Eastern Mysticism and Christianity are Incompatible

The Omega Letter Intelligence Digest ^ | 06.02.05 | Jan Markell

[Coleus]

Eastern Mysticism and Christianity are Incompatible


Commentary on the News
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Jan Markell

What do you say when a good friend who loves God, reads her Bible, and talks and walks her faith becomes a devotee of “Christian yoga”? You might brace yourself and prepare yourself, because “Christian yoga” is coming to a church near you. And to those who understand yoga’s Hindu roots and to all former New Agers, it will never be compatible with Evangelical Christianity.

A popular video called, “Outstretched in Worship” has fueled the yoga popularity among Christians, be they Mainline Protestants, Evangelicals, or Catholics. Just don’t throw the baby out with the bath water as proponents insist there are so many “benefits” of yoga. And now that it is “sanctified”, let’s have a brand of “Christian yoga.”

Daniel Akin, dean of the school of theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said Christians who are drawn to the physical benefits of yoga should avoid its spiritual and psychological underpinnings. “Yoga is rooted in Eastern mysticism and it is incompatible with Christianity,” he says.

Laurette Willis, a yoga veteran of 22 years and an Evangelical Christian, said the experience left her vulnerable to “psychic influences” she believes were demonic. “It opened the door to twenty years of involvement in the New Age movement.” Willis says that many yoga postures are based on ancient Hindu worship of the sun and moon as deities, and rejects the notion that they can be redeemed by putting a Christian spin on them. Willis concludes that yoga’s emphasis on cultivating divine energy within oneself conflicts with Christianity’s goal of finding salvation in Christ. Yoga means joining together. It’s the joining of the individual spirit with the universal spirit. Christians should be seeing red flags rather than exploring a trendy new “experience.”

The day has come when we need a “spiritual Better Business Bureau” to deal with fads, dangerous trends, and mysticism now entering the church. And while many are aware of the dangers, too often today church leaders are warmly receiving deceiving spirits. No matter what the supposed “health benefits” of yoga may be, it is not worth the risk to one’s spiritual health.

So what do you say to that friend who has embraced “Christian yoga?” You need to tell them that to believe that yoga complements all faiths and is harmless is to believe a lie and it is actually hazardous to your health. Hindu gods are responsible for enormous damage on a scale too vast to measure. With the death of discernment so prevalent in the 21st Century church, it could be welcomed into your church—and in the front door, not the back door. Remember that chasing after the “doctrine of demons” is one of the greatest “end-time” signs and the seduction of the East over the West is fueling it all.

(Jan Markell is founder/director of Olive Tree Ministries and a Contributing Editor to Omega Letter. To learn more about related issues, visit her Web site, www.olivetreeviews.org.)

[Coleus]

Yoga - Health or Stealth?

[followerofchrist]

If Yoga is sitting there contemplating, then why not contemplate Christ? Meditation is not Christian either, but can people meditate on Christ. If one engages in Yoga not as a universalist spiritism thing, I see no problem in it. Many cultures integrate their ways with their Christian religion. That's why Christianity has been successful.

[Grim]

The day has come when we need a “spiritual Better Business Bureau” to deal with fads, dangerous trends, and mysticism now entering the church.

Time to revive the Spanish Inquisition. They knew how to "deal with" dangerous trends. What a crock.

[Coyoteman]

And what's your position on acapuncture? That started in the Orient too.

How about meditation?

[Zeroisanumber]

My girl does Yoga everyday, it's just stretching.

[little jeremiah]

placemark for later comments.

[Urbane_Guerilla]

A perfect example of Christians debasing Christianity with their absurd, up-tight interpretation of Jesus.

It is not exactly on topic, but let me say this. Islam is destroying religion. And the plentiful Christians who sound as absurd and irrational as moslems are helping to destroy religion.

This article reflects the smallness of spirit which is the essence of Islam. Why would Christians want to be that small?

[Just A Nobody]

Thanks for this article and the extra link. This is dangerous stuff that appears harmless and folks get sucked in without realizing what they are doing.

[stripes1776]

I had extreme knee joint pain for 2 years. During that time I went to physical therapy to try and correct the problem. But 2 years later there was no change. So, on a whim I enrolled in a yoga class. One month later, my pain was reduced by 50%. After 3 months, it was down to 90%.

I don't practice any sort of spirituality associated with yoga. I just do a few exercises that stretch my muscles and joints, and it keeps my joint pain under control. I am a Christian, so I would like to know exactly what other Christians find wrong about reducing joint pain?

[rudyudy]

Nothing.

[Hetty_Fauxvert]

This article is completely ridiculous. Christian mystics (many of them saints) have meditated on Christ for centuries. Physical yoga (aka Hatha Yoga) is, as someone else already said, just stretching. And as a matter of fact, some Eastern philosophies *are* compatible with Christianity. Gautama Buddha, for example, adamantly refused to identify himself as a god. When asked about his views on deities, the Buddha refused to answer, since he said that gods and such had no bearing on the philosophy which he was teaching. It is possible to be a Christian and still follow Buddhist philosophy, as long as you stick with what the Buddha actually said, rather than getting into the centuries of tradion and so forth that were added on later. (In fairness, I don't think it is possible to be both a Hindu and a Christian, since Hindus generally follow several gods. Interestingly, however, some modern Hindus identify Jesus as one of their several gods.)

[0siris]

If some idiot renounces Christianity because he follows a workout tape that teaches him how to breathe and stretch in sync, then that idiot isn't long for the faith anyways.

If you do yoga, Satan will subvert your mind into becoming a Hindu. If you read the Iliad, you'll become a pagan. If you listen to rock music, you're worshipping Satan. If you read a book on the history of Japan, you'll become a Shintoiest, ie, a Satanist. If you read the Lord of the Rings, you'll become a wiccan who believes in earth witches. If you read Hamlet, you'll emulate your role model Hamlet like the good monkey you are and commit regicide. If a woman wears a dress, a man will definitely lust after her and he will rape her. If a church puts on a play--any play--that church is falling away as prophesized in Revelation because it is embracing pagan roots --after all, it was the ancient Greeks who invented the play, therefore all plays should be banned. Oh and alphabets? Don't get me started on alphabets and those pagan Phoenicians. Better wrap everyone up like bhirka mummies so they won't be exposed to anything.

[Walkingfeather]

and if anyone leads one of these little ones astray it would be better for them to have a mill stone tied around their neck and be cast into the sea....."

Becareful what you advocate.

[ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton]

Thanks HF for posting some sane thoughts.

I could never see the why people get so freaked out by everything.

Then again, I could never see why evolution is such a issue either.

[JWinNC]

"Eastern Mysticism and Christianity are Incompatible"

well duh

[jsm30625]

Why is Christianity incompatible with evolution?

First of all we need to define what a Christian is, a person who believes in, adheres to, trusts in, relies on Christ and believes that he is revealed through the Holy Scriptures (i.e. the Holy Bible.) If you read Genesis you should realize that God created the earth in six LITERAL days (because it mentions "there was evening, and there was morning.) This is not a specific symbolic meaning (as would be demonstrated in say, the Book of Revelations.) If God did create the earth in six literal days than it is already contradictory to evolution which states that after millions of years unicellular organisms evolved into multicellular organisms and we really are descendants of monkeys.

For more information go to

http://answersingenesis.org/home/area/qa.asp

[jsm30625]

Buddhism adamently supports vegetarianism.
Christianity on the other does not (Judaism has the sacrifice of animals used as a symbol of the redemtive work of Christ.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism#Principles_of_Buddhism


"The ultimate goal of all Buddhists is to attain nirvana, the extinction of all desire, passions and individual identity."
Contrary to Christianity, God gave us "desire" and yearnings for specific things, why should our individual identity be extinct, we were made in the image of God.

I don't have time to go into all the details but here is a good website that will explain Buddhism.

http://www.christiananswers.net/evangelism/beliefs/buddhism.html

[stripes1776]

It is possible to be a Christian and still follow Buddhist philosophy

I think you may be right since there is no God in Buddhism. But as a Christian, you must acknowledge the existence of God at some point. However, if I am to engage in the philosophy of religion, I prefer the Western tradition since I am a Westerner.

In fairness, I don't think it is possible to be both a Hindu and a Christian, since Hindus generally follow several gods. Interestingly, however, some modern Hindus identify Jesus as one of their several gods.

There are some compelling arguments that Krishna did not appear in Hinduism until Christianity reached India. Also, of all major contemporary religions, Hinduism is the only one that has the concept of the incarnation of God, although as a polytheistic religion there is not one unique incarnation but rather many. Still, I think there are more lines of contact between Christianity and Hinduism that most people would be willing to acknowledge.

[onedoug]

Deuteronomy 4:19..."And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven."

Malachi 1:11..."For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts."

...So long as the Laws of Noah are adhered to - whether one knows them by that name, or not.

[aposiopetic]

The day has come when we need a “spiritual Better Business Bureau” to deal with fads, dangerous trends, and mysticism now entering the church.

The Spiritual Counterfeits Project has been doing something like this since 1973.