|
|
|
NEW
AGE |
|
Ecology,
Shamanism, Science, and Christianity -- Part 3
by Dave Hunt
(Occult Invasion,
Harvest House Publishers, 1996) |
|
The Greening of Christianity
Mikhail Gorbachev, still President of the Soviet Union at
the time, was of course one of the plenary speakers at the 1990 Global
Forum in Moscow. In his speech, as an atheist, Gorbachev called mankind
to reconciliation with nature rather than with the God who created
nature, He said:
Humanity is a part of the single and integral biosphere...
ecologization of politics requires... molding a new contemporary
attitude to Nature.... returning to Man a sense of being a part of
Nature. No moral improvement of society is possible without that. 35
No longer President of Russia, Gorbachev is now more
influential internationally than ever. His richly endowed Gorbachev
Foundation USA has its offices in the Presidio (former U.S. military
base) overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. A consultant on closing other
U.S. military bases, Gorbachev is also president of the ecological
watchdog, Green Cross International, a Global Forum offspring
headquartered in the Hague.
Green cross? What right does
Gorbachev or his organization have to turn the bloodstained cross, red
with Christ’s blood shed for our sins, into something green! Yet
this is exactly what is happening to the message of the cross through
the environmental movement. The green movement is a humanistic attempt
to restore the lost paradise of Eden without acknowledging that the
problem is man’s rebellion against his Creator.
Yes, the pollution and wanton exploitation and
destruction of the environment are foolish and wrong. But the folly and
evil of worshiping Mother Earth and treating each species as sacred and
having the same rights as humans is even more wrong—yet that is the
philosophy being espoused by present world leaders. Nor is there any
turning back of this tide.
At conferences on environmentalism one finds papers
and speeches being delivered with such topics as "The Greening of a
Great City" and "The Greening of the Church." The former referred to
"the role of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York." The
latter was described as "developing an environmentally informed
theology, spirituality and ecological practice within the Christian
Church." Yes, the church has joined a Green movement and
Christian leaders echo its philosophy.
Richard Foster became a new guru to evangelicals with
his 1978 bestseller Celebration of Discipline. It opened many
Christians to the occult by instructing readers in occult techniques
(including visualization of Christ). Foster advocated "centering down"
through Eastern mystical techniques and meditating upon nature:
After you have gained some proficiency in centering down, add a
five- to ten-minute meditation on some aspect of the creation. Choose
something in the created order: tree, plant, bird, leaf, cloud, and
each day ponder it carefully and prayerfully.... We should not bypass
this means of God’s grace.... 36
Science, Evolution, and Religion
The pagan worship of nature was extolled at the "Re-Imagining God"
conference attended by many professing evangelicals. Along with
summoning "the spirit of Earth, Air, and Water," Chung Kyun Kyung
declared:
For many Asians, we see god in the wind, in the fire, in the tree,
in the ocean. We are living with god, it is just energy....
We believe that this life-giving energy came from god and it is
everywhere, it is in the sun, in the ocean, it is from the ground and
it is from the trees. We ask god’s permission to use this life-giving
energy for our sisters and brothers in need.
if you feel very tired... you go to a big tree and ask tree, "Give
me some of your life energy!" 37
The coalition between religion and science for the
ecological rescue of Earth is gaining momentum. We hear blasphemous
statements regarding Earth from conservative "Christian" leaders,
especially within the Roman Catholic Church. Before his death, Carl
Sagan, an atheist and leading anti-Christian, began making favorable
comments about religion. He had clearly joined the new coalition. He
enthusiastically quoted the following from Pope John Paul II:
Science can purify religion from error and superstition; religion
can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes. Each can draw
the other into a wider world, a world in which both can flourish....
Such bridging ministries must be nurtured and encouraged. Nowhere
is this more clear than in the current environmental crisis…. It has
the potential to unify and renew religious life (emphasis in
original). 38
Science will be a major ecumenical influence in
creating a world religion. We have already explained why the Roman
Catholic Church is especially intimidated by science and thus eager to
find itself in agreement with whatever science seems to propose.
Arriving to attend the June 3-14, 1992, Earth Summit
in Rio de Janeiro, the Dalai Lama, a close friend of the Pope, was
welcomed warmly by Cardinal Eugenio de Araujo Sales.
39 The Roman Catholic Church was the only
church which had the right to attend the conference because Vatican City
is recognized as a sovereign state on the same level as the United
States, Great Britain, etc. 40
Addressing the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, the United Nations
Secretary-General called the world back to the pagan worship of nature:
Over and above the moral contract with God, over and above the
social contract concluded with men, we must now conclude an ethical
and political contract with nature, with this Earth to which we owe
our very existence and which gives us life.
To the ancients, the Nile was a god to be venerated, as was the
Rhine, an infinite source of European myths, or the Amazonian forest,
the mother of forests. Throughout the world, nature was the abode of
the divinities that gave the forest, the desert or the mountains a
personality which commanded worship and respect. The Earth had a soul.
To find that soul again, to give it new life, that is the essence of
Rio. 41
Gorbachev says that the main purpose of Green Cross is "to bring
nations together... to stimulate the new environmental consciousness…
returning Man to a sense of being a part of Nature." To require man to
act like he is "part of Nature" is an admission that he is not. Nature’s
creatures need no such urging. Yet Gorbachev admitted that "conflict
with nature is fundamental to our technologies." 42
Radios, TV, cars, planes, computers, operas, and art are not natural.
Nor are ambulances, doctors, hospitals, and compassion—and right there
we confront a major contradiction within the ecological movement and the
evolutionary theory upon which it is based. Sir John Eccles writes, "The
facts of human morality and ethics are clearly at variance with a theory
that explains all behavior in terms of self-preservation and the
preservation of the species." 43
Notes:
35. From a copy of Gorbachev’s speech to the 1990
Global Forum, pp. 1-3.
36. Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline:
The Path to Spiritual Growth (Harper & Row, 1978), p. 25.
37. Christian News, March 21, 1994, p. 8
38. Parade, March 1, 1992.
39. National Catholic Reporter, June 19,
1992.
40. Ibid.
41. Cited in Ground Zero, October/November,
1996, p. 8, C. T. Communications, Box 612, Gladstone, MB R0J 0T0,
Canada
42. Parade, January 23, 1994, p. 5.
43. Sir John Eccles and Daniel N. Robinson, The
Wonder of Being Human: Our Brain and Our Mind (New Science
Library, 1981), p. 71
|
Media Wise Authors
Dr. Ted Baehr
Dr. Tom Snyder
Dan Wooding |
|
|
|
|
|
THE JOHN
ANKERBERG SHOW |
|
Make a donation to
The
John Ankerberg Show
If you have
been
ministered to today, please help us minister to others by making
a contribution to the ministry.
Please enter gift amount then press
"Make a Donation"
CLICK HERE
TO WATCH ONLINE
HARRY POTTER
SUPPORT RESOURCES
Confused about Harry Potter?
CLICK
GO
FOR SUPPORT RESOURCES
DR. JOHN ANKERBERG'S RESPONSE TO CREATION QUESTIONS
Dr. John Ankerberg answers your
questions on creation in the following article available both as
a downloadable PDF and broken down into individual questions for
online reading. Click the link below to read:
Does Scientific Evidence Today Show
that God Created the Heavens and the Earth? And What Does the Bible Say
About When He Created?
Facing Financial Facts -
How to Kill the Debt Monster
AUTHOR:
Riser, Dr. Steven C.
For an increasing number of people, debt is becoming a real monster. The fear and dread that comes from debt is just as real as a predator in the home. So how can you dispatch the debt
monster?
The Coalition of Nations
in Daniel 11
AUTHORS:
DeYoung, Dr. Jimmy
One of the major trends for the last days is a coalition of nations that will come against Israel. Dr. Jimmy DeYoung describes those nations and what brings them together.
|
Copyright 2006, Ankerberg Theological Research Institute
|
