There is a persistent attack to debilitate the Christian Church from with in, the enemy is not looking to completely destroy it, but to contaminate it & change it into something else, in order to use it for a different purpose for what it was really created. The way they are working to accomplish this is by bringing subtle false doctrines & infiltrating the church with many false teachers, that will call for ecumenical unity but will attack sound doctrine & those who defend it. They are not hiding their intentions:
“There will not be any disassociation between the Universal (means Catholic) church, the Sacred Lodge of all true Masons, and the inner circles of the esoteric societies… In this way, the goals and work of the United Nations shall be solidified and a new Church of God, led by all the religions and by all the spiritual groups, shall put an end to the great heresy of separateness.” Theosophist & Occultic Alice Bailey, See more on Fanatic for Jesus
Some of this false doctrines that are gaining acceptance in Christian churches are Western Mysticism, Catholic Mysticism, Contemplative prayer, Gnosticism, etc. We don’t find any of these practices in the Bible.
Mysticism is a word derived from the Greek that means ‘conceal or mystery‘. Mysticism is a claim of direct union with God that bypasses the mind (reason), & also bypasses the Lord Jesus Christ &/or His doctrine. This is serious error since Jesus is the only mediator between God & men (1 Timothy 2:5, Acts 4:12, John 4:16).
The American Heritage Dictionary defines Mysticism as: ‘Belief in direct experience of transcendent reality or God, especially by means of contemplation and asceticism instead of rational thought.
Mysticism is an attempt to gain ultimate knowledge of God by a direct experience that bypasses the mind. The strong influence of Catholic mysticism has helped immensely to transform the New Age Movement from being merely a counter-culture sub-culture to becoming a new source of spiritual vision for the world. Catholic mysticism has very effectively and subtly invaded many facets of life without being recognized or critically examined. Christiananswers