The Episcopal Church in America has mastered the ABC of pop theology–Anything But Christ.
As reported yesterday in my town’s “community announcements” paper, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church “will sponsor a one-hour presentation by a Sufi Dervish who ‘whirls’… This particular ’embodied’ form of prayer, the physical act of moving in a circle, is not well known in the West… The program is connected to [St. Luke’s] current exhibit, ‘Spirituality of the Mandala’…”
Whirling dervishes are Muslim mystics who spin themselves around and around until it puts them in a kind of trance. A Mandala is some kind of Buddhist or Hindu thingamajig. And “spirituality” is bunk.
When the Son of man returns, will he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8) I guess it’ll depend on where He looks.
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, Jesus said (Matthew 6:7). I think that would apply to mindlessly whirling around the floor before you wander off to stare at the mandala.
If it were my church, I would not like the Lord to find whirling dervishes and mandalas there when He returns.
A “Whirling Dervish” performs in a church. And the problem is……?? That Christians will convert? That Christians will be exposed to other faiths? Ah, yes, I know the answer: Ignorance Is Bliss.
Oh, boy–a secular snob! Your remarks reveal a total lack of understanding.
Oh, Lee, you’re so provincial, stuck in that town. You don’t know anything about the real, modern world. Get with the flow! 😀
@lifeisgood: Funny that you should say ‘Ignorance is bliss’, because Lee was writing about the total ignorance of modern ‘Christians’. Do you think that Muslims would ever in a million years allow a Christian preacher into a mosque to demonstrate the Communion?
Furthermore, the point isn’t about being exposed to other faiths, it’s about accepting those other faiths. I’ll bet the pastor of that church isn’t going to say, “Alright, now that we’ve seen the superstition and foolishness of the whirling Dervishes, here’s what the Bible says about such things.”
Well, I could say a lot more but I know the pointlessness of trying to reason with people like you.
No point in arguing with a block of wood. Even us provincial types can’t argue with a block of wood.
“I will not give my glory to another,” says the Lord (Isaiah 48:11). I very much doubt He would want us to welcome other gods into His churches. But that’s what the Episcopal Church in America habitually does.
Glad to see some other comments beyond the first round! Having just read some of your early posts, I’m broken hearted and sick to my stomach at such foolishness. (Earlier posts, all from Nov. 3, 2010: No End In Sight; The Silver Goddess; The United Methodist Church: Weeping for Tammuz; My Notes ECUSA Flirting with Paganism?). How sad that they are forsaking the fountain of living waters to take a spin (pun intended) with broken cisterns that can hold no water. But the god of this world has blinded their minds, as ours also were until the living God made us alive.
So from a former block of wood to a current one, may God yet be merciful to you as He has been to me.
So many ‘christians’ have no oil in their lamps… “I never knew you.”
The Episcopal Church is hemorrhaging memebers these days and I think that it can be directly attributed to the fact that they have strayed ever farther from Christian teaching. The Anglican Church of North America was formed by various dioceses of the Episcopals which had rejected the direction of the ECUSA.
So it doesn’t surprise me a bit that the ECUSA would allow non-Christian worship and practices to take place in their churches. What can I say, while some Christians in the Middle East are being beheaded for refusing to deny Christianity, in the West there a liberal churches literally walking away with no coercion whatsoever.
And this local stuff is small potatoes, compared to the goings-on at the National Cathedral.
Please elaborate.
Go back into the archives and see my series on paganism in the church, especially the article about ECUSA.
The National Cathedral, an Episcopal facility, is famous for its plethora of “workshops” on everything from Sufi dancing to outright goddess worship. Some form of non-Christian practice is always going on there.
Here you go–
https://leeduigon.com/2010/11/03/my-notes-ecusa-flirting-with-paganism/
Thank you for explaining the mandala — that thingamajig! I crochet and receive a couple magazines with patterns for crocheting. Issues often contain mandalas that are supposed to have a calming influence as one crochets them. I didn’t know what they were for exactly — afghans? sweater vests? Usually circular in shape and containing fanciful stitching I wasn’t interested in making them because I saw no practical application for them. My time is precious and I can’t expend it on something that appears worthless to me. But the point of my comment is this: eastern spiritual influence is being welcomed and embraced everywhere even in my yarny world of baby blankets and dish cloths!
I can’t explain it, but somehow I’m pretty sure it’s not wise to use non-Christian religious practices as “fun.”
I agree, Lee. We have to be on our guard when something new comes along and it turns out that it’s something old and deceiving. I’ve met many Christians over the years who in the course of conversation mention they attend yoga classes like it’s a normal and acceptable activity for Christians. This is just one example of eastern thought or mysticism that is now so prevalent in the mainstream.
Thanks for posting the link. It was a hair raising read. Apparently there are prominent voices within the ECUSA whom do not think the Bible adaquate and seek to bring in outside influences.
Anything that takes away from the worship of the One Living and True God amounts to idolatry. The ECUSA’s plunging membership should be enough to get their attention, but apparently it isn’t.