Oh good grief! – From one fire to another.
New ageism anyone??
A self destructive pursuit of extra biblical ‘truth’ and subjective experiences.
Catholic Adventism: Cause for Concern or Celebration?
Quote:
“This interest that younger Adventists are exhibiting is a “spiritual” one that seeks to incorporate ancient Christian spiritual traditions into daily life, many of which are retained in Catholicism.”
Quote:
After an intense Biblical and historical study of Sola Scriptura, I was convinced that to be a Christian one enters a pre-existing stream of tradition and that meant that I need to look for one of the older Christian traditions that do not adhere to a rather late and unbiblical innovation such as Bible Only Christianity, in my humble opinion. After studying the issues my decision was between the Catholic, Orthodox and Coptic churchs. I disagreed with monophysite heresy and thus could not become a Coptic Christian. Then the study of the role of the Bishop of Rome was the deciding factor in choosing between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The Biblical and historical research took a fair amount of time, however the choice became clear. I could no longer be intellecutally fulfilled and remain outside of Christ’s mystical body on Earth, the Catholic Church, once again in my humble opinion. And so I converted on the feast of Pentecost in 2006.
01.14.07 @ 10:27 am
Quote:
“Two of my brothers became Catholic in different directions. One started reading Eastern Religions, which he saw asked lots of good questions; he then found Thomas Merton, who gave Catholic answers to those questions. Another brother volunteered in the Middle East, and became drawn to the Catholic shrines and to the Catholic people of the West Bank.”
01.08.07 @ 9:42 am
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/merton.htm
Thomas Merton - Contemplative, Mystic, Panentheist
“What Martin Luther King was to the civil rights movement and what Henry Ford was to the automobile, Thomas Merton is to contemplative prayer. Although this prayer movement existed centuries before he came along, Merton took it out of its monastic setting and made it available to and popular with the masses. It is interesting to me that many people still think celebrity star Shirley MacLaine was the greatest influence in the New Age. But for me, hands down, Thomas Merton has influenced New Age thinking more than any person of recent decades. Merton penned one of the most classic descriptions of New Age spirituality I have ever come across. He explained:
“It is a glorious destiny to be a member of the human race, ... now I realize what we all are .... If only they [people] could all see themselves as they really are ...I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other ... At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusions, a point of pure truth ... This little point ...is the pure glory of God in us. It is in everybody.”
FROM A TIME OF DEPARTING BY RAY YUNGEN (quoting Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander (1989 edition, 157-158)
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Catholic lay monk Wayne Teasdale says this of Thomas Merton:
“Thomas Merton was perhaps the greatest popularizer of interspirituality. He opened the door for Christians to explore other traditions, notably Taoism (Chinese witchcraft), Hinduism and Buddhism.”
[Mystic Heart: Discovering a Universal Spirituality in the World’s Religions - Wayne Teasdale]
AND
Wayne Teasdale , who wrote A Monk in the World, saw Thomas Merton as being one of the leading interspiritual visionaries as Merton assimilated “the major spiritual classics of the east into his Christian understanding, particularly Zen Buddhist, Hindu Vedanta, Yoga texts and Taoist classics.” Wayne Teasdale also said of Merton: “He was consciously trying to relate the mystical insights of other traditions with his own Christian faith.” p.181
Comment from Ray Yungen
A Christian is supposed to evangelize those from Eastern religions, present them with the gospel rather than assimilate their mystical insights. That’s what the great commission was all about. That is what the crux of our opposition is all about.
As a movement, those who practice contemplative prayer, on the whole, tend to develop spiritual kinship to Eastern religions, especially Buddhism.
Thomas Keating
Thomas Merton said:
“I see no contradiction between Buddhism and Christianity ... I intend to become as good a Buddhist as I can.”
(David Steindl-Rast, “Recollection of Thomas Merton’s Last Days in the West” (Monastic Studies, 7:10, 1969)
“Why did Merton say that? What did he mean? The story leading to Merton’s comment is a model for and recapitulation of the emergent and still emerging Buddhist—Christian interreligious dialogue, perhaps one of the more obscure yet more significant events occurring today.”
By Alan Altany
FOR HUNDRED MOUNTAIN
Sola scriptura
Sola fide
Sola gratia
Solus Christus
Soli Deo gloria
John Douglas
