The Pagan Phenomenon
The Pagan Phenomenon
In a stunning article published in the “Washington Times”, March 4, 2005, Uwe Seimon-Netto writes of the demise of secular or “scientific” atheism. As an idea, atheism is no longer taken seriously by large groups of influential people in Europe or the United States. Seimon-Netto states two reasons for its demise. The first reason cited is that modern science has lost a great deal of stock with the emergence of the Intelligent Design movement and other leading edge science. Naturalistic evolutionary dogma holds that a material world with incredible complexity materialized by mere random chance. Evolution simply does not pass any reasonable muster in the light of current scientific investigation. New technology can look more deeply into the macro and microcosms than ever before and is rendering information pointing to something much more than random chance as the origin of all that we observe in the physical universe. The second reason cited in the article mentioned above for material atheism’s diminishing popularity is the inhumane and loony ideas that have resulted from political systems informed and organized around atheistic philosophy. The Soviet Union, North Korea, Communist China, Cuba, and Pol Pot’s Cambodia do not offer desirable examples of societies built on the philosophical foundations of atheism.
So, what is the result of this demise of atheism? For those who are evangelical or orthodox Christians it would be natural to rejoice assuming that once again Biblical truth has emerged victorious after a great protracted struggle. We should pause before we go too far down the road of celebration. Another religion is vying for ascendance in the United States and on virtually every other continent on this planet. The religion is paganism and while it may be “new” to us its roots are ancient. Paganism has historically been the most formidable enemy of revealed Biblical truth. It offers a comprehensive world-view. It sneers at post modernity and its nihilistic frivolity. It offers a compelling explanation of transcendence and meaning. This contemporary version of pagan spirituality also offers an insidious, toxic mix of truth and lies retrofitted seductively to man’s falleness and separation from He Who is truly God. There is growing fear that many are being deceived and will ultimately be seduced by this global neopagan revival. Rev. Gerald McDermott, an Episcopal priest says that, “The rise of all sorts of paganism is creating a false spirituality that proves to be a more dangerous rival to the Christian faith than atheism”.
Dr. Peter Jones has spent the last several years speaking and writing about this explosive emergence of contemporary pagan spirituality all over the world. Recently during a phone conversation with him Dr. Jones spoke to me about his concern with the ignorance of evangelical and orthodox Christians. He said, “Unless we come to terms with what is happening and begin to equip our children to avoid the pagan seduction, we will lose them.” Dr. Jones is not worried about the ultimate triumph of biblical Christianity. He is concerned that many of this and the next generation will succumb to the allure of pagan spirituality. The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown, is a wildly popular fictional account of the life of Jesus based on a group of writings called the Gnostic Gospels. These collections were written during the first century and following the time of the writing of the New Testament. Dr. Jones has co-authored a book exposing the dangers of what this novel communicates about the “real” Jesus. The book titled, Cracking Da Vinci’s Code, and co-authored by Dr. Jim Garlow, depicts Jesus as a totally different kind of Messiah than the one we read about in the Gospel accounts. In The Da Vince Code Jesus is depicted as a fun loving guru who is not particularly moral or concerned about traditional morality. Dan Brown’s Jesus brings to humanity a hope for higher spiritual consciousness and fulfillment without the moral absolutes and prohibitions on which human nature easily chafes. Young and old alike are reading The Da Vinci Code and considering the alternatives presented by Dan Brown to the Logos of God made flesh revealed in the Gospel of John and other New Testament Gospels.
You would be well served by getting on Dr. Jones’s web page and reading some of the articles there about this and other work he is doing. Follow this link and get informed about the pagan revival and its seductive components. You and all whom you love will be well served. www.cwipp.org.
In a stunning article published in the “Washington Times”, March 4, 2005, Uwe Seimon-Netto writes of the demise of secular or “scientific” atheism. As an idea, atheism is no longer taken seriously by large groups of influential people in Europe or the United States. Seimon-Netto states two reasons for its demise. The first reason cited is that modern science has lost a great deal of stock with the emergence of the Intelligent Design movement and other leading edge science. Naturalistic evolutionary dogma holds that a material world with incredible complexity materialized by mere random chance. Evolution simply does not pass any reasonable muster in the light of current scientific investigation. New technology can look more deeply into the macro and microcosms than ever before and is rendering information pointing to something much more than random chance as the origin of all that we observe in the physical universe. The second reason cited in the article mentioned above for material atheism’s diminishing popularity is the inhumane and loony ideas that have resulted from political systems informed and organized around atheistic philosophy. The Soviet Union, North Korea, Communist China, Cuba, and Pol Pot’s Cambodia do not offer desirable examples of societies built on the philosophical foundations of atheism.
So, what is the result of this demise of atheism? For those who are evangelical or orthodox Christians it would be natural to rejoice assuming that once again Biblical truth has emerged victorious after a great protracted struggle. We should pause before we go too far down the road of celebration. Another religion is vying for ascendance in the United States and on virtually every other continent on this planet. The religion is paganism and while it may be “new” to us its roots are ancient. Paganism has historically been the most formidable enemy of revealed Biblical truth. It offers a comprehensive world-view. It sneers at post modernity and its nihilistic frivolity. It offers a compelling explanation of transcendence and meaning. This contemporary version of pagan spirituality also offers an insidious, toxic mix of truth and lies retrofitted seductively to man’s falleness and separation from He Who is truly God. There is growing fear that many are being deceived and will ultimately be seduced by this global neopagan revival. Rev. Gerald McDermott, an Episcopal priest says that, “The rise of all sorts of paganism is creating a false spirituality that proves to be a more dangerous rival to the Christian faith than atheism”.
Dr. Peter Jones has spent the last several years speaking and writing about this explosive emergence of contemporary pagan spirituality all over the world. Recently during a phone conversation with him Dr. Jones spoke to me about his concern with the ignorance of evangelical and orthodox Christians. He said, “Unless we come to terms with what is happening and begin to equip our children to avoid the pagan seduction, we will lose them.” Dr. Jones is not worried about the ultimate triumph of biblical Christianity. He is concerned that many of this and the next generation will succumb to the allure of pagan spirituality. The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown, is a wildly popular fictional account of the life of Jesus based on a group of writings called the Gnostic Gospels. These collections were written during the first century and following the time of the writing of the New Testament. Dr. Jones has co-authored a book exposing the dangers of what this novel communicates about the “real” Jesus. The book titled, Cracking Da Vinci’s Code, and co-authored by Dr. Jim Garlow, depicts Jesus as a totally different kind of Messiah than the one we read about in the Gospel accounts. In The Da Vince Code Jesus is depicted as a fun loving guru who is not particularly moral or concerned about traditional morality. Dan Brown’s Jesus brings to humanity a hope for higher spiritual consciousness and fulfillment without the moral absolutes and prohibitions on which human nature easily chafes. Young and old alike are reading The Da Vinci Code and considering the alternatives presented by Dan Brown to the Logos of God made flesh revealed in the Gospel of John and other New Testament Gospels.
You would be well served by getting on Dr. Jones’s web page and reading some of the articles there about this and other work he is doing. Follow this link and get informed about the pagan revival and its seductive components. You and all whom you love will be well served. www.cwipp.org.
posted by Michael Law at 4:12 PM
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