Learning From Rome |
By Ray Yungen
From a theological viewpoint, there now exist two branches (so to speak) of the Catholic Church—the traditional (as defended by someone like Karl Keating in his book Catholicism and Fundamentalism) and the progressive or contemplative* element (as exemplified by Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen).1 And while these two branches (or movements) can be seen at times as contradictory to each other, there are many Catholics who straddle both sides of the fence. At least in part, this is because the Eucharist, which is the essence or focal point of traditional Catholicism, also has a mystical element that appeals to the meditating or New Age Catholic. In summary, the traditional Catholic Church emphasizes sin and how to avoid it with the Mass. It places the emphasis on Mary, the sacraments, and purgatory. Although that branch of the Catholic Church is running strong, ever increasingly, it is the contemplative branch that defines Roman Catholicism. This newer “progressive” branch emphasizes mysticism, panentheism, and interspirituality, which will help propel the apostate church into a new-world order.
For those readers unfamiliar with these terms, mysticism is the practice of seeking direct contact with the supernatural realm; panentheism is the view that God is in everything that exists; and interspirituality is the belief that all religions are linked together at the mystical level. In fact, I have written a book and numerous booklets documenting that the “progressive” element of the Catholic Church is part of what is known as the New Age. In a number of New Age bookstores, I have seen sections devoted to Catholic mysticism, which indicates that New Agers themselves share my conclusions.
Let us now examine the way in which evangelicals have dropped their traditional objections toward Catholic dogma and have rushed headlong into the arms of Catholic mysticism. The following people began seeking spiritual nourishment from the mystical branch of the Catholic Church in order to alleviate personal spiritual crises and are now passing this on to the evangelical church at large: Ruth Haley Barton, Kenneth Boa, Larry Crabb, James Goll, Tony Campolo, Eugene Peterson, Pete Scazzero, Leonard Sweet, Richard Foster, and Dallas Willard. These and many other evangelical leaders have tapped into the Catholic mystical tradition to go “deeper” with God.
But these emergent** evangelicals don’t understand the dangers behind their attraction to the Catholic contemplative tradition. A major proponent of this tradition, Catholic priest William Shannon, said the following about Thomas Merton, who was without a doubt the main icon of the contemplative prayer movement:
If one wants to understand Merton’s going to the East [interspirituality] it is important to understand that it was his rootedness in his own faith tradition [Catholicism] that gave him the spiritual equipment [contemplative prayer] he needed to grasp the way of wisdom that is proper to the East [panentheism].2 (emphasis added)
Shannon makes our point here. He is saying that Merton drew on the Roman Catholic mystical tradition, and the experiences that resulted propelled him into the same realm that Buddhist and Hindu mystics experience. And this is the general outcome of those who embrace contemplative spirituality.
Catholic monk Wayne Teasdale (1945-2004) was a major practitioner and promoter of contemplative prayer. He illustrated what happens when a person becomes actively involved with contemplative spirituality. In his book, The Mystic Heart, he explains how he changed after he embraced the same prayer method being promoted in the evangelical church through what is popularly called Spiritual Formation:
I began to appreciate and value other traditions. I discovered that Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Sufism [Islamic mysticism], the Kabbalah [Jewish mysticism], and Hasidism did not take me away from my faith, but augmented my deep commitment to Christian contemplation. I became impassioned in my interest in these traditions, and how they related to the Christian faith. . . . the intermystical life . . . realizes that we all have a much greater heritage than simply our own tradition . . . Everything must be included.3 (emphasis added)
This is what William Shannon was stating. When a person goes down this path, he soon finds himself in the interspiritual frame of mind. But to be biblical, intermingling of religions is impossible because the apostle Paul clearly emphasized the opposite to be true:
But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils. (1 Corinthians 10: 20-21)
Incidentally, Hindus and Buddhists sacrifice to idols. Likewise, Jesus said:
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. (Matthew 6:7-8)
Ironically, learning contemplative prayer means learning word or phrase repetition; it is the way of entering into the mystical realm.
The contemplative prayer movement is connected to New Age panentheism and interspirituality, and in short, all this is leading to a universal one-world religion that will be ready to receive the Antichrist when he comes. Sometimes, it helps to know what lies ahead at the end of the road, and that is especially true in this case.
* Contemplative prayer is a practice that has entered the evangelical church through the Spiritual Formation movement and has its roots in Catholic mysticism and panentheism (God is in all things). The practice entails repeating a word or phrase (often called a sacred word) in order to “remove distractions,” put the mind into a neutral state, and in this altered state, the contemplative practitioner hopes to hear the voice of God. I discuss contemplative spirituality and its dangers in depth in my book, A Time of Departing.
** Emergent or “emerging church” refers to those who follow a loose set of doctrines promoting a redefinition of Christianity and incorporating into their fellowships some or all of the following: Roman Catholic mysticism and contemplative prayer, eastern meditation techniques, pagan religious practices such as walking the labyrinth, Lectio Divina, entering the silence, mantras, etc. The emerging/emergent church is highly ecumenical, and the focus is on social justice and cultural relevancy rather than the Gospel and the Word of God. Emphasis is on a social gospel as opposed to a personal Gospel. (This definition taken from Kevin Reeves booklet D is for Deception: The Language of the New Christianity published by Lighthouse Trails.)
Endnotes:
1. Read A Time of Departing by Ray Yungen (Eureka, MT: Lighthouse Trails Publishing, 2nd edition, 2006).
2. William Shannon, Silent Lamp, The Thomas Merton Story (New York, NY: Crossroad Publishing Company, 1992), p. 281.
3. Wayne Teasdale, The Mystic Heart (Novato, CA: New World Library, 2001 edition, first paperback printing), p. 236.
Related Articles:
The “Tree of Contemplative Practices” – Is Your Church Practicing Some of These? by Lois Putnam
Lighthouse Trails Resources for Understanding Roman Catholicism
(photo from bigstockphoto.com; used with permission)
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“Temple Prostitutes” – Another “Fruit” of Contemplative Spirituality |
By Lynn Lusby Pratt
That title was a crack I made around 2006 when I became aware of the new wave of false teaching entering the church. One aspect of that teaching hinted that our experience with Jesus was (should be?) sexual. (Christians who use a mantra, as in contemplative prayer, and go into an altered state of consciousness sometimes have erotic experiences, which they mistakenly believe to be “union” with God/Jesus.)
There was new interest in/promotion of the “bridal mysticism” of medieval nuns like Teresa of Avila: “Body and spirit are in the throes of a sweet, happy pain…and a spell of strangulation…swoon-like weakness…” There were quotes in Christian books, like Tony Campolo saying, “There is nothing wrong . . . with eroticism in worship.” And Ann Voskamp: “Mystical union…. God as Husband in sacred wedlock, bound together, body and soul… To know him the way Adam knew Eve. Spirit skin to spirit skin…” Ken Wilson: “I was having feelings of connection with the divine… [that] reminded me very much of the amorous feelings I have for my wife.”
You may not have connected the dots, but go back to the Old Testament (and general history) as a reminder that pagan religions typically include sexual ritual. And when believers in God step away from God’s path, it inevitably trends toward an “anything goes” sexual culture. There are loads of Scripture warnings against following pagan practices (ex: Deuteronomy 12:30-32)—not to mention any number of explanations of failures to obey those warnings (ex: 1 Kings 14:22-24). And at some point, says 2 Kings 23:7, the quarters of shrine prostitutes were actually “in the temple of the Lord”! Click here to continue reading.
Related Reading:
Tantric (i.e., Contemplative) Sex and Christianity—A Match NOT Made in Heaven
(photo from bigstockphoto.com; used with permission)
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New Muslim Congresswoman From Minnesota, “Ilhan Omar Flip-Flops, Shares Support for BDS” |
Photo: Muslim Democratic congressional candidate Ilhan Omar calls Israel ‘apartheid regime’, July 10, 2018.. (photo credit: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/LORIE SHAULL
LTRP Note: The following news story is posted for informational and research purposes.
By JTA
Jerusalem Post
Ilhan Omar, the newly elected congresswoman from Minnesota, said after being elected that she supported
the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel, after saying during her campaign that it was “counteractive” and prevents dialogue. Omar’s comment came in response to a website called Muslim Girl, which pressed her on her appearance during the campaign at a Minneapolis area synagogue. During that candidates’ forum, she had said that BDS “stops the dialogue” and is “counteractive” to achieving a two-state outcome. Click here to continue reading.
Related Information:
2017 Commentary: Assembly of God (AOG) General Council to Vote on Resolution Against Israel
2015 – Anti-Jew, Anti-Israel, Replacement Theology Movie by John Lanagan
Reminder: What Lighthouse Trails Believes About Israel and the Jews
Israel: Replacing What God Has Not by Mike Oppenheimer
Biblical Prophecies of the Second Coming of the Messiah by Tony Pearce
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Media and Advocacy Groups Ignore Larger Anti-Semitic Culprit—the New Age/New Thought “God” Who Minimizes the Holocaust |
While major media voices such as Newsweek and groups such as Poland’s Auschwitz Memorial are speaking up this week about a group of Wisconsin high school boys who allegedly gave a Nazi salute in a group photo, media and Jewish advocacy groups seem unaware that one of the most popular well-admired New Age authors states in a best-selling book that God told him Hitler didn’t “inflict suffering” on the Jewish people, but rather he “ended” it.
Neale Donald Walsch’s Conversations With God series sold millions of copies, and Book 1 sat on the New York Times Best-Seller list for 137 weeks. In Conversations With God (Book 2), Walsch (who “views himself as a messenger from God” ) said his New Age “God” told him:
Now your thought that Hitler was a monster is based on the fact that he ordered the killing of millions of people, correct? . . . Yet what if I told you that what you call “death” is the greatest thing that could happen to anyone—what then?
Walsch’s “God” also said in Book 2 that “Hitler went to heaven” (p.35) and in speaking about Hitler and the exterminated Jews, says, “Every event is an Act of God” (p. 49).
Photo: U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum; used with permission.
Even though such comments were made in a book by a New York Times best-selling author, not one advocacy group or media outlet protested at all even though such comments have been read and have likely altered the views of countless people since Conversations With God, Book 2 came out in 1997. On the contrary, people like Oprah Winfrey have promoted Walsch. On one show, Oprah called him one of the ten most “memorable thinkers” in a special program in 2001 after 9/11; and, in a presentation that Walsch gave, he said Oprah held up Conversations With God, Book 1 and said, “This is my favorite book” (source). How could she (or anyone) promote Walsch’s “God,” who said:
The mistakes Hitler made did no harm or damage to those whose deaths he caused. Those souls were released from their earthly bondage, like butterflies emerging from a cocoon. (p. 54, CWG, Book 2)
It seems rather hypocritical to go after this group of high school boys (who were utterly wrong if indeed they were giving a Nazi salute) yet ignore widely spread statements, made in a best-selling book, that carry far more weight and have substantially more influence.
In 20o2, author Warren B. Smith wrote about Walsch’s comments in his book Reinventing Jesus Christ: The New Gospel (now titled False Christ Coming: Does Anybody Care?: What New Age Leaders Really Have in Store for America, the Church, and the World ) and then later in his 2015 booklet Oprah Winfrey’s New Age “Christianity” – Neale Donald Walsch, “God,” and Hitler. In both cases, the outrageous anti-Semitic comments by Walsch’s supposed “God” continued to be ignored and unchallenged by today’s media and advocacy groups.
What most people do not realize are two things: one, that New Age thought has fully integrated into our society in virtually every sector (e.g., medicine, education, business, religion, and government); and two, New Age thought has a consistent anti-Semitic thread running through it (via the teachings of New Age/New Thought pioneers such as Madame Helena P. Blavatsky and Alice Bailey, whose writings influence many of today’s New Age books). So, to go after this group of high school boys but to utterly ignore the real influencers of anti-Semitism is like swatting at a fly in the house while leaving the back door and windows wide open for thousands of flies to enter.
If you haven’t already, please take some time to read Smith’s booklet (below) Neale Donald Walsch, “God,” and Hitler as it provides insight to this New Age “God” and what he really stands for.
Oprah Winfrey’s New Age “Christianity” – Neale Donald Walsch, “God,” and Hitler
By Warren B. Smith
Several months after the tragic events of 9/11/2001, Oprah Winfrey did a special program on the ten most “memorable thinkers” she had ever met.1 One of these memorable thinkers was a controversial New Age channeler by the name of Neale Donald Walsch who teaches—among other things—that we are all “God”2 and that “Hitler went to heaven.”3 Oprah’s high praise of Walsch provides important insight into the strong New Age beliefs she attempts to pass off as being “Christian.”
Who is Neale Donald Walsch?
In 1992, Neale Donald Walsch, a disillusioned and distraught former radio talk-show host, public relations professional, and longtime metaphysical seeker, sat down one night and wrote God an angry letter.4 He was amazed when “God” immediately answered his letter by speaking to him through an inner voice. That night, and in subsequent conversations, Walsch wrote down all the dictated answers to his questions. Walsch’s Conversations with God, Book 1 was published in 1995 and became the first in a series of best-selling Conversations with God books. It seemed that in Walsch, “God” had found yet another willing channel for his New Age/New Gospel/New Spirituality teachings.
In a style reminiscent of John Denver and George Burns in the movie Oh, God!, Walsch and “God” present a more “down home” version of the same New Age/New Gospel teachings that were conveyed through previous “inner voice” dictations to Helen Schucman (A Course in Miracles), Barbara Marx Hubbard (The Revelation), Benjamin Creme (Messages from Maitreya), and many others. With Walsch playing the role of devil’s advocate, “God” cleverly plays off of Walsch’s leading questions and comments. Walsch and “God” come across in these conversations as a couple of “everyday Joe’s” who systematically dismantle biblical Christianity with their straight-from-the-source, “thus saith the Lord,” “spiritually correct” teachings. With the assurance of two foxes now in control of the henhouse, they emphatically assert that their New Gospel is from God and the “Old Gospel” is not.
Delighted by the fact they are being taken seriously by millions of people around the world, “God” and Walsch appear to thoroughly enjoy their process of bringing the public up to spiritual speed. Continuing to build upon the foundation of New Age doctrine already introduced through other channelers, “God” and Walsch add some special twists of their own to the New Gospel story. Using Walsch as the straight man, “God” introduces many of his more extreme teachings with smug, authoritative declarations such as: “There are no such things as the Ten Commandments,”5 “So who said Jesus was perfect?,”6 and “Hitler went to heaven.”7
Hitler and Death
Regarding Adolph Hitler, Walsch’s “God” makes a number of provocative statements about him. The net effect is a minimization of Hitler’s actions and a glorification of death. The following are several examples of “God’s” comments about Hitler and death:
The real issue is whether Hitler’s actions were “wrong.” Yet I have said over and over again that there is no “right” or “wrong” in the universe. A thing is not intrinsically right or wrong. A thing simply is.8
Now your thought that Hitler was a monster is based on the fact that he ordered the killing of millions of people, correct? . . . Yet what if I told you that what you call “death” is the greatest thing that could happen to anyone—what then?9
So the first thing you have to understand—as I’ve already explained to you—is that Hitler didn’t hurt anyone. In a sense, he didn’t inflict suffering, he ended it.10
The mistakes Hitler made did no harm or damage to those whose deaths he caused. Those souls were released from their earthly bondage, like butterflies emerging from a cocoon.11
Walsch, always the public relations man, anticipates reader incredulity at statements like these by expressing apparent surprise and then asking “God” questions that the skeptical reader would probably ask. But in the process of seeming to challenge “God”—which he does with considerable skill—Walsch actually enables “God” to further expand upon and reinforce the thoughts and ideas contained in his teachings. Not surprisingly, Walsch always seems to come around to “God’s” point of view—even to some of his more extreme views about the nature of “God,” the glorification of death, and his strange proclamations regarding Adolph Hitler. In his book titled Questions and Answers on Conversations with God, Walsch tries to address reader concerns about some of the comments “God” makes about Hitler and death. In response to one person’s confusion, he states:
Yet while the books do state that life is eternal, that death is nothing to fear, and that returning to God is joyful, I do not believe that any reasonable interpretation of the material could fairly portray God as condoning the killing of human beings—or brushing it off as if it were of no importance or consequence.12
But his attempted explanation that his “God” does not condone killing human beings or taking death lightly is woefully inadequate and totally unconvincing. Neale Donald Walsch is caught in the vortex of his own twisted channelings. His “God” contradicts the one true God of the Bible at every turn. Contrary to what his New Age “God” teaches, we are not God; Satan is real; there is spiritual deception; there is a hell; and Jesus is Lord. In his convoluted rationalizations about Hitler and what he did, Walsch does not address the fact that he and other New Age leaders highly recommend Barbara Marx Hubbard’s The Revelation. This is a book in which the New Age “Christ” describes a future “selection process” that would result in the mandated deaths of all those who refuse to comply with the bottom-line doctrine of his New Spirituality—that we are all “God.”13 Thus, it would certainly appear that the New Age “God” and “Christ”—through their channeled New Age books and teachings—are trying to make it easier for people to rationalize the future elimination of Christians and all who oppose the New Spirituality.
Humanity as “God”
At one point in their conversation, Walsch’s “God” expounds upon the fact that man is not subject to God because man is “God.” His “God” explains there are no rules, and there is no right or wrong because man, as “God,” is his own “rule-maker.” Walsch’s “God” contends that because “God” and humanity are one, it is therefore up to humanity to determine what “God” wants to do. If humanity wants to make up a new set of rules this late in the game, humanity can do that because it was humanity—as “God”—that devised the original rules in the first place. Everything is relative. Everything is up to the prevailing majority. Therefore, because humanity is believed to be “God,” humanity can create whatever rules and whatever future it wants. “God” tells Walsch:
You are the Creator and the Created.14
All your life you have been told that God created you. I come now to tell you this: You are creating God.15
You are your own rule-maker.16
In truth, there is no such thing as a “sinner,” for no one can be sinned against—least of all Me.17
Think, speak, and act as the God you are.18
Your future is creatable. Create it as you want it.19
There is only one of Us. You and I are One.20
And do not stay so “stuck” in your present beliefs and customs that you halt the process of evolution itself.21
Walsch’s “God” makes it clear that his postmodern progressive “revelation” is for people who have never really understood his teachings about man being “God.” Walsch’s “God” contends that the only real “sin” is for man to see himself as sinful and separate from God. He states that the only “devil”—or “Satan”—is the separatist thinking that causes people to make a distinction between man and God.
When at last you see that there is no separation in God’s World—that is, nothing which is not God—then, at last, will you let go of this invention of man which you have called Satan.22 (emphasis added)
The mind can make the belief in separation very real and very fearful, and this belief is the “devil.”23(emphasis added)
Echoing A Course in Miracles and other channeled New Age teachings Oprah Winfrey has also endorsed, her New Age “God” states that only as humanity sees through the illusion of “separation” and “sin” and affirms its own godhood and “Oneness” with all creation, will the planet be saved from ultimate ruin.
New Age/New Gospel Politics
Walsch’s New Age “God” warns that in the future people will have to make a choice between the “old” and “new” gospels. The choice they make will have great bearing on the future of mankind. His “God” declares that humanity, by collectively imagining and envisioning its highest hopes and dreams, can override Bible prophecy by consciously creating a positive future. “God” expresses great optimism that the New Age/New Gospel spirituality will prevail and tells Walsch that humanity is standing on the threshold of a “golden” “New Age.”
The twenty-first century will be the time of awakening, of meeting The Creator Within. Many beings will experience Oneness with God and with all of life. This will be the beginning of the golden age of the New Human, of which it has been written; the time of the universal human, which has been eloquently described by those with deep insight among you.
There are many such people in the world now—teachers and messengers, Masters and visionaries—who are placing this vision before humankind and offering tools with which to create it. These messengers and visionaries are the heralds of a New Age.24 (emphasis added)
Regarding how the New Age will be achieved and ultimately overseen, “God” impresses Walsch with the importance of bringing spirituality into politics and government. Walsch’s “God” is very specific about how this spiritualization of politics should ultimately manifest itself:
“God”: Something will have to be new if you wish your world to change. You must begin to see someone else’s interests as your own. This will happen only when you reconstruct your global reality and govern yourselves accordingly.
Walsch: Are you talking about a one-world government?
“God”: I am.25
“God” then exhorts Walsch to carry out his mission to change the world and bring in a spiritually based new-world order by issuing this charge:
Go, therefore, and teach ye all nations, spreading far and wide The New Gospel: WE ARE ALL ONE.26
And certainly, Walsch seems to be doing his part. Responding to his “God’s” charge to spread the New Gospel and to help establish sympathy for a “one-world government,” he co-founded “The Global Renaissance Alliance” to help further the New Age agenda for world peace. GRA members include Deepak Chopra, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Wayne Dyer, James Redfield, and Gary Zukav among others.
Walsch, “God,” and Hitler
And while Walsch’s New Age “God” describes his unbiblical plans to save humanity, he also puts forth his bizarre views regarding Adolph Hitler. The channeled teachings about Hitler alone prompt one to seriously question how Oprah Winfrey could even begin to describe Neale Donald Walsch as one of the ten most “memorable thinkers” she had ever met. Did she read all the statements Walsch claims to have channeled from “God?” Did Oprah and her staff somehow miss what “God” said about Hitler—such as “Hitler went to heaven,” “Hitler didn’t hurt anyone,” Hitler “did no harm or damage to those whose deaths he caused,” etc. If those statements weren’t enough, Walsch’s “God” seems to wonder why anyone—like Hitler—should be punished for bringing the “greatest peace” and the “greatest joy” to those who were killed:
I tell you this, at the moment of your death you will realize the greatest freedom, the greatest peace, the greatest joy, and the greatest love you have ever known. Shall we therefore punish Bre’r Fox for throwing Bre’r Rabbit into the briar patch?27
A generation or so ago, Neale Donald Walsch would never have been taken seriously. Yet in today’s metaphysically minded mainstream society, he is regarded as one of America’s top spiritual leaders—someone to whom Oprah Winfrey gave her highest praise. What was Oprah thinking to single out Walsch as one of the most “memorable thinkers” she has ever met?
Humanity’s Team and the Oprah Interview
To encourage people to accept and defend the teachings of the New Age/New Spirituality and to help Walsch reinvent himself, he founded a new organization in 2003 called Humanity’s Team. At the first “Humanity’s Team Leadership Gathering” held June 27-29, 2003 in Portland, Oregon, Walsch described Humanity’s Team to its leaders:
A grassroots, citizen’s movement with chapters and people active in cities, towns and communities and villages all over the world. . . . We seek to create the possibility for a New Spirituality to emerge on the planet. . . . We seek to encourage humanity to expand and explore its ideas about God and about Life. To change our fundamental beliefs in such a way that we alter our collective reality. . . . We are trying, we are seeking to create a cultural story for the whole of humanity.28
One of the things Neale Donald Walsch wanted to impress upon those attending his Humanity’s Team Leadership Gathering was how to effectively deal with the media. In a session titled “The Care and Feeding of the Press,” Walsch taught his team leaders some subtle tricks of the trade. Because he and his Conversations with God books were so controversial, he warned attendees they would have some problems with the press. To make it easier for people to accept his ideas, Walsch described how he was in the process of “reinventing” and “repackaging” himself. He explained that the establishment of Humanity’s Team was an important part of the “repackaging” process. He told them:
You’re fighting an uphill battle here because I’m the guy who says he has conversations with God and nobody in the media wants to touch that with a ten foot pole. . . . The reason we formed Humanity’s Team was to get it away from me. And to get it away—at least one step away—from the Conversations with God stuff. . . . We formed Humanity’s Team as a way frankly . . . of repackaging, repackaging the product, if you please, which is the New Spirituality. And suddenly we are getting media, suddenly we are getting interviews. . . . We’ve stepped into a place that generically is difficult to disagree with. Humanity’s Team is difficult to disagree with. Conversations with God brings up disagreement almost at once.29
In this presentation, Walsch disclosed some interesting things about himself. In a very revealing talk, he used a personal situation with Oprah Winfrey to illustrate the problems he has had with the media and why he felt the need to “repackage” and “reinvent” himself. To illustrate his point to attendees, Walsch described how Oprah had flown him to Chicago where they taped a special two-hour interview. He goes on to recount how she held up his book Conversations and called it her “favorite book.” In his presentation, Walsch inadvertently revealed how New Age leaders like Oprah Winfrey and himself are subtly—and not so subtly—maneuvering and manipulating people into accepting the teachings of the New Age/New Spirituality. Because the context is so important, I have quoted Walsch at length:
Oprah brought me to Chicago. She loves Conversations. In fact she says it is her favorite book. She says that on the air—“This is my favorite book”—and she holds up Conversations with God. So she brought me to Chicago and she said, “Let’s do two hours.” I’m gonna do a two-hour special. And she interviewed me on videotape for two hours and we had a fascinating conversation, the way only Oprah can, ’cause she gets right into the interior of it. And I went back home, flying back home, and I thought, My God, they’re going to do a two-hour special. This is incredible . . . talk about zooming sales. And I went home and . . . it stayed in the can for a year and a half. I did not call her, ’cause I didn’t want to bother Oprah with, you know, “Where is my program? When are you going to put it on?” . . . But finally the producer called us and said, “You know, Neale, we just can’t use it. You are so incredibly provocative in what you’re saying about your relationship with God, humanity’s relationship with God, where religion currently stands in the world etc. etc. . . . that we’ve looked at this thing, we’ve watched this program eight times and all of us agree it’s just too soon. You’re way ahead of the curve, we can’t put this on now.”30
Thus, the unaired interview was perceived as a potential public relations problem for Oprah and her staff. They thought the public wasn’t quite ready for a controversial interview with a man who claimed to be taking spiritual dictation from “God.” And they were definitely not happy that Walsch had mentioned the unaired interview in one of his newsletters and took him to task for bringing the whole situation into the open. Walsch explained:
I made a comment about this—just a short one or two sentence comment in a newsletter about a year and a half ago—about this. And she didn’t get a thousand e-mails, she got about six thousand e-mails and phone calls and letters. And they actually had one of her personal assistants call me and say, “Neale, would you just, could you just not do that, because you’re hurting yourself more than you’re helping yourself. You’re irritating the producers here. I know you didn’t do it personally, but you’re upsetting. You’ll never get on the show that way. Don’t do that . . . Don’t send letters of protest to Oprah because you’ll just ruin it—any chance.”31
Walsch proceeded to use the whole interview incident to teach his Humanity’s Team leaders how to avoid antagonizing the media. Walsch suggested that it was his own low-key reassuring attitude that helped Oprah and her staff find an alternative way to introduce him to their millions of viewers. It also set up the possibility for airing the entire interview sometime in the future.
We’ve got to make Oprah and her people totally okay with the decision they made. You know what I said to Oprah, I called Oprah personally. I know Oprah. I called her personally. I said, “You know, Ope”—see now, you know you know Oprah personally when you call her ‘Ope.’ I said, “You know Ope, I totally get it. I totally understand. I’m totally okay. I’m right there with you. Don’t you put me on your program one minute before you think your audience is ready to receive it. I would not have you jeopardize all the wonderful good you’re doing in the world by stepping into that before your audience is ready to go there with you. You will know when the right time is and I will be there, unless I’m not.” And she got to feel like, whew . . . totally understood, totally embraced and totally made okay with the decision that she had made. That’s how I’ll get on Oprah if I’m ever on it.
So what happened? Last January Oprah did this really neat program. Last January—you may have seen it. She said the ten most influential people in my life. She had Nelson Mandela. She had Vaclav Havel. She had people at that level, and she had a clip from our interview. And she said, “Neale Donald Walsch.” It was a minute and fifty-seven second clip—less than two minutes of an interview of that two hours. She took about two minutes. But you know what—traveling in some pretty fast company . . . and even with those two minutes, our book sales just went through the roof. . . . So we learned don’t—that’s my last word to you here today—don’t antagonize the media.32
Walsch’s revealing account illustrates how New Age leaders like Walsch and media personalities like Oprah Winfrey are spiritually molding an unsuspecting public. They understand that the media is the message and that timing is everything. They are pushing their New Age/New Gospel/New Spirituality beliefs, but they have to make sure the public is ready for what they have to say. They must always anticipate what their audience can handle. And this is why Oprah and her staff decided to introduce Walsch in a short, safe, carefully edited clip describing him as a “memorable thinker” rather than in the longer interview and describing him as the “man who has conversations with God.”
Walsch Anticipates Criticism
In a special tutorial session that immediately followed the Humanity’s Team Leadership Conference, Walsch warned team leaders about media questions that would inevitably arise regarding “God’s” controversial statements about Hitler. He explained that the Hitler material—if not carefully explained—had the potential to damage their New Age/New Gospel/New Spirituality message.
To prepare his team leaders for what they might encounter, Walsch introduced a question and answer role-playing exercise. He used a seemingly logical, formulaic presentation they could employ to convince people that Hitler had really gone to heaven. The simple routine was cleverly designed to take skeptics through a process that would lead them to ultimately agree that if God’s capacity for love and forgiveness was all-encompassing, then God could forgive anyone of anything at anytime—if they were really sorry—even if the person had already passed on—even if that person was Adolf Hitler.33
But for all his talk of love and forgiveness, Walsch never really explained why his “God” seemed to be excusing Hitler for what he did—even going so far as to glorify death in the process. Unbelievably, Walsch’s “God” makes it look like Hitler actually did the Jewish people a favor by killing them. A knowledgeable observer, with prior understanding of the New Age’s proposed “selection process,”34 might suggest that Walsch and his New Age “God” were conditioning the public for the spiritual euthanasia of future resisters to their New Age/New Spirituality. In fact, it sounds a lot like Antichrist and his future plans for those who oppose him. It brings to mind the following Scripture where the true Jesus Christ warns about this kind of situation:
These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. (John 16:1-3)
In Conversations with God, Book 1, “God” told Walsch:
You know you have found God when you observe that you will not murder (that is, willfully kill, without cause). For while you will understand that you cannot end another’s life in any event (all life is eternal), you will not choose to terminate any particular incarnation, nor change any life energy from one form to another, without the most sacred justification.35 (emphasis added)
One has to wonder just what Walsch and his New Age “God” would say about what constitutes the “sacred justification” of killing someone. In Walsch’s 2006 book Home With God, his New Age “God” continues to glorify death as he teaches that no one can die against his own will. In other words, Walsch’s “God” would have us believe that those who were killed by Hitler gave their consent to the Holocaust and thus bear equal responsibility for it. This kind of thinking even trumps the absurdity of those who insist there never was a Holocaust. The following are some quotes from Walsch’s ”God” that could one day be used to justify killing those who do not “choose” to conform to the dictates of the New Age/New Gospel/New Spirituality:
Dying is something you do for you.36
You are the cause of your own death. This is always true, no matter where, or how, you die.37
You cannot die against your will.38
Death is never a tragedy. It is always a gift.39
Death does not exist.40
If Oprah was embarrassed by her endorsement of A Million Little Pieces—author James Frey’s partially fabricated book—it will seem like a very small matter compared to the fallout she could receive if she chooses to air the long-delayed interview with Neale Donald Walsch. Unless, of course, her viewers have been sufficiently conditioned to accept what Walsch says without question. Her praise of this New Age teacher is a tragic statement about her spiritual beliefs and her New Age “Christianity” that is no Christianity at all.
New Revelations
In 2002, the same year that Oprah declared Walsch to be one of the ten most “memorable thinkers” she had ever met, Walsch released a new book titled The New Revelations: A Conversation with God. In this book, Walsch’s “God” states:
There have always been ideological differences on your planet, but the present widening of the split in ideology with a simultaneous advance in technology has created the conditions for rapid self-destruction. . . .
It will take an unprecedented act of courage, on a grand scale. You may have to do something virtually unknown in the annals of human history. . . . You may have to give up some of your most sacred beliefs.41
Later in the book, Walsch’s “God” lays out the heretical bottom line of his New Age/New Gospel Spirituality when he categorically states:
Yet let me make something clear. The era of the Single Savior is over.42
Oprah or Orpah?
At birth, Oprah Winfrey was given the biblical name of Orpah. She was named after the biblical Naomi’s daughter-in-law Orpah, and that name was recorded on her birth certificate. But her name was mispronounced by her family as the r and the p were inverted and her name morphed into Oprah. A little letter or two can leaven a biblical name away from its biblical foundation. And a little New Age leaven—God “in” everyone—can leaven away the true foundation of biblical Christianity (Galatians 5:9).
Oprah is not God and neither are any of the rest of us. Hopefully she will one day recognize the falsity of the deceptive teachings that have converted her to the New Age/New Gospel/New Spirituality that she is sharing with her millions of followers. We should all pray that Oprah will one day renounce the false New Age “God” and “Christ” she has learned from Neale Donald Walsch and all the other New Age figures she has read, studied, and featured on her programs throughout the years. Until then, Oprah Winfrey remains one of the most influential and charismatic false teachers in the world today.
To order copies of Oprah Winfrey’s New Age “Christianity” (Part 2) – Neale Donald Walsch, “God,” and Hitler, click here.
Endnotes
- “Memorable Thinkers” (The Oprah Winfrey Show, January 2002).
- Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations with God: an uncommon dialogue, Book 1 (New York, NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1995), p. 202.
- Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations with God: an uncommon dialogue, Book 2 (Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc., 1997), p. 35.
- Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations with God, Book 1, op. cit., p. 1.
- Ibid., p. 95.
- Ibid., p. 192.
- Walsch, Conversations with God, Book 2, op. cit., p. 35.
- Ibid., p. 36.
- Ibid.
- Ibid., p. 56.
- Ibid., p. 42.
- Neale Donald Walsch, Questions and Answers on “Conversations with God” (Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc., 1999), p. 334.
- Barbara Marx Hubbard, The Revelation: A Message of Hope for the New Millennium (Novato, CA: Nataraj Publishing, 1995), pp. 240, 267.
- Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations with God: an uncommon dialogue, Book 3 (Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing Company, 1998), p. 350.
- Ibid., p. 256.
- Walsch, Conversations with God, Book 1, op. cit., p. 41.
- Walsch, Conversations with God, Book 3, op. cit., p. 87.
- Walsch, Conversations with God, Book 1, op. cit., p. 76.
- Walsch, Conversations with God, Book 2, op. cit., p. 235.
- Neale Donald Walsch, Friendship with God: an uncommon dialogue (New York, NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1999), p. 23.
- Walsch, Conversations with God, Book 3, op. cit., p. 89.
- Ibid., p. 56.
- A Course in Miracles: Combined Volume (Glen Ellen, CA: Foundation for Inner Peace, 1975, 1992, Text), p. 50.
- Walsch, Friendship with God, op. cit., pp. 295-296.
- Walsch, Conversations with God, Book 2, op. cit., p. 141.
- Walsch, Friendship with God, op. cit., p. 375.
- Walsch, Conversations with God, Book 2, op. cit., p. 36.
- Humanity’s Team Leadership Gathering, Portland, Oregon, June 27-July 1, 2003: Session: “The Care and Feeding of the Press.” Transcribed by author from audiotape of conference. Note: January program Walsch is referring to is The Oprah Winfrey Show that aired in January 2002 and titled “Memorable Thinkers”).
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Humanity’s Team Teacher’s Tutorial: Session 12, Portland, Oregon, June 30-July 1, 2003. Transcribed by author from compact disc of the tutorial.
- Barbara Marx Hubbard, The Revelation, op. cit., pp. 240, 267.
- Walsch, Conversations with God, Book 1, op. cit., pp. 96-97.
- Neale Donald Walsch, Home with God: In a Life That Never Ends: A wondrous message of love in a final Conversation with God (New York, NY: Atria Books, 2006), p. 7.
- Ibid., p. 8.
- Ibid., p. 10.
- Ibid., p. 42.
- Ibid., p. 89.
- Neale Donald Walsch, The New Revelations: A Conversation with God (New York, NY: Atria Books, 2002), p. 175.
- Ibid., p. 157.
This article by Warren B. Smith is also available in booklet format. To order copies, click here.
(photo from bigstockphoto.com; used with permission)
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Release of New Booklet on “A Course in Miracles” Coincides With Marianne Williamson’s Announcement About 2020 Presidential Election |
he journey to the cross should be the last “useless journey.”—The “Jesus” of A Course in Miracles
Just as Lighthouse Trails was about to release this new booklet, a stunning news announcement by New Age leader Marianne Williamson was broadcast throughout America’s media. Williamson announced that she is seriously considering running for president in the 2020 election, and in fact, has already formed an exploratory committee and made a trip to Iowa to test the waters. For over 25 years, former New Age follower Warren B. Smith has been warning about A Course in Miracles and the two women who largely brought it to the forefront of Western society, Marianne Williamson and Oprah Winfrey. In 1993, a year after Warren Smith’s biography The Light That Was Dark: From the New Age to Amazing Grace was released by Moody Press, Warren was asked to speak on the 700 Club* to share his warning about the New Age movement and A Course in Miracles. Since then, he has shared this warning in many different venues, including a 2008 message that you can watch on his new YouTube channel.
NEW BOOKLET: A Course in Miracles: The New Age Book That is Redefining Christianity and Fooling the World by Warren B. Smith is our newest Lighthouse Trails Booklet. The Booklet is 18 pages long and sells for $1.95 for single copies. Quantity discounts are as much as 50% off retail. Our Booklets are designed to give away to others or for your own personal use. Below is the content of the booklet. To order copies of this booklet, click here.
A Course in Miracles: The New Age Book That is Redefining Christianity and Fooling the World
By Warren B. Smith
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.—Matthew 24:4–5
In 1965, Columbia University Professor of Medical Psychology, Helen Schucman, heard an “inner voice” saying, “This is a course in miracles. Please take notes.”1 Schucman’s initial resistance was overcome when the “inner voice,” identifying itself as “Jesus,” told her the purpose of the Course:
The world situation is worsening to an alarming degree. People all over the world are being called on to help, and are making their individual contributions as part of an overall prearranged plan. Part of the plan is taking down A Course in Miracles, and I am fulfilling my part in the agreement, as you will fulfill yours. You will be using abilities you developed long ago, and which you are not really ready to use again. Because of the acute emergency, however, the usual slow, evolutionary process is being by-passed in what might best be described as a “celestial speed-up.”2
Baffled by her assignment, but nevertheless obliging, the skeptical Schucman diligently took dictation from this “inner voice.” In the seven and a half years of cumulative dictation that became A Course in Miracles, Schucman’s “Jesus” presents a whole new way of looking at the world. Using Christian terminology, sophisticated psychology, and convincing authority, Schucman’s “Jesus” teaches a completely different gospel than the one found in the Bible. His New Age/New Gospel wholly contradicts the Bible’s Gospel of Jesus Christ. Schucman’s “inner voice,” while claiming to be Jesus, actually opposes everything for which the Bible’s Jesus stands. Click here to continue reading this booklet. |
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