{"id":774,"date":"2015-10-14T18:00:18","date_gmt":"2015-10-14T22:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cristolaverdad.com\/?p=774"},"modified":"2025-10-30T13:30:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T17:30:32","slug":"mysticism-in-the-evangelical-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cristolaverdad.com\/?p=774","title":{"rendered":"Mysticism in the Evangelical Church"},"content":{"rendered":"
This entry is part 1 of 9 in the series Mysticism<\/a><\/div>

There is a persistent attack to debilitate the Christian Church from with in<\/strong>, 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<\/span><\/strong> but will attack sound doctrine & those who defend it. They are not hiding their intentions:<\/p>\n

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“There will not be any disassociation between the Universal (means Catholic<\/em>) church, the Sacred Lodge of all true Masons, and the inner circles of the esoteric societies<\/span>… In this way, the goals and work of the United Nations shall be solidified and a new<\/span> Church of God<\/strong>, led by all the religions<\/strong><\/span> and by all the spiritual groups, shall put an end to the great heresy of separateness.” Theosophist & Occultic Alice Bailey,<\/strong> See more on Fanatic for Jesus<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some of this false doctrines that are gaining acceptance in Christian churches are Western Mysticism, Catholic Mysticism,\u00a0 Contemplative prayer,\u00a0Gnosticism, etc.\u00a0 We don’t find any of these practices in the Bible.<\/p>\n

Mysticism<\/strong> is a word derived from the Greek that means ‘conceal or mystery<\/strong>‘.\u00a0 Mysticism is a claim of direct union with God that bypasses the mind (reason),<\/span> & also bypasses the Lord Jesus Christ &\/or His doctrine<\/span>. This is serious error since Jesus is the only mediator between God & men (1 Timothy 2:5,\u00a0\u00a0 Acts 4:12,<\/a> John 4:16).<\/p>\n

The American Heritage Dictionary defines Mysticism as:\u00a0 ‘Belief in direct experience<\/strong> of transcendent reality or God, especially by means of contemplation and asceticism instead of rational thought<\/span>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

M<\/span>ysticism<\/strong> is an attempt to gain ultimate knowledge of God<\/span> by a direct experience that bypasses the mind<\/strong>. The strong influence of Catholic mysticism<\/span> has helped immensely to transform the New Age Movement<\/a> from being merely a counter-culture sub-culture to becoming a new source of spiritual vision for the world. Catholic mysticism<\/span> has very effectively and subtly invaded<\/span> many facets of life without being recognized or critically examined.\u00a0 Christiananswers<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mysticism, unity with God<\/strong> is practiced in New Age, Roman Catholicism<\/strong>, Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), Islam (the Sufi sect), Taoism & is also found in Hinduism.<\/span> As you can notice mysticism would help unite many religions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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These are men performing ‘Sufi whirling’ a form of physically active meditation<\/p><\/div>\n

Catholic Mysticism<\/strong> is being promoted and taught by many Christian churches & ministries, like: (New Apostolic Reformation -NAR) Mike<\/a> Bickel’s IHOP<\/a> churches<\/strong>,\u00a0 Emergent Rick Warren\/Saddle back Church<\/strong> (Be aware of churches that use Warren’s books & his inner healing<\/strong>\u00a0 ‘Celebrate Recovery’), also (NAR) Bethel Church<\/strong> of Bill Johnson, (NAR) Rick Joyner’s Morning Star Church<\/strong>, The Baptist Standard<\/a> etc. & by teachers like New Calvinist John Piper (who promotes Richard Foster & Rick Warren<\/a>, the practice of lectio divina, etc), David Jeremiah, Chuck Swindoll<\/a>, Rob Bell, John Crowder, Patricia King, Max Lucado, Beth Moore, Mark Virkler, Luis & Kevin Palau,\u00a0 etc.<\/p>\n

Many are recommending the books of Catholic Mystics like Teresa de Avila<\/a>, Brother Lawrence<\/a>, John of the Cross<\/a>, Thomas a Kempis<\/a>, <\/strong>(His book ‘Imitation of Christ<\/a>‘ influenced Ignatius Loyola & it’s still used as spiritual exercise by Jesuits. The book places emphasis on the devotion to the Eucharist<\/a> as key element of spiritual life), Ignatius of Loyola<\/strong><\/a> ( <\/strong>a Crypt-Jew that practiced kabbalah & founder of the Jesuits); The confessions of St. Augustine<\/strong>,\u00a0 St. Thomas Aquinas;<\/a> Francis de Sales,\u00a0 St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Anne Catherine Emmerich <\/strong>(Mel Gibson<\/a>‘s inspiration for ‘The Passion of the Christ<\/a>‘ -with porn<\/a> stars), Henry Suso, Madame Guyon<\/a>, Julian of Norwich<\/a>, <\/strong>Catholic priest Henri Nouwen<\/a> (1<\/a>) (2<\/a>),<\/strong> Thomas Merton<\/a>, (1<\/a>), <\/strong>(Pope Francis & Merton<\/a>), father Thomas Dubay, <\/strong>contemplatives Thomas Keating and Basil Pennington <\/strong>(both Catholic monks).<\/p>\n

And also books, videos, etc. of other non-Catholic, but Christians, or New Agers mystics & Contemplatives like\u00a0 Richard Foster<\/a><\/strong> (founder of Renovare & a disciple of mystic Catholic monk Thomas Merton<\/strong>), (1<\/a>) (2<\/a>),\u00a0 Gary Thomas<\/strong><\/a>, Dallas Willard<\/a><\/strong>, Anglican father Gilbert<\/a>, Philip Yancey<\/a>, many from the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) John Crowder<\/a>, contemplative David Benner<\/a>, feminine spiritualist Sue Monk Kidd<\/a>, Eugene Peterson<\/a><\/strong> author of the non bible ‘The Message’, contemplative Beth Moore<\/strong>, also contemplative Mark Virkler<\/strong> a disciple of John Robert Stevens<\/a> (1<\/a>), author of \u201c4 Keys to Hearing God\u2019s Voice<\/em>\u201d, who also was\u00a0 influenced by Jesuit<\/strong> priests Matt & Dennis Linn, and their Ignatian spirituality<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Catholic priest Thomas Merton & Dalai Lama<\/p><\/div>\n

The goal of the New Age Movement has consistently been to bring in the Age of Aquarius<\/a> when all will recognize “the god within themselves”. Catholic and Eastern mystics<\/strong> claim to discover God in the depths of their being (without Jesus). But the true Christian looks away from himself to the righteousness of Jesus Christ , who suffered in a real world & died on a cross to pay for our sins.<\/p>\n

This false doctrine of Mysticism<\/strong> that includes Contemplative prayer<\/span>, mantra chanting (meditation<\/span>), Lectio Divina<\/span>, to be still, etc, is being pushed mainly by The Emergent Church Movement, New Apostolic Reformation Movement & The Ecumenical Movement<\/strong> , which are trying to unite us with Rome into one world religion.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Catholic Mysticism<\/strong><\/p>\n

Catholic Mysticism started with what they call the ‘early fathers’ & mothers (nuns) also called the ‘Desert Fathers<\/strong>‘, who were hermits and monks<\/strong> that lived a monastic life mainly in the deserts of Egypt in the 4th and 5th centuries AD. Some of them lived in isolation & others adopted rules for communal life that evolved into larger monastic communities.<\/p>\n

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“In the early Middle Ages, there lived a group of hermits in the wilderness areas of the Middle East. They were known to history as the desert fathers<\/span>.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

“They dwelt in small isolated communities for the purpose of devoting their lives completely to God without distraction. The contemplative movement<\/strong> traces its roots back to these monks. They were the ones who first promoted the mantra as a prayer tool.<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

“One meditation scholar made this connection when he said: ‘The meditation practices and rules<\/strong> for living of these earliest Christian monks<\/strong> bear strong similarity to those of their Hindu and Buddhist<\/span> renunciate brethren several kingdoms to the East … the meditative techniques they adopted<\/strong> for finding their God suggest either a borrowing from the East<\/span> or a spontaneous rediscovery<\/strong>.’ http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com<\/a>
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