FUNDAMENTALIST
(an
exchange of letters)
10 May 1977
Dear Ben Swett,
I always liked you and respected many of your
opinions on a lot of subjects. However, the more I read in the Bible and in
other books and talk with people, I become increasingly concerned about
something you were involved with.
I remember you said you would 'meditate,'
putting your mind in a certain state so it 'spun' freely without the hindrance
of the body, working much faster. You said you observed many other 'worlds'
than this one and had seen Jesus. On reading the Bible, I found in Deuteronomy
18:9-14 the practices of using one's own powers to reach the 'spiritual' world,
which we would say was related to parapsychology, was an abomination to God
punishable by death. They are mentioned again in Galatians 5:20-21 as sorcery
or witchcraft and it says "those who do such
things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God." Also, in Acts
19:18-19 new Christians at Ephasus confessed and
renounced magical or curious arts and burned all their books on the subject. It
is treated similarly in other parts of the Bible.
The reason I think it is such an abomination to
God is that since man is in a state of separation from God he cannot reach God
through his own efforts. This is the main difference between Christianity and
other religions. Other religions try to reach God or what they consider the
Ultimate through merit or some form of meditation. In this sense, Christianity
cannot technically be called a religion. Christianity says that man, through
his own efforts, cannot reach God at all. God had to do something to bring man
to himself. Christianity says God reached down to man to offer a free gift
through his son Jesus Christ which we are to accept or
reject.
If God cannot be reached through practices that
are of our own efforts, there are other powers that we can and do reach -- our
own and the devilŐs. In fact, this is probably why
some of these practices are often used in other religions
which God said not to partake of. Paul said although idols are nothing
they are backed by demons.
There are gifts of the spirit as mentioned in I
Corinthians chapters 12, 13, 14. I have seen these gifts used and in some cases
misused as spoken of in Chapter 14. They are just what the Bible calls them --
gifts, prayed for and accepted; not obtained from a
form of meditation.
You said the Church today has neglected divine
revelation. The Bible itself is divine revelation. ItŐs almost the next thing
to God as it says in John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the word was God." And they neglected it too.
But as for the God-given gifts, it says in I
Thessalonians 5:20-22: "Do not despise prophesying but test everything;
and hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil." The best way
I know to test it is with the Bible. God does not lie. Satan, it says in the
Bible, is a liar, and the father of lies, and he will deceive you.
I remember you believed in a form of
reincarnation and you believed you had always been either a soldier or a priest
in other lives, and you were here in this life to experience family life. In
Hebrews 9:27 God says "And just as it is appointed for men to die once,
and after that comes judgment."
I have heard some visions from some people who
had them and they were given by them. They didn't
meditate to put themselves in a state of mind or a level of consciousness. God
says all his gifts "are inspired by one and the same spirit, who
apportions to each one individually as he wills." (I Cor
12:11)
It says in Colossians 2:18, "Let no one
disqualify you, taking his stand on visions,".
I wish this letter was on a happier subject, but
what it appears you may be involved in makes me afraid for you. I suggest you
pray about it and ask God to reveal to you the true nature of this -- don't
meditate about it. Read your Bible.
I pray that God bless you richly
Larry
15 June 1977
Dear Larry
That was a very interesting letter. Apparently
you believe that I am -- or may be -- practicing abominations to God punishable
by death. Although you say you are concerned for me, the whole tone of your
letter is pure condemnation. In fact, I have rarely been so thoroughly damned,
on so little evidence, in so arrogant and dogmatic a fashion.
Is that what they are teaching you in church? If
so, I can see that I had better stay away from there, or I might be dragged out
into the parking lot and stoned to death in the name of God.
I do not intend to "disqualify you" by
"taking my stand on visions" -- but do you really believe that a
little Bible study and a little fundamentalist dogma qualify you to sit in
judgment on behalf of Almighty God?
Before you write such a letter to anyone else,
you really should check out your reasons for presuming they are damned. For
example:
Meditation is not a synonym for sorcery or
witchcraft, and it is not condemned in the Bible. Look the word up in a
concordance and see what the Bible actually says about it. Genesis 24:63,
Psalms 1:02, 4:04, 19:14, 46:10, 104:34, 119:97, 119:148, and Philippians 4:8-9
(where "think upon" means "dwell upon" or "meditate
upon" in the original Greek) will do for openers. Then see all those
passages where Jesus teaches us that "as a man thinks in his heart, so is
he."
If "Christianity says that man, through his
own efforts, cannot reach God at all," somebody should have told Paul
(Colossians 3:1-2) and the author of Hebrews (10:19-22, 11:06) and James
(4:7-8). Does your church say that we are to be less responsible than the
prodigal son, who remembered ("dwelt upon") the goodness and kindness
and mercy of his father, picked himself up out of the pig-sty,
and went home under his own power? Mine says we are to reach out into the
realms of spirit and truth, seeking our Father, our Lord, and our only Home --
in faith that He will more than meet us halfway to guide our faltering steps.
Yes, we can reach our own powers and those of
the devil -- by dwelling on our own selfish desires and fears, and by accepting
gifts offered by spirits without checking them out. And yes, Satan and his
slaves do tell lies and try to deceive people. But why should we find that
surprising or frightening? A liar is a liar, and a tempter is a tempter,
whether or not he happens to be wearing a physical body. He can only tempt us
by offering us something we want or threatening us with something we fear. He
can only deceive us to the degree we believe he is telling the truth -- or
something we want to hear more than we want to hear the truth. So he has no
power over us except insofar as we, ourselves, give him that power. We can
resist Satan just as Jesus did in the wilderness, because -- like any con
artist -- Satan cannot work his deceptions when he is recognized and exposed
for what he is -- a selfish liar.
It is extremely dangerous to pray for the
"Gifts of the Spirit" and then accept them without testing the spirit
that gave them to see if it is Holy or unholy. That is what some of the
Corinthians did. Because the Holy Spirit can and does provide all of the gifts,
they assumed that such gifts are only provided by the Holy Spirit, and only
to especially worthy people. So they made the manifestation of spiritual gifts
a test of faith and a matter of personal pride.
In so doing, they opened themselves to deception.
The "Gift of Tongues" that they prized so highly made them especially
vulnerable, because they could not ascertain the source of utterances they did
not understand. They did not know that the "Gift of Tongues" is
really "automatic speaking" and therefore not substantially different
from "automatic writing" or the use of a
Ouija board.
Thus, through their pride in thinking they were
"extra special Christians" they opened themselves to possession by
demons masquerading as "the Holy Spirit." That is why God directed
Paul to write to them and try to set them straight. He reminded them of Jesus's
teaching that is it by their fruits -- not their gifts -- that we
are to know who speaks for God and who does not. Since Paul didn't scold the
Corinthians so hard in his second letter, they apparently got the message and
started checking out the spirits behind these gifts according to the fruits
they produced in men's lives.
Yes, I said the Church has neglected divine
revelation -- and it has. Too many church people and too many of their leaders
have assumed the age of revelation came to a close when the last apostle died.
They say that God and Jesus no longer speak to man -- except through the
now-ancient revelations recorded in the Bible. They are like the Scribes and
Pharisees of Jesus's day, who were so sure God had
told them everything they needed to know in the law of Moses that they rejected
Jesus.
The Bible is the most valuable book in the
world, but it is not the only source of truth. God Himself is the only source
of Truth. Those who transfer that attribute from God to the Bible have in fact
deified a book -- and that, my friend, is idolatry.
You said the Bible is "almost the next
thing to God" and cited John 1:1 as your authority. If you will read on
through the next 18 verses, you will find that John was referring to Jesus, not
the Bible, as "The Word became flesh and dwelt among usÉ"
You quote Paul, where he said, "Do not
despise prophesying, but test everything; and hold fast what is good; abstain
from every form of evil." Amen. Now read Matthew 7:15-20, where Jesus
tells us how to distinguish between true and false prophets. Then check
Deuteronomy 18:21-22, I Corinthians 13:4-7, and Galatians 5:19-25 in order to
know what to look for. Also note that Jesus showed John the Baptist how to
decide who is sent from God (Luke 7:18-23) -- not by telling him; not by citing
scripture; not by display of supernormal powers or spiritual gifts, but by the
observable evidence that his life and work were motivated by the Spirit of Love
and Truth. That is how we are to know them -- how we can distinguish one spirit
from another, regardless of the means of communication involved -- and that is
how we ourselves shall be known: by the fruits.
OK, so you do not believe in reincarnation. I
believe that reincarnation is one of the things Jesus saves us from -- and by
explaining how, I draw some people to him that others
drive away from him and into the Eastern religions. If you want to consider
that a sin, go ahead.
I certainly would not put much faith in any
vision -- my own or anyone else's -- if the recipient was not is a state of
calm and reverent joy and unselfish love for one or more people. Placing oneself in that state takes a little doing -- otherwise
known as Christian meditation. ("Transcendental Meditation" and
similar forms of auto-suggestion are trivial in comparison
to the reality of Christian meditation, and are hardly worth fighting. Perhaps
you have confused the two.)
So much for the points you raised in your
letter. If you wish to discuss any or all of them further, I would be happy to
do so. In any event, you need to take a hard look at the doctrines you are
being taught, before they send you off on any more witch-hunts or inquisitions.
By the fruits they manifest in your letter, those doctrines sound far more
human than Holy. But you need not take my word for that. You can test the
spirit behind these -- or any -- doctrines for yourself, using only the Bible.
Take Galatians 5:19-24 as scriptural guidance and ask yourself: Do these
teachings and commandments:
Lead with love -- or drive with fear?
Inspire reverent joy and peace of mind -- or
anxiety and hostility?
Lead to patience and kindness, even toward
sinners and suspected sinners -- or to compulsion and coercion?
Move people to dwell on goodness and good things
-- or on badness and bad things?
Yield the faithfulness that earns trust -- or
demand blind obedience to untested and untestable assertions?
Are they gentle -- or harsh?
Do they advocate self-control -- or control by
outside forces?
Thus you may know them. And in exactly the same
way, you can test the spirit behind this letter.
As for myself, I will say only this: I know that
the promise set forth in John 14:21 is true, and I know what Paul was talking
about in II Corinthians 12:2-6. That is my testimony. You may accept it or not
as you wish.
His peace be with you,
Ben
11 July 1977
Dear Ben Swett,
I ask your forgiveness for my judgmental
attitude and my bluntness. God has laid it on my heart to ask your forgiveness
and I want to be right with God and with you. I want you to know I love and
respect you.
The difference that remains between our beliefs
is: does the Bible contain the word of God or is it the word of God? "All
scripture is inspired by God" (2 Tim 3:16) and "no prophecy of
scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation" (2 Peter 1:20). As for
me, I cannot judge one scripture less inspired than another without being
subjective. I personally believe the Bible to be the authority for the
Christian life and the test for truth in other sources (Acts 17:11). Fruits are
important but not the whole story.
Another little test I believe to be in
accordance with 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 and can be demonstrated with all the
visions of the New Testament is this: what we receive is for whose purpose and
will? Does what one receives build up the church and edify, or does it satisfy
our own curiosity?
I hope these things are taken in the spirit of
love and concern in which they are written.
Go with God,
Larry
1 August 1977
Dear Larry,
You asked my forgiveness for having been blunt
and judgmental -- and in so doing, you are no longer blunt or judgmental. So of
course I forgive you. It would be foolish of me to think of you
as you seemed to be in the first letter, after I received the second letter.
(And I believe that is how the law of forgiveness works: we are to look at each
other as we are, not as we once seemed, or even as we once were but are no
longer.)
You believe the Bible is the Word of God;
I believe it contains the Word of God -- plus some human words -- and
that God also speaks to us in ways other than the Bible. I donŐt think we need
to argue about that. It seems to me there is a deeper question here: you need a
guide for moral decisions, and you do not want that guide to depend on your own
subjective judgment. Good. I think that is wise. Too many people do not realize
they need a guide independent of their own opinions.
So the real question is this: "Is the Bible
a trustworthy guide for moral decisions?" Yes, I believe it is -- provided
we know how to use it for that purpose.
First, I believe we should always look for to
the spirit rather than the letter of what we find in the Bible. That means we
need to read everything the Bible has to say on a given subject, and not just
lift a line or a verse here and there as a "proof-text."
Second, I think it is important to distinguish
between the spirit of the Old Testament and the spirit of the New Testament.
The Old Testament features a good deal of Jewish nationalism, whereas the New
Testament is both personal and universal. In most of the Old Testament, sin is
conceived as crime against God, and sacrifice -- even blood sacrifice -- is
seen as the most important form of worship. In the New Testament, sin is seen
as "missing the mark" (amartia in
Greek) and thus self-limiting or self-damaging. Mercy toward others is seen as
more important than sacrifice.
Third, we need to realize that, because God
loves us, His commandments are given to each of us for our own benefit. That
means we are to apply His commandments to ourselves, not anyone else. And it
puts all His commandments in a different light. For example, it means we are
not asked to love God because He lacks something that only we can provide; it
means we are asked to love God because it is good for us to have love for God
in our hearts. In the same way, we are not asked to love our neighbor for our neighbor's
sake, but because it is good for us to have love in our hearts. We are asked to
forgive our neighbor because, if we go on and on harboring resentment or anger,
it will eat our guts out.
Those who use the Bible as a source of
"proof-texts" really do not have a guide independent of their own
opinions, because they select the "proof-texts" and they almost
always select something that seems to support what they already believe. Even
when they are not consciously or subconsciously justifying their own opinions,
they often miss the spirit of what was said by dwelling on the letter of how it
was said. This whole approach to the Bible is called "literalism,"
and it was characteristic of the Pharisees.
Those who fail to distinguish between the spirit
of the Old Testament and the spirit of the New Testament are more nearly Jews
than Christians. They need to read everything Paul said about the Law and how
hard -- or impossible -- it was to keep the Law, whereas the New Covenant set
men free.
Those who use the Bible as a collection of laws
by which to judge other people miss the spirit of the New Testament, and the
purpose of Jesus's commandments, because they do not see those commandments
were given for their own benefit. This approach to the Bible is called
"legalism," and it was typical of the Scribes. (In fact, the Scribes
were professional "Bible-Lawyers" who made their living by finding
all the little legalistic, nit-picking interpretations they could.)
So, if we do not make the same mistakes as the
Scribes and Pharisees, we can use the Bible as a trustworthy guide for our own
lives.
Then we come to the matter of "by their
fruits you shall know them" and "we shall know as we are known."
You said that fruits are important, but not the whole story. However, I am not
convinced that your statement is true -- especially since Jesus said that every
tree which does not bear good fruit will be torn up
and cast into the fire. Perhaps you would like to discuss this matter further.
I note that you mention using the purpose or
will being served by a gift as a test. Yes, I agree with that, but I think we
are saying the same thing, because there is no way to tell the purpose except
by the results ("fruits"). Faith is essential, but it has to be put
into action. Acknowledging Jesus as Lord is essential, but it does no good to
call him "Lord, Lord" if we do not keep His commandments.
Finally, it is important to remember that Jesus
said there is only one unforgivable sin -- blasphemy against the Holy
Spirit. That means we have a lot of room to grow in: all of our choices are not
matters of spiritual life-and-death; we are allowed to make mistakes and learn
from them. It really couldn't be any other way, because God is a kind and
loving Father, as Jesus says He is. But the Jews didn't see it that way, and
sometimes we forget it.
His peace be with you,
Ben