Showing posts with label Pantheism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pantheism. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Decided Action to be Taken Now

Decided Action to be Taken Now

To our physicians and ministers,—

During the night the Spirit of God has been presenting many things to my mind. The experience that was given us at the General Conference held in Battle Creek early in 1901 was of God. Had Dr. Kellogg at that time done thorough work, the terrible experience through which we are now passing would never have been. 

God has permitted the presentation of the combination of good and evil in Living Temple to be made to reveal the danger threatening us. The working that has been so ingeniously carried on He has permitted in order that certain developments might be made and that it might be seen what a man can do with human minds when he has obtained their confidence as a physician. God has permitted the present crisis to come to open the eyes of those who desire to know the truth. He would have His people understand to what lengths the sophistry and devising of the enemy would lead. 

Men have given to our leading physician allegiance that is due to God alone; and he has been permitted to show what self-exaltation will lead men to do. Scientific, spiritualistic sentiments, representing the Creator as an essence pervading all nature, have been given to our people and have been received even by some who have had a long experience as teachers of the Word of God. The results of this insidious devising will break out again and again. There are many for whom special efforts will have to be put forth to free them from this specious deception. 

I am now authorized to say that the time has come to take decided action. The development seen in the cause of God is similar to the development seen when Balaam caused Israel to sin just before they entered the promised land. How dangerous it is so to exalt any man that he becomes confused and confuses the minds of others in regard to the truths that for the last fifty years the Lord has been giving His people. 

Few can see the meaning of the present apostasy. But the Lord has lifted the curtain and has shown me its meaning and the result that it will have if allowed to continue. We must now lift our voices in warning. Will our people acknowledge God as the supreme Ruler, or will they choose the misleading arguments and views that, when fully developed, make Him, in the minds of those who accept them, as nothingness? 

These words were spoken to me in the night season. The sentiments in Living Temple regarding the personality of God have been received even by men who have had a long experience in the truth. When such men consent to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we are no longer to regard the subject as a matter to be treated with the greatest delicacy. That those whom we thought sound in the faith should have failed to discern the specious, deadly influence of this science of evil should alarm us as nothing else has alarmed us. 

It is something that cannot be treated as a small matter, that men who have had so much light and such clear evidence as to the genuineness of the truth we hold should become unsettled and led to accept spiritualistic theories regarding the personality of God. These doctrines, followed to their logical conclusion, sweep away the whole Christian economy. They estimate as nothing the light that Christ came from heaven to give John to give to His people. They teach that the scenes just before us are not of sufficient importance to be given special attention. They make of no effect the truth of heavenly origin and rob the people of God of their past experience, giving them instead a false science. 

Saturday, August 29, 2026

A View of Approaching Danger

About the time that Living Temple was published, there passed before me in the night season, representations indicating that some danger was approaching, and that I must prepare for it by writing out the things God had revealed to me regarding the foundation principles of our faith. A copy of Living Temple was sent me, but it remained in my library, unread. From the light given me by the Lord, I knew that some of the sentiments advocated in the book did not bear the endorsement of God, and that they were a snare that the enemy had prepared for the last days. I thought that this would surely be discerned, and that it would not be necessary for me to say anything about it. 

In the controversy that arose among our brethren regarding the teachings of this book, those in favor of giving it a wide circulation declared: “It contains the very sentiments that Sister White has been teaching.” This assertion struck right to my heart. I felt heartbroken; for I knew that this representation of the matter was not true. 

Finally my son said to me, “Mother, you ought to read at least some parts of the book, that you may see whether they are in harmony with the light that God has given you.” He sat down beside me, and together we read the preface, and most of the first chapter, and also paragraphs in other chapters. As we read, I recognized the very sentiments against which I had been bidden to speak in warning during the early days of my public labors. When I first left the State of Maine, it was to go through Vermont and Massachusetts, to bear a testimony against these sentiments. Living Temple contains the alpha of these theories. I knew that the omega would follow in a little while; and I trembled for our people. I knew that I must warn our brethren and sisters not to enter into controversy over the presence and personality of God. The statements made in Living Temple in regard to this point are incorrect. The scripture used to substantiate the doctrine there set forth, is scripture misapplied. 

I am compelled to speak in denial of the claim that the teachings of Living Temple can be sustained by statements from my writings. There may be in this book expressions and sentiments that are in harmony with my writings. And there may be in my writings many statements which, taken from their connection, and interpreted according to the mind of the writer of Living Temple, would seem to be in harmony with the teachings of this book. This may give apparent support to the assertion that the sentiments in Living Temple are in harmony with my writings. But God forbid that this sentiment should prevail. 

Few can discern the result of entertaining the sophistries advocated by some at this time. But the Lord has lifted the curtain, and has shown me the result that would follow. The spiritualistic theories regarding the personality of God, followed to their logical conclusion, sweep away the whole Christian economy. They estimate as nothing the light that Christ came from heaven to give John to give to His people. They teach that the scenes just before us are not of sufficient importance to be given special attention. They make of no effect the truth of heavenly origin, and rob the people of God of their past experience, giving them instead a false science. 

In a vision of the night I was shown distinctly that these sentiments have been looked upon by some as the grand truths that are to be brought in and made prominent at the present time. I was shown a platform, braced by solid timbers—the truths of the Word of God. Someone high in responsibility in the medical work was directing this man and that man to loosen the timbers supporting this platform. Then I heard a voice saying, “Where are the watchmen that ought to be standing on the walls of Zion? Are they asleep? This foundation was built by the Master Worker, and will stand storm and tempest. Will they permit this man to present doctrines that deny the past experience of the people of God? The time has come to take decided action.” 

The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church, would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced. The founders of this system would go into the cities, and do a wonderful work. The Sabbath of course, would be lightly regarded, as also the God who created it. Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement. The leaders would teach that virtue is better than vice, but God being removed, they would place their dependence on human power, which, without God, is worthless. Their foundation would be built on the sand, and storm and tempest would sweep away the structure. 

Who has authority to begin such a movement? We have our Bibles. We have our experience, attested to by the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit. We have a truth that admits of no compromise. Shall we not repudiate everything that is not in harmony with this truth? 

I hesitated and delayed about the sending out of that which the Spirit of the Lord impelled me to write. I did not want to be compelled to present the misleading influence of these sophistries. But in the providence of God, the errors that have been coming in must be met. 

Selected Messages Book 1, pp.202-205.

Saturday, May 05, 2018

False Theories About God



Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Rom. 1:21.


The theory that God is an essence pervading all nature, is one of Satan's most subtle devices. It misrepresents God, and is a dishonor to His greatness and majesty. Pantheistic theories are not sustained by the Word of God. The light of His truth shows that these theories are soul-destroying agencies. Darkness is their element, sensuality their sphere. They gratify the natural heart, and give license to inclination. Separation from God is the result of accepting them. . . .

There is but one power that can break the hold of evil from the hearts of men, and that is the power of God in Jesus Christ. Only through the blood of the Crucified One is there cleansing from sin. His grace alone can enable us to resist and subdue the tendencies of our fallen nature. This power the spiritualistic theories concerning God make of no effect. If God is an essence pervading all nature, then He dwells in all men; and in order to attain holiness, man has only to develop the power that is within him.

These theories, followed to their logical conclusion, sweep away the whole Christian economy. They do away with the necessity for the atonement, and make man his own savior. These theories regarding God make His Word of no effect, and those who accept them are in great danger of being led finally to look upon the whole Bible as a fiction. They may regard virtue as better than vice; but God being removed from His position of sovereignty, they place their dependence upon human power, which, without God, is worthless. The unaided human will has no real power to resist and overcome evil. The defenses of the soul are broken down. Man has no barrier against sin. When once the restraints of God's Word and His Spirit are rejected, we know not to what depths one may sink.

Those who continue to hold these spiritualistic theories will surely spoil their Christian experience, sever their connection with God, and lose eternal life.


Maranatha, p.134.



Tuesday, September 27, 2016

The Foundation of Our Faith


The Lord will put new, vital force into His work as human agencies obey the command to go forth and proclaim the truth. He who declared that His truth would shine forever will proclaim this truth through faithful messengers, who will give the trumpet a certain sound. The truth will be criticized, scorned, and derided; but the closer it is examined and tested, the brighter it will shine.

As a people, we are to stand firm on the platform of eternal truth that has withstood test and trial. We are to hold to the sure pillars of our faith. The principles of truth that God has revealed to us are our only true foundation. They have made us what we are. The lapse of time has not lessened their value. It is the constant effort of the enemy to remove these truths from their setting, and to put in their place spurious theories. He will bring in everything that he possibly can to carry out his deceptive designs. But the Lord will raise up men of keen perception, who will give these truths their proper place in the plan of God.


Friday, February 20, 2015

How An Ecclesiastical Hierarchy Silences a Dissenting Movement Using Hegelian Dialectics




Pacing the Opposition

When an ecclesiastical hierarchy wants to silence a dissenting movement, dialectical praxis is often the weapon of choice. For one thing, many dissenters are simple-minded, honest-hearted people, who, when they run up against the dialectic, they are dumbfounded. For one thing, when the hierarchy starts to lay out its case, it will present the thesis, which is what the dissenter believes in heart and soul. The reaction of the dissenters is, “Wonderful!”

The Catatonic Paralysis Shock of Antithesis

Then the hierarchy’s argument shifts to the antithesis, the opposite position from the thesis, and the simple-minded, straight-thinking dissenter, whose mind is not trained in this kind of subtlety, throws up his hands and goes into a catatonic state: “I thought they were on our side, now look at this!” he says in disbelief and moral paralysis.

The Relief Offer of the Compromise Resolution of Synthesis

Then a synthesis of the thesis and antithesis is presented, and the poor, honest-hearted dissenter, seeing ultimate disaster if the antithesis is accepted, seeing utter rejection and scorn ahead if he resists, thankfully accepts the synthesis, a compromise, for he sees elements of what he had hoped for, though it has just as much of what he abhors.

The Switch That Numbs the Mind
The Inducement of the Catatonic State of Moral Paralysis

Dr. Gotcher, commenting on this phenomenon of catatonic paralysis writes: “Hegel’s dialectic was the cause fro two world wars and many wars between and since. One historian recently stated that, during this [20th] century, all governments that used this process combined have been responsible for the killing of more than 250,000,000 of their own citizens…

The Switch That Freezes Responses

“Somewhere within the process there lies a switch that confuses men’s minds, numbs their feelings, and freezes their responses. Aware that something is gaining control over them and not able to explain or define what it is, they are unable to develop any response that will stop the process. This trigger shuts off man’s awareness of impending danger (past history or depth history; depth perception [note: look at the denial of the Jews during the Holocaust]) and freezes his ability to resist the process (indecision). The numbness one experiences comes from the fear of potential alienation and loss of respect because of the inability to explain the differences between what one says he believes (black and white) and what he does or desires to do (gray zone). This produces feelings that are not based on God’s Word, but that are instead based upon the fear of losing respect in the eyes of others. This kind of fear prevents one from making an immediate or effective response. [Note: This is the catatonic state induced by the dialectic.]  This fear is not from God, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7.

“No one who has boarded this train has found brakes on it. History has shown us that once this train gets rolling, there is no stopping to get off. Rescue can only come from someone outside, at much cost to all. We had to rescue Europe from this train twice, by wrecking it. If we get on board, who can rescue us? And at what cost?” –Dr Dean Gotcher, The Dialectic & Praxis: Diaprax and the End of the Ages. Tulsa: LAR, 1996, p. 10.

Each Dialectical Stage Builds on the Previous One

Then another meeting is scheduled for later, in which the same process occurs, the hopes are raised with the thesis, which is in reality the new synthesis, then dashed with the antithesis, the person goes into a catatonic state again, and while spiritually paralyzed, a solution is offered-namely the new synthesis. Thus each time these Fabian tactics wear down the dissenter a little bit more, until he finally gives up and goes along without resisting.

From Discipleship to Pantheism

Dialectical praxis is designed to take a person who believes in obeying God by faith, and, moving him through various psychological stages, re-educate his conscience, until he ends up as a practical pantheist, accepting every form of perversion there is, in the name of unity with the group.

If you could save your souls, your families, your home churches, you must understand the nature of what you are facing with dialectical praxis, for it is a blast right out of the bottomless pit (Revelation 11), a mind-bending technique that has crumpled nations, churches, and all before it—and you must become a skilled warrior in the Lord to resist it if you would win eternal life.
You Are Not Amenable to Any Man. You are Amenable to God.

Beware of putting church “unity” above a conscience bound to the Word, for this is a fruitful field for those utilizing dialectical praxis. Dialectical praxis subjugates conscience to the authority of the “group” instead of a conscience subject to God alone. “You are not amenable to any man. You are amenable to God.” GCW, GCB, 4-5-01. Never, never, never, allow your conscience to be stifled, mocked, or snuffed out by peer pressure, by pressure for “unity,” or by being attacked for being “unloving” because you hold to moral absolutes on conviction.

The Process of Dialectical Praxis

Here is Diaprax in a nutshell, revealed by Dr. Dean Gotcher, who read over 600 socio-psychology books, written by more than 250 authors, developed from the perspective of those who are trained in it. Night after night, the Lord woke him up with insight after insight at two or three o’clock in the morning. “The answers came from God’s Word,” Gotcher writes, “in fact, this work is nothing more than a confirmation of that Word. His Word clearly reveals the process being used today to remove our desire to trust and obey Him and His Word.” –Dean Gotcher, The Dialectic & Praxis: Diaprax and the End of the Ages, Acknowledgements. After this, we will examine critical elements of this diabolical process.

Diaprax in a Nutshell

(A look at the strategy of the other side to destroy conscience)
(Based on Dr. Dean Gotcher, “Diaprax”)

Thesis Interrogation: “Unfreezing” the person from the Thesis [faith in the authority of God]
Position: Identify person’s source for needs satisfaction. [Note: Pastors in training are taught to identify people’s “felt needs.”]

“What do you think about…? “How do you feel about…?”

Definition: Discover the source of one’s dissatisfaction-Higher Authority. [Note: This is tantamount to Satan’s words, “Yea, hath God said?…]

“Could you explain that further?” “What do you mean by…?”

Choice-Defend your position based on higher authority’s definitions and cause social disharmony (alienation-negative) or redefine your position to build social harmony (belongingness-positive.)
Realization: Maladjustment is when one defends their position with pre-set definitions which cause social disharmony. “How do you think you arrived at that view?” “Why do you think you feel that way?” “Have you considered the alternatives?” In other words, ‘Can’t you think for yourself?’

Antithesis Dialogue: ‘Moving’: (Environment-Group Dynamics)

Negation of Negation: Putting aside pre-set standards (‘Thou shalt not’) in a diverse group produces an environment of equality of opportunity where everyone can discover their full ‘group think,’ socialist potential.

“How might this be approached in another way?” “What are the alternatives to your position?” (What would happen if you refused to participate?)

Chaos: Learning to accept the Gray Zone of the super-ego for the sake of belonging. ‘Most agree…..Most disagree.’ Learning how to redefine your position in changing times for the sake of group acceptance and social harmony.

“What might be the result if…?” “What effect might that have on…?” “What are the consequences?”

Mediation: Evaluation is non-scientific in that it is controlled by the fear of the loss of group approval. One cannot evaluate through compromise based upon fear of social rejection. ‘Is’ has become clouded with ‘should.’“Which is best? Right? Most desirable? Most functional? Most practical?” “Why”

Synthesis Decision: ‘Refreezing’ (Life-long learning-Reinventing truth)

Determination: The individual is now a change agent, determined to help others into the process so he can justify his compromise while developing relationships with them. All who practice the dialectic are out to convert everyone they meet, neutralizing those who resist, and work to remove those who have any type of authority who threaten or attack the process.

Necessity: The group members no longer see themselves subject to any higher authority who attempts to resolve social issues with an ‘I know’ attitude. In fact the social crisis no longer is the issue to be solved but is instead to be used to bring the traditional thinking person into the group think process. Traditional thinking is now the social crisis which needs to be solved for it is not readily adaptable to social change and produces social maladjustment.

Causation: No longer is ‘First Cause’ a higher authority, such as God, parents, the Laws of Nature (true science), the Laws of the Land, but now society is the first cause. Therefore, one’s concern is ‘What will the group (society) think?’ When you meet a ‘Group Think’ individual and present him with Truth and facts, if he does not have the group there to put pressure on you (group dynamics) he will ‘glass over’ to protect himself from you, the truth, and the need to repent of his use of this process.

Dr. Dean Gotcher, Diaprax. Institute for Authority Research.

Dialectical Praxis at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

Thesis: “Of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it…lest ye die.” Genesis 3:3

Thesis Interrogation: “Yea hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” Genesis 3:1.

Antithesis: “Ye shall not surely die.” Genesis 3:4. [Opposite of the Thesis]

Synthesis: “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Genesis [Supposed Higher Order Thinking Skills-Hots]

Negation of the Negation (Putting aside pre-set standards): “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise [Chaos], she took of the fruit [Moving] thereof, and did eat [Refreezing], and gave also unto her husband with her [Determination: She becomes “converted” change agent seeking to “evangelize” or “convert” others to her new position]: and he did eat [Necessity]…And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God [Causation].

The Science of How Diaprax Works

Thesis Interrogation: “Unfreezing” From the Thesis of “Pre-set” Convictions

The very first work of dialectical praxis is the effort to “unfreeze” you from your “pre-set” principles of conviction. To shake you up is the goal. To prepare the groundwork for this process the person must be “interrogated” regarding their inner thoughts, in order to help the “facilitator” in selecting questions that will most efficiently break down your confidence in your convictions.
An Example: Journaling and “Women’s” Groups

This is why, for instance, the Bible teachers in Structure academies are having their students do journaling. Journaling, promoted by the Jesuits, is a written confessional, giving the teacher tools to undermine conviction by discovering where the student’s gray areas are of doubt. This is why you see “women’s” or “men’s” church groups. The women or men get together and discuss their family and marital difficulties, thus giving church leaders the knowledge of their weak areas, or gray zones, and how to defeat them and “take them out” when a power struggle erupts in the church over new innovations. This happens in marriage counseling and any “conflict resolution” process.

“Unfreezing” By Destroying Confidence in Your Convictions

Those who hold to their “pre-set” convictions are declared to be “unloving,” “maladjusted.” They are denounced as being under a curse because of their “unloving” spirit. Your ideas (which have been formed by the Spirit of God in submission to the Word) are getting in the way of church unity. You are holding the church back from its mission of evangelization. You are standing up against church authority. You are going against the authority of God vested in the church. In the military it would be: “Your convictions regarding the Sabbath would break down all military discipline, and destroy the army.” They tried [unsuccessfully] to use that on many Sabbath keepers in World War II.
Choice

You are presented with the need to decide: Where did you get those ideas from? Will you hold on to convictions that are declared to be outdated, to a concept of the Church that you no longer see anywhere, to ideas that seem not to fit the new environment? Are you going to be the only person who does not go along with the new ideas on the church board, or in the social group, or in basic training? Are you really going to stand up against all the elders and pastors? Are you going to really oppose the entire Christian world, going against governments and church authority (Martin Luther)? Are you really going to resist the Mark of the Beast? Will you make a fool of yourself? Are you going to really stand things on end? What makes you so different?

Thus is the soul assaulted with dialectical praxis.


Antithesis Dialogue: The Negation of the Negation: Negating the “Thou Shalt Nots”

Then the process proceeds to the negation of the negation, getting you to negate “Thou shalt nots,” in an effort to resolve your distress at being different, and to get you to accept a new standard-acceptance by the group instead of conviction based on the Word which puts you at variance with the “group.” Group dynamics are carefully arranged to overwhelm you with an authority and power of your opposition, to attempt to make you look ridiculous because of your ideas, to make you think that you are the only holdout, as you see all around you people crumpling under that assault.



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Thursday, May 22, 2014

Destroying creation is destroying a gift of God, pope says at audience



POPE-AUDIENCE May-21-2014 (480 words) With photos. xxxi



(CNS/Paul Haring)



By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Polluting or destroying the environment is like telling God one does not like what he created and proclaimed to be good, Pope Francis said.

The Bible says that after every stage of creation, God was pleased with what he had made, the pope said May 21 at his weekly general audience. "To destroy creation is to say to God, 'I don't like it.'"

On the other hand, he said, safeguarding creation is safeguarding a gift of God. "This must be our attitude toward creation: safeguarding it. If not, if we destroy creation, creation will destroy us. Don't forget that!"

Continuing a series of audience talks about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, Pope Francis said the gift of knowledge helps people see creation with God's eyes, recognizing its beauty and seeing it as a sign of God's love for men and women, who are the crown of his creation.
"Creation is not a property that we can dominate at our pleasure nor does it belong to only a few," he said. "Creation is a gift, a marvelous gift God has given us to care for and use for the benefit of all with great respect and gratitude."

The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit -- wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord -- are not simply human virtues or talents, the pope said. And knowledge is not just the human capacity "to understand the reality that surrounds us and discover the laws that regulate nature and the universe."

Rather, he said, the gift of knowledge helps people understand, "through creation, the greatness of the love of God and his profound relationship with every creature."

The gift of knowledge helps people recognize that all things that are beautiful -- both things found in nature and things that are the result of human ingenuity -- speak of God, he said. "The Spirit leads us to praise the Lord from the depths of our heart and to recognize, in all that we have and all that we are, a invaluable gift of God and a sign of his infinite love for us."

At the end of the audience, Pope Francis led the recitation of the Hail Mary as a prayer for the victims of flooding in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in Serbia. He asked the international community to assist the two Balkan nations, where more than three dozen people died and tens of thousands were left homeless in late May.

Pope Francis also told the estimated 50,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square that May 24 is the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians, a Marian feast particularly dear to Catholics in mainland China. He asked people to pray that "Catholics in China may continue to believe, to hope and to love and, in every circumstance, to be a leaven of harmonious coexistence among their fellow citizens."

- - -

The text of the pope's audience remarks in English is available online at www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/audiences/2014/documents/papa-francesco_20140521_udienza-generale_en.html

The text of the pope's audience remarks in Spanish is available online at www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/audiences/2014/documents/papa-francesco_20140521_udienza-generale_sp.html

END


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Thursday, December 26, 2013

Pastor Leads A New Brand Of Church For 'Sinners And Saints'


by
December 24, 2013 3:35 AM


from

Morning Edition
Listen to the Story

7 min 20 sec





Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber, shown here officiating civil union ceremonies in Denver in May, wrote a book on faith that recently landed on the New York Times best-seller list. 
Anna Hanel/Colorado Public Radio 



It's Sunday evening, and services are just getting underway at the House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver. Nearly 200 worshipers sit in circles of plastic chairs around a simple altar table. Together they follow traditional Christian rites. They sit. They stand. They sing.

The congregation here resembles the crowd at a downtown bookshop — hipsters and college professors, gay couples and Democratic grandmas. But even in this crowd, the congregation's pastor, with her short, moussed hair and armloads of religious tattoos, stands out as she launches into a sermon about Jesus on the cross.

"In our win-lose way of understanding things, it would have made a lot more sense for Jesus to have come and been a superhero — kicking ass and taking names, showing everyone how strong God is by winning at our game," she tells the congregation.

Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber is a bit of a Lutheran rock star at the moment, although the term makes her cringe. Her new book, Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint, recently hit the New York Times best-seller list.

What she and her church are trying to do, she says, is simple and radical: create an authentic Christian experience without the pretension that can come with church.

"I think people's tolerance for bullshit is at an all-time low," she says.




Members of the church meet at Denver coffeehouses during the week for what they call "office hours" —€” informal and often highly irreverent chats. Jim Smelser/House for All Sinners and Saints 


What people want, she says, is a spiritual community that's beautiful and transformative and maybe even transgressive — and that's not what you find in most churches, conservative or liberal.

"We've been given social conventions, we've been given basically the Elks Club with Eucharist, or we've been given a place to gather on Sundays where basically what we hear is the same as the platform of the Democratic Party," she says. "I don't think the early Christians martyred themselves for either of these things."

Bolz-Weber's path to becoming an increasingly public theologian was rocky, to say the least. Early in adulthood she drifted away from her parents' conservative Church of Christ and into a lost period of drugs and alcohol, only to find God again as she was struggling to get sober. That checkered history is something she talks about openly, trying to help others feel comfortable with their own failings.

"There was a young woman, I took her confession — and it was for real, it was something really heavy — and she was super tense at the beginning, and then she relaxed," Bolz-Weber says. "Then we were kind of laughing, and she goes, 'Oh, my gosh, I'm so glad you're my pastor, because I know you've done much worse than that.' So that's also a service I offer."

The faith that the congregation practices is, for lack of a better word, orthodox Lutheran. Even the congregation's name — House for All Sinners and Saints — comes from Martin Luther's belief that everyone is simultaneously all sinner and all saint.

But "House," as it's often called, does practice its faith differently from most congregations. It offers communion to everyone, regardless of whether they've been baptized, and it opens the liturgy to all who want to participate. That really struck parishioner Stephen Ludwig when he first attended a service after a decade away from the church.

"Everyone that shows up has the opportunity to read scripture, serve communion, participate in the service," he says. "Liturgy is supposed to be 'of the people,' and this really brings it back to that."


Welcoming all is the animating idea behind House, but it can be a challenging one. As Bolz-Weber's popularity has grown, so many people have started visiting that there often aren't enough chairs for the regulars.

Longtime worshiper Stuart Sanks admits that having so many new people stopping in can be difficult.

"Sometimes it feels like House is losing that idea of what made it different. But that's just something we're trying to figure out and work through and make the best of stewarding the responsibility, I guess, that we've been given."

For Bolz-Weber, that responsibility is exciting — rethinking the way the church exists in the world today. She says she's more interested in her congregation having a dynamic, faithful relationship with God than getting hung up on the specifics of what they believe.

And while no single common belief holds the congregation together, Bolz-Weber says certain values are universal: to welcome everyone and take that message out into the world.


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Saturday, May 25, 2013

The New Age Agenda



Homebase TV presents: 13. The New Age Agenda.  Part 1 - Mark Woodman


HomebaseTVz

Uploaded on Dec 6, 2011

What is the New Age Agenda Movement? Who started it and why? This lecture identifies the key role players and exposes the Satanic under currents.

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Homebase TV presents: 13. The New Age Agenda. Part 2 - Mark Woodman

HomebaseTVz

Uploaded on Jan 4, 2012

What is the New Age Agenda Movement? Who started it and why? This lecture identifies the key role players and exposes the Satanic under currents.

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Saturday, April 06, 2013

Rome - A History of the Eternal City



Rome - A History of the Eternal City - Ep1



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Published on Dec 15, 2012


Simon Sebag Montefiore looks at how every event in ancient Rome revolved around religion. From the foundation myth through to the deification of Emperors; nothing could happen without calling upon the Pantheon of Roman gods. Simon investigates how the Romans worshipped and sacrificed to the gods. He discovers that sacredness defined what was Roman and it was the responsibility of every Roman to play their part in the cult. Even the ancient Roman sewer was holy ground!


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Rome - A History of the Eternal City - Ep2. Divine Gamble



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Rome - A History of the Eternal City - Ep3. The Rebirth of Gods City
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Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Pantheism and the Alpha of Heresies


Pantheism and the Alpha of Heresies

The difficulties that have arisen have been very hard to meet, and they are far from being settled yet. One, and another, and still another are presented to me as having been led to accept the pleasing fables that mean the sanctification of sin. Living Temple contains the alpha of a train of heresies. There heresies are similar to those that I met in my first labors in connection with the cause in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, then in Boston, Roxbury, New Bedford, and other parts of Massachusetts. Through them the evil one worked upon the minds of men and women. {11MR 247.1}

There was a Mrs. Minor, who had been to Jerusalem. When she returned she advocated some of these sentimental, spiritualistic [SPIRITUALISM AS HERE USED REFERS TO A METHOD OF INTERPRETATION EMPLOYED AFTER THE GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT OF OCTOBER 22, 1844, WHEREBY PLAIN TRUTHS OF THE BIBLE WERE SPIRITUALIZED AWAY.] sophistries. She invited me to visit her and relate what the Lord shown me. Brother Nichols took my sister and self to her home in Roxbury, where we found a company of about twenty assembled. Among them were brethren and sisters whom I loved and highly esteemed. They had believed the testimonies that I had borne to the people. But they had been led astray by spiritualistic ideas which were nothing less than a love-sick sentimentalism. The power of God came upon me as I warned them of their dangers, and some said they had never expected to see so much of the blessing of God this side of the Eden above. I bore them a message similar to the message I have been bearing for the last two months. I was instructed that the ideas they had accepted were but the alpha of a great deception. I had to meet similar delusions in Portsmouth and in Boston. {11MR 247.2}

These doctrines led to free-loveism, and my heart was sorely grieved as I saw the result they brought to those who accepted them. One family who for years had lived happily together was broken up. A man and his wife, well advanced in years, were separated. The husband left his wife and children, and established other family relations. We seemed to be able to do nothing to break the spell upon these persons. The precious truths of the Bible had no influence over them. {11MR 248.1}

This same hypnotic influence is seen working among our people today. Ever since my return to America a heavy burden has rested upon me. Everywhere I see the power of the enemy. Were it not for the armies of the Lord's host, led by Michael, the destruction that Satan would be pleased to witness would come to the people of God. They would be discomfited and brought to shame. But the Lord will work for His people. He will not suffer them to be defeated. {11MR 248.2}

We have a most solemn work to do. I have been instructed that some of our ministering brethren are working with clouded vision. They see men as trees walking. {11MR 248.3}

Unless Brethren Jones, Tenney, Waggoner, and others who have been flattered by the leaders of the medical work are especially worked by the Holy Spirit, they will never see things as they are. It is hard for those who have been charmed by seductive, flattering, soul-destroying theories to see where these theories will lead, or to discern, wherein their spiritual eyesight has been defective. {11MR 248.4}

Dr. Kellogg has been beguiled by beautiful, philosophical theories that are contrary to the truth. He is standing as a guide and instructor of youth. But for a long time he has been presented to me as a man walking in strange paths. He has not been working with the Lord. If his blind eyes could be anointed with the heavenly eyesalve, and he would then look at himself in the moral looking glass, he would see his sad condition and understand that unless he breaks his heart before God, and makes an entire reformation, he will surely receive of the judgments of God. The Lord will not forever bear with his perversity. {11MR 249.1}

I am instructed to say that Dr. Kellogg is not yet soundly converted, and cannot be until by genuine faith he receives Christ as his Saviour. He needs to feel the divine power that will work in him the change of heart represented in the Scriptures as the new birth. Neither his words nor his actions can be depended on. He is surrounded by circumstances that tend to stimulate his pride and increase his vanity. He does not see his peril, nor does he see the dangerous path which he has been following. {11MR 249.2}

If he were openly united with the world, his course would be less dangerous to the people of God. {11MR 249.3}

God reads the heart. He understands the motives which cannot be discerned by men. The question was asked by one of authority, "How can God accept such a man, though his professions and his assertions be ever so strong?" For a long time he has been deceived by the enemy. After the South Lancaster Conference, [THE 1899 GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSION WAS HELD AT SOUTH LANCASTER, MA.] he was for a time in the valley of decision, but since he decided what course he would pursue he has been making many false paths for his feet. {11MR 249.4}

His course in urging the adoption of binding agreements, and in leaning upon the arm of the law instead of upon the arm of God, has led him farther and farther from the truth. Yet the Lord says, "Let him now accept My word. If he will wear My yoke he shall be My chosen physician, My human helper." {11MR 250.1}

At the time of the General Conference in Battle Creek, [THE 1901 GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSION WAS HELD AT BATTLE CREEK, MI.] the Lord mercifully gave him another opportunity to change his course. He has waited for him to humble his heart. All obstructions were removed, even those that his own course had built up. But he was again deceived by the flatteries and sophistries of the enemy. Last spring he began a work of repentance. But he did not make thorough work. {11MR 250.2}

The Lord has a message for Dr. Kellogg. Holding up the Bible, one of authority said to him, "On this Book shalt thou meditate day and night. Then you will have much less confidence in your own wisdom and methods, and in the agreements and arrangements that you have formulated. You have greatly dishonored God. But He gives you another invitation. If you hear and obey His word, you will have power to become one of the sons of God. Make straight paths for your feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way. Unless in the cares of your accumulated responsibilities you take God as your guide, you will continue to act a part displeasing to God, and the blood of souls will be charged to your account.

"The Word of God is to be a lamp to your feet. That precious, sacred Word, is not to be appealed to to uphold any spiritualistic, philosophical views regarding God, for He is dishonored by such views. {11MR 251.1}

"No greater deception could be presented to the minds of men than the representation you have made of God in the pleasing fables you have advocated. Souls will be lost through the sowing of the sentiments found in Living Temple. In presenting error you have united with the prince of darkness in his work of seducing souls to eternal ruin. {11MR 251.2}

"The influence you have obtained with worldlings is not the credit to you that you have supposed it to be. Unless you change, decidedly change, your life will be a savor of death unto death instead of a savor of life unto life. {11MR 251.3}

"Make the Word of God the man of your counsel. It will be a lamp unto your feet, and a light unto your path. Study the Word to see what God has revealed in regard to who He is. He is 'the Almighty,' 'from everlasting,' an unerring Guide. Upon whom else would you venture to depend in times of difficulty? What folly could be greater than to set aside the wisdom of God, and accept the wisdom of him who fell from his exalted position in heaven as a covering cherub, and who has become the head of an apostate race? Will you unite with the arch-deceiver? Will you receive his deceptive falsehoods? Shall it continue to be said of you, 'Thou art weighed in the balances of the sanctuary, and art found wanting'?" {11MR 251.4}

My brother, heed the invitation of Christ, "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Matthew 11:29). Your safety depends on linking up with Christ, and learning from Him.

You have much to unlearn. Your example has not been in harmony with the example of Christ. You could do nothing more objectionable than to put aside the wisdom of God, and set up your own ideas as of greatest merit for healing diseased bodies and souls, belittling and disparaging the remedy prescribed by the eternal God, and superseding the divine instruction. {11MR 252.1}

God is in earnest with you. You have sought to set aside God's revealed will, teaching for doctrine the opinions and the speculations of finite human agencies through whom Satan works to destroy. Let the Word of God be your lesson book. Guided by it, you will be led to think wisely; you will reveal steadfastness of purpose; and you will build upon the true foundation. {11MR 252.2}
If you are transformed, and your character is formed after the character of Christ, it will be pleasing to God for you to remain in a position of responsibility. If you refuse to be transformed, if you look to men of the world, and cherish worldly ambition, turning from God to human beings, you will become an instrument of deception in the hands of Satan until at last you will have no power to break away from the snare. If you continue to work as you have been working, you will become one of the chief of sinners. But the eternal God has thoughts of mercy toward you, and He will abundantly pardon you through Jesus Christ if you will repent and turn to Him with full purpose of heart. {11MR 252.3}

Christ does not want you to lose your soul. He wants you to take hold of His saving grace, that He may do a thorough work in your heart. Now is your opportunity to decide whether you will have eternal life or eternal death. It will be a tremendous struggle for you to make a thorough work of repentance. Those who have not seen the inwardness of your character will flatter and sympathize with you, seeking to establish you in your sins. {11MR 252.4}

To such a man as Dr. Paulson the reception of spiritualistic ideas means much more than it can ever mean to you. When he realizes how near he has come to making shipwreck of his faith, when he sees that he has been giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, it may cost him his life. He will ever feel the wound. It is hard for you, but tenfold harder for such men as Dr. Paulson to recover from the shock.

My heart is heavily burdened over these matters. The knowledge of what these things will mean to you unless you change has induced me to urge you to become intelligent in regard to your condition, and to take your position for the truth.--Letter 265, 1903, pp. 1-7. (To Dr. J. H. Kellogg and His Associates, November 26, 1903.)

White Estate Washington, D. C. November 12, 1981

Manuscript Releases Vol. 11, pp. 247-253.
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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

A View of Approaching Danger

".. I must warn our brethren and sisters not to enter into controversy over the presence and personality of God."


A View of Approaching Danger

About the time that Living Temple was published, there passed before me in the night season, representations indicating that some danger was approaching, and that I must prepare for it by writing out the things God had revealed to me regarding the foundation principles of our faith. A copy of Living Temple was sent me, but it remained in my library, unread. From the light given me by the Lord, I knew that some of the sentiments advocated in the book did not bear the endorsement of God, and that they were a snare that the enemy had prepared for the last
days. I thought that this would surely be discerned, and that it would not be necessary for me to say anything about it.

In the controversy that arose among our brethren regarding the teachings of this book, those in favor of giving it a wide circulation declared: "It contains the very sentiments that Sister White has been teaching." This assertion struck right to my heart. I felt heartbroken; for I knew that this representation of the matter was not true.

Finally my son said to me, "Mother, you ought to read at least some parts of the book, that you may see whether they are in harmony with the light that God has given you." He sat down beside me, and together we read the preface, and most of the first chapter, and also paragraphs in other chapters. As we read, I recognized the very sentiments against which I had been bidden to speak in warning during the early days of my public labors. When I first left the State of Maine, it was to go through Vermont and Massachusetts, to bear a testimony against these sentiments. Living Temple contains the alpha of these theories. I knew that the omega would follow in a little while; and I trembled for our people. I knew that I must warn our brethren and sisters not to enter into controversy over the presence and personality of God. The statements made in Living Temple in regard to this point are incorrect. The scripture used to substantiate the doctrine there set forth, is scripture misapplied.

I am compelled to speak in denial of the claim that the teachings of Living Temple can be sustained by statements from my writings. There may be in this book expressions and sentiments that are in harmony with my writings. And there may be in my writings many statements which, taken from their connection, and interpreted according to the mind of the writer of Living Temple, would seem to be in harmony with the teachings of this book. This may give apparent support to the assertion that the sentiments in Living Temple are in harmony with my writings. But God forbid that this sentiment should prevail.

Few can discern the result of entertaining the sophistries advocated by some at this time. But the Lord has lifted the curtain, and has shown me the result that would follow. The spiritualistic theories regarding the personality of God, followed to their logical conclusion, sweep away the whole Christian economy. They estimate as nothing the light that Christ came from heaven to give John to give to His people. They teach that the scenes just before us are not of sufficient importance to be given special attention. They make of no effect the truth of heavenly origin, and rob the people of God of their past experience, giving them instead a false science.

In a vision of the night I was shown distinctly that these sentiments have been looked upon by some as the grand truths that are to be brought in and made prominent at the present time. I was shown a platform, braced by solid timbers--the truths of the Word of God. Some one high in responsibility in the medical work was directing this man and that man to loosen the timbers supporting this platform. Then I heard a voice saying, "Where are the watchmen that ought to be standing on the walls of Zion? Are they asleep? This foundation was built by the Master Worker, and will stand storm and tempest. Will they permit this man to present doctrines that deny the past experience of the people of God? The time has come to take decided action."

The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church, would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced. The founders of this system would go into the cities, and do a wonderful work. The Sabbath of course, would be lightly regarded, as also the God who created it. Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement. The leaders would teach that virtue is better than vice, but God being removed, they would place their dependence on human power, which, without God, is worthless. Their foundation would be built on the sand, and storm and tempest would sweep away the structure.

Who has authority to begin such a movement? We have our Bibles. We have our experience, attested to by the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit. We have a truth that admits of no compromise. Shall we not repudiate everything that is not in harmony with this truth?

I hesitated and delayed about the sending out of that which the Spirit of the Lord impelled me to write. I did not want to be compelled to present the misleading influence of these sophistries. But in the providence of God, the errors that have been coming in must be met.
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(1SM) Selected Messages Book 1, pp. 202-205.

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Teilhard de Chardin


TEILHARD DE CHARDIN
1881 - 1955
By Anodea Judith

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a visionary French Jesuit, paleontologist, biologist, and philosopher, who spent the bulk of his life trying to integrate religious experience with natural science, most specifically Christian theology with theories of evolution. In this endeavor he became absolutely enthralled with the possibilities for humankind, which he saw as heading for an exciting convergence of systems, an "Omega point" where the coalescence of consciousness will lead us to a new state of peace and planetary unity. Long before ecology was fashionable, he saw this unity he saw as being based intrinsically upon the spirit of the Earth:
"The Age of Nations is past. The task before us now, if we would not perish, is to build the Earth."


Teilhard de Chardin passed away a full ten years before James Lovelock ever proposed the "Gaia Hypothesis" which suggests that the Earth is actually a living being, a collosal biological super-system. Yet Chardin's writings clearly reflect the sense of the Earth as having its own autonomous personality, and being the prime center and director of our future -- a strange attractor, if you will -- that will be the guiding force for the synthesis of humankind.

"The phrase 'Sense of the Earth' should be understood to mean the passionate concern for our common destiny which draws the thinking part of life ever further onward. The only truly natural and real human unity is the spirit of the Earth. . . .The sense of Earth is the irresistable pressure which will come at the right moment to unite them (humankind) in a common passion.

"We have reached a crossroads in human evolution where the only road which leads forward is towards a common passion. . . To continue to place our hopes in a social order achieved by external violence would simply amount to our giving up all hope of carrying the Spirit of the Earth to its limits."

To this end, he suggested that the Earth in its evolutionary unfolding, was growing a new organ of consciousness, called the noosphere. The noosphere is analogous on a planetary level to the evolution of the cerebral cortex in humans. The noosphere is a "planetary thinking network" -- an interlinked system of consciousness and information, a global net of self-awareness, instantaneous feedback, and planetary communication. At the time of his writing, computers of any merit were the size of a city block, and the Internet was, if anything, an element of speculative science fiction. Yet this evolution is indeed coming to pass, and with a rapidity, that in Gaia time, is but a mere passage of seconds. In these precious moments, the planet is developing her cerebral cortex, and emerging into self-conscious awakening. We are indeed approaching the Omega point that Teilhard de Chardin was so excited about.

This convergence however, though it was predicted to occur through a global information network, was not a convergence of merely minds or bodies -- but of heart, a point that he made most fervently.

"It is not our heads or our bodies which we must bring together, but our hearts. . . . Humanity. . . is building its composite brain beneath our eyes. May it not be that tomorrow, through the logical and biological deepening of the movement drawing it together, it will find its heart, without which the ultimate wholeness of its power of unification can never be achieved?"

In his productive lifetime, Teilhard de Chardin wrote many books, which include the following:
LET ME EXPLAIN
THE APPEARANCE OF MAN
THE DIVINE MILIEU
THE FUTURE OF MAN
HOW I BELIEVE
HYMN OF THE UNIVERSE
LETTERS FROM A TRAVELLER
LETTERS TO LEONTINE ZANTA
THE MAKING OF A MIND
MAN'S PLACE IN NATURE
THE PHENOMENON OF MAN
SCIENCE AND CHRIST
THE VISION OF THE PAST
WRITINGS IN TIME OF WAR
BUILDING THE EARTH


Most of these quotes were taken from Building the Earth, and The Phenomenon of Man, but as I no longer have a copy, but only old notes, I can't quote exact page numbers.

by Anodea Judith, Dec. 96.
SHAKTI7@aol.com
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Thursday, December 24, 2009

Melbourne 2009 - Parliament of World Religions


Melbourne Parliament of Religions bridges the world

Friday, 11 Dec 2009

by Mark Brolly


The Parliament of the World's Religions ended on 9 December with a gesture of solidarity with another international gathering on the other side of the world, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

Adherents of many of the 220 religious and spiritual beliefs from more than 80 countries represented at the Parliament gathered on a new footbridge over the Yarra after the closing plenary session to send a message to delegates in the Danish capital: "Protect The Only Earth We Have."

It was a simple but striking end to the six-day Parliament at the new Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre at South Wharf. The theme of the Parliament, which first met in Chicago in 1893, was "Make a World of Difference: Hearing Each Other, Healing the Earth".

The Dalai Lama was the key attraction on the final day, appealing to religious and spiritual adherents to promote the importance of the inner person and compassion to help solve the world's problems. He said the world had made great material advances but a great moral crisis was damaging both people and the planet.

Archbishop Freier gave the Christian Blessing at the closing ceremony, from the Beatitudes, capping the contribution of local and international Anglicans to the five-yearly gathering, which was attended by more than 5000 people.

Dr Freier and Bishop John Harrower of Tasmania celebrated Sunday Eucharist on 6 December as part of the morning observances held on each day of the Parliament. The archbishop was also a panellist on the role of religion and spirituality in the public discourse and at a seminar with Melbourne youth.

The Revd Professor Gary Bouma chaired the board of management for the Melbourne Parliament, Archdeacon Philip Newman, whose responsibilities are for Christian unity and relations with the world's religions, was active in promoting the event, while local Anglicans such as the Vicar of Holy Trinity East Melbourne, Fr John Stewart, hosted pre-Parliament forums and was a volunteer guide during the event itself.

International Anglicans, such as the Revd Dr Marcus Braybrooke, President of the World Congress of Faiths and patron of the International Interfaith Centre in Oxford, and Bishop Geoffrey Davies, coordinator of the Southern African Faith Communities' Environmental Institute, were speakers, panellists and moderators.

The senior elder of the Wurundjeri people, Joy Murphy Wandin, played a prominent role in both the opening and closing plenary sessions, offering the Welcome to Country and presenting the Dalai Lama and other religious leaders with traditional gifts.

Local and overseas indigenous representatives were prominent participants throughout the Parliament, which included 662 programs, the screening of 37 films and 42 off-site events. There were 1500 presenters, performers and exhibitors, while other events included a communities night on 4 December, in which local adherents of many faiths hosted visitors at venues around Melbourne.

Chicago Muslim leader and president of a foundation that runs a daily Islamic radio station, Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, succeeded American Lutheran scholar the Revd Bill Lesher as chair of the Parliament's board of trustees.

Imam Mujahid, in a speech resembling that of an evangelical preacher, launched PeaceNext.org, a social network enabling interreligious dialogue in cyberspace between five-yearly meetings of the Parliament.



Voices of faith at the Parliament of Religions

A couple of days ago I returned from Australia, where I attended the 2009 Parliament of World Religions. The event was held in Melbourne from December 3-10.

I spent those last couple of days trying to think how to describe the Parliament to those not there. I explained the experience to a few friends and a few folks from Patheos -- and each time it came out quite differently.

How could it not? We flew 15,000 miles to spend 7 days in a massive building with 5,000 people representing over 200 faiths. We saw a few of the 1,000 presentations and panel discussions, wandered the halls where the costumes of countless traditions and the languages of countless nations could be experienced in large, greedy gulps. And we heard the ideas and opinions of lots and lots of folks. That is pretty hard to describe.

Within the context of the overall Parliament, I had the chance to talk to a lot of people. A dozen of them I talked to on camera -- and I asked them the same 4 questions each:

- What does it mean to be a in today's world?- With the "shrinking" of the world through technology, how does that impact you and your tradition?- When you interact with others, from different traditions, what aspects of your tradition do they find it easiest to understand or accept -- and what aspects to they find it more difficult to understand or accept?- What do you hope comes out of gatherings like this one in Melbourne?

I asked that of some of the traditions we DON'T hear as much about -- even at Patheos so far. The Patheos team of regular contributors includes people that are Christian (Catholic, Mainline Protestant, Evangelical Protestant, and Mormon), Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, Atheist and "Non-Affiliated". So I specifically sought out other voices, and interviewed a Jain, a Soka Gakkai, a Scientologist, a Quaker, a Hindu, a Baha'i, a Sikh, a Gnostic, a Zoroastrian, a Wiccan, a Hare Krishna, and a Unitarian-Universalist.

Their video interviews are here.

To be fair, these aren't random adherents (although, at the Parliament, you always get people who have a pretty active role in their traditions) -- they are instead teachers or spokespeople for their tradition.

As you watch the videos, you start to notice some things. The voices and accents and garb and cultural heritage of the speakers varies wildly. The context of their tradition colors their answers.

But beyond all of that, the utter sameness of so much of what they are saying starts to sink in. That they are proud of their tradition. That they think at the core it is about a few fundamental human truths. That they believe their is a lot of good that their tradition can do in the world. That they are trying to do some real, practical good. And that you don't have to be a member of that tradition to join with them to help make it a better place.

Some of you will notice that and will be surprised, and some of you will notice that and not be surprised. But notice it, either way.

There are some huge problems out there in the world. And although it is clear that the solutions to these problems must involve the world's religious traditions, it isn't clear that many of the religious institutions will be able to get out of their own way in order to do so. I'll have a lot to say about some of those things in upcoming blogs.

By Leo Brunnick December 15, 2009; 3:30 AM ET

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