Earlier, I mentioned the post-modern idea that everybody has a piece of truth. There is a frightening point that I think I must go into regarding this issue of “pieces of truth.” Before we go into what that is, we need to put it within its proper context which is Gnosticism. The early church denied this pseudo form of Christianity. Gnosticism comes from the Greek word gnosis which means “knowledge.” It was syncretistic which meant that it merged various religious elements (like merging elements from many religions into one system). To Gnostics, physical things were evil and spiritual things were good. Humans were trapped in physical bodies but gnosis (knowledge) could release us. The world was created by an evil spirit (demiurge). This mixes Greek philosophy in, by the way. Jesus is just one of the spiritual figures who can free us. It taught that “Sophia” (Greek for “wisdom”) birthed the demiurge. Some versions have Sophia manifested in the form of Mary Magdalene. Sophia was to be worshipped in the same way if not higher than Jesus was. (It’s no accident that we’ve seen the re-emergence of the significance of Mary Magdalene recently.) Just as Jesus was the revealed “word” of God (logos, see John 1), so to was Mary the “wisdom” (sophia) of God. It involved the worship of the “sacred feminine.” Some of the modern feminist theologians try this same move. In fact, some call the traditional Judeo-Christian God “Goddess.” Read this quote from Karen L. King regarding the apocryphal book “The Gospel of Mary Magdalene,” [it] presents a radical interpretation of Jesus' teachings as a path to inner spiritual knowledge; it rejects his suffering and death as the path to eternal life; it exposes the erroneous view that Mary of Magdala was a prostitute for what it is—a piece of theological fiction; it presents the most straightforward and convincing argument in any early Christian writing for the legitimacy of women's leadership; it offers a sharp critique of illegitimate power and a utopian vision of spiritual perfection; it challenges our rather romantic views about the harmony and unanimity of the first Christians; and it asks us to rethink the basis for church authority.” (King, Karen L. The Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the first woman apostle, p. 3-4. Polebridge Press, 2003) or this link.
The beginning of that is the problematic part. “It rejects his suffering and death as the path to eternal life.” This is supposed to be Christian?
Furthermore, one of the many things that Gnosticism taught was the idea of “secret knowledge.” Judas was actually given secret knowledge. This is where the Gospel of Judas (that you might have recently heard about) came from. Judas was actually a good guy who did what Jesus asked him to do in bringing the guards to seize Jesus, but the other disciples weren’t on the spiritual level to understand, so Jesus didn’t tell them about it. Anybody here about “The Secret” that Oprah has been promoting? Secret knowledge that involves a “force” that we can tap into. The “force” of the universe is inside you and you just have to recognize it….hmmm…sounds great!
Understand that there has been a reincarnation of syncretistic nature of Gnosticism. There is a movement called Theosophism (i.e. “the wisdom of the divine”) which teaches that every religion has a piece of the truth. Each is trying to get to the same spot…the Absolute. Consider this, theosophism recognizes the universal concept within religions of a final “teacher” or ultimate figure. Each religion has a final important leader. Judaism has their “Messiah.” Christianity has 2 such figures in the Anti-Christ and the eventual 2nd Coming of Christ. Islam has “The Hidden Imam.” Buddhism has Maitreya. This specific figure will be discussed in a moment, but first consider this list of the requisites to joining the Theosophist Society:
To form a nucleus of the universal brotherhood of humanity without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste, or color.
To encourage the comparative study of religion, philosophy and science.
To investigate the unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in humanity.
Does that sound New Age enough to you? Try this link and look at their emblem under the section titled “The Septenary.” By the way, Oprah Winfrey subscribes to this “universal god” and here her say this in this link.
Maitreya has been identified as this universal figure. He isn’t simply the Buddhist version of the final important figure; he is the figure in all the religions. He is transcendent of a single religion. He will unite all religions under him because as the Theosophist movement’s motto goes, “Nothing is higher than Truth.” This “truth” is that mankind should be united under one world truth (religion). It puts us in the “Age of Aquarius.” Yet another “out there” term, but this one needs to be known. This “New Age” movement is more than novel; it has a name (i.e. The Age of Aquarius). What happens in this age? Read this quote, “the Aquarian Age is thought to bring with it an era of universal brotherhood rooted in reason where it will be possible to solve social problems in a manner equitable to all and with greater opportunity for intellectual and spiritual improvement, since Aquarius is an airy, scientific, and intellectual sign and its ruler planet, Uranus, is associated with intuition (knowledge above reason) and direct perceptions of the heart; and on the mundane level it rules electricity and technology. It is generally described by astrologers that in the Age of Aquarius there will be a blending of religion and science to such a degree that a religious science and a scientific religion will be formed.”
Here is the most troubling part of this NAM: its political connection. Alice Bailey (a disciple of Helena Blavatsky who was known as the Theosophy “founder”), founded the “Lucifer Trust” in 1920 which was renamed, in 1922, “Lucis Trust.” The Lucis Trust (Lucis = light) is a NAM within the United Nations! This is not a conspiracy theory. This is fact. Go to the Lucis Trust website and they will tell you that they are “on the roster of the economic and social council (ECOSOC) of the UN.” In the very least, this entitles them to consultative status with the UN, access to its major players, and access to weekly meetings. The Great Invocation, which I will get into later, has been promoted by the theosophical Lucis Trust at UN meetings. It is a “world prayer.” The Lucis Trust maintains the UN’s meditation room.
FOOTNOTE = Taken from www.lucistrust.org speech Inner Sight Broadcast "Two Brothers: The Buddha and Christ" (May 5th, 2007).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment