Pagan Christianity

Paul writes to Timothy (1 Timothy 4:1), “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons…” To the Thessalonians Paul writes (I Thessalonians 2:3), “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it [the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ] will not come unless the apostasy comes first…”

I recently had a conversation with a friend who shared with me about something going on in his life and his attitude toward it that I thought had no Biblical foundation. His one “Biblical” basis for thinking and acting the way he was, was one New Testament verse, and as we should all know, a text without a context is a pretext for a proof text. During the course of our conversation he said to me, “I’ve read that the ancient mystery religions had this same attitude [his attitude toward the subject and practice we were discussing], so I think that perhaps God is leading me in this same way.” My friend was allowing his experience to drive his thinking to the point where he sought theological justification not only outside the Bible, but inside pagan mystery religion.

A recent catalog from Christian Book Distributors has The Circle Maker on its front page; an example of basing thinking and prayer on methodology not found in the Scriptures; apparently the only thing that matters in this approach is that it works. It is hardly the picture of the prayer born of relationship that Jesus teaches in the Gospels. Overt pagan religions have also made the argument that their prayers and rituals work – with that in mind The Circle Maker has much company.   

Paul writes in Colossians Chapter Two, “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth  that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

Paganism has a preoccupation with secret wisdom, with special methodology, with hidden codes and keys to understanding. Paganism says, “God didn’t really mean what he said, eat this fruit and you’ll be like him.” That is the mantra of the enemy, that is the siren song that leads to apostasy.

Paganism is also fixated on interpreting events and predicting the future. While the Gospel encourages us in the hope of the return of Jesus Christ, in the hope of His appearing; Pagan Christianity is obsessed with a focus on world events and assigns particular meanings to current events; it does so not with Jesus Christ as its focus, but with our own interests as its focus. A cursory survey of materials in the CBD catalog illustrates this with its “End Times” section focused on blood moons, Isis, End Time codes, chronological orders of the End Times, events shaking the world, making the book of Revelation clear, and unlocking mysteries.

This extra-Biblical obsession with the future is a hallmark of paganism. When the prophets and apostles write of the future they write looking toward the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus, they write encouraging their readers to trust in Jesus, to know Jesus, to follow Jesus, to be obedient to Jesus, to testify of Jesus to others, to be faithful to God and to be faithful to each other. The Biblical writers do not appeal to our curiosity, they do not tantalize with us promises to teach us something secret, and they don’t indicate that what they write can be easily understood. The men who wrote the Bible often wrote of the future appearing of Jesus to encourage His followers in the midst of their suffering – in fact, that is the primary motivation of the New Testament writers; when I survey North America I don’t see much suffering, to the contrary, I see people who write about the “End Times” usually assuring Christians that they won’t experience severe suffering but rather will be “raptured”.

Above all else, the men who wrote the Bible point us to Jesus. Biblical eschatological teaching, Bible prophecy, always points to Jesus Christ – Jesus is always the center of gravity.

Francis A. Schaeffer – True Spirituality: I

My friend Michael Daily is reading Schaeffer’s True Spirituality. As I thought about Schaeffer and the book I decided to reread it again and began this afternoon. When Michael and I were talking about Schaeffer recently I said, “He helped teach me how to think.” Schaeffer, Lewis, Pascal; they taught me how to think and they continue to teach me how to think. Lewis, MacDonald, Tolkien; they continue to teach me how to use my imagination. Note that Lewis is in both groups.

I read Edith Schaeffer’s L’Abri around 1971, I still have the book; Second American Edition, February 1970, a pastor friend of mine shared it with me. Shortly after reading Edith’s book I began reading her husband’s works; True Spirituality was among the first I read. As I think about True Spirituality I wonder if it isn’t in the same category as Andrew Murray once placed the Biblical book of Hebrews, saying (and I paraphrase from memory), “This is a wonderful book with marvelous truth but nobody believes it.”

The thing that first struck me so many years ago, and the thing that still strikes me today as I reread Schaeffer, is found in his preface, “We were living in Champery at that time, and I told Edith that for the sake of honesty I had to go all the way back to my agnosticism and think through the whole matter [of what he believed]. I’m sure that this was a difficult time for her, and I’m sure that she prayed much for me in those days. I walked the mountains when it was clear, and when it was rainy I walked backward and forward in the hayloft of the old chalet in which we lived. I walked, prayed, and thought through what the Scriptures taught, as well as reviewing my own reasons for being a Christian.”

As a young Christian, Schaeffer taught me to think foundationally, that is, he taught me to seek the foundation, the basis, for a given belief or practice. He taught me to ask myself, “Why do I believe this?” He taught me to ask others, “Can you explain to me why you believe what you’ve just said?” He also taught me to work out the logical trajectories and conclusions to beliefs and practices. Sad to say I have not always heeded Schaeffer’s advice and example, and when I haven’t it has always been the result of not loving God or my neighbor – something that he addresses in the early pages of True Spirituality.

I have read and reread Schaeffer over the years, and I have referred to him in countless conversations and sermons. He has been one of the great mentors in my life. In terms of his published body of integrated work, of his rigorous Biblical thinking, and of his prophetic insight into the future of the Western Church – he has few twentieth-century equals (if any). Interacting with Francis Schaeffer is a contact sport, you’ve got to put on the “pads” as they say in American football, and when you’ve worked through Schaeffer’s writing you know you’ve been in a hard game – but you also know that you’ve been in a game worth playing.