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Occultism has always involved three
techniques for changing and creating reality: thinking, speaking, and
visualizing. The first one is the most familiar, having been promoted in
the world and the church as "Positive Thinking" by Norman
Vincent Peale and as "Possibility Thinking" by Robert Schuller.
The second is mostly known among charismatics. It is the "Positive
Confession" (or Positive Speaking) of the Faith movement.
The third technique is the most powerful. It is the
fastest way to enter the world of the occult and to pick up a spirit
guide. Shamans have used it for thousands of years. It was taught to
Carl Jung by spirit beings, and through him influenced humanistic and
transpersonal psychology. It was taught to Napoleon Hill by the spirits
that began to guide him. Agnes Sanford was the first to bring it into
the church. Norman Vincent Peale was not far behind her, and his
influence was much greater. He wrote:
Suppose a trusted friend... said,
"There’s a powerful new-old idea... a concept available to all of
us that can shape and change human lives for the better in an
astonishing way...."
You’d say, "Tell me about
it!" wouldn’t you.
That’s what I want to do in this book—tell
you about it.
The concept is a form of mental activity
called imaging. It consists of vividly picturing, in your conscious
mind, a desired goal or objective, and holding that image until it sinks
into your unconscious mind, where it releases great, untapped
energies....
The idea of imaging... has been implicit
in all the speaking and writing I have done.... But only recently has it
begun to... be recognized by scientists and medical authorities.… 1
This occult technique has invaded the church. Certain
leaders have been teaching visualization for years. In his booklet, The
Power of the Inner Eye, Robert Schuller (like Yonggi Cho and others)
perverts Scripture by claiming that it advocates the occult technique of
visualization. He writes:
In the May, 1985, issue of Psychology
Today, there was a wonderful article entitled "In the Mind’s
Eye." [It] deals with... visualization.... This is the vision that
the Bible is talking about in the verse, "Where there is no vision
the people perish."...
I have practiced and harnessed the power
of the inner eye and it works.... Thirty years ago we started with a
vision of a church. It’s all come true.
On the contrary, Solomon (Proverbs 29:18) is not
encouraging the occult practice of visualization! Does Schuller really
credit what his church is today to harnessing "the power of the
inner eye" through visualization? What did God have to do with it?
And if God was involved at all, was it because the practice of
visualization somehow compelled Him to do it?
Destroying True Faith in God
Michael Harner declares that primitive
shamanism is being revived in the Western world through the use of
ancient occult techniques under modern names and for modern purposes: in
medicine and psychology, in mind dynamics courses, and in motivational
training in the business world. As one professional journal noted,
"Ancient shamanic practices are currently being adapted for
contemporary use in healing illnesses…." 2 The major shamanic
practice, of course, is visualization.
We now have an "American Association
for the Study of Mental Imagery" (visualization). The "First
World Conference on Imagery," presented by Marquette University and
the Medical College of Wisconsin, was held in San Francisco during June
20-23, 1985. Others have followed. These conferences cover the use of
visualization in medicine, psychology; education, business, and other
areas. Yale University Professor of Medicine Bernie Siegel said years
ago, "... applied to physical illness, the most widely used and
successful [technique] has been... imaging or visualization." 3
Says Phil Jackson, "Visualization is an important tool for me.…"
4
Visualization has become an important
tool among evangelicals as well—which doesn’t purge it of its occult
power. Yonggi Cho has made it the center of his teaching. In fact, he
declares that no one can have faith unless he visualizes that for which
he is praying. Yet the Bible states that faith is "the evidence of
things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). Thus visualization, the attempt to
"see" the answer to one’s prayer, would work against faith
rather than help it! Yet Norman Vincent Peale declared, "If a
person consciously visualizes being with Jesus that is the best
guarantee I know for keeping the faith." 5
Calvin Miller, one of the most highly
regarded evangelical authors today, has said that "to follow Christ
we must create in our minds God’s unseen world, or never confront it
at all. Thus we create in our minds the Christ." 6 This is
blasphemy. Richard Foster and many others teach basically the same
occultism. Listen to Miller again:
Still, imagination stands at the front
of our relationship with Christ... in my conversation with Christ… I
drink the glory his hazel eyes… his auburn hair….
What? Do you disagree? His hair is
black? Eyes brown? Then have it your way.... His image must be real to
you as to me, even if our images differ. The key to vitality, however,
is the [imagined] image. 7
Once more, this is contrary to Scripture. Of Christ,
Peter said, "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though
now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Peter 1:8). In the previous verse
he refers to a future "appearing of Jesus Christ." John
likewise speaks of "when he shall appear" (1 John 3:2), and
Paul speaks of loving "his [future] appearing" (2 Timothy
4:8). Visualizing Jesus would seem to be an unbiblical attempt to have
Him appear before the proper time—unless, of course, one insists that
it is only imagination. Yet those who are involved attribute results to
this process that could scarcely be explained as resulting from fantasy
conversations with oneself.
Furthermore, a "Christ" who would take on
any color of hair or eyes and any form to suit the visualizer is not the
real Lord Jesus of the Bible and history. Then who is this entity that
appears in response to this occult technique to deceive Christians?
More Than Imagination?
We have noted repeatedly, a major evidence that
something more than the imagination is involved in occult phenomena is
found in the consistent undergirding philosophy communicated by the
visualized entities. Another evidence is found in the fact that the same
entities make contact repeatedly around the world and throughout history
with individuals who have never heard of them nor had any contact with
one another, as well as with individuals who were not seeking contact
through visualization. The number of times the Great White Brotherhood
or the Tibetan Djwhal Khul or various "saints" and
"Mary" and even "Jesus" have appeared to those who
were not seeking them at all cannot be coincidence.
Consider, for example, the case of Will Baron. He had
lost his confidence in the Bible in high school through the teaching of
evolution. Later, through drugs and Eastern mysticism, he had become
part of the New Age movement. He was, in fact, a board member of the New
Age cult Lighted Way. On this special day Will had been doing his usual
morning meditation for only a few minutes when, as he reports:
Suddenly, a physical force that I had
never felt before seemed to come upon me. Brilliant light filled my
whole being... permeating every cell of my body. My brain, especially,
was flooded with light, as if a thousand-watt bulb had been switched on
inside of my head....
I felt a deep sense of peace.... My mind,
my rational thinking was still functioning normally, with clear and
precise, logical thoughts. I had not taken any kind of drugs whatsoever.
Suddenly, a man radiating intense
golden-white light stood before me. My first perception was that the
mysterious, shining figure looked just like Jesus Christ. Immediately a
strong intuitive thought... surfaced that told me this person was Djwhal
Khul, the high-ranking member of the White Brotherhood of Masters... who
had dictated to Alice Bailey the contents of the metaphysical books she
had published…. 8
The director of the New Age cult to which Will
belonged was a spirit medium. She had an experience similar to his but
with a different entity. At least, whatever it was took a different
form. Will remembers vividly her excitement as she told the group:
I was awakened in the middle of the
night. To my amazement a man stood right in the middle of my hotel
bedroom. I was shocked…. He was about six feet tall and had a
dignified bearing of great authority. He said to me, "Get down on
your knees!... I am Jesus Christ, and I am going to heal you...."
He is power-r-r-ful. He touched my
head... blessing me [then] walked straight through the solid, locked
door of my hotel room…. 9
That this was not Jesus is clear to anyone who knows
the Bible. Moreover, one need not wait until this "Jesus"
decides to come for a visit. He can be made to appear at any time,
according to the teaching introduced by Peale and Sanford that has been
seducing the church for more than 50 years and is still gaining
momentum. Just as shamans visualize their spirit guides, so Christians
now by the millions are visualizing "Jesus," and He is
literally appearing to them—or so they think. One example of this
occult invasion of the church comes from a pastor who tells of his first
experience in the occult practice of "healing of the
memories," which Agnes Sanford brought into the church:
I began to visualize myself as a boy of
eight...
"Now see if you can imagine Jesus
appearing," [the seminar leader] instructed. "Let Him walk
toward you."
Much to my amazement... Jesus moved
slowly toward me out of that dark playground. He began to extend His
hands toward me in a loving, accepting manner....
I no longer was creating the scene. The
figure of Christ reached over and lifted the bundle from my back. And He
did so with such forcefulness that I literally sprang from the pew. 10
That this was more than imagination is clear. The one
who originally visualized the image of "Jesus" was surprised
when it suddenly took on a character of its own and he realized that
he was no longer creating the image. This "Jesus" had its own
life and personality. There can be no doubt that real contact had been
made with the spirit world. We may be equally certain that this being
was not the real Jesus Christ. No one can call Him from the right hand
of the Father in heaven to put in a personal appearance. The entity
could only have been a demonic spirit masquerading as "Jesus."
Notes:
1. Norman Vincent Peale, Positive Imaging (Fawcett
Cress, 1982), Introduction.
2. Network News, "Shamans with Ph.D.s and Private
Practices," in Common Boundary, Mar./Apr. 1986, p. 12
3. Bernie S. Siegel, M.D., Love, Medicine &
Miracles (Harper & Row, 1986), pp. 147-49.
4. Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty, Sacred Hoops (Hyperion,
1995), p. 121.
5. Norman Vincent Peale, Plus, February 1986,
p. 10
6. Calvin Miller, The Table of Inwardness, (InterVarsity
Press, 1984), p. 93
7. Ibid., p. 94.
8. Will Baron, Deceived by the New Age (Pacific
Press Publishing Association, 1990), pp. 61-62.
9. Ibid., pp. 100-01.
10. Robert L. Wise, "Healing of the Memories: A
Prayer Therapy for You," in Christian Life Magazine, July
1984, pp. 63-64.
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