched in Gnostic philosophy.

An Example The following is an account of Frank B. Robinson, the notorious cult leader of the “Psychiana Movement” in 1928 (Moscow, Idaho). At the time he was in his room crying out to “find God”.

As the moment passed he stood perfectly still, hopefully waiting for he knew not what. Then he fell to his knees, closed his eyes, and heard himself say, ‘The spirit within me is the Spirit of God, the same spirit that has moved in the lives of all great men. I have confessed this Spirit for many years, but I have also suppressed it. I want to express it from this moment on – fully, completely, perfectly.’

Kneeling there, he felt his mind cleansed of every thought save the thought
of the presence of God. His eyes filled with tears and he found himself
breathing deeply, repeating with every inhalation words which seemed to
have been whispered to him, ‘I believe in the Power of the Living God!’

He had the vivid feeling that he was not along in the room. He could sense
the Presence of something or someone, although he could see no one nor
hear anything but the words he so earnestly repeated. Yet something
had drawn aside a curtain deep within him and he seemed to be standing
face to face with the Power that is life. No longer, he said later, did he feel a
limiting consciousness; he felt only a single specific sense of complete
unity with God. In that flashing moment of insight, he realized as never
before that he was the inner counterpart of a divine creative power.
From then on he was convinced that he was the personalized activity of cosmic force . . . after that afternoon he was a changed man. [Strange Sects and Curious Cults: A Study of Their Origin and Influence, Larsen, Egon, New
York: Hart, 1972]

Frank B. Robinson’s Gnostic premise rejected:
1. The deity of Christ.
2. The blood of Christ.
3. Confession of sin.

He believed in:
1. Unity with God through universal consciousness.
2. The gospel of prosperity and personal revelations apart from and contrary to the Scriptures.
3. The voice of God with no respect to the Scriptures.
4. The spirit of man is the final voice on matters of divinity.

The concept that the spirit or soul of man is the divine element in man is
the form of mysticism that races against the Scriptures for the prize -thought to be true spirituality.

Mysticism Defined

“Mysticism is the idea that direct knowledge of God or ultimate reality is
achieved through personal, subjective intuition or experience apart from,
or even contrary to, historical fact or objective divine revelation.” Arthur
Johnson, a professor at West Texas State University, elaborates:

When we speak of a mystical experience we refer to an event that is
completely within the person. It is totally subjective . . . Although the mystic may experience it as having been triggered by occurrences or objects outside himself (like a sunset, a piece of music, a religious ceremony, or even a sex act), the mystical experience is a totally inner event. It contains no essential aspects that exist externally to him in the physical world . . . A mystical experience is primarily an emotive event, rather than a cognitive one . . . Its predominant qualities have more to do with emotional intensity, or ‘feeling tone’ than with facts evaluated and understood rationally. Although this is true, it alone is a woefully inadequate way of describing the mystical
experience. The force of the experience is often so overwhelming that the
person having it finds his entire life changed by it. Mere emotions cannot
effect such transformations.

Furthermore, it is from this emotional quality that another characteristic results, namely, its ‘self-authenticating’ nature. The mystic rarely questions the goodness and value of his experience. Consequently, if he describes it as giving him information, he rarely questions the truth of his newly gained “knowledge”. It is this claim that mystical experiences are “ways of knowing” truth that is vital to understanding many religious movements we see today. [Our Sufficiency in Christ, John MacArthur, Jr., Word Publishing, 1991]

The concept of Gnosticism is at the heart of Rosicrucianism, New Age
thought and Manifest Sons of God teachings. By Christian orthodox
definition the core of these thoughts (inner mystic knowledge) and beliefs
are occultic. In varying degrees this thinking has and is infiltrating the
church at an alarming rate. The Pentecostals and Charismatics are not
exempt. The most common characteristic is an “elitist” mentality.

Heresies

The following ideas and beliefs are characteristic of Rosicrucianism and
Manifest Sons of God, some of which, and in some cases all, are being
received and taught by a great part of the church. See whether you can
identify any of the following heresies:

1. Have an “elitist mentality”.
2. Consider themselves essentially Divine, equal to Christ.
3. Believe they are the Manifest Sons of God.
4. Believe their Divinity comes from within themselves.
5. Reject the literal Biblical view of the resurrection and the “rapture” of the
church.
6. Are Overcomers and Conquerors of evil and the world.
7. Are in the process of becoming perfect and immortal in this age.
8. Claim to be members of the Melchizedek Order – High Priest with Christ.
9. Will purge the world of undesirables.
10. Will reign on the earth as gods.
11. Attribute their revelations to the Divine Gnosis (knowledge) located in them.
12. Share the same political ambition to establish the government of the “Sons of God” to the exclusion of the personal presence of Jesus Christ.
13. Insist the Bible should be interpreted allegorically, symbolically and spiritually.
14. Believe it is wrong to interpret the Bible literally.
15. Reject Israel as a chosen nation of God.
16. Are anti-Semitic.
17. Reject the written Holy Scriptures as the final, inerrant and infallible Voice of God above all other voices or experiences.
18. Stress love and unity with little or no regard for sound doctrine or a sound mind.
19. Reject the resurrection and redemption of the body.
20. Spiritualize the resurrection and redemption of the body.
21. Reject the personal coming of the anti-christ.
22. Look forward to the dawning of the New Age on earth, ushered in by a select group of Overcomers, the Sons of God.
23. Reject Orthodox Christianity.
24. Are always receiving “new deep truth” apart from Scripture.
25. Are essentially into “mysticism”.
26. Believe in the attainment of perfection and immortality here on earth without a literal resurrection and Rapture.
27. Rejects redemption by the blood of Christ.
28. The spirit of man is the god-man.

These heresies project the following picture:
The New Wave “Mystery Babylon” (New Age Religion) riding on the back of
orthodox Christianity fulfilling the age long dream of the “Church of
Illumination” (Rosicrucian/Gnostic church) i.e., the uniting of the Church
founded on “love” and “godhood” – Satan’s fruit.

THE CHURCH OF ILLUMINATION has been steadily at work with the
idea that ultimately the various churches would merge for the benefit of all religions as well as of all mankind.

THE CHURCH OF ILLUMINATION looks forward with confidence to a
constantly increasing feeling of good will and religious tolerance among the various creeds, so that some day in the not too distant future the dream of unification can be realised and one allembracing religion taught to all the peoples of all the earth. [The Church of Illumination by Rev. R. Swinburne Clymer, M.D., Quakertown, PA, USA.]

This is the vision the Church, for the most part, is accepting and upholding,
above the Scriptures. This is the “elitism” that fundamentalists,
charismatics, pentecostals and evangelicals are now opening to. This is
the mysticism that enshrines the new age form of “elitism” in the Church.

The Heart of Elitism

The core of spiritual elitism lives in the psyche of man. Psyche, generally
means mind, the invisible spirit part of man, life, soul, self, passions,
feelings, desires, appetites, etc. There are a few theories as to what it
means. However, it is quite safe to say, psyche is at the core of man’s
individuality, and personality, thoughts and feelings. Satan knows this and
is why he is interested in the psyche and individuality of man.

When the “psyche” of man, through the subtle influence of Satan, assumes
the role of a “god-man”, the individual will very likely become spiritually
and morally unnatural. Thoughts and ideas become abstract and esoteric
in nature. Behavior generally assumes one of two directions, “Legalism”
or “Liberalism”. Extremism, as well as “Elitism” usually characterizes the
god-man role. Sometimes, it is difficult to identify the psyche of an
individual. But, given enough time it will eventually surface and be quite
evident.

The teachings of the “New Age” as well as that of the apostate church, for
the most part, are designed to magnify and glorify the psyche of man, hence the present obsession with “self-esteem”, “self-potential” and “selfindulgence” within many churches.

Any gospel centred on self-glorification (self-esteem) will in a matter of
time pervert the psyche and give rise to an unnatural individual. How is this
so? Scripture clearly indicates that at the heart of man dwells
unrighteousness, the springboard for all sin and evil doing. Scripture says
that even our righteousness is as filthy rags. Scripture calls man to faith in
Christ and repentance toward God.

The self-glorification (self-esteem, psychology-friendly) gospel declares man to be essentially good (essence is god-like) and calls him to self-realisation of this good(god)ness. Instead of casting our failure, frailties and sin at the foot of the Cross, and allowing Jesus Christ to live His life in us, we permit “godhood” to dwell in our unregenerate spirit. As this thinking courses to its extremist conclusion, we’re right back to Eden and the lie of Satan “ye shall be as gods”.

It was in view of this happening in the Church in the last days that the
Apostle Paul sternly warned the Church against seducing spirits and
doctrines of devils. (1 Tim. 4:1).

The unnatural individual is identified in the Scripture as: one who changes
the truth of God into a lie . . . worshipping the creature more than the
Creator . . . changes the glory of God into the image . . . made like to
corruptible things and has pleasure in what is unnatural. When these
psyche characteristics appear it means the individual is under wrong
influences or demonic control.

Having individuality is perfectly natural, in fact it is a God-given faculty and
certainly deserves recognition, nurturing and a place in our thinking and
relations. However, when individuality is used to build a case in support of
man’s potential superiority over the Word of God, the Creator, the Deity of
Christ, righteousness and the Cross of Calvary – “spiritual abuse” is in
focus.

This brings us to the heart of elitism. Ever since the fall of man,
individuality has thrived on self-esteem, egoism, introversion and selfish
exploits, to the point that the Creator, the Scriptures, and the Cross of
Christ have suffered abuse. Experience has proven over and over again
that when self is deified or glorified in any way, shape or form, the Gospel
of Christ (in its unadulterated form) becomes a sore offence. When
individuality steps or tries to step beyond the natural as defined by
Scripture, an abstract world emerges, generally characterized by
sensualism, mysticism, Gnosticism and elitism. (Romans 1:18-32).

Unnaturalism is an escape from reality. The unnatural individual’s
justification for how he feels and believes hinges on – “I am a god”.
Unfortunately the deified psyche philosophy has and is permeating the
whole of society with no exception to the Church, affecting millions of
members who sit Sunday after Sunday listening to another gospel. Self is
pr-eminent in the Gnostic gospel. Instead of the truth sought in God’s Word
and insight into what is right or wrong in the laws of God, “self” is sought.
The current self-centred “elitist” religion denies the deity of Christ as the
only true God; denies the vicarious atonement, the glory and wisdom of the
cross and the efficacy of the blood of the cross.

Whoever accepts or includes Gnostic thought in their preaching renders the cross of Christ of no effect and could inadvertently become an enemy of the cross. For true Christians there is only one pre-eminent concept and that is the
Gospel of the glory of the Cross where self and the world died. At the
Cross the devil was soundly defeated.

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. (Gal. 6:14)

The Glory of His Cross

Oh, the glory of His Cross I see!
By works the glory I hoped to gain,
In experience and self I sought in vain.
Ego, pride and vanity reigned o’er me,
Blinding me to Calvary.
But now by grace, through faith,
I, the glory see.
Oh, the glory of His Cross I see!
In my quest how I strove to see.
Wretched was the nature of my soul;
As, if it were dragged to Sheol.
Then through Christ the Crucified,
I beheld the glorified,
as the Spirit bade me, see!
Oh, the glory of the Cross I see!
Which no spark of self ere gave me.
Though time in meditation spent
Nothing could God’s glory represent,
Save the Cross of Calvary.
Oh, the glory of the Cross I see!
Oh, the glory of the Cross I see!
There provision for sin was made,
Sin and shame was borne away
and debt to sin in full was paid.
Through Christ redemption came
To all who see and call His name.
Oh, the glory of the Cross I see!

Chapter 7: Spirituality

Much of the error we are witnessing today is coming along in just enough orthodox garb to make it seem acceptable. As long as the terminology seems to sound right, many are afraid to warn others of the inherent errors that are abounding in the midst of the Church.

We do have to be very cautious and realize that many purporting these “strange doctrines” are sincere and feel that they have entered new depths of spirituality. They are caught up in their experiencing of “new revelation” and are eager to share their knowledge with others.

We all have different ways of measuring spirituality. It is probably because of this we are so disappointed when someone we consider “spiritual” fails. It seems to be normal to get our eyes on man. However, there is an area where man is exalted to such a degree that his feet are no longer clay.

The “Gnostic” sense of spirituality is derived from an inner gnosis
(experiential mystic knowledge) that goes beyond reason, logic and
most of all, the Holy Scriptures. For many, spirituality is perceived
intuitively or psychically, as opposed to Biblical faith, i.e., simply
believing and obeying the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Spirituality experienced mystically is thought to be a witness of an inner union
with God, the basis of which is self-consciousness which means it is no longer a matter of reason, faith and grace. An inner selfconscious feeling of holiness seems to be of primary importance. To arrive at a high spiritual level, all objective consciousness of the external world must be lost. The Persons of the Trinity, the Holy Scriptures, doctrine and morality becomes irrelevant. The ideal sought after is a higher consciousness of union with the divine inner self called the “Christos”.

When this union is experienced, a sense of spiritual worthiness as well as a feeling of being a “Son of God” equal with Jesus Christ is felt. This subjective experience is seen as a baptism into the Christhood and a knowledge of one’s own worthiness.

A danger of “Gnostic spirituality” is that it creates an attention to self that supersedes the worthiness of the Word and the need for faith. False prophets have actually been heard to say that their spiritual experiences have been so great that they have no need of faith. They boast to having a deep communion with the Holy Spirit, the depth of which is equivalent to the extent of their feelings. How they feel and perceive their spirituality determines the measure of their communion with God. The “Christian Gnostic”, especially the current false prophets, have a problem accepting the Holy Scriptures as God’s only sure link between the Church and the Holy Spirit. The present day Gnostic theosophical concepts will, as always, remain in conflict with the Holy Spirit and the Bible standard of spirituality.

Gnostics believe that either a passive or an emotional subjectivity is
at the core of true spirituality. It has been described as “A passionate subjectivity”. Church history reveals that this form of spirituality or anything that resembles it, invariably leads to spiritual dualism (two extreme opposites) namely “asceticism” or “libertinism”.

The ascetic believes that the love of the body (philosomatia) is a hateful evil, and he who cherishes the body and lusts after the flesh lives in erotic error, remains wandering in the darkness, and suffers the things of death. The
libertine on the other hand takes great care of the body, tends it night and
day, washes and anoints himself, feasts on strengthening foods to make his
body strong, so that he can devote himself to fornication, and be able to
render its fruits whenever required. [Gnosticism, Its History and Influence,
Benjamin Walter, The Borgo Press, pp 126]

It is significant to note in the history of Christianity through to the current time, that wherever and whenever Christianity subsides into a form of mysticism “Christianity” assumes a path of one of the aforementioned extremes. It is this element of Gnostic mysticism that causes cultish extremism to arise. The fact that “gnosis is not concerned with a moral life, but with mystical enlightenment and freedom from the bondage of creation” [Gnosticism, Its History and Influence, Benjamin Walker, the Borgo Press pp 126] makes it a theosophy, free to flow in any spiritual direction it chooses.

The essence of the gnosis spirituality lies in its mystic knowledge, not
only of the “deep things of God”, but also of the “deep things of
Satan”. “It comes by divine grace through the revelation of the Saviour”,
says Benjamin Walker, but then he exposes the error of his thought
as he adds, “Whoever achieves gnosis, says the Gospel of Phillip,
becomes no longer Christian, but Christ”. [Gnosticism, Its History
and Influence, Benjamin Walker, The Borgo Press, pp. 101]. This is
typical of much of modern preaching.

The Spiritual Paradigm Shift

Christian Gnostic authors have observed the following:
In Christianity, there is a great deal of mystical thinking which goes on
almost unnoticed in the most conservative parts of the Church . . . Another
kind of Christian spirituality if not exactly mysticism, is the Charismatic
movement which has seen a revival in recent years. But a more general
Christian hunger for mystical experience has expressed itself in the
proliferation of Christian groups for spirituality. Christianity is rapidly
adding to its repertoire for the laity such enterprises as silent retreats,
ecumenical meditation groups, and practices combine Buddhist and yogic
techniques with Christian prayer and meditation.

In doing this it is undoubtedly going to make up some of the deficit, the congregations it has lost through a lack of direct religious experience for the parishioners. The remainder of the deficit will be further reduced when Christianity adjusts itself to the science-fiction culture. But despite these relatively superficial desiderata, Christianity is bound to have a vital part to play in the mission of mysticism as here conceived. [The Mission of Mysticism by Richard Kirby, pp.114-115, SPCK London]
Theosophical concepts of the new birth and spirituality are fast
becoming very much part of the Christian thinking. Many forms of
spirituality experienced and expressed are Gnostic in nature and
pseudo in character.

The doctrine, “the just shall live by faith” for which the great reformers paid an enormous price, some with their own lives, is now under the New Age influence and is being discarded in exchange for a form of spirituality justified by self gnosis. The impact of New Age Gnostic thought has subtly changed the Biblical meaning of faith to a modern Gnostic version which in reality is a recall of the “Dark Ages” of mysticism and superstition.

The Church is on a spiritual path of mysticism which by all accounts is cultish. It is only a matter of time and it will fall to demonic forces – the worst apostasy hell can afford. Already the attitude of the Church toward sin, repentance, morality and God has changed to such an extent that one wonders
why they bother to use the Bible. For instance: “Sin – the transgression of the law” has now come to mean a maladjustment or merely a psychological disorder.

True repentance, which is an admission of guilt, confession of sin,
forsaking of sin and surrendering to God, now has come to mean
simply a change of attitude toward God. Morality and keeping the
commandments of God has become irrelevant. God, the first Person
of the Godhead has become localised within the physical frame of
man, who is now co-substance with God.

Out of New Age spiritual concepts, demonic schools of thought and
practices are bound to arise. This warped form of spirituality is
taking over the churches, dividing Christian families and causing
strife on an unprecedented scale. Christian Gnostic forms of
spirituality are manifest in one or more of the following ways:
A show of humility with deep piety characterised by mysticism.
Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof (2 Tim.
3:5).
Spirituality is structured around subjective experiences with little
regard for the Scriptures.
Superior knowledge, new discoveries and new revelations are a
sign of spiritual depth and maturity.
Spirituality is centred on a subjective Christ-consciousness rather than on faith in the person, Jesus Christ.
Continually seeking for a deepening spiritual experience rather than a deepening faith in God’s Word.
Spiritualising the Word of God rather than taking the literal meaning of the Word.
Spirituality is measured by experiences.
Look to an inner voice (gnosis) for divine direction.
Love feelings and self, more than God.
Look inward for solutions.
Spirituality is sought in success, achievement and works.
“Have faith in yourself” and “The way to know God is feel Him”, is
thought to be the true mark of spirituality.

A Fine Line

Sometimes the line dividing the Christian from the Gnostic is so fine
that it is hardly visible. The only way for a Christian to safely discern
Gnosticism is in the light of the Holy Scriptures.

A “Christian Gnostic” is easily identified by his show of piety and
especially by his air of humility. The more mystic he appears or
sounds, the more spiritual he feels. He takes great pleasure in
believing he has attained to a high spiritual level and sees himself
as being a member of a special breed of people. Sometimes it is
called “The Manifest Sons of God”, “The Melchizedek Order” or “The
New Breed”.

His spiritual inspiration comes from a mystic source sometimes described as a “still small voice” purported to be the voice of the Holy Spirit. Confidence in the “still small voice” takes precedence over the Scriptures. The written Scriptures are used only in so far as they seem to support particular convictions and concepts. The whole motive behind the “Christian Gnostic” is to make himself and others believe HE is a GOD. In fact, his ultimate dream is to prove to the world that he has power and is a god with limitless potential.

Why Such an Outcry?

The question may be asked, “Why such an outcry against shades of
Gnostic thought in the Gospel presentation? Doesn’t the adage, ‘unity in diversity’ apply in this case? Shouldn’t we as Christians show tolerance towards Christians who don’t quite believe as we do? Is it not true that within Christianity there should be room for diversity of thought and belief? After all is said and done, is not love the unifying bond over the doctrines that often prove so divisive?

The answer to these questions is two-fold. Yes, within Christianity there is ample room for diversity and tolerance. However, there are limits to creative diversity. When a concept, a teaching or an action in the name of Christianity exceeds the basic tenets of faith, or is utterly different from the “faith which was once delivered to the saints”, it becomes a contradiction of Christianity. When that level of contradiction is reached, the church, as well as the advocates of the Word of God, must aggressively content for the faith. The defense of the “most holy faith” is one of the greatest functions of the Church,
without which the Church loses the truth that distinguishes her from
error. EXCEPT THE CHURCH EARNESTLY CONTENDS FOR THE
FAITH, SHE FORFEITS HER RIGHT TO BE THE VEHICLE OF GOD’S
TRUTH.

Repudiation Necessary

The worst moments in the history of Israel came when Israel was seduced by false prophets to follow after gods of their own making. It was for this very reason that Jesus rebuked the Pharisees as the enemies of God. Jesus warned His disciples against the religion of the Pharisees. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees” (which is hypocrisy). The Pharisees claimed to embody the essence of the faith, Jesus called them “hypocrites”.

Teachings and practices that are wholly different from the Gospel of Jesus Christ must be opposed, even if they come from within the Body of Christ. Gnosticism plagued the early church. In fact, some of the Pauline and Johanine epistles were written to address the Gnosticism that was edging its way into the Gospel of Christ. In the writings of the early Church Fathers, Gnosticism was addressed and condemned in the strongest terms. It was on account of Gnosticism that the early church found it necessary to draft the “Apostolic Creed” and form the “Canonicity of Scripture”.

A study of Church History will show that within the church there has always been the temptation to accommodate Gnostic thought. As in the past, and
more so now, it poses a persistent danger to the biblical faith.

Gnosis and Magic

According to the great Jewish philosopher, Martin Buber, the perpetual enemy of faith in the true God is not atheism (the claim that there is no God), but rather Gnosticism (the claim that God is known). At another point Buber wrote:
The two spiritual powers of gnosis and magic, masquerading under the
cloak of religion, threaten more than any other powers the insight into the
religious reality . . . the tribes of Jacob could only become Israel by
disentangling themselves from both gnosis and magic . . . [Against the
Protestant Gnostics, Philip J. Lee, Oxford University Press, 1987]

New Age Threat

A “New Age” writer around 1917 wrote the following:
. . . the church movement, like all else, is but a temporary expedient and
serves but a transient resting place for the evolving life. Eventually, there
will appear the Church Universal, and its definite outlines will appear
towards the close of this century . . . This Church will be nurtured into
activity by the Christ and His disciples when the outpouring of the Christ
principle, the TRUE second Coming has been accomplished . . . The
Christian church in its many branches can serve as a nucleus through which
world illumination may be accomplished . . . the church as a teaching factor
should take the great basic doctrines and (shattering the old forms in which
they are expressed and held) show their true and inner spiritual significance.
The prime work of the church is to teach, and teach ceaselessly, preserving
the outer appearance in order to reach the many who are accustomed to
church usages. Teachers must be trained; Bible knowledge must be spread;
the sacraments must be mystically interpreted, and the power of the church
to heal must be demonstrated. [The Externalisation of the Hierarchy, Alice
Bailey]

According to Alice Bailey, the Church is being used as merely a part of an overall plan to bring in world peace, world domination and to set up the “Kingdom on earth”. In the church there are “disciples of the Great Ones” (Gnostic or New Age apostles) to be found. They are steadily gathering momentum and before long they will enter upon their designated task.
When it is observed how far the “New Wave” is taking us from the
absolutes of the literal Word of God, it would not be surprising to
find before long the Church and the New Age merging into ONE FORCE.

Note of Caution

Ever since the inception of the Church, Gnosticism has been the arch enemy. Now, in these last days, it is proving to be one of the most formidable threats to the Church, to the Christian faith and to the written Word of God.

Because a Christian ignorantly happens to hold to some Gnostic
views does not necessarily mean he is a Gnostic or that he is not a
Christian. However, it does mean he is in serious error and, in
certain respects, alien to the simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus.
Gnostic views conflict with the sound doctrines of the Bible and for
that reason always influence a Christian against the written Word of
God.

Chapter 8: The Exaltation of Man

According to the “Christian Gnostic”, Scripture is basically concerned with the theology of man. To his way of thinking, man is the centre of attraction on Earth. He believes that God’s supreme purpose on Earth is to glorify man by exalting “the Christ” in every man. Therefore, man is to be reverenced and hallowed. When Christ appears in man, this is supposedly the consummation and manifestation of God’s glory. The conclusion drawn is that man is
essentially divine, equal to Jesus Christ and is ascending to the very
authority and dominion of God Himself.

When this thinking takes over, Scriptures which are normally
considered to refer to the person of Jesus Christ are instead applied
to the “Corporate Body of Christ”, or Manifest Sons of God equal to
Jesus Christ. The prophecies that speak of the glorious personal
revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven now apply to the
creature (man) taking dominion. The creature instead of the Creator
receives honour, glory and worship. Who changed the truth of God
into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the
Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen (Romans 1:25).

The “Christian Gnostic” has no desire to see the glory of God in the
PERSON of Jesus Christ as foretold by the prophets of old. Their
prayer is to be exalted into an EXPERIENCE that will centre all of
God’s glory on them. While the true Church looks forward to the
personal glorious appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
“Christian Gnostics” are preoccupied with their narcissistic
(excessive love or admiration of oneself) theology. Their lives are a
hive of activity as they join forces to restore the church and take
dominion with a view to establish the ultimate divine glory of man.
“To man be the glory great things he hath done.”

Knowing God

The “Gnostic” teaches that knowing God and His Presence is
experienced in a mystic or intuitive sense rather than through faith
in the person Jesus Christ according to the Holy Scriptures. The
Gnostic builds his faith on subjective experiences, whereas the true
Christian builds his faith on the written Word of God, the only Godgiven
premise of the true faith.

As in the eastern religions, the perception of God is sought subjectively rather than in God Himself and the written Word. There is a desire to know God through feelings, mystic thoughts, voices, visions and dreams. A “sense” of the “presence of God” is believed on as long as spiritual experiences last. When these experiences subside or cease, spiritual fervour wears down to rise again when a spurt of vain and endless fantasy starts a new “spiritual” cycle.

Gnostic prophets are known to have a form of godliness based on a
spiritual roller coaster experience. Their philosophy of known God
depends on touching God experientially. Faith is produced
subjectively through experiences and then turned inward on self
until a feeling of “knowing God” or “possessing God” comes about.
The Word of God and the commandments are not believed on as the
final voice of God, or as the only source by which He is known. One
of the characteristics of a false prophet, albeit sometimes hard to
detect, is the lack of love toward the commandments of God. (1
John 4:6; John 3:23, 24: John 14:15). Warning: If a prophet tries to
draw one to God either by mystic or subjective experiences without
reference to the Scriptures as the only authentic way of knowing
God, he is false and must be avoided! To impress the ignorant or
naive Christians that they (the Gnostic prophets) have profound
knowledge and a deep spirituality, it is not uncommon to see them
manifest certain quirks thought to be spiritual traits.

By the spiritualizing of the Scriptures they eloquently express fantastic ideas to reveal how deep they “feel” and “think” about God. It is appropriate to say that spiritual experiences are not necessarily wrong. However, if they conflict with the Holy Scriptures, draw a believer away from the Word of God or substitute the Word of God, as do the Gnostic experiences, they are devilish.
“Gnostic” prophets subtly send out a message that their insight of
God exceeds that of the written Word of God. They appear as if they
know something about God that others need to search for through them. It is as if they have the keys which unlock the secrets of divine life.

Christians are told to look inward to find God. The danger in this
pagan belief makes Christians open to input from the supernatural
realm beyond God’s written Word. Claiming to know God in any way
other than through the Gospel of Jesus Christ is religious speculation. History proves it leads to doctrines of devils. God in His wisdom gave man the Bible. Through this precious Book he can come to know God without man’s religious wisdom. Anything short of the Scriptures stops short of the redemptive knowledge of God. All the sought-after experiences to know God on a deeper level lead to both carnal and demonic activities. How do you know God? The answer is so simple. You know Him through His Written Word! The Holy Spirit leads and teaches in no other way!

A Deep Relationship

The Gnostic teaches: Through a Gnostic “new-birth” a man becomes a Son of God, i.e., a god, and as such has an experiential relationship with God and access to deeper knowledge of God. That the “Gnostic new birth” is the start of a divine journey into the deep, is how they describe it. It by-passes the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ and The Word.

The Gnostic believes that he is the Son of God, filled with the Spirit
and therefore has a God-given right to the knowledge of God stored
in himself. By simply turning his thoughts inward to the spirit, he
receives revelation knowledge. When he meditates, he empties his
mind with little or no reference to the Scriptures. In meditation he is
always expecting a mystic revelation or a personal experience. To
his mind, the reality of the new birth, as well as real spiritual depth,
lies in a subjective experience. Without a passive or emotional
experience, he has a real problem receiving the knowledge of the
Scriptures. He cannot rest with the written revelation of the Bible. He
prefers a deeper and better revelation that comes through inward
thoughts of the spirit.

Chapter 9: False Prophets

The ministry of a “Gnostic prophet” is always characterized by mystic
experiences said to be of God, with the focus on self. It is difficult for him to
exercise a ministry within the confines of Scriptural revelations. The Gnostic
Revelator has a freedom to minister whatever he likes, whether or not it is
Scriptural. As we hear their words we shake our heads in bewilderment and
disbelief wondering how it is possible to get away with such statements as:

. . . we had the odour of incense fill a meeting for about fifteen minutes. It was so intense that you couldn’t help but smell it. I mean, it was not one of those instances where you ‘think you get a whiff,’ but He gave it as a witness that He was receiving the intercession from these people – the prayers and their intercession. He had said He would come with a sign: that we would smell the incense. It came so powerfully faith was hardly needed. [Fullness, The Unfolding of a Prophet, Rick Joyner, p.13]

God can fill a place with sweet smelling incense. Nothing is impossible with God. However, the presumption to say that faith was hardly needed shows that these “new” dimensions are indeed in “another realm”. A realm of deception. The Bible says, Without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God. Nevertheless, this prophet and others like him are applauded and their messages carried in leading Christian periodicals.

Quite a number of Gnostic ministers are masquerading as true prophets of God
and assuming to have a special anointing and relationship with the Spirit. Their ministries are widely recognised, respected and feared. Personal prophecies and prediction of future events are given with some measure of accuracy. They get people to believe they have great power with God and that in them dwells a quality that makes them “god-like”. Control of minds and lives is gained by their feigning spirituality and assuming a “god-like” authority.
To gain power, twisting Scriptures and abusing authority is of no consequence. One cruel method used is to instill fear in the hearts of those who dare to criticize or question their ministries by making harsh judgments against them. Sometimes those judgments even contain a death threat! They definitely are not prophets of the Word, nor can they be, because they put no confidence in the Written Word and its judgments.

The New Breed of arrogant apostles and prophets are known to usurp and abuse judgment over God’s people. They are reported to make the Church pass under what they call the “Shepherd’s Rod” of judgment. It is another divisive technique to control God’s people. They say the “Shepherd Rod” is the judgment seat of Christ on the Earth by which the so-called prophets judge the Church. The idea is borrowed from Old Testament Scripture where reference is made to “The Shepherd’s Rod” and “Judgments”. However, the way the test is applied to the church is false. It cries out against the true interpretation of God’s precious Word.

This is one of the bizarre directions that Gnosticism is taking the church. The
following unedited quote from one of the so-called “fallen” national prophets
speaks for itself:
So when he [the prophet] went under that Shepherd Rod, we saw more people leave here than we saw anointed. They were rejected from leadership ’cause they had flaws in them. See that which is going to be holy unto the Lord must not have any flaw in it . . . It’s all in Scripture. When you go under it He just turns you upside down and He looks every place on your body. And if you be found all right, He marks you to be sacrificed as a living, holy sacrifice unto Him. One out of ten is marked totally unto the Lord. That’s a Shepherd Rod . . . He evaluates everyone that knows the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour . . . when I went under at this time He said, ‘There’s a couple of things that’s still wrong in you. There’s going to be a seven month delay in your anointing.’ [The Shepherd’s Rod, Bob Jones tape from Grace Ministries, October 1989]

The Bible warned against false prophets

There were FALSE PROPHETS also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers AMONG YOU. (2 Peter 2:1).
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart
from the faith, giving heed to SEDUCING SPIRITS, and DOCTRINES OF
DEVILS (1 Timothy 4:1).
For I know this, that after my departing shall GRIEVOUS WOLVES enter in
among you, not sparing the flock. (Acts 20:29).
Many false prophets Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord HAVE WE NOT PROPHESIED IN THY NAME? and in thy name cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me (Matthew 7:22,23)
We must challenge the false prophets (Ezekiel 13)
Son of man, PROPHESY AGAINST THE PROPHETS . . . that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the Lord. (v.3)
Woe unto the foolish prophets that follow their own spirit and have seen
nothing . . . Mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that
divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of my people . . . (v.9)
Set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of
their own heart; and prophesy thou against them . . . (v.17)
Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations; for I will
deliver my people out of your hand; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
(v.23) Jeremiah 23

Jeremiah speaks for the Lord:

In the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied . . . (vv 20,21)
I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying,
I have dreamed, I have dreamed . . . (v.25)
Behold, I am against them the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues, and say, HE SAITH. Behold I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and DO TELL THEM . . . ‘YE HAVE PERVERTED THE
WORDS OF THE LIVING GOD.’ (vv 31,32,36)

The inspiration and test of a prophet

A false prophet usually draws his inspiration from intuition, imagination and psychic thoughts. Sometimes the inspiration comes from Apocryphal or Gnostic writings. Unlike the musicians, artists and writers who take inspiration from natural innate qualities (not to be confused with the inspiration of God), the false prophet derives inspiration from demonic sources or a corrupt nature. It is a gross error to attribute God’s inspiration to a subjective experience (be it passive or emotional) or to writings outside of Holy Scripture. Divine authority or inspiration does not emanate from (a) the natural or unnatural, (b) the higher self or lower self, (c) the conscious or unconscious. It comes from the infallible Word of God.

“The Word” remains God’s eternal inspiration. God-given inspiration must have as its source the Word of God. The inspiration of the Holy Spirit comes through the Holy Scriptures – “The Sword of the Spirit”. The true message and inspiration of a prophet of God is always undergirded with, “Thus saith the Lord”, for “it is written”.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (2 Tim. 3:16).
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private
interpretation. 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. (2 Peter 1:20,21)

Some of the so-called “prophets” promoted by national Christian magazines and the broadcasting media are being acclaimed Prophets of God. They cite their extraordinary gifts to foretell events, reveal situations, perform signs and wonders and blameless lives as proof of their God-ordained prophetic ministries. Because these prophets claim to have heard angels singing, smell the odour of incense fill a meeting and see the wind of the Spirit blow so that they could see people’s hair blowing, many have taken it to mean God has approved their ministries with signs and wonders, and that God is speaking a message and trying to say something to the church.

Another practice seen by many church leaders as a sign of a “true” modern prophet is his ability to allegorize current events and thereby determine what God is specifically saying to the church today. This new trend is both
demonic and a delusion to seduce people away from God and His Word.

The prophets’ wave of signs and wonders

There will also be some new wonders coming to the church. We had some of these just recently, where Bob Jones and I [Rick Joyner] heard angels singing twice in a meeting. This didn’t even take any faith, it was so loud and so clear; it was like the choir singing.

Another time we had the odour of incense fill a meeting for about fifteen
minutes. It was so intense that you couldn’t help but smell it. It mean, it was
not one of those instances where you ‘think you get a whiff’, but He gave it
as a witness that He was receiving the intercession from these people – the
prayers and their intercession. He had said He would come with a sign; that
we would smell the incense. It came so powerfully faith was hardly needed.
And we saw the wind of the Spirit blow so hard at a meeting you could see
people’s hair blowing!

So He is coming a whole lot more dramatically. As one brother said, ‘This
hardly takes any faith, it is so obvious.’ But when He comes in ways like
that, it is always to give a message. He is not just trying to tickle our
curiosity or our interest in supernatural things, He is trying to say
something to us.

For example, the sign of being slain in the Spirit is to get us to totally rest
in Him. And the miracle of leg lengthenings that went through the body for
so many years defined our imbalanced stand upon the two legs of grace
and truth. There needed to be a readjustment in the body. [Fullness, Jan-
Feb 1990, The Unfolding of a Prophet, Rick Joyner, page 13]

From the above quotes two messages come clear and loud: (a) The Church hardly needs the Holy Scriptures to perfect a man of God and thoroughly furnish him unto good works, (b) Christians hardly need faith in this new day and age. The position taken by the prophets as well as by their followers is that a prophet must not be judged by what he says, but rather by his fruit. In other words, what a prophet says doesn’t really matter. This position is both incomprehensible and satanic to say the least.

What if the prophet denies that Jesus is come in the flesh (His incarnation at birth)? What if he does not speak according to God’s written Word? Does that qualify him as a false prophet or a true prophet? God’s answer is clearly written, “He is Anti-Christ!” Notwithstanding the ostensibly godly life of a prophet, or the signs and wonders wrought by him, the Word of God sternly warns that when the hearts of people are influenced away from God and His written Word to the voice of another god, he is a false prophet in the sight of God.

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. (1 John 5:2 & 3)

In Deuteronomy the situation is viewed in a very serious light.

If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which though hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto
him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. (Deuteronomy 13:1-5).

The apostles of light

For such are FALSE APOSTLES, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness. (2 Corinthians 11:13)

Judge false prophets

Unto the church at Ephesus write: . . . how has tried them that SAY THEY ARE APOSTLES and are not, and has found them liars. (Revelation 2:2).
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of
God: because many FALSE PROPHETS are gone out into the world. Hereby
know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of anti-christ
whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in
the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because
greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. (1 John 4:1-3).

True apostolic and prophetic ministry

There are those in the church who have true apostolic and prophetic ministry.
This has always been recognised, although seldom have they been credentialed as such. When a person claims to be a prophet:
If they ignore or are ignorant of Bible prophecy I am CONCERNED.
IF THEY SAY BIBLE PROPHECY IS UNIMPORTANT and SUBSTITUTE their own revelations for guidance in the churches, I am SUSPICIOUS.
If they REJECT prophetic concepts of the Bible (ridicule the rapture, millennium, etc.) then it would seem POSSIBLE that the individual is a FALSE PROPHET. [David Lewis, David Lewis Ministries, Springfield, MO]

False prophets have a subtle way of catching sincere ignorant Christians in the
web of their religious thoughts about God. They use the same ploy Satan used on Eve in the garden of Eden – the BIG LIE, “Ye shall be as gods”. The essence of their appeal, although ostensibly to glorify Christ, is always self-centred. The gist of their Gnostic-spirited ministries contains the following New Wave seed thoughts plaguing the church:
Some of the suggestions made to the believer by deceiving spirits at this time may be: (i) ‘You are a special instrument for God’, working to feed self-love; (ii) ‘You are more advanced than others’, working to blind the soul to sober knowledge of itself; (iii) ‘You are different from others’, working to make him think he needs special dealing by God; (iv) ‘You must take a separate path’, a suggestion made to feed the independent spirit; (v) ‘You must give up your occupation, and live by faith’, aiming at causing the believer to launch out on false guidance, which may result in the ruin of his home, and sometimes the work for God in which he is engaged. [War on the Saints, Jessie Penn-
Lewis, The Christian Literature Crusade, 1977, p.73] God help the church to expose these false prophets before innocent souls and good Christian assemblies of God’s people are further caught in the web of deception of the beguiling foe.

Assurance of Salvation

With reference to man’s redemption, the Gnostic maintains the Holy Scriptures are not God’s total revelation. He contends that real redemption can only be fully known through an inner gnosis (self-knowledge) experienced in the selfconsciousness of a man. The real knowledge that matters in redemption comes from within. Reason, faith, grace and God’s blood covenant (free gift) is not sufficient to save without some form of an inner illumination. The experience is seen as a first installment to a great manifestation of the divine in self. This is basically their concept of salvation.
The inner revelation knowledge of redemption assures a “Christian Gnostic” of the following: A Christian (a) is a little god, (b) is a Manifest Son of God on a par with Christ, (c) is a member of the Melchezedek order, i.e. a priest after the order of Jesus Christ, and (d) is a member of the elite (Aryan) breed of people. In essence, the Christian Gnostic is saying, “God is in you, discover him and you will experience His Presence and know you are saved” and that you, too, are a little god. Basically, this Gnostic concept is rapidly possessing a great part of Christian thinking and preaching.

According to the contents of much preaching today, salvation is perceived in
terms of a subjective experience. This is stressed to such an extent that a
significant number of Christians have come to think that the real knowledge of
salvation lies in a personal, spiritual experience, instead of in the sole authority of God’s Written Word. For precisely this reason, many Christians are being subjected to Gnostic thought. Multitudes are leaving “sound doctrine” and “sound mind” for experiential knowledge of present day Gnosticism.

Chapter 10: Neo-Gnosticism

Truth is absolute! That is why Jesus could say, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” His words give understanding to the simple. Those who perish are those who do not have love for the truth. When the love for the truth is absent, . . . God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie. The delusion is interpreted in the text as “straying from orthodoxy”.

The orthodox position on truth, or “sound doctrine” is being slowly undermined by a desire to build an earthly political kingdom, self-centred ministries and marketing the anointing. As a third generation Pentecostal, it is sad to see the inroads the New Age is making amongst our own ranks. Sadder still, Shepherds are too busy hooking up to the latest fad to realise that in the process they are selling the truth. Proverbs 23:23 tells us to Buy the truth and sell it not . . . God’s truth is to be valued above thousands in gold and silver. (Psalm 119.72)

Today people are so “experience” oriented and so busy looking for a “new
anointing” and “new thrills” that they are willing candidates for just about
anything!

An evangelist from South Africa (Rodney Howard-Browne) is drawing huge
crowds because of an unusual phenomenon. People roll on the floor and howl with hilarious laughter. Upon watching a videotape of several services, it was amazing to note how the laughter broke out, cackling and derisive, during the reading of the Word of God. The overtones of the comments of those laughing were sexual and very carnal (i.e. comparing their “experience” with that of those drinking alcohol in very graphic terms). Amid all the hilarity they were trying to find a Scriptural basis.

It is very interesting to note that New Age writers refer to laughter as being
“healing”, “therapeutic” and “a way to break down reserves”.

Solomon (a king to whom God granted wisdom) also speaks of laughter in
Ecclesiastes:
I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, what doeth it? (2:2) Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better . .. but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. (7:3,4) For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool:this also is vanity! (7:6)

It was heart-rending to note pastors, leaders of the sheep, falling for this absolute deception! Listening to the bedlam was like hearing all the demons let loose from their abode. There isn’t time to worry about being labelled “critical”, “judgmental”, or “touching God’s anointed.” This is the blind leading the blind! First it was “falling out” that was the anointing. Everyone swoons and falls and believes that they have a “new anointing”. Now it is taking leave of one’s senses as they roll on the floor thinking the “anointing” is being drunk!

What on earth is next? It will have to be a good one. Will it be levitating? Rodney Howard-Browne needs to be strongly rebuked and taught the Word of God! What has put so many of the NEW ANOINTERS beyond the Word of God? In Acts 18:24-28 there was Jew names Apollos who was very fervent, an eloquent man and MIGHTY in Scriptures! He spoke very diligently the things of the Lord – but his DOCTRINE WAS NOT RIGHT!

Obviously this was very important because when Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly! Today Aquila and Priscilla would be called heresy hunters. Yes, they were! Praise God! They loved the Word of God! They were jealous with a Godly jealousy for truth! As a result Apollos left Ephesus and mightily convinced the Jews from the Scriptures! The truth is powerful! It convinces the soul of righteousness and true standing before God.

Gnostic Thought and Practices

When a high value is placed on personal experiences or revelations, Scriptures
are then unscrupulously twisted and misquoted. We find those who believe the
feelings of a congregation must be hyped up in order to “feel” the Presence of the Lord or else the church is thought to be “dead”. Instead of music being used to worship and glorify God, it is used as a means of “connecting” or “feeling” the Presence of God. If the “location” (or a feeling within) of God is not aroused and sensed, the Spirit is said to be either absent or bound. To counter this passive situation, worship is intensified, the devil is “bound” and certain forms of excitement are encouraged until “God’s Presence” is “felt”.

Many times music is used as the conduit for the “feeling”. A popular slogan to advertise a certain music company is: “Feel the Presence of the Lord”. The church has been taken down this primrose path for so long that they equate the Presence of God with a certain feeling that they obtain by doing certain things. The “goose bumps” or the “warm fuzzies” or tears of comfort, is their way of “knowing” that God is present.

So what this thinking boils down to is simply: “To know God’s Presence you must feel Him.” In actuality this is pure Gnosticism.

If knowing God is contingent on feeling, then Gnosticism and pantheism have a place in Christian thinking. Pantheism (from two Greek words meaning ‘all is God’) is that system of thought which identifies God with the universe. Trees and stones, birds and animals, land and water, reptiles and man – all are declared part of God, and God lives and expresses Himself through these substances and forces as the soul expresses itself through the body. [Knowing the Doctrines of the Bible by Myer Pearlman, Gospel
Publishing House, Springfield, MO, pp. 53]

Gnosticism is linked with pantheism in that it supports and overlaps the idea of the soul (self) harmonizing with nature and the universe as the means of
perceiving God. The common tie between Gnosticism and pantheism is that both purport to find “God” in creation. Gnosticism finds “God” within man – relating to the feelings and pantheism finds “God” in creation as a whole. The two blend in that both worship and serve the creature more than the Creator. The Gnostic god is localised in a subjective experience, a soulish feeling of being in union with creation and God. It rejects the relationship with the Creator based on faith in His written Word – regardless of feeling. A very tough pill for experience-driven Christians to swallow.

True Worship vs Gnostic Worship

Worship is an integral part of the Christian faith. Sometimes feelings of ecstasy are experienced. The Presence of God is rightly acknowledged by true worship. However, when emotional feelings become the doctrine of God’s Presence, then God has been reduced to a “gnosis” form of Presence. For many, the doctrine of “knowing the Presence of God” is sought in a subjective experience. An emotional experience, especially a repetitive one during a worship service, if not kept in proper perspective or check, can lead to an altered state of consciousness in which the capacity for rational reasoning is greatly reduced.

At this point the congregation is open to delusion and can be easily led astray. In many charismatic groups an altered state of mind is explained as “getting into the Spirit” or as a manifestation of the presence of God. Uncontrolled spiritual feelings transcend sound scriptural rationalism and give rise to the doctrine of “the Presence of God” built on an experience.

The Serious Gnostic Deception

A very serious practice which gives deceiving spirits the opportunity for
deception, is the notion that God is localised in them (consciously) or around them (consciously). The desire on the part of some is to “feel” the presence of God through prayer, worship or otherwise as evidence of His presence. They are disappointed if they leave a service and don’t think that they have “felt” God. They will run from church to church looking for this “feeling”.

Sensing the presence of God is revered. We do “enjoy our religion”. God has
made us emotional creatures. However, when experience becomes the evidence of our relationship with God, it is then dangerous and could prove spiritually counterproductive. “The just shall live by faith” is still the only principal the righteous live by and relate to God.

Some believers so live inwardly in communion, worship and vision, that they
become spiritually introverted, and cramped and narrowed in their outlook. As a result, their spiritual capacity and mental powers become dwarfed and powerless. Others become victims to the “inner voice”. They go about declaring, “God told me this, God told me that”. Many times very impractical decisions come as a result of that which is thought to be God speaking.. . . Turning inwards to a subjective location of God as indwelling, speaking, communing and guiding, in a MATERIALISTIC OR CONSCIOUS SENSE, is open to gravest danger; for upon this thought and belief, sedulously cultivated by the powers of darkness, the most serious deceptions of deceiving spirits have taken place. [War on the Saints, by Jesse Penn-Lewis, The Christian Literature Crusade,1977]

“New Age” thought with its strong emphasis on the supernatural, feelings and paganism is so preponderate in today’s society that it is no wonder the present generation of Christians are becoming more and more Gnostic in thought.

The Gnostic Approach to the Bible

The Gnostic believes it is wrong to use only the Bible to interpret the Bible.
Besides the Bible they believe there are additional inspired manuscripts and books on a par with the Bible and hearing the Voice of God apart from the Scriptures. A Rosicrucian writer neatly puts it:
In order to obtain a satisfactory comprehension of Bible teachings, it is essential to give careful consideration to its symbolic, allegorical and mystic elements. The student and interpreter must learn to consult the vast library of Legend, symbol and myth as faithfully and as accurately as he would resort to a Lexicon of Hebrew and Greek terms and radicals. These elements – symbolic, allegorical and mystic . . . are skillful devices for concealing yet half-revealing the deepest truth. [The Sons of God: A Foreshadowing of the Coming World of the Messenger of the New Age, R.
Swinburne Clymer. The Philosophical Pub.Co., Quakerstown, PA, 1923]

Preaching today is filled with allegory. Symbolism has replaced substance and in the modern day “prophetic” movement it is revelation apart from the Scriptures. A pamphlet advertising a newsletter (“Streams of Shiloh”, John Paul Jackson) gives some topics that will be discussed in the future such as:
The Prophet and the Gift. The manner in which revelation comes is of vital
importance. The role that dreams, visions, trances, impressions, visitations,
translations, and transportations play will be discussed.

Pick up any New Age magazine and what is it full of? Dreams, visions, trances, impressions, visitations, translations and transportations! Yet the “prophetic” enjoys cloaking their delusion (departure from orthodoxy) in such ethereal terms as: “Intimacy with Christ” and “renew the body of Christ.”

It is no wonder that the Word warns us all, 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 (2 Tim. 4:4).

John Paul Jackson goes on to say:
Interpretive skills need to be developed in order to communicate what is meant by revelation. The meanings of colours, numbers, types and symbols, as well as personal symbols will be studied. Ways to enhance interpretive skills will be covered. . .

Heavy duty occult activity sanctioned and encouraged! Numerology, auras,
symbology, astrology, out-of-body experiences, trances given prominence. At the expense of what? The Word of God! Rather than training believers in the fear and admonition of the Lord, develop “revelatory” skills. You might even end up thinking you are David Koresh.

There is a concentrated effort, especially in psychology, to bring about a blending of ancient wisdom and modern techniques. Shamanism is being reintroduced in an unprecedented manner to the modern society. One of the ancient practices is Huna (a Hawaiian esoteric philosophy.)

This philosophy teaches that we are to be able to develop intuition, work with our dreams, make shamanic journeys and vision quests, raise our personal energy profile . . . dialogue with the spirits of nature for two-way teaching and healing, and work with visible and invisible energy patterns to influence the past, present and future. Journeying through other dimensions, we gather information, explore the unknown and the mysterious, and release our powerful creativity. [Omega, Summer 1993, p.76]

We cannot separate Christ from His Word. He is the Word and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. We can not know Christ apart from His Word. John 5:39, Search the Scripture; for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.
There will never be any revelation apart from the word of God. Revelatory gifts apart from Scripture take the soul into fables, myths and Gnosticism. For the Scriptures to be properly understood, the Gnostic holds that they need to be interpreted symbolically, spiritually or allegorically. The literal interpretation is thought to be presumptuous and unspiritual. Most of the theological controversy dividing the church stems from the rejection of the literal interpretation of the Bible.

In the 2nd and 3rd century the church came to prefer the allegorical
interpretation to the literal. It was this change that opened the church to
Gnosticism. No wonder Gnosticism is so deeply entrenched in Christian theology. As long as the allegorical method of interpretation is used, Gnosticism will continue to have influence on Christian thinking. It is quite common to find Christians interpreting the Bible allegorically. In fact, most of the preaching behind the pulpit today is allegorical. The literal method is
steadily being phased out in preference for the spiritualising/allegorical method.

Generally, Christians are so accustomed to subjecting their ears to allegorical
preaching they automatically make good candidates for Gnosticism. It comes as no surprise why this new wave of Gnosticism is flooding the church and why the Gnostic prophets have a hold on the Christians.

A Note of Warning to the Churches

The church that strays from the literal method of interpretation and fails to use
Scripture to interpret Scripture is in danger of being absorbed into Gnosticism or mysticism. The church that slides into the Gnostic school of thought will
inadvertently depart from the authority of Scripture and become a law unto itself.

Most of the new and weird teachings can be traced to the allegorical method of interpretation. The only way for the fundamental and evangelical churches to guard against this Gnostic method is to stand firm on the literal method of interpretation, i.e., on the literal meaning of all Scripture.

The Internal Deity/Authority

The Gnostic believes that the real spiritual birth comes from a consciousness of the divine spirit dwelling in every man. Through this experience the presence of the “Spirit” is perceived, the “knowledge” of God is learned and spiritual maturity is reached. Their reference point is not the Scriptures although sometimes they misapply Scripture in their support. Their reference is an internalised experience, based on the idea that “God” dwells in every man and knowing this is the start of spiritual life and maturity to godhood. On the authority of this concept they build their spiritual lives. It is from this viewpoint they emphasise “holiness’, “intimacy with God”, etc.

This form of Gnosticism is often detected in teachings and preaching. With the modern emphasis on the Holy Spirit, Christians are conditioned into thinking, sometimes unwittingly, that the Scriptures are insufficient to be a total effective authority. Therefore, they feel the Scriptures should be supplemented and substituted by some internal authority such as feeling, experience, conscience, intuition, inner voice, etc. The ever increasing problem with this form of authority is that it is being rated above the Scriptures in the name of the Holy Spirit.

Christians are encouraged to give greater heed to their self-conscious internal
authority over their faith in the voice of the Word. When a Voice, be it conscience, intuition or a subjective impression replaces the authority of the Scriptures and takes precedence over “God’s Word”, then it is
cultic. Cults have always sought divine authority in man, while Christians seek divine authority in God’s Word. The cults, like many modern Christians, place the inner voice above all else. They teach that the real guiding Voice or Light comes from within. The emphasis and substance of their religion hinges on an inner voice or experience which they claim is the light of God.

For example, consider the following statement by R. Swinburne Clymer, a Rosicrucian:
This light, to a lesser or greater degree, is in all men. It is that which the
Philosophers and Initiates of all ages have called the Divine Spark, the voice of conscience, which, to the degree of its growth and development, speaks unto all men. He who possesses but a little of this light and wisely uses it, shall perceive (develop) a greater light and this process shall continue until he has all light necessary for his Immortalization . . . The voice of conscience speaks to all men more or less clearly unless it has been totally destroyed through continued acts of evil. It is essential that man should listen for and heed this voice which is his light. If he does this, then gradually the light that leads the way – the Voice – will become strong and ultimately always will be with him . . . This is the light that is in man and is the Voice that must be obeyed . . . The light, which is the LIFE, leads to the CHRISTOS. He who follows the light assuredly follows the CHRIST, the MANISIS, and with each good deed, kindly act, loving thought and compassionate service, the CHRIST child in the manger (the body) grows stronger, until at last manhood is attained and man has become (glorified) the Son of God. [The Sons of God by R. Swinburne Clymer, The Philosophical Publishing Company, Quakerstown, Pennsylvania. (Emphasis theirs)]

Any authority apart from Scripture will lead to apostasy. When the voice of Scripture is quenched in favour of a personal internal authority, disaster follows. History readily proves this:
During the Middle Ages, the Church of Rome concentrated in itself through its episcopacy all the authority of tradition, bishops, councils and anything else that held sway over the mind of the church. This movement culminated in the degree of Papal Infallibility of 1870, which holds that ‘the Roman Pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedra, has that infallibility with which the Divine Redeemer endowed his church, in defining a doctrine of faith or morals’. [Unger’s Bible Handbook by Merrill F. Unger, Moody Press, Chicago, p.6]

As a result of a Gnostic emphasis on the internal authority of man as a substitute for the authority of the Scriptures, the church has and is being inundated with popes – “apostles and prophets” – exercising ministries centred on self, each being a law unto himself. The Gnostic “popes” interpret their internal authority to represent the presence of the Holy Spirit and divine inspiration. Here is where error, such as the New Age and satanism starts. Unfortunately many well meaning Christians at the expense of God’s written Word have faith in an internal authority.

Unknowingly they are grieving the Holy Spirit and could experience a strong
delusion from Satan. Nationally acclaimed so-called prophets and apostles, are
notorious for their claims to having internal authority and knowledge on a par with Scripture.

One of the prophets gave a word to a pastor and his wife regarding their personal affairs. As a result they resigned their pastorate and heeded the word of the prophet to move to another city. When questions, “How did you know it was God’s direction?” The answer came back, “Oh, I felt it, I just knew it was God. The prophet told me things no one could ever know.”

The questioner persisted, “But how did you know it was God? What was your reference point?” The conversation couldn’t get beyond the point of internal feelings. Shortly afterwards it was learned by the questioner that the prophet involved exercised an unscriptural ministry, sometimes prophesying the most bizarre thoughts and concepts to be imagined. His outrageous prophecies have been well documented. However, the point being made here is that the couple followed their own intuitive or internal dictates without regard whether or not the situation they were getting themselves into lined up with the Scriptures.

Had they only turned to the authority of the Word, they would have found the prophet as well as the church in which he ministers in gross error. Unfortunately, they preferred to stay with their internal thoughts and feelings instead of with the authority of the Word.

The Hidden Voice

In the following quote, a typical “Christian Gnostic” position can be detected.
We felt all unworthy and overwhelmed by the wonder of it, (the wonder being they could hear directly from God without Scripture) and could hardly realize that ‘we’ were being taught, trained and encouraged day by day by Him Personally, when millions of souls, far worthier, had to be content with guidance from the Bible, sermons, their churches, books and other source. [God Calling by Two Listeners]

In essence, the above quote is a Gnostic testimony because the source of their
knowledge is attributed to a personal subjective experience believed to be the
voice of God. Their experience sets them apart as spiritual elitists. There is
enough leaven in this short quote to trigger off a whole new doctrine in favour of Gnosticism.

According to the new Gnostic emphasis, spiritual maturity comes from being attuned to the inner voice of the Holy Spirit. Unless the Spirit is subjectively heard in one form or another on an ongoing basis, mature spirituality has not been reached. In other words, spiritual maturity comes from hearing God beyond the sacred page (Scripture).

Christians that insist on the Holy Scriptures as their only most trusted source of spiritual knowledge are considered to be into idolatry and bondage. Because Christians faithfully reverence the Holy Scriptures as the VOICE of GOD, they are accused of worshipping a book and of over-reverencing the Bible. The following quotes are typical examples:

Most of the people in this faction have gotten themselves in bondage to the written Word of God and seem to be bent on dragging everyone else into prison with them. They have let their respect for the scriptures run overboard and plunge into idolatry. [Restoration, James Robison, James Robison Evangelistic Association, Fort Worth, TX]

We see it today in people’s reverence of the Bible. I remember the day I
stood in the pulpit and played the role of the iconoclast. I was decrying
‘bibliolatry’ – worship of the Bible. I wanted to call people to the God of the
Bible for many had made the Bible a god . . . So I took an old Bible and
began ripping the pages out of it, throwing it to the floor to demonstrate it
was only a book – not a sacred idol. Some of the people were shocked,
offended and infuriated. I had pulled down their idol. [Jamie Buckingham
Ministries Today, Buckingham Report, Jan/Feb 1989, p.19]

Any Christian in his right mind will not worship a book, binding, pages or ink. But he certainly will utterly reverence God’s inspired Holy Scriptures. It is impossible to over-reverence the written Word just as it is impossible to over-reverence God to the point of making Him an idol – absurd! Even God shows utter reverence for His Word when He says, . . . for thou has magnified thy Word above all thy name (Psalm 138:2)

The Peril of the Gnostic Voice

The “Christian Gnostic” religion is a mystical form of godliness experienced
intuitively and all too often is construed to represent the Presence or Voice of the Holy Spirit. The peril of this concept relegates the inspiration of the Scriptures to a subordinate position to personal “inspiration” or to “private interpretation” of Scripture.

It is quite commonplace to read or hear messages sometimes by popular
preachers saying, “Hear from God”. This emphasis is ostensibly to improve a
Christian’s quality of life. The problem with this well-sounding phrase is that it invariably disregards the written Word of God and gives self preference over the Word of God. Christians hooked on “hear from God” without regard to Holy Scripture are not only open to serious error, but also disposed to strong delusions. This could lead to a self-centred “cult like” religion at the expense of God’s precious written Word.

If a man truly hears from God, he will reverence and honour the written Word of God more than ever and over everything else. Many Christians are into a form of Gnosticism dangerous to themselves and to others. They have a real problem distinguishing the voice of God from their own thoughts, feelings and
imagination. The reason is they don’t align their minds with the written Word of God. Many have never learned to understand their experiences in the light of Holy Scriptures.

How can anyone know God’s voice or will apart from Scripture and how can anyone know the truth of God if he allegorizes the Scripture or takes a text out of context in support of his own ideas, thoughts and wishes? Any other way of assuming to know God’s voice apart from Scripture is perilous. However God chooses to minister to His children will always confirm and accord with Holy Scripture.

The Gnostic school of thought subtly divides the ministry of the Holy Spirit from the Holy Scriptures. This position demises the Scriptures and pits the church against God’s final voice of authority. The switch of emphasis to the Holy Spirit at the expense of the Scriptures is seen by some as a NEW THING God is doing in the believer and the world. This is a strong delusion.

The Still Small Voice

Because God at one point in time chose to speak to Elijah the prophet through a still small voice, and at another time to Balaam the prophet through an ass, it no way obliges God to repeat the performance in our day and age. It would be wrong on the part of a Christian to turn inward to self in the hope of hearing a still small voice, just as it would be to go to an ass out in the country in the hope of hearing God speak.

The “still small voice” concept is such an obsession in certain segments of the
church it is no surprise that bizarre messages and presumptuous judgments and decisions are made in the name of the Lord. The concept has sown more
confusion in the church than any other presumption. If only Christians would
learn to line up their thoughts and intuitions with Scriptures, we would have more of the Spirit and less of the flesh.

God’s Sovereign Voice to the Church

God in His sovereignty gave man the Holy Scriptures. All we need to know about God, redemption, holiness, eternal life and ourselves is recorded in the written Word of God. The Holy Spirit provided the Scriptures so that by the preaching of the Gospel of Christ the world might come to know the Lord Jesus Christ. By the preaching of the Gospel of Christ according to the written Word, the Holy Spirit speaks to sinners and saints alike. Holy Scriptures remain the final Voice of God – whether the world believes it or not. The Holy Spirit uses the written Word of God to save, sustain and mature the believer.

Any other source used to determine spiritual growth other than the Scriptures is false. It is wrong for a man to presume he knows the mind of God if it is not according to the Scriptures. To do so is to be grossly presumptuous. God is Sovereign. He will speak whenever He chooses and in whatever manner He wills. But, if and when He speaks, it will be a Sovereign Act. God’s sovereignty is not negotiable. It cannot be monopolised or
manipulated by our wishes, thoughts, prayers, cries, meditations or even by our communion with Him. It is impossible for man to control God’s sovereignty. When God speaks or acts, He never contradicts His written Word.

Christianity vs Gnosticism

The Christian does not look inward for his redemption. He looks UPWARD to God who is seated in heaven far above principalities and powers. His redemption was bought and brought nigh by the blood of Jesus Christ. The Christian’s approach to God is by faith in Christ’s complete work of redemption at the cross. Redemption is not an experience, it is God’s salvation bought by the precious blood of the Lamb – and is a free gift.

Christians know they are saved, not by any experience they might have had along the way but because they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ according to the Scriptures. Even their faith from the heart is the witness of the Holy Spirit and their redemption. Sometimes Christians have great spiritual experiences, but refuse to glory in the flesh. Their glory is only in the Lord. The only premise the Christian builds his life on is not by “self-consciousness”, but by the written Word of God. The only God the Christian knows and desires to know is the God of the HOLY WRITTEN WORD.

The god of the imagination and the god of self was resoundly crushed and defeated at Calvary some two thousand years ago.

The Christian’s affections and thoughts are not turned inward, but rather upward toward heaven from whence they expect the personal and glorious appearing of the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. For at the sound of the trumpet and the voice of the archangel, the saints in Christ, both the living and the dead, shall put on immortality, incorruption and see Jesus Christ face to face and be like Him. Amen!