"Hell" as an invention of the church?

by Marianne Hansen, guest writer

John Shelby Spong......he's just a plain wolf, not even hiding in sheep's clothing, and yet he has a flock. Woe, woe, woe.





See also:

Universalism: The Gospel Message of Emergent and New Age Spirituality

Musings on Noah's Ark, Pontoon Boats and God's Wisdom

Posted by Christine Pack

Answers in Genesis, the premier apologetics ministry for the biblical account of creation, published an article a few years ago about a remarkable man in Netherlands who decided to build a model of Noah's ark, based on the parameters given in Genesis 6-9.  Dutch businessman Johan Huibers has constructed an ark replica that is roughly one-fifth the size of the biblical ark represented in the historical account given in Genesis. Huibers has stated that his desire in doing this project was to bring about a renewed interest in Christianity to Netherlands.

I remember reading this article when it came out, and being so thankful for faithful men like Johan Huibers.  We are living in dark times that only seem to be getting darker, but thankfully, there are always a few people hanging around who take God at his Word, right?

The ark is an amazing thing to ponder, from many different angles.  Here is just one aspect to consider, though I hope to cover more in future articles:

My family and I spent the day on the lake yesterday with another family, good friends of ours. Because there were 8 of us (instead of our usual 4) and also because it was one of the busiest weekends of the year (Labor Day weekend), my husband reserved a pontoon boat for us.  It occurred to me at some point during the day that I never get nervous when we are on the pontoon, even in the choppiest, busiest "water traffic." Why is this? Because a pontoon boat is incredibly stable, with its wide, flat bottom and evenly dispersed weight.  Even in the roughest swells, it never even comes close to tipping.  We have gone out before in some really fun, fast speed boats, but those can capsize in stormy or rough water.  And it also occurred to me that a pontoon is built roughly like the ark that God had Noah build.....which of course was why the biblical, historical ark was so stable, even in the most cataclysmic flood the world has ever seen.

Just another reason to give glory to God, for ALL wisdom comes from him......even in something so humble as boat building.

photo credit: elmada via photo pin cc

 Additional Resources 

Answers in Genesis

Johan Huibers and His Ark Project

You, Lord, who know all things....

J.C. Ryle

❝Above all, let us pray daily that our own Christianity may at any rate be genuine, sincere, real and true. Our faith may be feeble, our hope dim, our knowledge small, our failures frequent, our faults many. But at all events letus be real and true. Let us be able to say with poor, weak, erring Peter, 'You, Lord, who know all things, know that I love You.' ❞ (John 21:17)  -J.C. Ryle

I identify so much with the Apostle Peter. My own Christian journey has been like his in some ways: starting out with a zeal for God but no knowledge, being refined, being foolish, learning and being refined more, more foolishness, and finally knowing at the end that HE is God and I am small, insignificant, sinful and wretched. And sometimes all I can do is say, Lord, despite all my wretchedness, my sin, my foolishness, search my heart...and know that I love you.


 Additional Resources 

Subscribe to J.C. Ryle's Christ-centered quotes Mon-Fri 

It's Official: Mormonism Crazier than Scientology

Okay, it's official: Mormonism is crazier than Scientology. If you are not familiar with what Mormon theology is, you must watch this short, 6-minute cartoon. Planet Kolob, spirit babies and baptism of the dead. And yes, this really is Mormon doctrine, and yes, they really do believe this.

 Additional Resources 

I'm Sorry, Glenn.....It's Over

Evangelicals and Glenn Beck's New Age Mormonism

Glenn Beck and His New Age Beliefs

Glenn Beck's New Book Reveals He Is A Universalist and Embraces New Age Theology

Patriotism, Ecumenism and the Glenn Beck Movement

A Former Mormon Explains Mormon Theology and the Book of Mormon

Mormons Say Beck Achieved 200 Year Goal of Getting Evangelicals to Declare That Mormons Are Christians

It's Official: Mormonism Is Crazier Than Scientology

Top 10 Amazing Facts About Mormonism

Glenn Beck's "Three Paths to God"?

Grace and peace.

The Sola Sisters are taking a brief break.  We will resume shortly.  

"Christian" Yoga?

Posted by Christine Pack



This recent YouTube video with Caryl Matrisciana on the dangers of yoga is both sobering and informative, and explains why Christians should not attempt to "blend" their worship of God with the pagan practices of Hinduism.  This is a very timely issue right now, given that a Hollywood movie starring Julia Roberts (Eat, Pray, Love) is about to be released and will be presenting a glowing cinematic portrayal of a sanitized, Americanized version of Hinduism.

Yoga is the salvific practice of Hinduism; in other words, it is the Hindu form of "salvation." But Hindus have no concept of sin against a holy God....instead, it teaches that man's greatest problem is his ignorance that he is "God" (or Brahman). Obviously, this is very different from the Christian understanding of what salvation is: Jesus's atoning death for the forgiveness of sins, and being made right with a holy God.

Just a few more reasons why yoga cannot be separated from its occultic origins are:

(1) The mantra meditation lowers mental barriers and opens one up to the demonic realm (though it often doesn't "feel" demonic at first...it feels "good" and "spiritual".....even holy);

(2) The yoga positions themselves are all prayer postures designed to honor one of the millions of hindu gods;

(3)  The "Namaste" is an unbiblical practice. "Namaste" is when the yoga practitioners bow to one another while each says "Namaste." "Namaste" means "I am bowing to the 'God' within you." This is obviously not a biblical concept because we cannot assume that everyone we would meet in life has God within them. For the Christian, there are only 2 kinds of people: those who are spiritually dead (the lost), and those who are born again believers in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit. For me to practice the "Namaste" would mean that I would be giving false hope and assurance to the lost that I am recognizing them as my spiritual brothers and sisters.

(4) The yoga positions themselves are not only for the purpose of honoring and worshiping Hindu gods, but they are done in a very specific order for the purpose of aligning and opening up the"chakra" system.  It is believed that this alignment will not only enable one to meditate more deeply, but will also awaken something called "kundalini," also known as "serpent power." In the yoga tradition, it is believed that a "serpent" lies coiled and sleeping at the base of the spine until it is "awakened" and begins to uncoil, slowly moving its way up the spine, and allowing the practitioner deeper meditation and union with "Brahman."

Brahman is supposed to be this infinite, transcendent reality from which all things came - including the millions of Hindu gods. The aim of yoga is to attain union with Brahman......basically, the ultimate purpose of yoga is to release people from the Wheel of Life, and their karmic debts, and to prepare its practitioners for death.

However, the response I often hear from Christians is this: "But as a Christian, I can 'do' yoga unto the Lord!" My question would be: How is that any different from the golden calf incident, recorded in Exodus 32:1-6, in which Aaron tried to claim that they were honoring the Lord with their syncretized religious worship?

"When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him." Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron.  He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD." So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry." (Exodus 32:1-6, my emphasis)

This story is one of the most powerful biblical warnings there is against incorporating pagan practices into our worship of God.   What most people don't realize is that this well-known incident wasn't about straight up paganism. No, this story records how God's chosen people blended together (1) what they had been taught to do by God with (2) pagan practices that were familiar to them from their years of captivity in Egypt. They knew about altars and making offerings to God. And they knew about pagan animal worship from their exposure to Egyptian culture. When Moses delayed returning to the people from atop the mountain where he was speaking with God, the people  decided to create their own tangible way of worshiping God. So they set up an altar, added a little Egyptian flavor in the form of cow worship, and called it a festival for the Lord. And God saw this, and was very pleased? Not exactly. This is what the Bible records:

"Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.' "I have seen these people," the LORD said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation." " (Exodus 32:7-10, my emphasis)

God was not pleased - and only Moses' intercession on their behalf saved them from being completely destroyed by God. As if that weren't a clear enough warning against mixing pagan worship practices with worship of God, we are also warned in Deuteronomy against spiritual syncretism:

"The LORD your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, 'How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.' You must not worship the LORD your God in their way..." (Deut, 12:29-31a, my emphasis)

God is quite clear on how we are to worship and approach him - and it is not through blending our worship of him with pagan practices.  I recognize that it is very hip and cool and popular in today's global, syncretized culture to meld different things together. We are most certainly an experience-driven culture, always seeking the fresh, exciting, "new" thing. And we also like our smorgasbord religions, with a little of this, a little of that. But we have clear mandates from Scripture about how we are to worship and approach God. We are to be set apart from the world - not syncretized with it - so that's God's truth will shine like a beacon in the darkness.

So, how did the story turn out?  How did the Lord view the golden calf incident? Was He "honored" by the claim of the Israelites and Aaron that they were, in fact, worshiping him with their incorporation of pagan religious practices?

"He took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it." (Exo 32:20)

Bottom line? Christians must not be tempted to "borrow" practices from false religions and fool themselves into thinking that they can honor the Lord in this way. And if they have done so, they should repent.....or they might just end up drinking ground calf juice.

photo credit: vaXzine via photo pin cc


 Additional Resources 

Yoga Can Be Hazardous To Your Health

Yoga Alliance Shows Its Hindu Teeth

Christian Yoga an Oxymoron?

Yoga Training: Not Just Exercise

Yoga For Children: Not Child's Play

Yoga: From Hippies To Hip

Yoga: Its Spiritual Roots Can't Be Separated From Its Physical Movements

Julia Roberts: "I'm Definitely A Practicing Hindu"

Doctor Prescribes "Therapeutic" Yoga For A Christian Woman with Devastating Consequences

Julia Roberts: "I'm Definitely A Practicing Hindu"

Posted by Christine Pack

Julia Roberts, who stars in the upcoming movie Eat, Pray, Love - which presents a sort of "Americanized" version of Hinduism - recently said in an interview that she is now a practicing Hindu.

Only in America could we find a way to romanticize the core theology of Hinduism to the point that it looks appealing - when in reality it is a religion of despair.  The "Americanized" form of Hinduism, however, as artfully put forth in Eat, Pray, Love, "feels" very good to the sinful flesh.   As a friend of mine pointed out....food binges, Eastern spirituality, and free love?  Please!  So much more appealing than the biblical concepts of crucifying the flesh, dying daily to self, and laying down one's life.

Julia Roberts needs to read Out of India by Caryl Matrisciana to get an understanding of the underlying ugliness and despair of true Hinduism.  Writer and producer Caryl Matrisciana was born and raised in India, and witnessed first-hand the devastating effects of Hindu thought and beliefs on the culture around her.  The goal of Hinduism is for its practitioners to realize that one's soul is identical to Brahman, the "Supreme Soul."  Or, in layman's terms....we are all "god," which is the core theology of the New Age.

But, UNTIL a Hindu attains this knowledge, they are, according to eastern belief (Hinduism/Buddhism), trapped in the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth (reincarnation).....a theology which leads to utter despair.

We've written before about the fact that the New Age, that "dated" 80s movement starring Shirley MacLaine running down the beach with her crystals clanking, never really went away, it just became absorbed into our culture.  New convert and "practicing Hindu" Julia Roberts has just proved this point...in spades.  Hinduism and New Age Spirituality are here to stay.

photo credit: david_shankbone via photo pin cc

photo credit: indi.ca via photo pin cc


 Additional Resources 

"Christian" Yoga?

Universalism: The Gospel Message of Emergent and New Age Spirituality

Karma Just Doesn't Cut It

Yoga Alliance Shows Its Hindu Teeth

Christian Yoga an Oxymoron? 

Yoga Training: Not Just Exercise

Yoga For children: Not Child's Play

Yoga: From Hippies To Hip

Yoga: Its Spiritual Roots Can't Be Separated From Its Physical Movements