{"id":8863,"date":"2020-07-22T15:25:40","date_gmt":"2020-07-22T19:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cristolaverdad.com\/?p=8863"},"modified":"2026-04-03T15:43:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T19:43:30","slug":"the-bible-project-mysticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cristolaverdad.com\/?p=8863","title":{"rendered":"The Bible Project & Mysticism"},"content":{"rendered":"
This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series Bible Project<\/a><\/div>

About a year ago a relative showed me a couple of videos made by the Bible Project, they are short animated videos teaching the Bible and I really loved their animations, & the high quality of their presentation. After watching a few more videos, I found that the most important part, their bible teachings, have a lot of interpretation or personal opinions<\/strong>, not everything was biblical base. Later in another video I found they didn’t believe in hell, even this is a basic doctrine accepted by all Christians, which is denied only by sects like Jehovah Witnesses & others like them. So even I know a lot of Christian ministries were using their videos as tools to teach the Bible, I stopped watching them, because after my personal experience of coming out from a system full of wrong doctrines (Catholicism), I value sound doctrine<\/strong> more than a good presentations or anything else.<\/p>\n

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Recently, I was asked about my opinion on the Bible Project’s videos about the book of Revelation. I checked them & I couldn’t believe they are still so popular in Christian circles, because these videos even they are beautifully made, they don’t sound biblical at all, they completely changed the entire book of Revelation! So I decided to do some search about the spiritual beliefs of the founders.<\/p>\n

Because I know some (specially the younger followers of Bible Project) may get offended, let me tell you that my true intention is to always show the truth even if it make us sad. It’s better to be sad for some minutes than to be sad eternally. Bible Project is a public<\/strong> study (not private lessons) and is affecting the life of thousands if not millions of Christians, then I can publicly give my personal opinion for the sake of those people & also the ones who asked me. Please understand in doing this, I’m not shooting at the messenger, I just disagree with their many errors in their message\/doctrine, since they say ‘their videos <\/em>explore the books and themes <\/em>of the Bible<\/em>‘<\/strong><\/span>, but when you compare them with the Bible<\/strong> in reality you will find a lot of serious doctrinal contradictions. I just pray for them & ask you to please do the same.<\/p>\n

I will let the review of their 2 videos about the book of Revelation for latter, since it will take more space & time.<\/p>\n

These are just some of the many red flags<\/span> I found:<\/p>\n

-1 \/ Tim Mackie & Jon Collins are co-founders of the Bible Project, they reject the biblical understandings of the Atonement (propitiation), the normally accepted teachings of the rapture, judgment,\u00a0 hell, <\/a>etc. Tim Mackie said (<=pls see link) that “modern Christianity has done piecemealed bits and words and images out of the Bible<\/strong> and made up a new narrative<\/span><\/em>“, but I think that’s exactly what they are doing.<\/p>\n

-2 \/ When you go to Tim Mackie’s personal page, you will find a list of people that were spiritual influences on him & he recommends their writings<\/strong>, but if you research you will find that several of them teach mysticism<\/span><\/strong>, including a rabbi (Abraham Heschel) & a Jewish professor (Fishbane) since both are teachers of kabbalah<\/strong> or Jewish mysticism<\/span>. Kabbalah is mystical enlightenment through meditation & contemplation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

-3\/\u00a0 Another issue with Tim Mackie’s doctrine, is that he is teaching Lectio Divina<\/a><\/strong> in his church.\u00a0 This is a form of contemplative<\/strong> prayer & Catholic mysticism<\/strong><\/span>. Just hearing Mackie speak it shows that he is very involved in mysticism, but these shouldn’t be a surprise when we know about his spiritual influences. Also is important to note that Catholic Mysticism comes from Kabbalah.<\/p>\n

-4 \/ Bible Project founders Tim Mackie and Jonathan Collins have also embraced the ‘ Enneagram<\/strong>‘! They appeared on Ian Cron\u2019s \u201cTypology\u201d podcast “The Bible Project, feat. Tim Mackie and Jon Collins (Enneagram 5<\/a>) [S02-005]<\/em> \u201da show that deals with Enneagram related subjects. His youtube channel ‘Tim Mackie Archives<\/em>‘, also posted that interview.<\/p>\n

-The Enneagram as practiced today started in 19th century with George Gurdjieff<\/a> -1866-1949 (secular site so skeptics don’t say this are ‘religious’ Christian’s invention) an Eastern Orthodox that turned into esoteric teachings & got involved with several religions, including the Sufis (Islamic Mysticism<\/strong><\/span>). To Gurdjieff & to the Sufi mystics who he was involved with, the enneagram was primarily about numerological divination.<\/p>\n

Georges Gurdjieff dressed in Sufi sacred dance garments<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018Sufi whirling\u2019 a sacred dance or a form of physically active meditation practiced among mystics<\/span> of the Sufi sect.<\/p><\/div>\n

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According to his principles and instructions, Gurdjieff’s method for awakening one’s consciousness<\/span>, supposedly unites the 3 methods, of the fakir <\/strong>(body), monk <\/strong>(emotions) and yogi <\/strong>(mind), and for this reason he referred to it as the “Fourth Way<\/strong>“. Gurdjieff tells in his writings that the earliest indications of the teaching of The Fourth Way lie in prehistoric Egypt<\/strong>. One of the principal symbols of The Fourth Way is the enneagram. He wrote a complex book (10 books in 3 series) called “Beelzebub<\/strong>\u2019s Tales to His Grandson<\/em><\/a>“. Beelzebub<\/strong> means “the lord of flies,” is the name given to Satan & the Canaanite deity Baal, his name is\u00a0 found in the Old Testament 2 Kings 1:2-3, 6, 16 & in the New Testament ( Matt. 10:25<\/a> ;\u00a0 12:24<\/a> & 27<\/a> ; & Mark 3:22<\/a> ), he was worshiped as a god<\/strong>. Beelzebub is believed to be responsible for many cases of demonic possession in the 16th & 17th centuries. Why would any true Christian look to have any connection with this occultic practices <\/span>of Gurdjieff?<\/p>\n

The Enneagram has become the symbol of Gurdjieff.<\/strong> Some promoters say the mystic Sufis call it “the face of God<\/em>.” or ‘nine faces of god<\/em>‘ But what god are they talking about? (See 2 Cor.4:4<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Enneagram is practiced by new agers, witches<\/a>, gnostics<\/a>, kabbalists<\/a>, etc. & now sadly this new trend have been embraced by a growing number of evangelicals. It was first introduced into the Christian church by followers of Roman Catholic priest, mystic<\/strong><\/span> and” contemplative<\/strong>, “Father Richard Rohr<\/a>” (who was a disciple of Jesuit priest Robert Ochs, who is credited with bringing the Enneagram to Catholics in the USA). Is good to note that many Catholics reject the enneagram.<\/p>\n

Richard Rohr\u2019s Role<\/p>\n

At the very epicenter of today\u2019s Enneagram movement<\/strong> is Franciscan priest Father Richard Rohr, founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation<\/strong> (CAC). Rohr\u2019s website states:<\/p>\n

Seven<\/strong> of the nine<\/strong> Enneagram types are associated with the \u201ccapital\u201d or \u201cdeadly\u201d sins which originated with the Desert Fathers<\/span>. But it was not until the late 1960s that Oscar Ichazo began<\/strong> teaching the Enneagram<\/strong> as we know it today. From Ichazo\u2019s school in South America, a group of Jesuits<\/strong><\/span> learned the system and brought it back with them to the United States. Richard Rohr<\/strong> learned about the Enneagram from this group and was one of the first people to publish a book about it in English.<\/p>\n

The Enneagram gained popularity as a tool within spiritual direction.* Today it is widely taught as a way of understanding personality, addiction, relationships, and vocation.<\/p>\n

After Rohr learned about the Enneagram in the 1970s, he shared his Enneagram teaching on ten tapes, later writing his now classic best-selling book, ‘Discovering the Enneagram: An Ancient Tool for a New Spiritual Journey’ (now titled The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective<\/em>). – New Booklet: The Enneagram<\/strong>\u2014An Enlightening Tool or an Enticing Deception?<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Among that group of Jesuits that learned from Ichazo was Rober (Bob) Ochs. Ichazo, a Sufi-inspired mystic, claims to have had out-of-body experiences since childhood. He further claimed that he had received instructions from a highly evolved spirit being called ‘Metatron’ (an archangel or demon mentioned in Gnostic & Kabbalah literature) & that this revelation was crucial to the Enneagram project.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some say the enneagram has Christian origins & started with Ramon Llull (1232-1315) because he taught a philosophy and theology of nine principles in an attempt to integrate different faith traditions. Even there is no evidence of him teaching the Enneagram. But if they want to say it came from R. Llull it is still not a good origin, since he was a Catholic Franciscan mystic <\/span><\/strong>who had a series of visions, wrote treatises on alchemy (occultism) & used kabbalah as a supposedly tool of conversion for Jews, which reinterpreted Kabbalistic doctrine to a Christian perspective<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Most proponents of the Enneagram are clear this is not<\/strong> a personality profile (9-personality type model of the human soul and their inter-connectedness as that started with mystic<\/strong> Claudio Naranjo<\/a>, via automatic writing), but 9 individual paths back to your \u201cTrue self,\u201d<\/strong> the self that supposedly we actually are, which never sinned<\/strong> and that is with God already & was never separated from God<\/span><\/span>. All these are opposed to the basic doctrines of the Christian Faith.<\/p>\n