NEW THOUGHT: The Origin of The Secret, Christian Science and the Word of Faith Movement

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NEW THOUGHT

by D.J. Quinn

Also See

Esotericism and Biblical Interpretation

Roots of Evil

While the majority of people may be unable to define New Thought, hundreds of thousands are increasingly becoming influenced by it, since it is the cornerstone for most of the formulas for happy and successful living. Reduced it to it’s essentials, New Thought very simply believes that your thoughts play a crucial role in the kind of life you experience. It is unlikely that many Christians are aware of the common roots of some popular beliefs in the church and the New Thought beliefs without. From Clement Stone’s Positive Mental Attitude to Robert Schuller’s Possibility Thinking and Oral Roberts’ seed-faith principles, they all stem from common sources.

What Is New Thought?

“New Thought, as defined in the dictionary, is a modern spiritual philosophy stressing the power of right thinking in a person’s life, the idea that our thoughts and attitudes affect our experience and that God (or whatever other name a person might have for a Higher Power) is within the individual.

New Thought is a logical and scientifically based understanding and method of changing our experience by changing our thinking. New Thought is simple and easy to learn. It has a tradition that reaches back over one hundred years and is founded on principles that embrace many of the world religious and spiritual practices spanning thousands of years.

New Thought recognizes that human beings function on many levels: that the individual is a mental, spiritual, emotional and physical being. In realizing our fullness, our wholeness and maximizing our potential we are, in essence, finding fulfillment…..

New Thought teaches people tools, which put us on the path to fulfillment. The natural extension of this fulfillment is that as an individual’s life is better, their family’s life is better, their community’s life is better and this extends out across the planet”. (ANTN. Affiliated New Thought Network. http://www.newthought.org)

The Origins of New Thought: New Thought originated in part with an unschooled Maine clockmaker and inventor named Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, who believed that he had rediscovered the lost healing methods of Jesus. The loosely organized movement that began with him eventually became known as New Thought, and consisted of a number of independently developed branches such as Unity, Religious Science, and Divine Science. (New Thought: A Practical American Spirituality by C. Alan Anderson and Deborah G. Whitehouse. Chapter 1). However there were other influential people in the progress of New Thought… See Roots of Evil:

Teachers: Two of the best known teachers of New Thought today are Mary Manin Morissey (Living Enrichment Center, Wilsonville Oregon) (on television every Sunday morning) and Della Reese… co-leader of the organization called Upchurch, who has been showcased as a Christian Minister. (See related article [See Touched by an Angel].

New Thought And The Bible: New Thoughters superficially appears to be in tune with Christian doctrine by selectively quoting from the Bible, but a complete reading of the very Scriptures that they maintain forms their “primary textbook” would nullify all their claims. There is no intellectually honest way to carve up the documents according to ones own liking and philosophical preferences. There is overwhelming historical reliability of the extra-biblical and biblical source documents concerning the Bible and Jesus’ life. (See Section A Remarkable Book ).

The simple question could be asked… Whose word is more reliable? Those closest to Jesus who, walked with Jesus, were eyewitnesses, who signed their testimonies with their lifeblood, or those (like Quimby) who are often two thousand years removed from the events and have absolutely nothing to back up any of their claims or teachings? (See The Uniqueness of Jesus and Jesus Plain And Simple).

A ‘Metaphysical’ interpretation of the Bible is little more than an excuse not to respond to the demands of its message, and is often based on preconceived theories, which are themselves unproven or unproveable. (See Esotericism and Biblical Interpretation)

The frequent references to Scripture to back arguments, and the effort to show Jesus to be one with New Thought doctrine is dangerously deceptive. The sheep’s clothing on the outside hides a deeper and more sinister wolf, one that without doubt needs to be kept as far as possible from the pulpits of Christ. Below I have taken some of New Thought’s fundamental beliefs and weighed them against that which the Bible preaches, showing beyond doubt that the two are not only incompatible but are in fact adversaries.

Some New Thought Teachings

THERE ARE ABOUT 20 MORE NEW THOUGHT TEACHINGS AT THE LINK BELOW

New Thought is expressed in Romans 12:2, “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” New Thoughters seek nothing less than total life transformation, empowerment through changing their thoughts and keeping them changed. The linchpin of New Thought is the Law of Mind Action: thoughts held in mind produce after their kind. (1)

Unfortunately this is a classic case of taking a verse completely taken out of context thereby altering the meaning.. “ Conversion and sanctification are the renewing of the mind; a change, not of the substance, but of the qualities of the soul. The progress of sanctification, dying to sin more and more, and living to righteousness more and more, is the carrying on this renewing work, till it is perfected in glory…. The work of the Holy Ghost first begins in the understanding, and is carried on to the will, affections, and conversation, till there is a change of the whole man into the likeness of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness”. (Matthew Henry. Emphasis Added)

Romans 12:2 is only a continuation of Romans 12:1 which says “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service”.

Neither verse has anything to do with ‘empowerment through changing ones thoughts’ but a transformation from sin to righteousness.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new”. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

“New Thought is what all Christianity could have become if it had been able to avoid the stultifying tendencies needed to become a religion capable of competing with mystery religions for the title of official religion of the Roman Empire. It is what all Christianity could have become if it had allowed freedom of belief, concentrating on following the loving, healing example of Jesus rather than developing a rigid superstructure of teachings about Jesus”. . (1)

No one could show as much love and compassion for humans as the Lord did. Besides dying for us it is true that He healed many many people. However it is selective reading at its best to focus solely on His ‘loving, healing example’. He devoted more than half His parables to God’s eternal judgment on sin. “Of the twelve uses of the word gehenna (the strongest word for hell) in the New Testament, eleven come from the lips of Jesus himself! In fact, the Savior taught more about hell than He did about heaven! Of the more than 1850 verses recording the words of Christ, 13% pertain to the topics of judgment and hell. Of the 40 or so parables uttered by Jesus, more than half relate to God’s eternal judgment on sin. Surprisingly, the much beloved “Sermon on the Mount” contains some of Jesus’ most straightforward words about hell”. (Rick Rood) (See Section on Hell )

Additionally Jesus was a Jew, born to into a religious system that is perhaps one of the most structured and demanding in history. Nowhere in the Bible does it indicate that Jesus deviated from His commitments as a Jew; much to the contrary we see several examples of Jesus attending the Synagogue, participating the Passover rituals and regularly going to the Temple.

Not only did Jesus command His followers to keep the Old Testament law, He made it harder to do. A classic example of this is the Old Testament commandment “Thou shalt not commit adultery”;

“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart”. (Mat 5:27-28)

“Fundamentalists might have difficulty with the idea that the only Power in the universe is good. New Thought teaches that evil is insubstantial, that it is only immature or misused good. The Devil is the invention of our minds, and goes as fast as he comes. When you walk into a dark room and turn on the light, the darkness vanishes; you don’t have to chase it away. (1)

In the light of such ‘philosophically profound’ belief I find myself at a loss for words. The misguided belief that good is the only force in the universe is indeed an interesting concept, especially when one takes into consideration the book of Job.

“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” (Job 1:6-7)

Now according to new thought philosophy, God (the “good power”) Himself is not only having a conversation with ‘immature good’ or an ‘invention of His mind’ and asking where it has come from, but astonishingly, the “immature good” replies to God and says it has been walking to and fro in the earth. An amazing achievement for a thought. Surely God being God should have known that all He had to do was ‘turn a light on’.

There are even more example of the personification of the devil in the Bible … the most notable being …

“And when the tempter came to him, he said, if thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread … (Mat 4:11) then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.” (Mat 4:3-11)

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:’ (1Pet 5:8)

“Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” (Rev 2:10)

Is one truly expected to believe that the Devil is merely a wrong thought, when faced with the Bible’s indisputable evidence to the contrary? In the Matthew quotation the Devil comes to Jesus and speaks to Him, takes Him to the highest points of earth, tempts Him and eventually leaves Him; In the Peter quotation the Devil is referred to as a roaring lion that seeks to devour/destroy Christians; In the Revelation quotation the Devil casts Christians into prison and makes them suffer tribulation. Thoughts are not capable of roaming the earth, they are not capable of casting someone into prison and persecuting them, they are not capable of physically coming and going of their own accord and they are not a roaring lion (singular) that seeks to devour believers. One of the Devils greatest achievements is to make humanity believe that he does not exist, that he is merely a thought or an invention of the human subconscious, after all why fear that which does not exist… right? To that end New Thought philosophy is in perfect alignment with his strategy and to the believer at least is very dangerous.

The Bible was written by Oriental minds for Oriental minds, and most of it was never intended to be taken literally. Jesus cast out demons, which is to say in the language of today, that he straightened out people’s thinking; and our fear thoughts are demonic indeed”. (1)

The Bible itself contradicts this notion over and over again. The Gospel message contained in the Bible is essentially concerned with God’s future plans for the earth and for mankind. The Bible is the record of God’s continuing activity, centered in the work of His Son Jesus, and leading ultimately to man’s redemption. The Bible is the Word of Salvation, which draws a road map for humanity to come out of the world of sin and into harmony with the will of God. The Bible is God’s will and has a purpose to achieve and will not stop until it has achieved that purpose.

Isaiah 55:11 ‘So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.’

Furthermore God had every intention of the Gospel being spread through out the globe, a fact that clashes with the concept that the Bible was written by Orientals for the Oriental mind.

‘And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.’ (Matthew 24:14)

‘And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.’ (Mark 16:15)

“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” (Revelation 14:6) All emphasis added.

God over and over again stressed to ancient Israel that they must keep His commandments, that the disobedience would bring the strictest punishment and that the wages of sin is death.

“Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD.” (Lev 22:31 )

“Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.” (Deut 6:17)

“But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Josh 22:5)

It would have been more than unfair of God to demand obedience to commandments that were ambiguous and hard to understand. God’s commandments were given very clearly and the people understood them perfectly, hence totally negating any possible argument that God’s Word is not to be taken literally. The Bible also comes with a very strict warning about the Scriptures, one that should be carefully considered before deciding to add ‘meaning’ to the recorded words …

“Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.” (Deut 4:2 ‘)

Also see Scientific Facts In The Bible (For those who believe that the Bible is merely symbolic)

Casting out of demons: If Jesus’ casting out of demons was merely straightening out people’s thinking how did the herd of swine come into it? Did the persons wrong thoughts beg Jesus to send them into the swine who then proceeded to commit mass suicide? (Matt 8:28-33). Perhaps the swine’s wrong thinking was that they imagined they were lemmings.

Fear Thoughts: If our ‘fear thoughts’ are demonic I wonder what the Lord meant when He said

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge”:(Proverbs 1:7)

“The fear of the LORD prolongeth days” (Proverbs 10:27)

“…fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell”.(Matthew 10:28)

But New Thought does not concern itself with most religious doctrines. If the Virgin Birth literally happened, wonderful; if it didn’t, that’s fine, too. (1)

Of course New Thoughters do not concern themselves with religious doctrines… it does not serve their interests to do so. Christianity believes that Christ was the promised Messiah; a fact that depends heavily on His fulfilling ALL the prophesies of the Old Testament, including His being born to a virgin. Likewise Christianity rises or falls on the resurrection and should it be true that Jesus did rise from the dead then the implications are enormous. He is no longer the ‘way shower’ but Almighty God Himself. As C.S. Lewis once said “

“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg – or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.” (‘Mere Christianity’) (See The Empty Tomb and The Resurrection)

“If this is a universe of thought, then changing one’s thought changes the universe, at least a smidgin”. (1)

Reading this comment I had two thoughts… both interesting. The first is what would happen if a New Thoughter found himself/herself in the place of Job, standing before the thunderstorm and God spoke, saying

“Who is this who darkens counsel, by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding …” (Job 38:2-4).

Somehow I find it difficult to believe that even the greatest disciple of New Thought knows the treasury of snow or can send out lightning or restrict the sea to its boundaries. To believe that merely by thoughts man can change God’s eternal plan is not only dangerous and arrogant it also puts man on a collision course with the God of the Universe.

Secondly New Thoughters must have a very ugly vision in mind for the world. With the significant numbers of New Thoughters springing up worldwide surely this earth must be (by now) a mirror image of the sum of their thoughts. A beautiful place of crime, drugs, wars, violence and hate; a world that is rapidly spiraling out of control, on a one-way, nonstop track to Armageddon. Contrary to New Thought doctrine the condition of the world as it is today is a perfect fulfillment of Jesus’ prophesy of the end of times as told in the book of Matthew (Mat 24). See How Old Is Grandma?

http://www.inplainsite.org/html/new_thought.html

VISUALIZATION: God-Given Power or New Age Danger? (Part Two) by John Weldon and John Ankerberg

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VISUALIZATION: God-Given Power or New Age Danger? (Part Two) by John Weldon and John Ankerberg

Summary

Although visualization can be adapted to almost any philosophy, in its popular usage it is loosely tied to a monistic or pantheistic world view that sees humans as divine and creators of their own reality. The practice itself en-hances and perhaps even sets up the development of the monistic (“all is one”) states of consciousness foundational to the New Age movement. Visualization is commonly used in occult practice, from casting spells to contacting “inner advisors” or spirit guides. As such, Scripture prohibits New Age visualization. Yet even alleged Christian forms of visualization are insufficiently critiqued, of dubious value, and subject to abuse.

Some have heralded the practice of visualization as one of “two important ‘new’ concepts in 20th century American life” (the other important concept being meditation).2 According to its New Age advocates, visualization, which combines mental concentration with directed imagery, is a powerful tool for achieving personal and corporate goals and changing physical, psychological, and spiritual reality.

In Part One of this series we examined the nature, influence, and varieties of visualization, as well as the reasons people use it. In this concluding installment we will consider the world view commonly associated with visualization, dangers inherent in its practice, its occult aspects, and the question of whether Christian visualization can be a safe and biblical practice.

WORLD VIEW

Because the practice of visualization can be adapted to almost any philosophy and uniquely colored by it, there is no well-defined world view we could present that would always be representative. But if we restrict our discussion to the popular and occult types of visualization (as opposed to the academic and Christian types — see the chart in Part One), while recognizing the very real potential for cross-fertilization between the various types, we can see the emergence of a broad outline. Some principal components include the following:

1) Pantheism or monism: an underlying divine energy — the one power or cosmic reality — interconnects everything.

2) Humans are divine in their true nature and control their personal destinies; they are an integral part of this divine energy and can experientially realize this through proper technique and instruction.

3) The mind of each human has “infinite” potential; the “higher self,” unconscious mind, or some such concept provides the connecting link to the infinite, and is believed to be the repository of vast wisdom and power.

4) Visualization is an important technique that taps the higher self and initiates contact with the ultimate cosmic reality.

Andrew Wiehl observes in his Creative Visualization, “In all the Universe there is but one power, the power within yourself.”3 Shakti Gawain in her later book by the same title claims we are linked to “divine omnipresence and omnipotence” and that our “higher self” is “the God-like being who dwells within you.”4 Because of this, “there is no separation between us and God” in that we are “divine expressions” of God, the creative principle.5 In the words of other proponents, “Imagination…empowers [us] to tap the endless and unborn potentials of universal mind,”6 and, “Visualization allows a person to travel into the mind to a space where the possibilities of matter, time and space are unlimited.”7

When used in an occult program, visualization techniques can thus become seemingly powerful instruments for securing New Age goals: “At a practical level, visualization has an uncanny ability to improve the quality of our lives. It does this through its power to heal the body and spirit, to reconstruct the past and to reveal our hidden truths….The most dramatic visualizations touch the deepest part of ourselves — our essence, our core, and allow us to experience connections beyond ourselves, what some describe as cosmic consciousness.”8

Indeed, the visualization process itself may tend to alter the person’s world view. As noted in Part One, Dr. Mike Samuels is an authority on the subject. He discusses the mechanics and implications of the process:

When a person consciously visualizes he gains the ability to hold his mind on one object, to concentrate. This one-pointedness of mind is a state [of meditation] that has special properties: alertness, clarity of thought, identification with the object, and a feeling of participation in the visualization.

The feeling of identification-participation causes the person to be less involved with himself as an entity separate from the world around him. He goes beyond the boundaries, the limitations of his physical body, beyond the awareness of his personality….

Time and space disappear….A person who has the experience feels that it unites him with the universe. He feels he is a part of creation rather than an observer of it….This purity of vision…is associated with tremendous energy surrounding both the visualizer and the image, and the unity of the two. Such energy cannot help but affect the world around it.9

The world view of visualization just discussed is obviously not Christian. The Bible denies that people are one essence with God or the universe because it declares that only God has eternality — for He “alone is immortal” (1 Tim. 6:16) — and only He is an infinite being. Thus the one and only God (John 17:3) who existed from eternity (Ps. 90:2) created the entire material and spiritual universe, including humanity, from nothing. God did not emanate something of Himself in the process of creation so that everything in creation partakes in the nature of God. To the contrary, as the following Scriptures declare, God created the universe merely by speaking it into existence: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1); “The universe was formed at God’s command” (Heb. 11:3); “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made…For he spoke, and it came to be” (Ps. 33:6, 9).

People are not a part of God. Their minds do not have the “infinite” powers attributed to them by visualization philosophy, nor are they a source of true spiritual wisdom apart from spiritual regeneration or rebirth (Prov. 28:26; Jer. 17:9; Mark 7:20-23; James 3:14-17). Furthermore, visualization has no power to initiate contact with God or gain knowledge of Him. Biblically, those who wish to personally know the one true God must come to Him by faith through the true Jesus Christ (John 17:2-3; Col. 1:15-20; 2:9; Heb. 11:6; 1 Pet. 2:24) — not by trust in their own inner vision, a spirit guide masquerading as Christ, or by an alleged mystical union with some abstract impersonal concept of the divine.

DANGERS

It should be recognized that when the mind is manipulated into novel states of consciousness, there is always a potential for spiritual deception and danger. This is true regardless of a person’s motive or environment (i.e., the spiritual context in which he or she is operating). The number of well-meaning people who have embarked on a visualization program for physical health, psychological understanding, or spiritual advancement and ended up involved in the occult is not small. Books on visualization carry numerous anecdotes of how even the well-intentioned and seemingly nonoccult use of visualization catapulted people into the New Age movement, psychic development, and/or spirit contact.

Visualization allegedly has the capacity to place the mind into a certain brain wave pattern conducive to the development of psychic abilities.10 If this is true (and our research leads us to think that it is), how do we view the practice of visualization in Christian psychotherapy? What about visualization techniques practiced in education in general, or among children?11 Prominent educator Jack Canfield states, “When students are participating in a guided imagery experience they are in an altered state of consciousness.”12 To what degree does a belief that is conditioned or manipulated by visualization affect our behavior and our world view? What are the long-term effects of visualization itself, irrespective of the environment in which it occurs? How neutral is a systematic program of repeated visualization exercises?

Experts in both the theory and practice of visualization warn of its potential dangers. For example, H. V. Guenther and leading Tibetan Buddhist guru, Chogyam Trungpa, assert in The Dawn of Tantra: “Certainly practicing visualization without the proper understanding is extremely destructive….Tantric scriptures abound with warnings about using visualization.”13 Practicing occultist J. H. Brennan, whose Astral Doorways cites visualization as an “excellent doorway,” still warns that to mix certain things — such as yoga postures and visualization techniques — without knowing exactly what one is doing “is asking for psychosis.”14

As noted, many people have embarked on a visualization program and converted to occultism as a result. This poses another danger of the practice because, as we have documented elsewhere, occultism is hazardous to people physically, emotionally, and spiritually.15

THE OCCULT

Coauthor Weldon became interested in evaluating the practice of visualization a number of years ago. While examining the latest New Age trends at a local metaphysical book shop, a large bright yellow text with a colorful caduceus caught his eye. The Well Body Book16 was a holistic health home medical handbook. (It was right next to The Well Cat Book and The Well Dog Book.)

He began thumbing through the book and noticed that it stressed visualization exercises. In fact, the ability to visualize was said to be necessary “for understanding many parts of the book.”17 In the acknowledgments, coauthor Mike Samuels, M.D., gave thanks to “Rolling Thunder,” a well-known native American shaman, “who taught me about healing,” as well as to “Braxius, my imaginary doctor.” However, it turns out “Braxius” is the personal spirit guide of Samuels and, therefore, not what a Christian would call imaginary. The story of their meeting is found in Samuels’s coauthored book, Spirit Guides: Access to Inner Worlds,18 a text that utilizes visualization techniques to encounter spirits.

To date, The Well Body Book and Spirit Guides: Access to Inner Worlds have sold over half-a-million copies. The authors have received a “large number” of letters “from readers who have begun to use spirit guides in their [own] lives.”19 Visualization was the basic method used to contact the spirit world.

This is why the relationship between visualization and the occult is our greatest concern. If visualization can lead to spirit contact, it should concern everyone. As we will later document, in spiritistic writings the spirits themselves often recommend visualization practices as important components for securing occult goals, including spirit contact.

In the following section we will examine the occult potential of visualization by showing: (1) the role of visualization in developing psychic abilities; (2) the use of visualization in occult ritual; and (3) the relationship between visualization and spiritism.

1. Psychic Development. The fact that visualization is often used to develop psychic powers is recognized by numerous experts in both the occult and visualization. For example, “The capacity to utilize visual imagination is a regular part of the training for psychics and healers in the Philippine spiritist churches.”20 As noted, lifelong occultist J. H. Brennan acknowledges the need for successful visualization to contact the astral realm where spirits dwell.21 In fact, as Samuels and Samuels observe, “People who have experienced astral travel say they do so by visualizing themselves separating from their physical body, then floating away from it.”22

Parapsychologist Milan Rzyl observes that “the ability to visualize sharply is central to good psychic performance.”23 Thus, for example, psychic Jack Schwarz utilizes visualization and creative imagery in a meditative context to develop and use his psychic powers.24 According to Samuels and Samuels, “The receptive visualization state is a state in which a person can receive extrasensory perceptions of another person’s mind (telepathy), of objects or events (clairvoyance), of future events (precognition), and of psychic diagnosis.”25

2. Occult Ritual. Occult magician David Conway devotes an entire chapter, “Visualization and the Training of a Magician,” to the importance of visualization for magic ritual in his Magic: An Occult Primer. For example: “The technique of visualization is something you will gradually master, and indeed must master if you are to make any progress in magic….It is our only means of affecting the etheric atmosphere. It enables us to build our own thought forms, contact those already in existence and channel elemental energy we need down onto the physical plane.”26

3. Spiritism. Conway also provides an example of a visualization practice used during magic ritual whose goal is to “produce, in reality, the spirit, god, or demon imagined through ritual.” No one knowledgeable in occult ritual has any doubt about the dangers here, least of all Conway.27 Visualization at this point becomes an integral factor in the fostering of spirit possession:

The adept imagines that the god-form or the most congenial of the planetary or sefirothic forms is materializing behind his back. He visualizes this in as much detail as possible. Slowly, as the altar candles flicker, he will sense with a sureness which precludes all doubt that the visualized form is in fact towering inside the circle behind him. On no account must he turn his head to look at whatever is there; any temptation to do so must be sternly resisted: the form may be unbearably hideous or else possess a beauty that may literally be fatal. In the meantime, the adept should endeavor to continue his mantra, although by now his heart will no doubt be beating furiously. Whatever else happens he must not move, even when he senses that the form is so close as to be almost touching him. Above all he must not panic but should comfort himself with the thought that he is safe enough provided he stays where he is.

At last — and he will certainly know when — the god-form will take control of him. To begin with, the adept will feel an exquisite giddiness somewhere at the base of his skull and quickly convulsing the whole of his body. As this happens, and while the power is surging into him, he forces himself to visualize the thing he wants his magic to accomplish, and wills its success. He must put all he has into this [effort] and, like our friends the Bacchantes, must whip himself into a veritable frenzy. It is at this point that the force evoked will be expelled to realize the ritual intention. As he feels the force overflowing inside him the adept, while still visualizing the realized magical intention, bids it go forth to fulfill his wishes.28

In magic ritual we see the full power of visualization: directed imagery, meditation, force of will, and certainly faith. But what many do not realize is that although visualization can be used deliberately in magic ritual for spirit contact and spirit possession, the very same things can be encountered in normal visualization practice or even through purely make-believe fantasy rituals.

Fantasy Spirits? “Philip” and the “Group Spirit”

The story of “Philip,” the “imaginary” spirit, is illustrative.29 A group of psychic investigators and parapsychologists with the Toronto Society for Psychical Research came together to see if they could create the physical phenomena found in a seance and produce a materialized spirit through their “collective mental power [i.e., imagination and visualization] alone.” They named him “Philip,” giving him an imaginary past, personality, and so forth.

They eventually succeeded — quite beyond their expectations — and remain puzzled to this day. Indeed, they have been awed over the subsequent events. What entered their parlor was not an imaginary spirit, but a genuine, living spirit being with its own personality and power — certainly not part of the group’s “collective” mind or energy. Incredibly, however, the group continued to believe that this independent spirit entity and the phenomena it produced were merely the result of their own “imaginative powers.”

One result of this experiment — as knowledge of it spread through articles, a book, and a film — was to camouflage spiritistic phenomena in the guise of human potential. “Philip groups” began all over the world, attempting to duplicate the phenomena of the Toronto group. Thus “the most important feature of this book is the fact that it specifies the method by which the physical PK [psychokinesis] force can be generated by ordinary people and thus made available for study.”30

The only problem was that the contacted “imaginary” spirits “act with their own personalities and idiosyncrasies and not as though they were a part of your subconscious mind.”31 Therefore, many “Philip groups” ended up in actual spirit-contact and necromancy.

Not surprisingly, then, in modern channeled (spiritistic) literature, the spirits actively endorse visualization, recommending specific exercises for learning how to contact them and become a channel:

Enter into the trance state you have practiced. . . .Imagine yourself going higher and higher, transcending ordinary reality and entering into a higher dimension of love, light, and joy. . . .Imagine that many beings of light are coming closer to join you. Feel their love and caring for you. Open your heart to receive them. Imagine the doorways opening between your reality and theirs. Sense the presence of many loving and high beings all around you. . . .Your guide and the guides are aware of you and hold a special welcome for you as you join more closely with them. Imagine that there is a doorway in front of you. . . .When you are ready, walk through this doorway. . . .Ask for the highest guide and teacher who is aligned with you to come forward. Imagine that your guide, a special guide, is coming forward. Sense this guide, feel his or her love for you. Be open to receive. Feel your heart welcoming this guide. Feel the response. Believe that it is really happening! Your imagination is the closest ability you have to channeling, and it is the easiest connection your guide has to you at first. . . . Greet your guide. . . .mentally carry on a conversation with this guide. . . .Ask your guide to begin doing all that he or she can to open the channel, now that you are committed and ready to verbally channel.32

Even cancer therapists O. Carl Simonton and Stephanie Matthews-Simonton, who utilize visualization in a professional setting for cancer therapy, accept this theme of using “imaginary” spirit guides for supposed healing processes. An examination of their book Getting Well Again indicates that they are encouraging nothing less than a form of spiritism.

Consider another illustration of how visualization can be used to contact the spirit world. In Mind Games: The Guide to Inner Space, leading consciousness explorers Robert Masters and Jean Houston tell others how to utilize visualization and trance to develop psychic awareness and monistic consciousness, and then to raise and contact what they term a “Group Spirit.” This is all done as a means to advance the cause of psychic development. Participants actually offer “obeisance” to a materialized spirit masquerading in the form of the collective group consciousness of the “players.”33

Yet, as in the case of “Philip,” this “mental” entity is described as “an entity with an independent existence of its own”34 and as “an actual, intelligent being, conscious and powerful.”35 In truth, the participants in such exercises hold a seance under another name.36

The process described by Masters and Houston is little different from the visualization process described by magician Conway earlier in which magic ritual is used to conjure the spirit that possesses the magician. Further, the purpose is also similar — inspiration and guidance from the entity (the reader may recall that Jean Houston was recently in the national news for directing Hillary Clinton to engage in “imaginary” consultations with Eleanor Roosevelt and other deceased entities):

Go and stand before the place we have designated to be the residing place of this entity we have evoked. Request inspiration in the form of a dance or a song or a chant, something that can be performed by you now, as an offering and in celebration of the spirit of our group….

After that, as instructed by the guide, each player successively will stand near the center of the circle, receiving inspiration, and then carrying out whatever movements or sounds or other behavior the person feels motivated to do and experiencing this motivation as coming directly from the Group Spirit….

The Group Spirit will appear to you in a dream and you will be able to gain a clear and detailed impression of its appearance, and you may be able to enter into a conversation with it, and various things might be revealed to you.37

Jack Canfield also recommends spiritism under another name. He encourages teachers to assist their students to perform a guided imagery exercise developed by Paula Klimek, who is with the Center for Holistic Education. This occult exercise is to be used by students as early as the sixth grade: “It is a very powerful experience which can help students become aware of their essential nature, their highest potential, their unique gift to the world, and their life purpose.”38

But this exercise deliberately attempts to have children contact and develop a relationship with their “special guide”:

You are about to meet a special guide, your own special guide. A guide whom you may ask what the purpose of your life is. . .Meet this guide and pose your question. . .Feel your guide’s unconditional love and strength and beauty. . .Let whatever happens happen. . .communicate with your guide in whatever way possible. . .Listen to your guide. . . .39

Another example of visualization-induced spiritism can be found in Shakti Gawain’s Creative Visualization:

Each one of us has all the wisdom and knowledge we ever need right within us….The inner guide is known by many different names, such as your counselor, spirit guide, imaginary friend, or master. It is a higher part of yourself, which can come to you in many different forms, but usually comes in the form of a person or being whom you can talk to and relate to as a wise and loving friend….

Go to your inner sanctuary [through visualization] and spend a few minutes there, relaxing, getting oriented….See in the distance a form coming toward you, radiating a clear, bright light….

Greet this being, and ask him or her what their name is….Ask your guide if there is anything he or she would like to say to you, or any advice to give you at the moment….

Also your guide may change form and even name from time to time. Or you may have the same one for years. You may have more than one guide at the same time.

Your guide is there for you to call on anytime you need or want extra guidance, wisdom, knowledge, support, creative inspiration, love or companionship. Many people who have established a relationship with their guide meet them every day in their meditation.40

The above process is similar to those found in many other practices, for example, using the imagination to create “imaginary advisors” in New Age seminars such as est (The Forum), Mind Psi Biotics, or Silva Mind Control. Various cults and humanistic or fringe psycho-therapies that have reached millions of people do the same.

From a biblical perspective there is little reason to doubt that visualization techniques can and do result in the contact of genuine spirit beings, however they may be redefined as part of the human imagination or “nervous system.”41 Until recent times, visualization had been relegated to occultists and shamans. But now, medical doctors, athletes, teachers, artists, businesspersons, and even clergy are employing new, updated forms of visualization. Unfortunately, because many psychologists, physicians, and others have little understanding of the mechanics of spiritual deception, they have unknowingly allowed themselves to become pawns in a battle whose players are invisible to them.

QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS

A number of variables may affect the specific outcome of visualization techniques. Unfortunately, as we’ve seen, neither good motives nor a neutral environment are a sufficient safeguard against spiritual deception or other potential dangers. However, the context of visualization (whether the therapist’s office, personal meditation, magic ritual, etc.) and the content of visualization (i.e., the world view into which the practices are structured) are important for determining the relative potential for alignment with the occult.

Certainly, any claim to benevolence is ruled out when visualization is used to develop psychic abilities, enter altered states of consciousness, or magically control the environment, or is used for channeling or other forms of spirit contact. While some of the seemingly innocuous visualization techniques in certain forms of psychotherapy are undoubtedly not the same as visualization programs in the world of the occult, there are still unanswered questions about the possible impact of long-term visualization practices. For example, in education and in Christian or secular psychotherapy, do we know the consequences of sustained visualization practice among children or patients? Can we be sure that long-term visualization practice will never open the door to the experience of so-called “higher consciousness”?

Is there such a thing as neutral visualization in the long-term? When people consecrate themselves into an intensive program of visualization, do they really understand where this may lead? Practices that initially seem innocuous, such as Transcendental Meditation (TM), nevertheless, in the final analysis, can have considerable impact on a person physiologically, emotionally, and spiritually.42 We might ask how a simple sound, a mantra repeated 15 minutes twice a day, could produce such dramatic changes as those brought about by TM. But we could ask the same thing of a simple visualization technique. Perhaps there is more going on here than meets the eye. Perhaps spiritistic influence is a greater possibility than is usually supposed.

Consider someone using visualization to induce astral projection. What factors actualize the event? Intent? Occult environment? Psychophysical changes induced by visualization conducive to trance? The spirits? (Indeed, it is the spirits themselves who often claim to induce and, to a degree, control out-of-body experiences.43) What are the parameters of the psychophysiology of visualization? Where do they end, and where does spiritual deception begin?

Christian Visualization?

Many Christians have used some form of visualization. They argue that in rejecting visualization, the church is ignoring aspects of the creative imagination that are really legitimate. The comments of researcher Stanley Dokupil are perhaps relevant:

One of the reasons the New Agers are making such inroads is that the evangelical church has proven itself to be unimaginative, and overly linear in its thinking. The unconscious is real and there are powers there I believe that are not necessarily evil. Certain individuals by their nature are more inclined toward the full use of their imaginations than others, artists, therapists, certain other creative types, etc. If the church doesn’t provide a discerning guidance for these people, other than outright dismissal of all borderline phenomena as satanic, then the church is not only poorer for having lost these people but will have to pay for it by having God’s gifts used against His own church. The works of Jonathan Edwards, such as Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God, The Distinguishing Marks of a Word of the Spirit of God, A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, as well as Elizabeth Winslow’s biography of Edwards are very informative here.44

Obviously, we cannot recommend the kinds of visualization we have been discussing in this article. The spiritual risks are too clear. So if the church is going to accept some aspects of the practice of visualization, it will need to sort out the godly uses of the imagination from occult varieties.

Otherwise, how does a Christian therapist using an “inner Jesus” as a guide, friend, and advisor ensure his or her client against spiritism? What safeguards can be provided to ensure that imagination will not lead to unanticipated reality and that a spiritistic Jesus will not appear? Spiritistic Jesuses appear all over the place in the occult, from dictating occult texts such as A Course in Miracles to direct appearances in the temples of the Mormon Church and to various occultists.45

Is the “Jesus” who manifests inwardly in inner healing to guide, comfort, or erase bad memories an entity who must appear at the beck and call of the emotionally needy? If so, how is this different from the familiar spirit of the channeler?

Apart from the occult, how much power does visualization really have? If people were gods-in-embryo with divine energy at their disposal, and if their thoughts actually did create reality, then visualization should create literal miracles — but this is not the case. Given biblical teaching, visualization is mostly impotent and would seem only marginally useful at best even in its allegedly “neutral” or “Christian” therapeutic aspects. In other words, isn’t it true that living in harmony with God’s ordering of the world and obeying His moral standards are vastly more important to physical and spiritual health than are manipulation of mental pictures through visualization — even in a Christian context?

Another issue to face is where the Christian should be deriving his or her personal identity. Is our self-image to be determined from our creative imagination or from the Word of God? Do the popular visualization techniques applied in a Christian context really conform to reality? Belief can certainly affect our behavior but such belief must be based either upon reality or something possible. New Age and much Christian positive confession imaging do not count as true what is true; they only imagine and visualize as true what one wants to be true but really is not true — and, if people are honest, what continues not to be true.46

If visualization truly puts us in contact with our inner being, our subconscious, what can we expect to accomplish but perhaps the welling up of that reality that Jesus spoke of? “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean’” (Mark 7:20-23). Perhaps this is the reason why many authorities have warned about the psychological danger resulting from using visualization to explore the unconscious. But New Age theorists and most visualizing church members must regard the biblical doctrine of human depravity as anathema. To find the “divine” within, with its suggestion of universalism, the words of Christ must be ignored or reinterpreted.

Therefore, is the visualization program that seeks to remold human depravity into divinity really based on reality? Whose reality? If a Christian has been forgiven, regenerated, justified, joined to Christ, adopted, and positionally sanctified, how important is a spiritual program of visualization? These doctrines are spiritual realities and facts one need only understand and accept to integrate.47 While the imagination might help a Christian to see such realities as personally true, this perception is not something that needs to be attained through a daily program of visualization.

God has promised Christians many things — that He will finish the work He began in us (Phil. 1:6), that our inner man is being renewed day by day (2 Cor. 4:16; 3:18), that we will stand before Him blameless, perfect in body, soul, and spirit — for “the one who calls you is faithful and he will do it” (1 Thess. 5:24).

Christians are to be renewed daily by the Holy Spirit, prayer, and the Word of God. They are not to be renewed by a transpersonal psychology using Eastern metaphysics or inner work through visualization. The power of the Word of God to build a truly integrated person in those whom it “renews” makes modern visualization pale by contrast. Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Where then is the spiritual power of visualization? Will an hour a day of our busy lives be better spent in visualization or in prayer? Will an hour a day be better spent on the therapist’s couch talking to an imaginary “inner Jesus” or in the Word of God hearing from the real Jesus? And what of our children? Will secular or New Age visualization methods in the classroom finally be in their best interests?

In our culture, visualization practices are here to stay. This underscores the necessity for Christians to bring a thoroughgoing, biblical critique to this occult method.

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VISUALIZATION: God-Given Power or New Age Danger? (Part One) by John Weldon and John Ankerberg

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VISUALIZATION: God-Given Power or New Age Danger? (Part One) by John Weldon and John Ankerberg

Summary

Visualization is the use of mental concentration and directed imagery in the attempt to secure particular goals, whether physical, psychological, vocational, educational, or spiritual. Visualization attempts to program the mind to discover inner power and guidance. It is often used as a means to, or in conjunction with, altered states of consciousness (e.g., as produced by meditation), and is frequently used to develop psychic abilities or make contact with spirits. There are at least four identifiable types of visualization in our culture: academic, popular, occult, and Christian. Although there are boundaries separating these types, they are usually fairly fluid, and there is much potential for interrelationships between them. The practice of visualization, a directed form of mental imagery and concentration, is having broad and substantial impact in our culture.

It involves the deliberate manipulation of the mind, individually or in conjunction with an assistant, to alter one’s consciousness toward a specific goal — often the seeking of some form of secret knowledge or power. Perhaps the most authoritative general text on the subject, Seeing with the Mind’s Eye: The History, Techniques and Practices of Visualization, observes, “If there are two important ‘new’ concepts in 20th century American life, they are meditation and visualization.”2

The book’s authors continue, “The growth of interest in visualization since the 1960s is part of a new climate of thought in the West. This new climate has manifested in an interest in all forms of imagery, in the experience of Eastern religions and philosophy, in hypnotism, and in hallucinogenic drugs and altered states of consciousness in general.”3

Visualization is prominent in modern humanistic/transpersonal education and increasingly finding its way into even conventional educational curriculum. Jack Canfield is Director of Educational Services for Insight Training Seminars in Santa Monica, California, past president of the Association for Humanistic Education, and consultant to over 150 schools, universities, and mental health organizations. In “The Inner Classroom: Teaching with Guided Imagery,” he asserts: “Guided imagery is a very powerful psychological tool which can be used to achieve a wide variety of educational objectives: enhance self-esteem, expand awareness, facilitate psychological growth and integration, evoke inner wisdom, increase empathy, expand creativity, increase memory, facilitate optimal performance, evoke a more positive attitude, and accelerate the learning of subject matter.”4

The reason visualization is being lauded today as an extremely powerful psychological tool for inner healing and personal transformation is that proponents claim it works dramatically. In this first of a two-part series, we will examine the nature and influence of visualization, the reasons people use it, and the different kinds of visualization. In all of this we will see that the spiritual implications of visualization practice are significant.

THE NATURE OF VISUALIZATION

New Age visualization claims to work by using the mind to influence one’s perceptions and personal reality. Proponents claim that by properly controlling each person’s alleged mental power, they can influence and change a person’s ideas, consciousness, and even his or her physical and spiritual environment.

For example, visualization can supposedly be used to change one’s self-image from negative to positive by holding a positive image of oneself in the mind. Visualization may also serve to uncover a claimed “inner divinity” that can allegedly manipulate reality. By creating the proper mental image and environment and then holding it or projecting it outward, practitioners claim they can exercise mental power over every aspect of their lives. Related practices are also used in magic ritual to call on spirits in order to secure such goals.

Because the mind is potentially so powerful, proponents say, proper visualization methods can affect health, finances, educational abilities, relationships, vocation — and even one’s destiny. In many Hindu and Buddhist religions, for example, the thought or image one holds at death is believed to powerfully influence one’s next life. This is one reason given for adopting mental training exercises such as visualization.

THE INFLUENCE OF VISUALIZATION

Visualization and imagery practices are being pursued by millions of people in America. These practices are having a growing impact in diverse fields, from New Age medicine and education, to a variety of occult practices, to certain schools of psychotherapy (i.e., the Jungian, humanistic, and transpersonal schools), to human potential seminars. The text Seeing with the Mind’s Eye observes the following: “In the last hundred years spec-specialists in different fields have begun to rediscover the existence and meaning of visualization. Historians, religious scholars, archaeologists, physicians, and psychologists have begun to study the nature of the inner image as it relates to their area of specialization. There is no widely accepted overview of visualization at this time. There is only a general striving toward understanding in many fields, from many viewpoints.”5

Many scientific journals on visualization have emerged, such as the Journal of Mental Imagery. They document the impact of visualization in psychology, education, the arts and literature, linguistics, mythology, anthropology, sociology, religion, and even thanatology (the study of death and dying).6

Different forms of visualization exist, with different goals. But even a brief perusal of the general influence of visualization is impressive.

Medicine. Visualization is used widely in New Age medicine. The relevance of visualization techniques here will become evident as we proceed. For now, we may observe that a central tenet of much New Age medicine is the manipulation of mystical life energies such as chi and prana. Visualization promoters also claim that the practice of visualization can “produce” and manipulate this energy:

Physicists have also begun to study subtle body energies and their effect on the world outside the body. Throughout history, philosophers have recognized this energy and given it many names. The Chinese called it chi, and the Indians prana or kundalini, the Japanese ki; 20th century parapsychologists have referred to it as bio-plasmic energy….Russian and Czechoslovakian scientists have studied bio-plasmic energy in association with healing, telepathy and psychokinesis. They have found that through visualization a woman named Nelya Mikhailoya can change her bio-plasmic energy fields….Studies like this tend to confirm occult belief in such concepts as auras and astral bodies. These experiments demonstrate how a visualization [technique] can produce energy which directly affects objects in the external world.7

Education. Visualization is now employed in education, such as in counseling, creative writing, and problem-solving courses. It is also used to develop altered states of consciousness in students in order to acquire the capacity to reach “inner guides” or allegedly tap the “higher self” and its powers. It is used for enhanced learning potential, self-esteem, and stress reduction.

Occultism. Shamans, spiritists, magicians, and witches routinely use visualization. Many people are familiar with American shamans Carlos Castaneda and Lynn Andrews, whose books have sold in the multiple millions. Their writings stress that visualization is a key ingredient for success as a shaman. According to hypnotherapists Richard Dobson and Natasha Frazier, “In the last few years shamanic trance techniques have been taught or explained almost entirely as a form of visualization.”8

Visualization is widely used in psychic healing. For instance, psychic healers Amy Wallace (granddaughter of Irving Wallace) and Bill Henkin observe in The Psychic Healing Book: How to Develop Your Psychic Potential Safely, Simply, Effectively: “Visualization is one of the most potent and widely used techniques in [psychic] healing. It has been stressed for centuries in schools of Eastern mysticism and is used in nearly every contemporary school of ‘consciousness-raising.’”9

Visualization is common to numerous occult religions. These include Rosicrucianism, Tantrism, and the mind sciences (New Thought, Divine Science, Unity School of Christianity, Religious Science, etc.).

In essence, occult practitioners of all stripes use visualization. For example, Kreskin, the psychic and famous “mentalist,” confesses he “rehearses constantly through mental imagery.”10

Psychotherapy. Visualization is also widely used in psychotherapy. According to one source, “The use of the imagination is one of the most rapidly spreading new trends in psychology and education….It is interesting to notice that many of the modern pioneers of imaginative techniques, Hans Karl Leuner and Robert Desoille among them, have stressed the compatibility of such techniques with all main schools of psychology.”11 Mike Samuels, M.D., who coauthored Seeing with the Mind’s Eye with his wife, is a committed spiritist and author of Spirit Guides: Access to Inner Worlds.12 In their book, Mike and Nancy Samuels devote almost two hundred pages to the use of visualization in modern psychology, medicine, parapsychology, art and creativity, and the occult or, as they call it, “the spiritual life.”13 They discuss visualization techniques used within many psychological disciplines and methods, including Freudian, Jungian, induced hypnagogic reverie, aversive training, implosion therapy, hypnotherapy (the spiritistic ability of automatic writing is classified here), behaviorist systematic desensitization, induced dream work, Kretschmer’s meditative visualizations, Leuner’s guided affective imagery, Gestalt psychodrama, psychosynthesis, and others.14

The Journal of Mental Imagery is sponsored by the International Imagery Association which conducts regular meetings for the academic community. The brochure for the Sixth American Imagery Conference held in San Francisco, “Timeless Therapeutic Images,” observed:

A rapidly growing body of scientific findings from psychology, psychiatry and neuropsychology has found that fast and extensive emotional, physiological and psychological change can occur through mental imagery….The image resides at the core of consciousness….It effortlessly joins the inner self with the outside world, permits the positive to confront and overcome the negative, leads us to an appreciation of art in Nature, [and] forges new paths in consciousness through new perception.15

As the Spiritual Counterfeits Project in Berkeley, California warns, many such conferences “may best be described as an amorphous blend of secular scientific materialism and a (sometimes) disguised brand of occult philosophy….[At one conference attended] the primary focus during the conference…was on the use of imaging in order to contact one’s personal inner advisor or spirit guide.”16

The practice of psychosynthesis is a fringe psychotherapy blending various Eastern and Western methods of self-awareness. It was developed by Robert Assagioli, who for years was the Italian director of Lucis Trust, the occult organization founded by New Age leader Alice A. Bailey.17 It makes extensive use of visualization and imagery in order to contact the “higher self,” which can become the means for psychic development and spirit contact.

Along similar lines, a psychic named Bob Hoffman (with the supposed help of a dead friend, Dr. Siegfried Fisher) and a psychiatrist named Ernest Pecci, developed a system of psychic psychotherapy called the Fischer-Hoffman technique, later renamed the Quadrinity Process. “This system involves imagining an inner sanctuary and a spirit guide in order to aid in receptive visualization.”18 One Quadrinity teacher, Jean Porter, reveals its occult application through her book, Psychic Development (Random House, 1974).

An early pioneer in the academic use of visualization was German psychiatrist Johannes H. Schultz. From his clinical experience with hypnosis,19 he developed what is called “Autogenic Training.” This is a form of therapy using autosuggestion, visualization, deep relaxation, and other techniques. According to visualization authority Samuels, it “is the most thoroughly researched and widely applied of all the systems of visualization in healing. Autogenic training has many characteristics in common with hypnotherapy (especially autosuggestion), certain psychic healing techniques, relaxation healing techniques…ancient yogic techniques, and the more recent healing techniques taught in mind-control courses.”20

In fact, some enthusiasts promote Autogenic Training as a method of developing occult states of consciousness for those who don’t want to take the time to follow an Eastern path:

Persons who, for whatever reasons, are not inclined to engage in any of the Eastern meditative techniques…might do well to consider autogenic training. It is a remarkably thorough and systematically designed practice with an end result comparable to that of diligent meditation….

In essence, the final stages of autogenic training may be compared to the breakthroughs of consciousness obtained through meditative techniques of various kinds.21

Wolfgang Luthe, one of Schultz’s students is “now the acknowledged authority on Autogenic Training.”22 He is author of Autogenic Training and, with Schultz, the technical seven-volume Autogenic Therapy, which cites some 2,400 case studies. Schultz observes that the autogenic program of visualization exercises may be improved by the use of meditation: “All the positive effects of the standard exercises are reinforced by this meditative training.”23 One part of the meditation has the patient “ask questions of his own conscious inner self,”24 a technique which has not infrequently become the means to spirit contact.

The influential psychoanalyst Carl Jung, himself a student of the occult,25 developed his own visualization method called “active imagination.” This potentially dangerous technique is considered a “powerful tool in Jung-ian psychology for achieving direct contact with the unconscious and obtaining greater inner knowledge.”26

Jungian analyst Barbara Hannah is a teacher at the prominent C. G. Jung Institute. In Encounters with the Soul: Active Imagination as Developed by C. G. Jung,27 she frankly admits the danger of active imagination and reveals in detail how it can powerfully influence the mind. She urges “great caution” before anyone employs this method.28 Hannah also confesses that active imagination employs a time-honored method to contact the “gods.”29 Indeed, there is little doubt that it may facilitate contact with what can only be termed spirit guides.30 However, these spirits are typically internalized as powerful psychodynamics; that is, they are conceptually normalized as part of the internal “structure” of the unconscious mind.

Human Potential Seminars. Most of the popular “think yourself rich” (or healthy, sexy, happy, etc.) seminars and texts endorse and use visualization. Modern New Age seminars, such as Silva Mind Control31 and the Forum (formerly “est”), collectively have millions of graduates, on whom they have used varying visualization techniques. In one’s mind, one can create “projection screens” on which to picture desired images — whether seeing oneself with greater self-confidence, learning abilities, or less weight, or imagining one’s white blood cells warding off viral invaders or specific illnesses. Further still, a secret inner sanctuary or mental laboratory may be constructed where one may contact “inner advisors” or spirit guides for assistance in decision making and direction in life.

The Church. Not unexpectedly, the modern impact of visualization in health, science, education, psychotherapy, and other areas has resulted in visualization techniques being used by more and more Christians. Jon Trott and Eric Pement note that “visualization exercises are increasingly finding their way into Christian churches.”32 In The Seduction of Christianity, author Dave Hunt devotes two chapters to the harmful influence of visualization within the church. He observes, “‘Visualization’ and ‘Guided Imagery’ have long been recognized by sorcerers of all kinds as the most powerful and effective methodology for contacting the spirit world in order to acquire supernatural power, knowledge and healing. Such methods are neither taught or practiced in the Bible as helps to faith or prayer.”33

Hunt distinguishes visualization proper from the nonoccult use of the imagination. He observes:

The visualization we are concerned with is an ancient witchcraft technique that has been at the heart of shamanism for thousands of years, yet is gaining increasing acceptance in today’s secular world and now more and more within the church. It attempts to use vivid images held in the mind as a means of healing diseases, creating wealth, and otherwise manipulating reality. Strangely enough, a number of Christian leaders teach and practice these same techniques in the name of Christ, without recognizing them for what they are.34

As more people turn inward or seek “enlightenment,” as interest in parapsychology and psychic development increases, as mind-altering techniques are utilized more and more in the medical, educational, sports,35 and psychotherapeutic communities, and as mind science philosophies and human potential New Age seminars grow in impact, the use of visualization will increase proportionately. Such an influence will continue impacting the church. But as Part Two will document, the world view of the visualization promoters is rarely Christian. Instead, it is often blatantly occult or humanistic. As Stanley Dokupil comments, “Imagination is fast becoming the focus of much of New Age thought and method.”36

WHY PEOPLE USE VISUALIZATION

We now turn to the claims visualization proponents have made. They can be summarized under three dominant themes: (1) the quest for personal power; (2) the quest for inner knowledge or spiritual enlightenment; (3) the quest for physical health. The following citations are representative for each category.

1. The Quest for Personal Power. Psychic Harold Sherman says, “There is tremendous power in imagery.”37 Andrew Wiehl claims in Creative Visualization: “Wonders have been performed, seeming miracles wrought, through visualization. It is a God-given power available to anyone.”38

2. The Quest for Spiritual Enlightenment. Jack Canfield remarks, “To me the most interesting use of guided imagery is the evocation of the wisdom that lies deep within us.” He proceeds to discuss how students can contact their own spirit guides as “wisdom counselors.”39

Mike Samuels observes, “Philosophers and priests in every ancient culture used visualization as a tool for growth and rebirth….Most religions have used visualization as one of their basic techniques in helping people to realize their spiritual goals. Visualization intensifies any experience.”40 In Visualization, est-graduate Adelaide Bry asserts that the practice has the power to “reveal our hidden truths” and to allow us to experience personal connections to “cosmic consciousness.”41

A journal devoted to Robert Assagioli’s method of psychosynthesis claims, “Imagination is superior to all nature and generation, and through it we are capable of transcending the worldly order, or participating in eternal life and in the energy of the super-celestial. It is through this principle, therefore, that we will be liberated from the bonds of fate itself.”42

3. The Quest for Physical Health. Consciousness researcher Kenneth Pelletier of the Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute in San Francisco teaches: “The greatest potential of autogenic training and visualization [is as]…a potent tool in a holistic approach to preventative medicine.”43 In his Positive Imaging the late popular “positive thinker” Norman Vincent Peale cites shamanistic researchers Jeanne Achterberg and G. Frank Lawlis as stating: “Imagery may well prove the single most important technique for modern health-care.”44

Unfortunately, people may get more than they bargained for when they use visualization techniques for personal power, spiritual/educational enlightenment, or physical/mental health. Visualization programs usually come with additional baggage — various accompaniments, world views, and physical and spiritual dangers. But before we examine this additional baggage, we will first note the different varieties of imagery and visualization. This will help us to avoid confusing related, but distinct, practices.

TYPES OF VISUALIZATION

Visualization is essentially a powerful and directed use of the imagination with a wide variety of specific goals and methods. One problem in writing briefly on this topic is that the many different types of visualization make a general analysis difficult. The academic varieties do not have the same goals or necessarily the same methods as do the occult or Christian forms of visualization, so a valid critique in one area will not necessarily be valid in another. For example, those interested in imagination in the context of an occult world view do not have the same purposes or even practices as Christians who may attempt to use the imagination for what they see as godly purposes.

The chart on this page helps distinguish the types of visualization. It reveals that boundaries between the categories are rarely absolute; often it is more a matter of degree.

FOUR TYPES OF VISUALIZATION

1 Academic:

*Autogenic Training
*Jungian methods
*Imagery studies
*Secular or Transpersonal Psychotherapy

2 Popular:

*New Age therapies
*Mind Science practices
*Personal or business-oriented
motivational/achievement programs and seminars

3 Occult:

*Ritual magic
*Shamanism
*Psychic healing
*Spiritism
*Hinduism
*Buddhist practice
(such as the use of mandalas)

4 Christian:

*Christian psychotherpy
*Inner healing
*Jesus visualization
*Visualization with Scripture45

Between types 1 and 3, and 3 and 4, some boundaries are concrete, but potential interrelationships exist.

Between types 2 and 3, boundaries are fairly fluid.

Between types 1 and 4, and 2 and 4, boundaries are more fluid; potential and actual interrelationships exist.

VARIETIES OF VISUALIZATION

There are three general varieties of visualization:

1. Programmed Visualization is an active process used individually; for example, the practitioner holds a positive image in the mind in order to “create” the desired object or situation. It can be performed on the psychiatric couch or in magic ritual.

2. Receptive Visualization is a passive process; it “lets the movie roll” after an initial theme, setting, or the like is developed in the consciousness. The method is passive in that it receives whatever comes into the mind, which is usually interpreted as special guidance of some kind, such as instructions from one’s “higher self,” “inner guide,” or “divine consciousness.”

3. Guided Visualization, also termed guided imagery, employs a friend, counselor, or family member in either a therapeutic or occult, New Age context. The therapist suggests a scene — such as a meadow or a forest — and the patient imaginatively elaborates upon the scene as a key to his or her own “inner processes” and “unconscious conflicts.” Guided imagery may also be done by a leader of a New Age seminar or practice who helps the audience construct a particular mental environment for contacting a spirit guide. Silva Mind Control, with some eight million graduates, is one example.

These general types of visualization can be described loosely under a number of terms: guided fantasy, mental imaging, active imagination, directed daydreaming, inner imagery, and so forth. But it should be remembered that visualization is not the same thing as imagery. Visualization involves imagery, but the imagery is purposely directed toward a particular goal.

How does imagery differ from visualization? There are different forms of imagery, many of which we all experience. For instance, a “memory image” is a reconstruction of a genuine past event tied to a specific occasion, like the vivid recollection of one’s first date retained over a period of many years.

An “imagination image” is the construction of an imaginary image that may or may not contain elements of past perceptions or events but in any case is arranged in a novel way. One might, for example, imagine how one’s home would look with a new car parked in front, or how the living room would look with the furniture rearranged. One might also imagine what it would be like to be in heaven (or hell), or how one of the biblical prophets dealt with a difficult situation — or what one would do in his place. This is similar to “daydream fantasy” in which there is a combination of memory and imagination images.

In the sleep imagery of dreams we also find past perceptions reconstructed in novel arrangements.

Other types of imagery are experienced only rarely. In hallucinations we find internal imagery that is wrongly believed to be external. In supernatural visions we find externally induced, internally occurring imagery. These revelations may be either true or false, depending on whether they are from God or the devil (Matt. 4:8; Ezek. 1:1).

There are many other varieties of imagery. Typically, however, these kinds of imagery are not visualization. They lack the accompaniments, commitment, and trust involved in the visualization process and its specific techniques. All this is why it is important to distinguish imagination and imagery from visualization proper.

ACCOMPANIMENTS OF VISUALIZATION

Visualization is rarely used by itself. The typical accompaniments of visualization include: (1) relaxation, (2) meditation (sometimes accompanied by yoga-like controlled breathing and postures), (3) the cultivation of will power, (4) various forms of self-hypnosis, and (5) faith or trust in the “guide” (whether human or spirit) and in the process of visualization itself.

Relaxation is, of course, a vital and necessary part of everyday living. But when combined with visualization and meditation techniques, it can be transformed into an occult process. In “Relax Your Way to ESP,” a well-known psychic researcher, the recently deceased D. Scott Rogo, refers to the research of parapsychologist Rhea White, who discovered that of the greatest psychics “by and large many of [them] began with relaxation.”46 These psychics also stress the importance of suggestion and visualization.47

In Creative Visualization, New Age psychic Shakti Gawain observes, “It’s important to relax deeply when you are first learning to use creative visualization.”48 Jack Canfield even encourages classroom students to practice a variety of occult or potentially occult relaxation techniques just prior to the visualization process, including breath awareness, breath imagery, breath control, progressive relaxation, autogenic training, polarity, and chanting.49

In the following excerpt from Opening to Channel, two spirit-guides, “Orin” and “DaBen,” offer advice for relaxation which “helps you become accustomed to the state of mind that is best for a [spirit] guide’s entry.”50

Exercise from Orin and DaBen

Achieving a Relaxed State

Goal: This exercise is basic preparation for going into trance. We want your experience of channeling to be relaxing, easy, and joyful….

Steps:

1. Find a comfortable sitting position, either on a chair or the floor, which you can easily hold for ten or fifteen minutes.

2. Close your eyes and begin breathing calmly and slowly, taking about twenty slow, rhythmic, connected breaths into your upper chest.

3. Let all your concerns go. Imagine them vanishing. Every time a thought comes up, imagine it on a blackboard, then effortlessly erase it, or imagine putting each thought into a bubble that floats away.

4. Relax your body. Feel yourself growing serene, calm, and tranquil. In your imagination, travel through your body, relaxing each part. Mentally relax your feet, legs, thighs, stomach, chest, arms, hands, shoulders, neck, head, and face. Let your jaw be slightly open, and relax the muscles around your eyes.

5. Put up a bubble of white light around you. Imagine its size, shape, and brightness. Play with making it larger and smaller until it feels just right.

6. When you are calm and relaxed and ready to return, bring your attention slowly back into the room. Savor and enjoy your state of calm and peace. . . usually it is sufficient to practice every day for twenty minutes or so for one to two weeks to grow accustomed to deeper relaxation and inner stillness. This regime is not absolutely essential, but helps you become accustomed to the state of mind that is best for a guide’s entry.51

Relaxation, then, is an important component of successful visualization.

Meditation is a second component. Visualization is often conducted within a meditative environment, such as a structured program of internal concentration using a mantra or word of psychic power. As we have shown elsewhere,52 almost all meditation other than biblical meditation develops psychic powers, inculcates a nonbiblical, occult world view, and can open the door to spirit contact. Gawain observes that “almost any form of meditation will eventually take you to an experience of yourself as source, or your higher self.”53 What she means by “source” here is ultimate reality or God.

The systematic use of will power for effective visualization is stressed in magical and occult texts, particularly for ritualistic purposes. To a degree it parallels the popular usage, although often for different goals.54 Regardless, without willful intent and commitment, visualization does not exist. Thus,

Programmed visualization…is the deliberate use of the power of your own mind to create your own reality….there is nothing too insignificant or too grand for you to visualize. Our lives are limited by what we see as possible….A basic rule of visualization is: you can use visualization to have whatever you want, but YOU MUST REALLY, REALLY WANT WHAT YOU VISUALIZE. (emphases in original)55

Hypnosis can be another component of visualization. In fact, some visualization and progressive relaxation methods are indistinguishable from hypnosis.56 Hypnosis may be part of or joined with visualization in both the popular and the academic varieties. As far as the latter are concerned, interest in hypnosis is usually sparked by the fact that one’s ability to visualize and one’s susceptibility to hypnosis are related: “Imaginative involvement, or absorption in fantasy experiences, and high imagery are known to be positively related to measured hypnotizability….Today the intimacy between imagination and hypnosis are [sic] clearly recognized and studied by appropriate scientific methods.”57

Faith or trust is held to be an integ-integral factor regulating the effectiveness of visualization. As is clear from the material cited below, without such trust a person cannot expect much in terms of results. Yet, faith is rarely placed in the biblical God or Christ but rather in one’s own alleged inner powers, mental capacity, or “intuitive” abilities; or in cosmic energy, the universe, and so forth. The following statements note the importance of faith: “To put it another way, in attempting this or any other technique for self realization, one needs to trust that it can work.”58 “Have faith that it will materialize as you picture it, and never for a moment doubt it….Just as an attorney must understand law in order to practice it…so must we understand the law of the Universe and co-operate with it in order to have our desires realized. The more faith and enthusiasm we put into our mental imaging, the sooner it will work out for us.”59

CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS

Our discussion of visualization thus far suggests a number of conclusions: (1) We all routinely experience certain types of imagery. (2) Imagery is a component of visualization but may be studied in and of itself, apart from visualization. In other words, imagery studies may be strictly scientific and neutral, or they may be placed into a larger metaphysical world view. (3) Imagery is therefore not necessarily visualization. Visualization demands the exercise of will and faith within a context of relaxation, meditation, and often self-hypnosis. (4) In general, the classes, types, and methods of visualization can be, to one degree or another, fluid in their interrelationships. (5) The components of visualization often regulate its outcome. That is, they place it within a certain context, a certain world view, and to that degree influence the method’s effectiveness, impact, and spiritual implications.

In Part Two we will examine the world view that commonly accompanies the practice of visualization. We will also consider the dangers associated with visualization, its occult aspects, and the question of whether Christian visualization can be a safe and biblical practice.

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Gods of the New Age 1984: Best New Age Movement VIDEO

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The Best Video on the New Age Movement ever made.

 An eye-opening film of the Yoga Meditation, Eastern Mysticism, PsychologiaI Therapy, Self-Help, Mind Control and much more… Expores the eerie world of ego-maniacal gurus and their western counterpats, New Agers. The definitive work. Explores its birth, its invasion, and its effect on western society.

It explores the pagan roots of eastern mysticism, meditation, yoga, and more. An eye-opening expose of the New Age movement. Shows how it was conceived in the early 1960’s at a planning session by Hindu gurus in India as a means of converting Americans to Eastern mysticism. The seemingly innocuous devices used range from Yoga meditation to a belief in reincarnation. We are given an extraordinary inside glimpse into cult mentality and mindless obedience, and we see how an outright attack against traditional American beliefs has been successfully launched, not only from Hindu missionaries, but from unsuspecting Americans who have accepted the surface manifestations of this religion as trendy and fun. The film covers the chilling parallels between the belief structure in today’s New Age subculture and that in Hitler’s Third Reich two generations ago. 1 hour 43 minutes.’ With explosive facts, it explains why yoga, meditation, psychologiaI therapy and self-help are turning millions to a pagan worldview.

This film expores the eerie world of ego-maniacal gurus and their western counterpats, New Agers. In a series of exclusive, candid interviews, we share the thoughts of “master” and witness the blind devotion and mindless obedience of “disciple.” Gods of the New Age takes us from a clandestine, early sixties planning meeting held by Indian gurus to today’s dignified U.S corridors, American schoolrooms and Christian churctes. The film uncovers the chilling paralels between today’s Western culture. and the similar climate that bred Hitler’s Third Reich a generation ago!

“This is the most powerful Christian documentary I have ever seen!” –Rabi Maharaj, author of The Death of a Guru THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT, YOGA, DEVIL WORSHIP: THE RISE OF SATANISM and EVOLUTION

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The Secret Seduction (promoted by Oprah Winfrey) by Dave Hunt

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The Secret Seduction
Dave Hunt
June 30, 2007

The latest occult scam to capture the imagination of the West is called The Secret. The book by that name, a top New York Times bestseller, has quickly sold more than 6 million copies and the DVD over 2 million copies. Both contain numerous errors, misrepresentations, false premises, and false promises. Who cares? You should. With the following information, you could rescue someone from hell.

The numerous misrepresentations begin with the title itself. The Secret is not a secret at all, but recycled Hinduism, shamanism, and New Age folly. One of many huge lies is its claim: “You create your own reality with your mind.” This was the serpent’s false promise to Eve-the promise of godhood (Gen 3:5). Embracing that delusion cost Eve and her descendants Eden’s paradise-and would have barred mankind from heaven had not Christ died for the sins of the world. In the 6,000 years since Eden, the serpent’s promise has not been fulfilled in even one person’s life.

Misinformation and false claims follow one another in a dizzying parade of absurdities. Sprinkled throughout the book and DVD is the claim that the Secret is scientifically proved to be true. For example, “It has been scientifically proven that an affirmative thought is hundreds of times more powerful than a negative thought.”1 When? Where? How?

No scientific tests ever measured positive and negative thoughts, nor could there be any such tests because thoughts are nonphysical and their “power” cannot be measured. Thoughts exist outside the realm of physical science. Nor is there any such thing as “mental science” or a “science of the mind.” That fact is only one of many reasons why psychology could never be a science, in spite of decades of claiming that it is.

The bait on the hook of The Secret is stated repeatedly: “The Secret gives you anything you want: happiness, health, and wealth….You can have, do, or be anything you want….We can have whatever it is that we choose.”2 Common sense replies, “Thanks, but no thanks.” But millions being introduced to the Secret are excited and eager to make it work for them.

The foundational lies are basically that there is no personal God who created the universe and who makes laws that man must obey. The universe has always been here, yet we create it with our minds through numerous occult laws that exist to serve our selfish desires. One of the most enticing is “the law of attraction”: whatever thought (health, wealth, disaster, gain, loss, pain, joy, etc.) you hold in your mind, you will attract to yourself as a reality of your life. We are all gods who create our individual destinies with our thoughts.

The amorality of the Secret ought to be evident to anyone who stops to think. Hitler was no more responsible for the Holocaust than were its victims who collectively created it with their minds. So it was with the Titanic, the crash of every plane, and the victims of every rape and murder.

The book and DVD are based upon nothing more than statements of a number of supposed experts in the area of success motivation and positive thinking. Who are they? A “nonaligned, transreligious progressive…spiritual luminaries…teacher of spiritual metaphysics…Feng Shui master…successful business leaders…founders of the New Thought movement…a modern-day spiritual messenger, et al.” They are certainly not in the same class as Jesus Christ, who proved His deity with His sinless life and miracles, died for our sins, and rose from the dead. The “experts” cited and quoted in The Secret are not a group into whose hands anyone should trust their lives, much less their eternal destiny.

In the book and DVD, like a broken record, the same appealing but transparent lie is repeated over and over: “There isn’t a single thing that you cannot do with this knowledge…the Secret can give you whatever you want…if you see it in your mind, you’re going to hold it in your hand…you create your life with your thoughts…your thoughts are seeds, and the harvest you reap will depend on the seeds you plant…your life is in your hands…what you think about you bring about….You will attract everything that you require. If it’s money you need you will attract it…like Aladdin’s Genie, the law of attraction grants our every command… the moment you begin to ‘think properly’…this power within you that’s greater than the world…will take over your life…feed…clothe…guide…protect…direct you, sustain your very existence. If you let it. Now that is what I know, for sure….”

Now this is what I know for sure: while the historic individuals named and quoted in the book and DVD achieved some temporary material possessions and success, they all failed in that which is far more important: health. Yes, most, but not all, maintained a satisfactory level of good health most of their brief lives, but the health of every one of them eventually failed. One mark of failure they all share: they all died. In the end, the Secret could not keep them alive, though they tried every technique it offered. And those proponents of the Secret still alive today will inevitably suffer the same fate.

According to what these supposed masters of the Secret all declare with great confidence, they should not have died. If the Secret were true and they properly applied it-“The Secret can give you whatever you want”-they should all still be alive. In fact, none of the masters of the Secret even exceeded the normal life expectancy-but they surely should have if the Secret were true. The obvious fact is that the Secret is a deception that offers a false hope, which continues to deceive mankind-and an unconscionably amoral hope at that.

Let’s take a quick look at some of these “masters of the Secret.” Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of the most highly praised. He declared, “The secret is the answer to all that has been, all that is, and all that will ever be.” But Emerson lived in a state of deteriorating health and financial need for his last 10 years. He died at age 79. Surely he wanted to live a longer, healthier, happier life. Why didn’t he hold such thoughts and, by the law of attraction, bring what he wanted into actuality? For the same reason that no one else ever has or ever will. “The Secret” is a lie from Satan, “the father of lies” (John 8:44). It keeps those who believe it from faith in the true God and the salvation He provided for sinners through Christ’s sacrifice for the sins of all mankind upon the Cross.

What about Prentice Mulford, another of the supposed masters of the Secret and a founder of the New Thought movement, which is based upon the same delusion? He said that there is a material mind and a Spiritual mind; a lower self and a higher Self, and the latter receives thoughts from the “Supreme Power.”

But that “Power” failed him. It gave him the thought that he wanted to be a member of the California State Assembly. Mulford was nominated, but lost the election. Why didn’t his thoughts bring about his desire? The Secret, and New Thought, its mirror image, didn’t work for him, one of the “experts” held up as an example in the book and DVD. Finally, the Secret failed him entirely: he died at the age of 57-surely a shorter life than he had hoped to live.

Or what about Wallace Wattles, a diligent student of the Secret most of his short life and another founder of New Thought? His most famous book was The Science of Getting Rich, yet he lived most of his life in poverty. This crowning achievement of his life was published in 1910. He died in 1911 at the age of 51. Wouldn’t he have wanted to live longer to see the success of that book and to write more about the marvelous benefits of “the Secret,” though it failed him? But he couldn’t add one minute to his life. The Secret didn’t work for Wattles, one of its chief proponents.

The book and DVD also contain factual errors. The statement is made that through applying the Secret, the Babylonians, “became one of the wealthiest races in history.” No, it was through their military might at the cost of the lives, torture, and slavery of multitudes of victims. Babylon was one of the cruelest empires in history. And this commends the Secret? Thankfully, Babylon is no more. Why did it fall? Did the Secret fail the Babylonians, or did they fail to apply it? The evidence is overwhelming: the Secret is a lie.

This delusion that reality is created by the mind has been offering false hope to mankind for thousands of years. It is the standard teaching of Christian Science, the Church of Religious Science, Unity School of Christianity, New Thought, and other Mind Science cults. Never before, however, has it been packaged so attractively and cleverly for promotion to the general public as in The Secret. Disillusionment of multitudes will follow.

Most of the quick spread of this new presentation of the ancient and well-known supposed Secret is due to promotion by Larry King and Oprah Winfrey. Millions of their fans bought the book and DVD. On April 5, 2007, Oprah Winfrey discussed the Secret with alleged nonphysical entities “channeled” by Secret promoter, Esther Hicks. As we have often shown, so-called “spirit communication” with the dead that used to occur in séances (strictly forbidden in the Bible as demonic – Deut 18:11, Lev 20:6) is now called “channeling” and has long been promoted openly on radio and TV.

Anyone with even a small amount of common sense would recognize many moral and practical problems. What The Secret promotes is completely amoral and self-centered: “The law [of “attraction”] responds to your thoughts, no matter what they may be….People who have drawn wealth into their lives…think thoughts of abundance and wealth…nothing else exists in their minds.” “You’ve got to feel good about money to attract more to you….Start to say and feel…I am a money magnet. I love money.” (The Bible says not money itself but “the love of money is the root of all evil” – 1 Tim 6:10).

What about selfless love, kindness, mercy, goodness, charity, compassion, generosity, sharing with others? Such thoughts would interfere with the single-minded goal of drawing wealth to oneself. The Secret, believed and applied, cannot help but increase one’s selfishness and bring those applying it into conflict with one another.

Let’s say that “Jones” believes that the Secret will give him anything he wants. Wanting to be the president of the X corporation where he works, and using the “law of attraction” to get what he wants, Jones holds in his mind the thought, “I am the president of X Corporation.” Will Jones’s thoughts oust the current president and put himself in his place? Suppose there happen to be twenty other ambitious and avaricious people, from factory workers to janitors, from secretaries and bookkeepers to the vice president, who also want to be president of X corporation and are each relying upon the Secret’s “law of attraction” to fulfill their passion. To help accomplish their selfish desire, they each visualize themselves in the president’s chair behind the big desk in his plush office. Will the Secret simultaneously make each of them the president? Who will win this battle of minds in the selfish competition that this ancient, amoral, alleged secret has spawned?

One of the supposedly successful practitioners of the occult principles who is quoted in the book, Lisa Nichols, is described as a “powerful advocate of personal empowerment”-more selfishness. She says, “Thank God that there’s a time delay, that all your thoughts don’t come true instantly.”3 What “God” does she mean? Where would God fit into a universe He neither made nor controls and that is being recreated by human thoughts continually-a universe that stands ever ready to give mankind whatever selfish desires are directed toward it?

Advocates of the Secret and New Thought do not believe in the personal, living God of the Bible, who asks for man’s love and submission to His will. Their god is impersonal, a sort of Star Wars Force or universal Mind that has no mind of its own but exists solely to give us whatever we want. Joe Vitale is another one of the expert practitioners of the Secret quoted in the book and DVD. On Larry King Live a caller asked, I’m just curious, where does God come into “the Secret”?

Vitale responded, “God is all of us. God is the secret and everything about it. This is a law from God.”4 This, of course, is nonsense, the ancient religion of pantheism: you’re God, I’m God, the tree is God, everything is God. Then “God” is both good and evil, death as well as life, has no morals, etc. If everything is “God,” then “God” means nothing. Pantheism is virtual atheism.

Another ancient occult technique used by shamans for thousands of years is visualization: the belief that a mental picture held firmly in the mind will eventually manifest itself in the physical universe. Of course, this too is a delusion. No one has ever been able to demonstrate this ability. If we all had the power that The Secret promises, ours would be a terrifying existence with billions of Darth Vaders and Obe Wan Kenobies zapping one another with mind power!

Many Christians, as we have seen, teach basically the same occultism taught to C.G. Jung by “familiar spirits” (1 Sam 28:9; Isaiah 8:19). Yonggi Cho has taught and practiced the same for years, as have numerous Christian psychologists and charismatic leaders. Visualization to create one’s own reality was the heart and soul of all that Norman Vincent Peale taught and practiced: “The idea of imaging…has been implicit in all the speaking and writing I have done….”5 Robert Schuller has long taught the same occultism: “I have practiced and harnessed the power of the inner eye and it works….Thirty years ago we started with a vision of a church. It’s all come true.”6

Cho, pastor of the largest church in the world, claims that the Holy Spirit told him that he must visualize a clear picture of what he was praying for, or his prayer could not be answered. But all Cho could hold in his mind was the gross outline of what he wanted; he could not “see” or even imagine the atomic structure of these objects, which was their underlying reality.

Anyone who is willing to believe that mankind creates the universe with its collective thoughts (or that any individual, by visualization, can bring into existence anything that would be part of daily experience) has willfully given himself over to Satan and is susceptible to any other lie he offers. Obviously, the universe was here before man. To believe that the vast expanse of the cosmos with its trillions of stars and moons that no man has ever seen, including the many subatomic particles no one has even imagined, is all being created and held together with the collective thoughts of humanity, is to commit intellectual, moral, and spiritual suicide.

Those who believe such lies as The Secret offers have deliberately turned from the true God who has revealed Himself in each conscience and in the universe He made and have opened themselves to demonic delusion that will eventually lead them to eternal separation from the God who loves them and the Christ who died to redeem them. Let’s rescue as many as we can! TBC

Endnotes

1. Rhonda Byrnes, The Secret (New York: Atria Books, 2006), 1.
2. Ibid., 22.
3. Ibid., 194.
4. Larry King Live, March 8, 2007.
5. Norman Vincent Peale, Positive Imaging (Fawcett Crest, 1982), Introduction.
6. Robert Schuller booklet, The Power of the Inner Eye.

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THE ERRORS OF POSITIVE CONFESSION: Verses against Positive Confession/Word Faith Movement/ Mind Science

Walter Martin: The Errors of Positive Confession – 7 of 7

 

 

Is health, wealth, and prosperity always the will of our Father?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Verses against Positive Confession/Word Faith Movement/ Mind Science

By Dwayna Litz

(My notes from a radio interview with True News to expose the occult, February 7, 2007)

Ex. 4:11—“Who had made man’s mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not the Lord?”
John 11:4—“This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified.”
Matthew 16:24—Self denial. If anyone wishes to come after Jesus he must deny himself.
Acts 4:28—God is sovereign. We see a plan that He has predestined, and whatever He has predestined will occur.
Can anyone change His sovereign plan? Isaiah 43:13—“I act and who can reverse it?”
“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” Isaiah 55:8-9

Warning: Hosea 4:14—people without understanding are ruined.
Matthew 7:14—The way is narrow
Jer. 17:15—Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
Flesh profits nothing—John 6:63
The mind set on the flesh is hostile towards God —Romans 8:7
WE RENOUNCE THE HIDDEN THINGS—2 Cor. 4:2
The days are evil (which goes against the world peace movement and one world religion)—Eph. 5:16
Romans 16:20 (for the world peace movement)—The God of peace will crush Satan under our feet!

The spirit of the world is not God—1 Cor. 2:12
Satan is the prince of the power of the air—Ephesians 2:2
Satan is the god of this world—2 Cor. 4:4
The whole world lies in the power of the evil one—1 John 5:19
Recommend “Errors of Positive Confession” by Walter Martin at www.waltermartin.com

The worship of talismans—Rev. 6:15-17—The “great men” of the earth will cry out to the rocks to save them instead of the Lord!
Stop regarding man: Isaiah 2:22
He must increase; I must decrease—John 3:30
Christian boasts in the cross—Gal. 6:14

Repentance: Luke 24:47; Luke 13:3; Acts 17:30; we must FOLLOW Jesus to have saving faith, not just believe. Mark 10:21; if we follow Him we will suffer—Luke 17:25; We are called to suffer—Phil. 1:29
Flesh sets itself against the spirit—Gal. 5:17
All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted—2 Timothy 3:12
Psalm 50:21—“You thought I was just like you”

We don’t get the truth from within:
Matt. 15:18-19—the heart is evil
Prov. 14:12—there is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it is the way of death
Prov. 28:26—“He who trusts in his own heart is a fool”
Psalm 111:10—“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”
Jer. 17:5—“Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind”
Jer. 17:9—The heart is deceitful and wicked
Prov. 3:5-6—Do not lean on your own understanding

Test the spirits—1 John 4:1

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The Power of the Spoken Word – Biblical or Occult Law? PART 2

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The song in the video above can be turned off or on with the small speaker icon.

 

 

 

The Power of the Spoken Word – Biblical or Occult Law? PART 2

We Learned in Part One about The Power of The Spoken Word being made out as Witchcraft. The discussion continues in this post.

I can of Mine Own Self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and My judgment is Just; because I seek not Mine Own Will, but the Will of the Father Who has sent Me” (Jn. 5:30).

As we mentioned previously, “Word of Faith” proponents teach that the purpose for believing in the power of the spoken word is so that one may learn to activate creative forces within him that will affect the circumstances and course of his life. New Agers and others follow the “Law of Attraction” to acquire exactly the same kind of power. In other words, the occult world is literally trying to offer mankind the powers of creation and lordship, powers that we as Believers know belong to God alone! God is the One and Only Creator and the One and Only Lord! God never gave man the right to be his own master and live according to his own will. Yet, this is precisely what those promoting occult spiritual laws want. It is, in fact, the exact same offer the serpent brought to Adam and Eve in the Garden — powers that will make you “like God.”

“And the serpent said unto the woman, You shall not surely die: For God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:4-5).

Ernest Holmes, founder of Religious Science, stated, “Science of Mind teaches that Man controls the course of his life . . . by mental processes which function according to a Universal Law. . . .1

Kenneth Hagin said that through the discovery of the “spiritual laws” established by God to run the universe, the Believer can begin to put the laws to “work” for his own use: “In the spiritual realm God has set into motion certain laws just as He set laws in the natural realm. Those laws in the natural realm work don’t they? Just as you get into contact with those natural laws or put them into practice, they work for you. Over in the spiritual realm, the same thing is true. I have come to the conclusion that the law of faith is a spiritual law, that God has put this law into motion, and that as surely as you come in contact with it, it will work for you.”2

In other words, the “law of faith” is to the spiritual realm what the law of gravity is to the physical realm. Whenever the law is set into motion, it works. Thus, anybody, Christian or non-Christian, can plug into this universal law of faith and get “results.” “It used to bother me,” explains Hagin, “when I’d see unsaved people getting results. Then it dawned on me what the sinners were doing: they were cooperating with the law of God — the law of faith.”3

Since the law of faith is impersonal, just like the law of gravity, it works regardless of who the person is or of where he or she stands with Christ.

FORMULAS?

Essentially, faith teachers are recommending “formulas” that a person should follow in order to get whatever he/she wants from God. And, of course, Scripture Verses are taken out of context and misused in order to try to justify these formulas. One Verse misused is Romans 10:10, which states, “For with the heart man believes unto Righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made
unto Salvation.”

Actually, word-faith theology’s view of spiritual laws and formulas can really only be understood in light of the doctrine of god in the metaphysical cults. The “god” that the metaphysical cults believe in is not a personal God who sovereignly governs the universe, but an impersonal force — “the Force,” “the Infinite Power,” “the Spirit of Infinite Life,” and “the Infinite Intelligence.” This infinite, but impersonal, force rules the universe indirectly through “immutable laws” rather than directly through his presence and wisdom. Through his book, “The Force Of Faith”, Kenneth Copeland has made popular the term “faith force.” What he has really done is no less than turning Christianity into a fictional game of Star Wars, where Believers think they fight evil through “the Force.” “Faith is a power force. It is a conductive force.

It will move things. Faith will change things. Faith will change the human body, it will change the human heart. Faith will change circumstances . . . the force of faith is released by words. Faith-filled words put the law of the Spirit of Life into operation.” 4

Copeland also teaches that since “God is a Faith being” and man is “a faith being,” man has the faith to operate in the same way that God operates. What could be more blasphemous than thinking we have the same power as the Lord? In chapter 1 of his book, The Fourth Dimension, Yonggi Cho says: “What becomes pregnant in your heart and mind is going to come out in your circumstances. Watch your heart and mind more than anything else. Do not try to find the answer of God through another person, for God’s answer comes to your spirit, and through your spirit the answer comes to your circumstances. Claim and speak the word of assurance, for your word actually goes out and creates. God spoke and the whole world come into being. Your word is the material which the Holy Spirit uses to create.”

Similarly, in chapter 1 of his book, Your Best Life Now, Joel Osteen says, “We have to conceive it on the inside before we are ever going to receive it on the outside.”

And similarly, Charles Capps has said:
“In August of 1973 the word of the Lord came unto me saying, ‘If men would believe me, long prayers are not necessary. Just speaking the Word will bring what you desire. My creative power is given to man in word form. I have ceased for a time from my creative work and have given man the book of my creative power. That power is still in my Word.’”5

So, through “creative faith” man becomes not only a god, but a creator. Charles Capps is actually expanding on E.W. Kenyon’s concept of “creative faith” to the point that man, not God, is the only creator left in the universe.

New Thought advocate, Ralph Waldo Triune, said:
“This Infinite Power is creating, working, ruling through the agency of great immutable laws and forces that run all through the universe, that surround us on every side. Every act of our everyday lives is governed by these same great laws and forces . . . In a sense, there is nothing in all the great universe but law.”6

H. Emile Cody, one of the early founders of the Unity School of Christianity, said:
“The mental and spiritual world or realms are governed by laws that are just as real and unfailing as the laws that govern the natural world. Certain conditions of mind that are so connected with certain results that the two are inseparable. If we have one, we must have the other as surely as night follows day.”7

In other words, as Cody explains, “every thought of the human mind causes an effect in the universe through the operation of spiritual laws.”

In such teachings, man does not have to deal with a personal God, but rather with impersonal laws that can be manipulated by anyone regardless of their standing with God. When E.W. Kenyon refers to “the great spiritual laws that govern the unseen forces of life,” he is espousing the metaphysical version of deism, a universe governed by spiritual laws instead of by God.

So, in practice, the Word of Faith “god” differs not at all from the god of the metaphysical cults. Both must do the bidding of universal governing laws that are activated by human faith.

THIS KIND OF GOD

But this kind of “god” is nothing more than the proverbial genie in a bottle, whose power is limited to the demands of human beings who think they are little masters! In Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill quotes from a poem entitled Invictus (meaning “unconquerable” in Latin), by British poet William E. Henley. The latter portion of this poem, which Hill trumpets repeatedly says, “. . . It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.” Hill says the reason we are the “master of our own fate” is because we have the ability to control our own thoughts.8 Jerry and Esther Hicks, whom Rhonda Byrne acknowledged for their contribution to her book, The Secret, teach on their website: “You are a creator; you create with your every thought. Anything that you can imagine is yours to be or do or have.” What a rude awakening these people will have on Judgment Day. The True God of the Bible does the bidding of no man or any of man’s imaginary laws!

“Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the Earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by Myself, the Word is gone out of My Mouth in Righteousness, and shall not return, That unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear” (Isa. 45:22-23).

THE OPPOSITE OF CHRISTIANITY

These occult teachings are the exact opposite of Christianity! The Devil’s teachings always bring man back to his own will rather than the Will of God. They encourage man to create his own destiny rather than submit to the Plan God has laid out for his life. Even Jesus forsook His Own Will for the Will of the Father.

“And He went a little farther, and fell on His Face, and prayed, saying, O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as You will” (Mat. 26:39).

Are we surprised, then, that Satan would directly contradict the Christian life as modeled by Christ? In fact, it was demon spirits which taught the men who claim to have learned the secrets for mastering their fates.

Many of these individuals have even given us firsthand testimony regarding their spirit guides. It is quite obvious that Satan has specifically instructed his minions to plant these teachings into the minds of all men who are willing to listen. God’s Word specifically warned us, however, that this would occur.

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

If we listen to the teachings of familiar spirits, we stand without excuse before God, because the Lord has repeatedly told His Followers never to have any part of communication with spirits (or the dead.)
“Regard not them who have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God” (Lev. 19:31).

1 (http://www.letusreason.org/WF48.htm)
2 (Hagin “The Law of Faith” Word of Faith. Nov. 1974, p. 2 CF “The Secret of Faith,” March 1968, p. 2)
3 (Hagin, “Having Faith in Your Faith,” p. 3-4)
4 (Ibid., p. 10, 16)
5 (Capps. “God’s creative power will work for you” p. 5-6; Capps. “The Tongue: A Creative Force” p. 8-14)
6 (Ralph Waldo Trine, In Tune With the Infinite. 1910, at sacred-texts.com)
7 (H.E. Cody, “Lessons in Truth,” p. 64-65)
8 (Napoleon Hill. Think and Grow Rich p.32)
September 2008 issue of The Evangelist

http://imablogger.net/2008/09/27/the-power-of-the-spoken-word-biblical-or-occult-law-part-2/

 

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The Power of the Spoken Word – Biblical or Occult Law? PART 1

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Many today in both the secular world and professing church world claim that there are universal spiritual “laws” which exist and that any person may learn to utilize, causing the spirit realm to work on their behalf. Supposedly, these “laws” will work for anyone from any walk or persuasion of life, whether Christian or non-Christian. One of the most popular and all-encompassing of these laws is what New Agers refer to as the “law of attraction.” You will hear it mentioned, however, under a variety of different terms. In the business world, you may hear it termed “the power of positive thinking” or “unlimited human potential.” In the church world, you may hear teachings such as the “word of faith,” the “fourth dimension,” or the “confession principle.” In witchcraft, it is the formula, “as above, so below” (meaning, as it is in the spiritual, so it is in the natural). And, as you may have already realized, these teachings actually go much deeper than mind science religions and philosophy. It is clear that these so-called spiritual laws originated in the occult world and came directly from Satan himself. We will discuss exactly how in more detail later.

THE LAW OF ATTRACTION?

Essentially, the “law of attraction” works by a concentrated focus upon a desire that one longs to have manifest in his life. This focus, of course, must eventually tap into the spirit realm in order to bring the desire into the physical realm. Part of this process involves the person developing a “consciousness” of belief that the benevolent “universe,” which many consider to be “god,” is bringing that desire to him. And, to ensure that his newfound faith doesn’t waver, the individual must think about, speak about, dream about, and even visualize his desire until it materializes in the physical/natural realm. According to one self-proclaimed pagan witch and supporter of the earth-goddess movement, “To work magic is to weave the unseen forces into form, to soar beyond sight, to explore the uncharted dream realm of the hidden reality . . . to leap beyond imagination into that space between the worlds where fantasy becomes real; to be at once animal and god . . . Spells [and magic] . . . require the combined faculties of relaxation, visualization, concentration, and [mental] projection . . . To cast a spell is to project energy through a symbol.”1 Oprah Winfrey has recently promoted a book entitled The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne, which teaches this “law of attraction.” In it Byrne says, “Nothing can come into your experience unless you summon it through persistent thoughts.”2 Another important aspect of practicing this law is the belief that there is power in the words you speak. You see, the words we say are considered the tangible version of the thoughts we are thinking. Our words, therefore, have the power to create or destroy our destinies. So, in order to successfully practice this, one should confidently declare the “faith-thoughts” he has been meditating upon, even, at times, speaking about them as if they have already come to pass. Anything else is considered doubt in “god” or the “universe” (or doubt in “oneself,” since some believe that “god” and “self” are one in the same).

ALTERED CONSCIOUSNESS?

In fact, one must never speak a negative word or thought aloud because such can bring negative things into one’s life. In essence, they say, people will attract into their lives whatever things they consistently think and feel. “The law of attraction is the law of creation . . . You create your life through your thoughts.”3 And what becomes of the sin problem in this case? Well, a confession of sin would be considered a “negative confession,” so one would simply deny that there is even any sin in his life to worry about. People are led to believe that if they think about sin, they will bring more sin into their lives. Under this law, the confession and repentance of sin is eliminated! Therefore, Salvation is eliminated as well! “Science of Mind teaches that there is a favorable physical reaction, an effect, which follows a pattern of thought incorporating ideas of health, for the law of cause and effect governs everything. Similarly, it is held that right thinking will result in a greater experience of success and abundance. A successful person thinks success, and the law of mind that reacts has no other choice than to produce an effect corresponding to the causative idea.”4 It’s similar to the idea of karma, except that the action which brings the result is the person’s meditative (spiritual) thoughts. Actually, the dangerous reality of what can occur when a person repeatedly thinks and speaks the same thoughts is a state of altered consciousness. It is really a form of self-hypnosis brought about by mantra-like repetition and an obsession with one’s desired goal. The inspiration of the Holy Spirit is astounding as the Bible warns us of such a practice: “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do . . .” (Mat. 6:7). For example, many motivational/success tapes, lectures, and seminars start you off by helping you make your thoughts repetitive.

Altered consciousness is another subject in itself, which we may also discuss in more detail later. It may cause a person to perform certain tasks with much greater efficiency. It may also act as a defense mechanism for dealing with the uncertainties and hardships of life by giving someone an ability to simply deny a problem even exists and continue on in their state of blind confidence, hence the reason many have ended up with some serious consequences such as total bankruptcy or the loss of a marriage! Most importantly, in this case, altered consciousness is a door into the spirit realm.

CONFESSION?

The “Word of Faith” teachers are probably the most recognized in the church world for believing in and practicing this heretical, and formally esoteric, doctrine. You see, until the recent past, formulas such as this were kept hidden from the general public because they would have been identified as sorcery and witchcraft, and the laws of the land would have punished the practice. So, members of such cults and societies were sworn to secrecy. Times are certainly different now; if anything, our society celebrates witchcraft, often believing that there are “good” or redeeming aspects to the practice. But, remember the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil” in the Garden? Man wanted to be like God. Man wanted the “knowledge” that would enable him to operate in the spiritual realm. God, however, told Adam and Eve not to eat from any of the tree, whether the so-called “good side” or the “bad side.” God knew the entire tree was evil, and partaking of it eventually brought about the entire fall of man! Today, the church has fallen so far into darkness that she cannot recognize divination when it is practiced right within her own walls. Those who practice “Word of Faith” are functioning by the same occult “law of attraction,” while thinking they have discovered the key to victorious Christian living. They use the “confession” principle, by their definition, meaning that when one confesses a verse of Scripture or a promise from the Lord, the forces of good (God or angels) are released on his behalf. They believe that confessing the words of Scripture activate the Lord’s supernatural Power. “Christ and the Cross are completely ignored, with the avenue of success being ensconced in the proper Scriptures being chosen and properly confessed.”5

WITCHCRAFT

You see, teachers inside the professing church will incorporate Scriptures whereas secular society simply uses whatever else they may hold sacred and/or believe to possess great wisdom. However, the practical application and overall philosophy is exactly the same! It is nothing less than practical magic. Popular preacher, Joel Osteen, says “Your circumstances will line up with your words.” “Words are like seeds, they have creative power . . . The more you talk about it the more you call it in . . . You can use your words to bless your life or curse your life.”6 Joel Osteen was influenced by the “Word of Faith” teachings of Kenneth Hagin and Kenneth Copeland. Osteen also stated in his best-selling book, Your Best Life Now, “We have to conceive it on the inside before we’re ever going to receive it on the outside. If you don’t think you can have something good, then you never will. The barrier is in your mind. It’s not God’s lack of resources or your lack of talent that prevents you from prospering. Your own wrong thinking can keep you from God’s best.”7 A non-charismatic version of “Word of Faith” teaching may be more along the lines of Robert Schuller’s “positive thinking” gospel. Christians must realize that it is not automatically a noble deed in the eyes of God to believe the positive.

Righteousness strives to know what is true, whether positive or negative. Not one of these so called “spiritual laws” or teachings is found in Scripture! God has already given us the law through which His Power (which is the Power of the Holy Spirit) works: “For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the Law of Sin and Death” (Rom. 8:2). The Holy Spirit works only through the shed Blood of Christ! Instead, what these men have done is ignore the true Source of Power, which is the Cross, and literally transformed the Bible into a witch’s book of spells. The Wikipedia on-line dictionary defines a spell as “A word or formula believed to have magic power.” “Word of Faith” even goes so far as to admit that the unredeemed can tap into these laws if they follow the right rules. But, make no mistake, the Lord does not function through magic! It completely ignores His Sovereign Will for a person’s life as the individual attempts to operate within particular “laws” to bring about what he desires for his own life.

Attempting to operate outside the Will of God and/or rebelling against His Will is witchcraft, pure and simple! “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft . . .” (I Sam. 15:23).

THE NEW THOUGHT MOVEMENT

In The Secret, Byrne “introduces Prentice Mulford (1834-1891) as ‘one of the earliest writers and founders of the New Thought movement’ . . . This quote from Thoughts are Things summarizes his ‘mental and spiritual laws’: ‘. . . In the future some people will draw so much of the higher quality of thought to them, that by it they will accomplish what some would call miracles. In this capacity . . . lies the secret of what has been called ‘magic.’ During the 20th century, such thinking inspired ‘positive thinking’ gurus like Norman Vincent Peale who, in turn, converted Robert Schuller and countless other leaders who are now pastoring churches or marketing the deception through church-related programs around the world. John Maxwell and other global change agents demonstrate the subtle influence of this feel-good, self-empowering ideology.”8 This is exactly the same teaching that motivational trainers like Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, have been saying for years. Hill teaches that “whatever can be conceived in one’s mind can be obtained. He teaches that the desired thing should be visualized in one’s mind, and done so repeatedly.”9 Hill also states: “Christianity is the single greatest force which influences the minds of men . . . it is because of faith.” “Faith is the head chemist of the mind. When faith is blended with the vibration of thought, the subconscious mind instantly picks up the vibration, translates it into the spiritual equivalent, and transmits it to Infinite Intelligence, as in the case of prayer.”10 Another promoter of this law is Yonggi Cho, “pastor” of probably the largest church in South Korea. His term for the power source reached through this universal law is the fourth dimension. “The fourth dimension is the Holy Spirit . . . Men, by exploring their spiritual sphere of the fourth dimension through the development of concentrated visions and dreams in their imaginations, can brood over and incubate the third dimension, influencing and changing it.”11 Norman Vincent Peale was another major proponent. “Peale pioneered the merger of theology and psychology which became known as Christian Psychology . . . Peale said, ‘through prayer you . . . make use of the great factor within yourself, the deep subconscious mind . . . [which Jesus called] the kingdom of God within you . . . Positive thinking is just another term for faith.” He also wrote, “Your unconscious mind . . . [has a] power that turns wishes into realities when the wishes are strong enough.”12 Peale even said this concerning occultic automatic writing: “It little matters if these writings come from Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus of Jane [co-author Jane Palzere], they are all the same consciousness and that consciousness is God. I am a part of God, and Jane [is] part of that same God.”13

BIBLICAL FAITH IS NOT MAGIC

So, now not only do we have the words of Scripture being used as magical spells, we have Faith itself being defined as a magic power. Faith is not magic! Yes, God does send His Power as a result of proper Faith, but Faith is not the Power of God in and of itself. Neither does “speaking words of faith” exercise the Power of God. God exercises His own Power. No human can direct or command the Power of God. Humans only receive what the Lord sovereignly supplies. Also, Faith is not the power of the mind, nor an attitude of mind over matter. Faith is trust and rest, specifically in the Work Jesus did at Calvary! Jesus addressed all our problems there. That is what the Lord wants us to believe in, trust in, and rest in. True Faith is not an exercise of speaking certain words or thinking certain thoughts. It is an assurance of Christ in one’s heart, knowing that because He has paid the price, He will work out everything for our good in His perfect Way and Time. This is the perfect Peace of Christ! “Great peace have they which love Your law: and nothing shall offend them” (Ps. 119:165). When Jesus said to the woman with an issue of blood that her Faith had made her whole, He meant that because she now had the correct Object of Faith (Christ and Him Crucified) that she had all she needed to be whole (Mk. 5:25-34). Jesus did not commend the woman for her positive confession or positive thinking. He commended her for her complete and utter trust that her Source of healing was in Him! It was proper Faith that made the woman whole, not proper confession!

1 (Starhawk, The Spiral Dance. New York: Harper & Row, 1979. p. 62)
2 (Rhonda Byrne, The Secret p.43)
3 (Ibid p.15)
4 (from Visions Center of Religious Science website: http://www.visions-center.com/)
5 (Jimmy Swaggart. False Doctrine Study Guide p.137)
6 (Joel Osteen. “Speaking Faith Filled Words,” Tape # 223 May 2, 2004)
7 (Joel Osteen. Your Best Life Now, ch.1 ‘Enlarging Your Vision’) (http://www.letusreason.org/Popteac29.htm)
8 (Berit Kjos. A New Mask for An Ancient Secret.) (http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/007/secret.htm#1)
9 (Jimmy Swaggart. False Doctrine Study Guide p.133)
10(Ibid p.49)
11(Ibid p.45)
12(http://normanvincentpeale.wwwhubs.com/)
13(http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Psychology/guidepo/mag.htm)

August’s issue of The Evangelist.

http://imablogger.net/2008/07/22/the-power-of-the-spoken-word-biblical-or-occult-law/

PART 2 is here –>>https://how2becomeachristian.wordpress.com/2008/10/28/the-power-of-the-spoken-word-biblical-or-occult-law-part-2/

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The Church of Oprah Exposed by Watchman Fellowship

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The Gospel According to Oprah 

According to Oprah Winfrey’s introduction page on the world-wide-web, the Oprah Winfrey Show is the highest-rated talk show in television history, seen by 15-20 million viewers each day in the U.S. in 205 television markets, and in 132 countries. In fact, it has been the number one talk show for 12 consecutive seasons. Since it’s beginning in 1986 it has received 32 Emmy awards.

In 1996, Oprah began Oprah’s Book Club designed to get America reading again. Each of the books selected has become an instant bestseller averaging sales of over 1 million copies each.

In 1997, Oprah was named Newsweek’s “Most Important Person” in books and media, T.V. Guide’s “Television Performer of the Year,” the People’s Choice Award for “Favorite Television Performer,” and in 1996, Time Magazine recognized Oprah as one of America’s “25 Most Influential People.”

Tragically, America is almost obsessed with celebrity idol worship. Recent Gallup polls demonstrated how true this is when it asked Americans to list and rank the most influential women in recorded history. Oprah Winfrey ranked fourth! There is a common recognizable refrain that “When Oprah speaks, people listen.”

However, the primary issue here is not that Americans tend to look to media celebrities as role models, although these people lead probably some of the least ideal lives to emulate. The issue before us is the steady stream of messages and advice that Oprah and her favorite guests communicate to the millions of people who are starved for meaning and purpose in life.

Clearly, Oprah Winfrey has been converted into the New Age Movement. And one of the biggest deceptions is that she apparently doesn’t know it. Many of her favorite guests are major New Age proponents and authors, and Oprah contributes to the enormous popularity and sales of their books.

Some of these New Age guests (and a number of them make repeat appearances) are, Marianne Williamson, Barbara DeAngelis, LaVar Burton, Richard Carlson, Betty Eadie, Dannion Brinkley, M. Scott Peck, Sophy Burnham, Marilyn Ferguson, Kevin Ryerson, Shirley MacLaine, Sara Breathnach, James Hillman, and psychic medium and best-selling author, James Van Praagh.

Oprah is on a mission. Repeatedly stated, her “mission” is, “I want people to see things on our show that makes them think differently about their lives…To be a light for people. To make a difference…to open their minds and see things differently…how to get in touch with the spiritual part of their life.” Unfortunately, the “light” Oprah offers is the “angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14), and “opening their minds,” in this case means their brains fall out-they become empty headed (Romans 1:21-25).

Oprah was raised in a black Baptist church in Mississippi. It is not known whether she had a healthy exposure to Christianity or a distorted one, but she is clearly in the process of deconstructing Christianity and reframing it into a New Age perspective.

One of the most revealing examples was a recent show with guests Betty Eadie, (new age/Mormon author of Embraced By The Light and The Awakening Heart), Dannion Brinkley (new age author of near death experience books Saved By The Light, and At Peace With in the Light) and Sophy Burnham (new age author of A Book of Angels and Angel Letters).

During the show Oprah related, “I was raised a Baptist and we were too hung up on traditional ways. I was sitting in church and heard that God is a jealous God. I asked ‘Why?’ Come on-let’s get over it!” She related a “jealous God” to an insecure God.

In the program Oprah revealed that she doesn’t think God is hung up on what you believe about God-whatever that “force” is, it doesn’t care what you call it. He doesn’t have an ego problem. She states, “I believe in the FORCE-I call it God.” She also said if you believe in a rhythm of nature and in love, then you believe in God.

Oprah, in typical New Age fashion, has reduced God to human limitations, and dismisses objective absolutes, substituting emotions as the criteria of truth. This constant refrain of a nebulous concept of love as a guiding principle is very deceptive.

God warns us that the heart is very deceptive (Jeremiah 17:9, Proverbs 12:20). Jesus warns that the heart is an untrustworthy guide for truth, especially the “uncircumcised” heart (Matthew 12:33-35, 15:18,19). New Agers have raised the level of feelings or emotions (intuition) as a navigator beyond all rational proportions.

Particularly instructive for us all is the fact that Oprah doesn’t seem to be aware that she has been seduced deeply into the New Age world-view. We say instructive because one could relate to the subtle and deceptive processes that Oprah appears to have fallen prey to.

On one recent show a Christian in the audience challenged Oprah about being a “New Ager.” Oprah responded, “I am not new age anything and I resent being called that. I am just trying to open a door so that people can see themselves more clearly and perhaps be the light to get them to God, whatever they may call that. I don’t see spirits in the trees and I don’t sit in the room with crystals.”

Oprah has made the mistake of narrowly defining the New Age Movement. However, read the following beliefs expressed by Oprah over the last few years.

Oprah’s close friend and sometimes guest, Shirley MacLaine described on a show how to meditate, going inside yourself, asking your own “intuitive Self” to seek answers to life’s questions. Oprah responds, “You know, that is the same as the Bible says, ‘Ask and it shall be given, seek and ye shall find’.” Shirley confirms.

Oprah then asks Shirley, “When you connected to the higher Self…knowing that you can do anything that you want to do-is it what other people describe as being ‘born again’?” Shirley nods, “Yes, probably.”

It is amazing that so few people catch the duplicity of New Agers when they attack the authority and trustworthiness of the Bible and the Christian church, but then quote it-almost always out of context-or twist it so support their position. For example, Oprah had as her guests a New Age panel consisting of Don Curtis (a Unity minister and trance-channeler), Kevin Reyerson (Shirley MacLaine’s channeler), and Marilyn Ferguson (New Age leader and author of The Aquarian Conspiracy. After comparing the evolution of the New Age Movement in our culture with the “new understanding” advent of the Protestant Reformation, Oprah states, “As I read more of Shirley MacLaine, crystals, and The Aquarian Conspiracy, it seems to me to say what the Bible has said for years. It is just that many of us were brought up with a more restricted, limited vision of what the Bible said.”

(The Christian should require Oprah or other New Ager to explain on what basis they reject the clear historical communication in literary forms of the Bible in lieu of their very subjective, esoteric, surrealistic interpretations).

Don Curtis responds that the problem comes from “the literal interpretation within denominationalism, because no one really knows, (apparently no one but Mr. Curtis) through the filter of translation down through the ages, what the Bible really says…most of it and reincarnation was thrown out in 325 A.D. at the Council of Nicea.” Oprah responds, “Right.”

When this kind of pseudo-scholarship goes unchallenged the effect can be serious. How many non-Christians or even Christians are knowledgeable of church history, the early church councils and the science of Biblical textural criticism which through tedious research and archeology has allowed us to see how accurate and preserved the Bible is? Very few; and certainly not Oprah.

Oprah also related that, “One of the most important books I’ve read is Eric Buttterworth’s (a New Age Unity leader) Discover the Power Within You. In it he said “Jesus did not come to teach us how divine He was but to teach that divinity was within us.” Later she said that “It (claiming exclusive Divinity) would make Jesus the biggest egotist that ever lived.”

On the recent show with new age panel Betty Eadie, Sophy Burnham, and Dannion Brinkley, Oprah positively alluded to the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, stating in summary, “..that one of the biggest mistakes humans make is to believe that there is only one way. Actually, there are many diverse paths leading to what you call God.”

When corrected by a Christian in the audience that Jesus said He was the only Way, the panel lost their composure, coming unglued. Oprah reacted, “There couldn’t possibly be only one way…Does God care about your heart or whether you called His Son Jesus?”

Oprah’s consistent theme is to inspire people to take control of their lives, to not be controlled by others or by circumstances. She is always advising “You can choose what happens.” While there is some truth and value to this philosophy it is fatally tied to the New Age philosophy. As Oprah states, “You are responsible for your life-the power of God is within you [whether you are a Christian or not], above you and through you. You control your life.”

What this fails to acknowledge is that man does not define reality; man does not determine what truth is. The source of truth for our decisions and power is the one true God of all reality and He has communicated plenary propositional truths to us in the Bible and remarkably, uniquely in His incarnation in Jesus Christ.

Oprah, as with other New Agers, is not in pursuit and in communion with God but is in pursuit with the “image of God”-by elevating man to Divinity. The problem with this is the God of the universe has not called us to join ourselves to the creation but to Himself, “the Creator who is blessed forever” (Romans 1:25).

For an expanded version of this article or additional information regarding this subject contact our Birmingham office and request, “The Gospel According to Oprah.”

http://www.wfial.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=artNewAge.article_1

 

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I HAVE WHAT I THINK AND SAY I HAVE (SPEAKING THINGS INTO EXISTENCE) by LetUsReason.org

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Word Faith teaching- A spiritual copy of the Mind Sciences by LetUsReason.org Look for other post on the Word faith movement on this blog!

 

Power has always been attractive and one doesn’t have to be religious to want it. Many are trained to scan the scriptures for God’s promises then speak the word of faith for it to materialize. While the Bible does show those who had faith for a miracle and healed, this is not a general promise where all one has to do is have faith enough to move the mountain and it occurs. Jesus said it was faith only of a mustard seed that is needed. Its not the amount of faith as if it needs to hit the Richter scale to be effective in the natural realm. It is true faith to trust and believe in a promise. Its faith in the God who can move mountains, not the power of our faith.

Well known Pentecostal, David Wilkerson, writes in the late Keith Green’s Last Days Ministries newsletter, that he too has seen many Christians “throughout our nation, whose faith is shipwrecked” because of the “faith” movement. He writes that they began to “believe that getting every desire of the heart depended simply on getting their formulas correct. They were challenged to launch out in God for prosperity, perfect health, and whatever else their minds could conceive. “Conceive then believe. That includes removing from your vocabulary any negative thoughts, words, or confessions.”

Interesting that James says though our tongue is a small member yet it boasts great things. Many word of faith teachers give testimony of all the things they received or made happen by speaking words with faith. Jesus said out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. To want and covet shows what is inside these people’s hearts. I’m not saying everything is spent on themselves, but listen to the attitude and what they are saying, its a dead giveaway.

To word faith teachers faith is a force, a substance that is unseen, but can be tapped into, it is putty in the hands of the user even if they are a believer or not. it works the same for all. Confession brings possession.

Positive confession…

Your confession is your possession

Does God approve of such a thing?

Fred Price says,  “When 1 first got saved they didn’t tell me I could do anything. What they told me to do was that whenever I prayed I should always say, ‘The will of the Lord be done.,’ Now, doesn’t that sound humble? It does. Sounds like humility, it’s really stupidity. I mean, you know, really, we insult God. 1 mean, we really do insult our Heavenly Father. We do; we really insult Him without even realizing it. If you have to say, ‘If it be thy will or’ Thy will be done’-if you have to say that, then you’re calling God a fool because he’s the One that fold us to ask…. If God’s gonna give me what He wants me to have, then it doesn’t matter what I ask. I’m only gonna get what God wants me to have. So that’s an insult to God’s intelligence.”  (Ever Increasing Faith” program on TBN November 16 ,1990)

Benny Hinn has said “Never, ever, ever go the Lord and say, ‘If it be thy will….’ Don’t allow such faith-destroying words to be spoken from your mouth” (Rise and Be Healed! 1991, p.47-48).

If its not God’s will then whose is it? Yours!

This practice has commonly been practiced in occult groups and various Eastern pagan religions such as the Buddhist sect Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism.

The Church Universal and Triumphant a New Age group also teaches “the scientific use of the mantra or the dynamic decree of the Word,” otherwise known as “the exercise of God’s power according to the spoken Word” (Mark and Elizabeth Clare Prophet, The Lost Teachings of Jesus 2: Mysteries of the Higher Self [Livingston, MT: Summit University Press, 1988], 144, 207; cf. 103.)You can often hear them chanting I Am, or call on the healing power through the violet consuming flame.

 Benny Hinn actually claims that the Holy Spirit told him, “…that if witches and occultists can speak death by the supernatural power of words, then Christian can speak life and prosperity by the same power.” (B. Hinn,  December 1, 1990, Orlando Christian Centre, WACX-TV Channel 55. Quoted in The Facts on the Faith Movement, J. Ankerberg & J. Weldon, Harvest House, 1993, p.23)

Benny Hinn said, “confession activates heaven”, and that “confession releases the spirit world.” (November 6, 1990 sermon telecast on TBN)

K.Copeland says “He am healin’, He am deliverance, He am financial prosperity, mental prosperity, physical prosperity, family prosperity. It’s terrible grammar, but you understand what I’m sayin’. I’m sayin’ it to effect my mind.” (Believer’s Voice of Victory Broadcast, 7/9/1987)

But it is not our mind that will give the answer but God . Otherwise it is not prayer but occult affirmations, metaphysical science.

“Jesus said He had the God-kind of faith; He encouraged His disciples to exercise that kind of faith; and He said that .whosoever’ could do it…. That is why Jesus said, ‘whosoever shall say … and shall not doubt IN HIS HEART. ” (Having Faith in Your Faith Kenneth Hagin Ministries, 1988, 3.)

“In the first place-and this will help you don’t pray about money anymore; that is, the way you’ve been praying. Claim whatever you need.” (Metaphysical Elements In The Faith Movement, Compiled by Leon D. Stump, p.55, from the word of faith magazine, “How God Taught Me About Prosperity, “ Kenneth Hagin).

Copeland is not shy in his boasting of what he can claim by faith “Well, now, you need balance in this. get out there in that hyper faith. that name-it-and-claim-it- that blab-it-and-grab-it.” YEAH! We named it and claimed it and got it. (crowd cheers)-Blabbed it and grabbed it and still got it ! Hallelujah! And our bills are paid. (Aug 18,1999)

Creflo Dollar says, “I know what I’m talking about, I’m qualified to preach what I’m preachin tonight. I am qualified to say what I’m sayin’ tonight. Somebody says how are you qualified? You are sitting in a building. That manifested because of so great faith.”(10/4 /99)

So Creflo got his building not because of God but attributes it to the power of his own belief.  Creflo tells us he has control over the weather and circumstances “I bind you, satan.  I bind tragedy, I bind car wrecks, I bind cancer, sickness and disease.  I release miracle healings.”( first service Our Equality with God Through Righteousness Creflo Dollar 1/21/2001)  “The shingles fell off my roof one time, I said that ain’t happening no more. Newsman talking about this storm getting ready to come and it was black and nasty outside, the wind was blowing and the tree, I had a tree that needed to be cut. That thing wasn’t going to fall. Not on my stuff. I went outside and said in the name of Jesus, I command this storm to turn and it will not hurt my property. My neighbors out saying “that fools standing on the porch again”. I’m going to tell you what, trees fell but they knew the boundary of my house. Today, you can go in the back and trees fell but they stopped at an inch of my fence. Wouldn’t come across my property. Praying in the Holy Ghost until you tap the wisdom of God and spend time calling those things that are not as though they were.” (2nd service Our Equality with God Through Righteousness Creflo Dollar 1/21/2001)

“It is unscriptural to pray, ‘If it is the will of God.’ When you put an ‘if’ in your prayer, you are praying in doubt.( K.Hagin Exeedingly growing faith 2^nd ed. P.10 )

 ”I will”, not God’s will, has become the spiritual cliche’ of our time. It is the same trap of the “I wills” of Lucifer that made him fall. Isa. 14:12-14 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’

Ps.12:2-4: “Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases! For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. They speak idly everyone with his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak. May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaks proud things,”  Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail; our lips are our own; who is lord over us?” “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now I will arise,” says the LORD; “I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”

James says in 4:13 about boasting what one will do to be successful and rebukes them because they have no control over tomorrow and their life is short, “Instead you ought to say “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this and that.” He then tells them they are arrogant and this type of speaking is EVIL. In chpt. 5 he rebukes them for being rich letting them know this will be their downfall 5:5 “you have fattened your hearts as in the day of slaughter.” 1 John 5:14 clearly says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” (also Matthew 6:10; 26:39; ).

Was God a negative confessor when he said to Adam the day you eat of this fruit you will die!  Numerous warnings are in Scripture that would seem to not be positive in its statement, but certainly in effect.

Biblically you can’t have strength until you admit your weak, this is an attitude of true humility; without it, God cannot fill one up with His power until what is hindering is taken out of the way. It is self that is our biggest block, and it is self that is being proclaimed in the faith movement  disguised as the power of God. The faith in the word faith movement is disguised self esteem. It is centeerd on man having the power to declare and attract

At a healing crusade when people believe they are healed before they are,  is this Biblical faith by not looking at the symptoms and just claiming your healing. No! K. Hagin says if your sick ignore the symptoms and watch the word.” E.W. Kenyon said the same thing “confession always goes ahead of healing…symptoms are not the disease.” To deny the symptoms is to lie to yourself and God, he never said, say it as a methodology. If this is true then someone who goes to a doctor for medicine because of their sickness or they go into surgery to have a tumor removed would not be cured because its not real, its only their symptom. Not only that, it would not be faith to go to a doctor, since one is not standing on the word for their healing but trusting in medical science for a cure. The Bible teaches that God can use other means besides supernatural healing to heal.

Hagin says if your sick the solution is easy “Often you create your own negative situations yourself with wrong thinking, wrong believing, and wrong speaking. So start believing according to God’s Word. Then begin making positive confessions of faith and victory over your life. … You will never receive anything from God beyond the words you speak. … If you don’t like what you have in life, then begin to change the way you are thinking, believing, and speaking. Instead of speaking according to natural circumstances out of your head, learn to speak God’s Word from your spirit. Begin to confess God’s promises of life and health and victory into your situation. Then you can begin to enjoy God’s abundant life as you have what you say!” ( The Word of Faith, “You Can Have What You Say”)

“As a born-again believer, you are equipped with the Word. You have the power of God at your disposal. By getting the Word deep into your spirit and speaking it boldly out your mouth, you release spiritual power to change things in the natural circumstances.” (Kenneth Copeland, The Power of the Tongue, 15.)

“What you are saying is exactly what you are getting now. If you are living in poverty and lack and want, change what you are saying…. The powerful force of the spiritual world that creates the circumstances around us is controlled by the words of the mouth.” (The Laws of Prosperity, Kenneth Copeland, Ft. Worth: Kenneth Copeland Publications, 1974).

“Words are the most sacred things….This is a word planet…governed by words…created by words….Words cause it to function…cause life…cause death….Words go on forever….Words are holy.” (The Abrahamic Covenant, side 1.)

Gods word is eternal and holy, not mans. Jesus said we would be accountable for the words we speak, which means we do not speak correctly, truthfully nor Godly all the time.

Words are so powerful that we have the same ability that God does “You have the same creative faith and ability on the inside of you that God used when he created the heavens and the earth.” (Kenneth Copeland, Inner Image of the Covenant, side 2.)

In this World of using Scripture to gain access the wealth and health it only makes a difference in how ye thinketh.

“It makes a great deal of difference what one thinks. I believe that is why many people are sick, even though they are prayed for by everyone in the country. They get in every healing line and still never receive healing. The reason they are not getting healed is that they are thinking wrong.” (Kenneth Hagin, Right and Wrong Thinking , 1978 pg 19.)

Say it like you mean it, believe until it rises up out of your heart and your convinced that you are healed. Don’t listen to anyone saying otherwise, just keep on believing. I’ve been to these services where people say they are healed of a limp as they limp out of there. Actually there are just as many faith teachers who are sick and have died than us mere Christians who do not know how to use “the laws of faith.” So its not working for them either, but they just won’t tell you this!

E.W. Kenyon in his book the Hidden man on pg. 99 “I know that I am healed because I said that I am healed and it makes no difference what the symptoms may be in my body.” If they are coughing and you say you have a cold they say no I don’t, haven’t had a cold in years. That’s called denial at best and lying at worst. To say I’m healed even though their can be in tremendous pain. when your not telling the truth isn’t that called lying.

K. Hagin in his book “In the name of Jesus says In teaching on divine healing and health , I have so often said, I haven’t had a headache in so many years (45 to be exact) I guess the devil got tired of hearing me say it. Just a few months ago, as I left the office building and started home, suddenly my head started hurting, someone might say, “well, you had a headache. No, I didn’t have one! I don’t have headaches. I haven’t had a headache since August 1934. 45 years have come and gone .and I haven’t had a headache…but if I had a headache, I wouldn’t tell anybody. And if somebody asked me how I was feeling, I would say, I’m fine, thank you.” (In the name of Jesus, p.44) Notice he says he wouldn’t tell you how he really feels because words override the pain. Is this honest ? What do call this when someone acts in this way. If I went into a restaurant and ordered an expensive meal with only a dollar in my pocket and I didn’t tell the waiter that I couldn’t pay, what would you call this? …That’s exactly what you should call what Hagin is saying.

Faith teachers get sick also they have a headaches and stomach aches, they  stub their toes and bang their hand just like anyone else. They deny it despite what is certainly there. What they are saying is what you confess you will possess but you didn’t confess a headache to get it in the first place, it just came. So they need to put blame on someone and it usually is the devil. This is why they command Satan to leave their body. What one needs to ask is how did he get in there in the first place? Doesn’t this mean they were not walking in faith for him to invade them like this.

Would you go around saying that your the president of the company that you are just an employee of because you desire that position. If you were caught doing that they would say your lying . Try cashing a check as that president when your not and see what happens. What of scriptures such as God saying let there be light can someone of the faith movement ever say these same words and change the darkness of night to day, have you seen anyone move any mountains lately if not they do not have the faith of God.

What if this concept of healing were being brought to its logical conclusion. If you get a flat tire. Are you going to confess the tire is fixed and round again. Speak it back to restoration. No of course not. So why would you not do the same for anything else. If it doesn’t work for the inorganic. it won’t work for the organic either.

If one takes the Scripture by faith confessing God s word, why stop with healing? Why not go all the way and confess not dying as in John 11:26:”And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Then one will never die. While all the promises of God are yea and amen. They are not for all people all the time. Many were given to specific people for a specific purpose.

The Force of faith

“Faith activates the force of God fear is a force that activates the Devil. Copeland says, God did not create the world out of nothing, He used the Force of His Faith.’ (Spirit, Soul and Body, #01-0601, Tape #1)

New Ager Benjamin Creme says, for example, “One doesn’t pray to oneself, one prays to the God within. The thing is to learn to invoke that energy which is the energy of God. Prayer and worship as we know it today will gradually die out and men will be trained to invoke the (inner) power of deity.” (The Reappearance of Christ and the Masters of Wisdom, pp. 135-136)

The New Age has the exact same methodology for success. This is not ignored by the word/faith promoters since they believe anyone can use this power, saint or sinner. In like manner this power is used to influence themselves, others, ( achieving their own self-interests), their environment  or what they deem as reality .

Techniques used are visualization which they internally create the form and project its image into the outer world. The word spoken as it is first incubated in thought it will become reality when continually spoken.

Copeland agrees and states, “You can have what you say! In fact, what you are saying is exactly what you are getting now. If you are living in poverty and lack and want, change what you are saying. It will change what you have…. Discipline your vocabulary. Discipline everything you do, everything you say, and everything you think to agree with what God does, what God says, and what God thinks. God will be obligated to meet your needs because of His Word…. If you stand firmly on this, your needs will be met.” ( D.L. McConnell p.173)

A.W.Tozer wrote… “imagination projects unreal images out of the mind and seeks to attach reality to them. Faith creates nothing; it simply reckons upon that which is already there.”

God has  some interesting things addressed to this type of nonsense. Lam 3:37-50 “Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, when the Lord has not commanded it?   Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that woe and well-being proceed?   Why should a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?   Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the LORD;   Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven.   We have transgressed and rebelled; you have not pardoned.   You have covered Yourself with anger and pursued us; you have slain and not pitied.  You have covered Yourself with a cloud, that prayer should not pass through.  You have made us an offscouring and refuse in the midst of the peoples.  All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. Fear and a snare have come upon us, desolation and destruction. My eyes overflow with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.  My eyes flow and do not cease, without interruption, Till the LORD from heaven looks down and sees.” Like in Jeremiahs day this is the state of our present day church.

Creative faith for miracles

“Words are spiritual containers,” (Kenneth Copeland, Forces of the Recreated Human Spirit, 15; cf. 14.)

“Faith was the raw material substance that the Spirit of God used to form the universe.” (Kenneth Copeland, Authority of the Believer II (Fort Worth: Kenneth Copeland Ministries, 1987, audiotape #01-0302), side 1.) He doesn’t say this a few times but is a consistent teaching in his theological bent.

“Faith is God’s source of power.” (Freedom From Fear, 1983. p12.)

Not only does God use this faith but we can as well “You have the same creative faith and ability on the inside of you that God used when he created the heavens and the earth.” (Kenneth Copeland, Inner Image of the Covenant, side 2.) Copeland explains to Hinn how this all works “The law of faith, faith work by certain elements and when those elements from the word of God are put in, in release and in power than it always brings the same results , and I don’t care who it is I don’t care where you are or where you from  I don’t care what culture you come from, I don’t care what color your skin is I don’t care whether your rich man poor man beggar man or thief. When you put those elements into operation they will come connect to the anointing and the results will come Benny Hinn “MY GOD!” (so its not by God’s will but by ours). Copeland and B. Hinn this is your day  Aug.10,1999)

So this law that is suppose to be universal like gravity works even if you’re an unbeliever and a thief. how can one who is not right with God use faith? Because its not the same as biblical faith it is a natural law as Copeland explains. So it really has nothing to do with God, because he is not obligated to give a sinner any request lest he repents.

“When we use the spiritual laws that God has set up, God must obey what we request.” (Praise the Lord, TBN 2/5/86)

“Words create pictures, and pictures in your mind create words. And then the words come back out your mouth….And when that spiritual force comes out it is going to give substance to the image that’s on the inside of you. Aw, that’s that visualization stuff! Aw, that’s that New Age! No, New Age is trying to do this; and they’d get somewhat results out of it because this is spiritual law, brother.” (Believer’s Voice of Victory (television program), TBN, 28 March 1991.)

“God used words when He created the heaven and the earth….Each time God spoke, He released His faith — the creative power to bring His words to pass.” (The Power of the Tongue (Fort Worth: KCP Publications, 1980), 4.)

Isn’t it funny that not once will you find the word faith in the OT especially in the creation narrative of Genesis attributed to God. Nowhere does it say God used faith. Why? Because it is man who needs faith not God!

Recently on John Hagee’s program Copeland said, “The very faith that God used when He created, and what we read there in the first 2 chapters of Genesis, is the faith that’s burning in your spirit. But now if you’ve made Jesus the Lord of your life, it’s the same faith. Well, He created all those planets, how come you can’t create something? You don’t know as much about it as He does. He has a greater working knowledge of that faith than you do. But we’re learning. Our time is coming. And in some ways its already here.” (Aug 18,1999 )

Notice he says its coming because they don’t have the knowledge yet. But he’s been saying this as a fact for years! The only difference between God’s ability and ours is that He has a greater knowledge.

Kenneth Hagin: “Jesus used the fig tree to demonstrate that He had that God-kind of faith, then He said to the disciples-and to us-‘You have that kind of faith.’. . . Jesus said He had the God-kind of faith; He encouraged His disciples to exercise that kind of faith; and He said that .whosoever’ could do it…. That is why Jesus said, ‘whosoever shall say … and shall not doubt IN HIS HEART. ‘ “ (Having Faith in Your Faith, Kenneth Hagin Ministries, 1988 1, 3)

Mk.11:22 “Have the faith of God (in) This unclear passage is determined by other clear passages. The word ‘in’ is missing so it reads have faith God. This is a Hebraism: to have strong faith, or the strongest faith. When things look impossible. There is no such thing as a God kind faith. It means a faith that is wholly reliant on God.

Jesus had already stated, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”   (Matt 19:26)

But the faith movement states with ones words in faith we can change anything. Which means this faith is with man and not God. They believe that a failure to get what they ask for is a failure in faith.

This unclear passage is determined by other clear passages. However, this verse must not be isolated from other verses on prayer, and it is always important to make certain that we incorporate everything the Bible teaches on any one point before drawing our conclusions.

Throughout the Scripture it tells us to have faith in Christ John 14:1” Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.”   Faith means trust, its object is always God, If faith is put in any other object no matter how sacred it will fail. Does God have faith? No! Faith has an object. The Christian faiths object is God, not faith itself. It means to trust in someone other (in our instance greater) than oneself. If God has faith to create then whom did He trust in? This concept destroys the very nature of God Gods name is I Am that I am, the self sufficient self- existent one. He is perfect needing nothing outside Himself, He is a non dependent being not needing anything from anyone else. God is not using His faith as His power there is no such thing. God is able to do all things we are not. We cannot speak more stars into existence nor can we change a boy into a girl by our words. When Jesus spoke the words let it be according to your faith the individual was asking for a specific act from Jesus when he was physically present with him. He did these miracles to prove His personhood as God, it was not a blank check for anyone to say it to receive it. Is it really faith to demand our rights from God or is it pride and immaturity to demand things as spoiled little children. The faith in the word of faith movement is misplaced faith. Real faith involves time, it produces character as we go through our trials. It builds us up giving us endurance not by demanding God but from relying on his provision as we go through we have his assurance he is with us. Faith is only as good as the object it is placed in. Matthew 21:22 must be taken with I John 5:13-15, which also points out that God hears us only if we ask according To -will” in other words, if we make a request that is not His will to grant, no amount of faith will effect that petition. Prayer is unlimited in its possibilities except one, God’s will. If you are praying for something that is not God’s purpose, no amount of prayer will change it.

V.23.having a mountain removed and cast into the sea, is to have a thing to be far removed. It is not speaking of physical but spiritual obstacles to the progress of His kingdom. [the expression ‘rooting up mountains’ is in common Rabbinic use as a hyperbole for doing the impossible or the incredible.   [Babha B. 3 b; for the latter   Ber. 64 a; Sanh. 24 a; Horay. 14 a.]. Mountains in biblical symbolism means kings or kingdoms (Mt.17:20). This is why you have never seen a mountain thrown in the sea.

Jesus makes it clear in v. 24-26 “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. “But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” Faith gives anticipation in prayer that God hears us and that he will answer.   Faith is to have an absolute, yet simple assurance of God’s promise.  Mark also gives a condition for the Lords acceptance to our prayer. Mark connects the promise to move mountains with forgiveness our reconciliation with brothers, v.25-26

This principle is found when the disciples tried to cast out a demon with the authority Jesus gave them but were unsuccessful.

Mt. 17:19-21 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast him out?” “So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” It wasn’t just a lack of faith but they needed to ask and fast. The mountain Jesus interprets for us are those things opposing His kingdom; in this case a demon who had kept someone in bondage.

Paul writes in Romans can the potter talk back to the clay, I’ve never seen this happen until our time. They can order and decree from God whatever they please, even the shape of their own lives. Deceptive power does not come without a price. I have yet to see someone change a flat tire to round, much less actually move a mountain which the scripture mentions!

Heb.6:12: “That you not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.’ He then goes into Gods promise to Abraham and that he swore by himself because there is no one greater. Notice it is God’s promise and that we are to wait on him to fulfill it by having patience and faith. Not stand on it and demand it. In God’s timing and his way, just as he did for Abraham.

Real faith is neither a blind leap into the unknown nor is it mustering up belief for our own wants to possess something. A.C.Gabeleian says. “Faith is not blind confidence that demands to get whatever we want. For this is in effect, as one has said, would dethrone God, and place the scepter in our hands, making God obedient and irresisting power to do our unwise bidding (The Healing question pp.124-125) Faith is not in what we speak but in the God who spoke and the universe leaped into existence. True faith is in the one who can keep his word.

If faith is based on the immutable law of God in nature then even unbelievers can use it (Which is exactly what they say). Then it is without exception. So every time someone says something negative believing it, then it will come to pass. The last time I looked at the Bible and reality I have not seen God put this kind of power in the hands of sinful or saved men.

Faith is not telling a person they can see when they can’t or tell someone they are healed when they are dying. This cannot accomplish what is being said anymore than telling a person he can fly when he can’t fly or walk through walls when they can’t. Faith involves an assent to what is truth, not what is false.

Our faith is not what we speak using incantations from the word, but in the word and the one who spoke the word.  Praying in Jesus name is not a warranty to receive everything we say and we can certainly thank Him for that. He doesn’t want spoiled little children, but mature heavenly minded people who look at His Word and are willing to be conformed to His likeness even if it’s uncomfortable.  Those that can trust him in His decisions He can entrust to answer.  To pray in his name means “in his authority” according to his will, to ask in the understanding of what God wants to accomplish on earth. Romans 8.27: “ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” We need to line up our will with His, then we can be confident he hears us because it is what he wants to accomplish. So you must have the right kind of faith mixed with patience and trust to be “in the faith “ and be a true son of Abraham.  The faith Movements faith is not “Biblical faith”, it is defective and flawed, because it is self- focused on our wants, not trusting in God’s decisions. Until they learn this simple biblical lesson they will continue to expand their errors being deceived and deceiving others!

 

 

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Word Faith teaching- A spiritual copy of the Mind Sciences by LetUsReason.org

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more about “Prosperity Pimps – Part 2“, posted with vodpod

 

 

Recently the book and DVD called “the secret” has become popular. It was promoted by Oprah Winfrey, a mind science adherent. It has made a large impact in a short time in America and throughout the world. “The Secret” Book is a bestseller, on the USA Today, Wall Street Journal and New York Times bestseller lists. 6 million copies of the book have been sold so far. The Secret is also an 80 minute DVD that is the top-seller on Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com; 3 million copies have been bought. In other words this is in its beginning.

Many have accepted it as the newest success in life technique. It is really a potpourri of occult and metaphysical ideas. It is the basic message of the New age Movement- HUMAN POTENTIAL, which has its roots in mind science teachings. In this series of articles I want us to look at the similarities of the teachings of “the Secret” and its source and compare it to the word faith movements teachings.

The 29 co-contributors quoted by the author Rhonda Byrne of “The Secret.” All the authors agree with the metaphysical worldview and practice the concepts presented in the book and DVD.

Rhonda Byrne sums up “The Secret” as: “The law of attraction is the most powerful law.” “like attracts like. … The law of attraction is giving you what you are thinking about. It is working all the time. “What we do is we attract into our lives the things we want, and that is based on what we’re thinking and feeling,”“we create our own circumstances by the choices we make in life. And the choices we make are fueled by our thoughts—which means our thoughts are the most powerful things we have here on earth.” That’s something to really think about.

How does it work? Everything and everyone in the universe is energy and our thoughts put out a vibration, then things are attracted to us like a magnet

.

John Walsch of the Secret states Thoughts are like magnets, drawing effects to you.” (p. 188)

Michael Beckwith states on the DVD that this has been “scientifically proven”, Bob Proctor says this “law” is– “energy attracts like energy.” They seem to have overlooked that opposites attract in magnetism, like repels like. Oh well, so much for being scientific.

This concept is not exclusive to the Secret book- New Age participants have known this for years. John Randolph Price agrees; in his book “The Superbeings” he says: “Like attracts like. What you think in your mind will produce in your experience. … All the Power of the Universe is within you and this Power you can have anything on earth you desire.”  (xv The Superbeings John Randolph Price 1981 Quartus foundation)

To put it simply in there own words- the ‘universal mind’ is energy … which is everywhere, and we are all ‘One’ with it, and have power to control our reality. There is no personal Holy God in “The Secret,” instead they use the universe as a substitute, in fact- the closest they come to calling something God is by saying you are God.

P.46 of “The Secret” states “you are the master of the Universe the law obeys you.” — “Your wish is my command.” We are told “This law listens to everything we think and act.” You have got to be kiddin’, the law is an “it” but it has ears. It has a mind but none of its own, it obeys us.

Mind science promoter Robert Collier wrote about the same concepts in his books The God in You, The Secret Power, The Magic Word, and The Law of the Higher Potential. In his book “Secret of the Ages” he writes: “Being a part of Universal Mind, shar­ing that Universal Mind’s all-power, it has only to put the Creative Force all about it into the mold of your thought and bring the object into being” (Secret of the Ages p.62).

As we will see the word faith teachers are not far from the original tree that bore this fruit.

When and where did these ideas begin? In the middle of the 19th century to the early 1900’s a small spiritual revolution began, it used a mystical interpretation of Bible and combined other concepts to form a new type of spiritual system- it was called “New Thought.” Today we categorize it as the new age movement.

The founder of New Thought philosophy was Phineas Quimby, he was a student of spiritism, occultism, hypnosis and other expressions of parapsychology. His ideas gained prominence, and from his ideas was born Christian Science, Religious Science and became the basis for a number of cults, which include Unity School of Christianity.

New Thought’s basic teaching is that everything is in the mind. We create our own world of good or evil, health or sickness, prosperity or lack by our thoughts. Mary Baker Eddy was one of the early patients Quimby “healed” and she began a new interpretation of the Bible called “Christian science” that was based upon Quimby’s teachings-which she never admitted to. Her ideology was God is “Divine Mind,” and illness results from being out of tune with “Divine Mind.” Christian Science makes sickness an illusion and one overcomes it with correct thinking, it is the same thing in the word faith movement, they believe their body is lying to them. They disbelieve the symptoms, and stand on continual positive confession of the word to relieve them-selves.

The Unity School of Christianity (also known as Unity) was founded in 1889 by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore. Charles Fillmore is quoted in The Secret along with other New Thought teachers. One of Fillmore’s quotes in the book states: “Divine Mind is the one and only reality.” It is important to note that Phineas Quimby is the man who E.W. Kenyon studied and embraced his ideas. These same concepts were later embraced and copied by Kenneth Hagin. Both he and his disciple Kenneth Copeland popularized these teachings in the church. Kenyon denied that he taught religious science. Yet it is a fact that his schooling were from those who practiced that philosophy. His influence came through years attending the Emerson College School of Oratory. Charles Wesley Emerson was an adherent of New Thought metaphysics. Emerson joined Christian Science in 1903 and remained in that religion until his death in 1908.

 

Another New Thought church is Religious Science whose founder Ernest Holmes based his “Science of Mind” on the same concepts: Holmes doubted the answers he got in church. He discovered the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson. “Reading Emerson is like drinking water to me.” He pursued his metaphysical studies which involved literature, science, philosophy, and religion. And finally embraced the Christian Science teachings of Mary Baker Eddy. He then came upon the works of Ralph Waldo Trine, Horatio Dresser and Phineas Quimby. He moved from Christian Science teachings to Larson’s works.

Ernest Holmes patterned his Science of Mind on: “Man, by thinking, can bring into his experience whatsoever he desires ….” “all is mind and that everything is governed by law, there comes another thought: it is that he can create, or have created for him from his own thinking. He can create such a strong mental atmosphere of success that its power of attraction will be irresistible. He can send his thought throughout the world and have it bring back to him whatever he wants” ( “Creative Mind and Success” by Ernest Holmes).

 

 

More recently-Norman Vincent Peale, a student of Holmes brought these same concepts into the church. He too based his positive-thinking principles on New Thought. Peale said as a youth he had “the worst inferiority complex of all,” and developed his positive thinking philosophy to help himself. Peale is what is known as a “progressive in religion-” one who did not believe in the bibles testimony of Jesus being the only way. In 1984, on the Phil Donahue program, Peale said, “It’s not necessary to be born again. You have your way to God; I have mine. I found eternal peace in a Shinto shrine …I’ve been to Shinto shrines, and God is everywhere:” Shocked, Phil Donahue responded, “But you’re a Christian minister; you’re supposed to tell me that Christ is the way and the truth and the life, aren’t you?” Peale replied, “Christ is one of the ways. God is everywhere.” (Christian News (May 12, 1997), 11.Peale taught “Your unconscious mind … [has a] power that turns wishes into realities when the wishes are strong enough.” ( Norman Vincent Peale, Positive Imaging (Fawcett Crest, 1982), p. 77.)He also taught: “God is energy. As you breathe God in, as you visualize His energy, you will be reenergized!” (Norman Vincent Peale, PLUS: The Magazine of Positive Thinking, 37:4, May 1986, Part 11, 23.) Similarly, John Walsch of “the Secret” states “God is the energy you call imagination.” p. 198).

These same concepts/teachings permeate the mind sciences.

Peale recommendation to visualizing this energy to permeate one’s being; inhale this energy as God

Is found in new age (occult) they visualize energies circulating around or through their body. The vineyard churches a number of years ago would scoop the air around people to bring it toward them calling the Holy spirit to fill them. This is known as pantheism, and is more like Hinduism’s prana, where one breathes the air in their yoga exercise for energizing themselves.

Peale is known to be a 33rd degree Mason. When a Mason reaches this level of illumination he is taught that the god of the Bible is really a false god and Lucifer the lightbearer is the true God.

Robert Schuller attributed to Peale to be the man who had the greatest influence upon his theology and ministry, (He even claimed Peale starting the positive thinking movement). Schuller changed the term positive thinking to Possibility thinking and continued to contain the principles of these same ideas.

There are Spiritual winds that blow from the same source in the same direction. We have watched the church copy the world but when the world starts to mimic the church- we need to pay attention. ‘The Secret’ DVD and book is sweeping the secular world. The word faith teachers in the church originally got their teaching from the new thought movement over one hundred years ago – both are from the same source.

Some of you may be surprised that Christians are attracted to the Secret (no pun meant). Why Not? Word faith teachers have been using these very same concepts inside the church for years and now they are acceptable because of their promotion on major Christian TV networks.

As we continue we are going to see a thread of commonality in the teachings of mind science and word faith. Interesting note- They both use many of the same scriptures.

 

Quotes from the Secret:

Whatever is going on in your mind is what you are attracting
We are like magnets – like attract like. You become AND attract what you think
Every thought has a frequency. Thoughts send out a magnetic energy
Those who speak most of illness have illness, those who speak most of prosperity have it.
When you get the hang of this, before you know it you will KNOW you are the creator…You are the only one that creates your reality….Play the picture in your mind – focus on the end result. “It’s OK that thoughts don’t manifest into reality immediately ….“VISUALIZE!!! Rehearse your future…VISUALIZE!!! See it, feel it! This is where action begins.
Create a Vision Board .. pictures of what you want to attract .. every day look at it and get into the feeling state of already having acquired these wants.
Decide what you want .. believe you can have it, believe you deserve it, believe it’s possible for you.
Close your eyes and visualize having what you already want – and the feeling of having it already….Checks are coming in the mail regularly’… or change your bank statement to whatever balance you want in there… and get behind the feeling of having it.

 

Mind science teacher W. Clement Stone, is quoted in the Secret: “Whatever the mind of man can conceive, it can achieve” Kenneth Copeland tells people to visualize: “Any image that you get down on the inside of you that is so vivid when you close your eyes you see it, it’ll come to pass. When God came at the Tower of Babel, He said, ‘Anything they can imagine, they can do.’“ (Copeland, Inner Image of the Covenant, side 2)

Indeed the Lord did say at the Tower of Babel in Gen. 11:6: “now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.” It wasn’t a good thing.

Rhonda Byrne, in her book and DVD, The Secret, tells how her daughter gave her a copy of The Science of Getting Rich, a book written in 1910 by Wallace D. Wattles. She believes she discovered the success of “the greatest people in history.” This book inspired Byrne to create her bestselling DVD. Wattle’s explains that the: “universal mind” underlies and permeates all creation. Through the process of visualization we can engage the law of attraction, impressing our thoughts upon “formless substance” to bring the desired result. . Once a person learns and obeys these laws, he will get rich with mathematical certainty.”Byrne, the author of The Secret, is also greatly influenced by a couple named Jerry and Esther Hicks‘. In the Acknowledgements of The Secret, she thanks them for the teachings of Abraham. On the Hicks website, we find: “Abraham, a group of obviously evolved teachers, speak their broader Non-physical perspective through the physical body of Esther” In other words this is channeling- spirit possession.

On April 5, 2007, Oprah Winfrey discussed the Secret with these spirits “channeled” by Secret promoter, Esther Hicks. Not that we should be surprised, “channeling” has long been promoted openly on Oprah’s TV show.

What do the Hicks teach—

‘You are a creator; you create with your every thought. Anything that you can imagine is yours to be or do or have.”

This is straight out of Mind Science

Jerry Hicks had also been a devotee of the book “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. Napoleon Hill said of his book– “This book contains the secret” (Napoleon Hill Think and Grow Rich p.9). Hill was taught the same occult principles by demons who posed as Ascended Masters from a School of Wisdom on the astral plane. Hill stated “I know I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul” (Think and Grow Rich p.215-) – this is word for word from Charles Fillmore’s book “Dynamics for Living,” and Ernest Holmes Creative Mind and Success.

Ernest Holmes founder of Religious Science also came upon the same “Supreme Se­cret” that was revealed to Napoleon Hill- “Science of MIND teaches that Man controls the course of his life … by mental processes which function according to a Universal Law …”Rhonda Byrne’s book is connected to both Wattles and the Hicks. The Hicks is connected to Napoleon Hill.

So we see a common source for “the Secret” teaching- it is dictated by spirit guides. We will confirm that these same teachings permeate the word faith movement.

We are warned that the teaching of demons will come into the church 1 Tim. 4:1: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.” The reason for this is found in 2 Tim. 4:3-4 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables”.The secret teaches visualization- so do the mind sciences. Certain Christian leaders have been teaching visualization for years. In his booklet, The Power of the Inner Eye, Robert Schuller corrupts the Scripture by claiming that it advocates the occult technique of visualization. In an article dealing with . . . visualization …. “This is the vision that the Bible is talking about in the verse, “Where there is no vision the people perish.”. . . I have practiced and harnessed the power of the inner eye and it works …. Thirty years ago we started with a vision of a church. It’s all come true.” (May, 1985, issue of Psychology Today, “In the Mind’s Eye.”)

 

So he admits to practicing this occult technique.

Schuller wrote the forward of Yonggi Cho’s book “The Fourth Dimension,” which is filled with promoting new age visualization “I discovered the reality of that dynamic dimension in prayer that comes through visualizing….. Don’t try to understand it. Just start to enjoy it! It’s true. It works. I tried it.”

Visualization is one of the fastest ways to open oneself up to the spiritual realm—Cho teaches praying is not sufficient that “We should always try to visualize the end result as we pray…. If you have not visualized clearly in your heart exactly what you hope for, it cannot become a reality to you….” …. Through visualizing and dreaming, you can incubate your future and hatch the results” (The Fourth Dimension, Volume Two, pp. 25-28, 68, p. 44)

Aside from some Christian terms, I could mix up their quotes and you could not tell which is from mind/religious science and from the church.

David Cho explains of his four step plan for the incubation formula: 1) Visualize a clear-cut goal or idea in your mind; 2) have a burning desire for your objective; 3) pray until you get the guarantee or assurance from God that what you desire is already yours; 4) speak or confess the end result into existence.”

This the same formulae used in the secret- Play the picture in your mind – focus on the end result” VISUALIZE!!! Rehearse your future” “ VISUALIZE!!! See it, feel it! This is where action begins”
Create a Vision Board .. pictures of what you want to attract .. every day look at it and get into the feeling state of already having acquired these wants.
Decide what you want .. believe you can have it, believe you deserve it, believe it’s possible for you.
Close your eyes and visualize having what you already want – and the feeling of having it already.Bothj cho and the Secret are nearly identical of mind science teacher Robert Collier “There is no limit, you know, to Mind. Visualize this thing that you want. See it, feel it, BELIEVE in it. Make your mental blue-print, and begin to build! (Robert Collier, The Law of Higher Potential, p. 368 (1947).

 

 

Cho states “In that way, with the power of the Holy Spirit, we can incubate that which we want God to do for us…. We should always try to visualize the end result as we pray. If you have not visualized clearly in your heart exactly what you hope for, it cannot become a reality to you…. (Yonggi Cho, The Fourth Dimension, Volume One (So. Plainfield, NJ: Bridge Publishing, 1979), 9-35; vol. 2, 18-33)

“We have taught our people how to … visualize success …. Through visualizing and dreaming, you can incubate your future and hatch the results.”

(P. Yonggi Cho 4^th Dimension p.44, vol.2, pp.25-28, 68)

“This is what the Holy Spirit taught me.” (The Fourth Dimension p. 39-44)

How did the Holy Spirit teach him something that the Christian church never had in Scripture or was taught to the apostles for the early church? Occultists have been practicing this for thousands of years. It is one thing to receive a vision from God it is another to conjure it up oneself and expect God to obey.

What is the difference between someone seeing in the mind what they would want and have it materialize, and for example, seeing a picture to draw a blueprint of a house? The architect is not using the image or his mind to actually create the house- they are using they hands, physical labor to create it. The spiritual dimension (mind) is not controlling the material world.

Neither Jesus, Paul or anyone else used techniques as imaging or visualization for prayer or healing.

These same concepts – manipulating the spiritual realm though images or words to influence the physical world to materialize results has been used by shamans, witch doctors and occultists for millennia.

As mind Science teacher Fillmore said- “substance is first given form in the mind”Laura Cabot, a witch calls visualization, magic, contact with unconscious materials and images occur spontaneously. Imaginative possibilities are more sharply focused… For these reasons witches do most of their magical work in alpha” (Power of The Witch, p. 175 Laura Cabot).

In the occult: the “law of manifestation,” declares that thoughts held firmly in the mind, spoken aloud, or visualized will “manifest’ in the physical world. We will see the concepts and idea of visualization  is carried into the word faith teaching of speaking and confessing.

 

Pt.2 speaking things into existence

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