 Posted Saturday, February 04, 2012 4:05 PM
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Hi, CWay friends:
Thought it worthwhile to share this article from the Bangor (Maine) Daily News. In it, the Rev. William Cripe Sr. decries the growth of the "prosperity gospel" being preached by a number of ministers. His book, "The Proper Pursuit of Prosperity: Balancing the Promises of Heaven with the Experiences of Earth," was published last year. An excerpt:
The book combines Cripe’s own spiritual and earthly journey with his detailed, thoughtful and, sometimes, emotional debunking of what he sees as a false gospel. Raised a Christian Scientist in a Chicago suburb, he had a profound conversion to evangelical Christianity while a young soldier based in Fort Campbell, Ky., in the 1970s.
“Jesus assuring his followers that he came to give ‘life abundant’ is no promise of a trouble-free life, a life of material grandeur, or a life free from pain and suffering, as the prosperity peddlers sell” Cripe wrote in his book.
Link: [url=http://bangordailynews.com/2012/02/03/religion/waterville-pastors-book-debunks-prosperity-gospel/][/url]
That's one thing I've noticed about Christian Science: It preaches perfect health and a trouble-free life. When I was in CS, I believed all that stuff, but the Bible doesn't come close to saying we'll have a perfect life. I know many people who have suffered tremendously on Earth, and it's a real disservice when ministers say there's a perfect life out there for us. Of course, it's all out there if we just show good faith by sending a nice fat check to the minister. No, thanks.
A friend who long ago left Christian Science remembers a practitioner quoted Mary Baker Eddy as saying: "Money is not value, but it is a sign of value, and through it you enter the kingdom."
IIRC, MBE died a millionaire in 1910. I've heard estimates that she was worth $2 million to $3 million when she died, or $45 million to $70 million in today's dollars (the U.S. inflation calculator goes back only to 1913). Nice work if you can get it, and don't have a conscience.
Keep the faith!
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Posted Saturday, February 04, 2012 5:21 PM
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As I've posted elsewhere, it's just astonishing how CSists decry materiality while indulging in materialism.
I've also attributed CS "healing" to a kind of pseudo-Darwinian (ugh!) trait I call, "The Fellowship of the Fit." I believe that CS constitutes a small population which is blessed with a hardy, strong immune system. I note that this is true of me, and my family of origin. I have to be patient with my wife who isn't so endowed; even after 26 years, I have an unfortunate tendency to regard illness as some kind of personal weakness or--worse--self-indulgence.
Could there be such a genetic marker for the wealth aspect of the CS "health & wealth" gospel? Perhaps. A recent Wall Street Journal item reviewed new research on "The Wall Street Gene." It's brief, but it explores the finding that "prosperous professionals were much more likely to have so-called Goldilocks genes, placing them solidly in the middle of the dopamine distribution" combining the thrill of fiscal risk-taking with the sobering aspect of accepting losses.
So it may be that some people just do have a "knack" for success. Not me, unfortunately. In that regard, I'm the black sheep of the family. Maybe if I read the business section of the Monitor....
The Journal (Wall Street, not Christian Science!) article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204740904577193413554397928.html
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Posted Tuesday, February 07, 2012 1:35 PM
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I agree that I have found that whenever something happens in my life, such as illness or job loss or divorce, that my first reaction is that I did or thought something wrong, that I "let it into my thought", and thus am to blame for everything bad that happens. I still flinch when I hear too much on TV or in conversation about disease, feeling that it might bring the disease on to think about it too much. I have to remind myself all the time that these things are not true! Everyone has trouble in their lives. Even those who seem like they have perfect lives -- you just don't see what they're going through.
It's easier for fairly healthy people to attribute their good fortune to CS, if they happen to be of that religion. There are those "silent" symptoms in middle age of early cancer or high blood pressure that you can ignore for several years if you don't get screened by a doctor, and then it shows up suddenly at an advanced stage -- but until then, you can believe you are perfectly healthy!
Plus, denial is very powerful. People will overlook symptoms to an amazing degree when they are programmed to! I have a tendency to say I am perfectly healthy when in fact I have diabetes and sleep apnea, and am a cancer survivor. In fact, I do very well, since the cancer is now gone, and my diabetes and sleep apnea are well controlled and I feel well. But I am not "perfectly healthy" in the way CS implies I should be if I were "knowing the truth"!
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Posted Wednesday, February 08, 2012 2:37 AM
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Hello,
I also agree. When I was brought up in CS I thought that my thought was the controlling things in my life. How selfish on my part! It has taken the 18 years since I left CS to see that God is indeed in our lives not we our selves. And if we are in it by our selves it is the Carnal Sin that we all have and we cannot approach God without Jesus our Lord and Savior helping us!
Jesus in Luke, has a parable where he talks to the Pharisee and the Woman who was a "sinner" and was washing his feet. He had dinner with Simon the Pharisee and he asked them the question of the two debtors.
Two Debts that were owed. One was large and one was small. Two people owed the debts. He asked the Pharisee who had everything in his life, position, food, house, health the question. All the while the woman (who the Pharisee in his heart called her a sinner) who had nothing was washing Christ's feet with her tears and drying them with her hair. If the Debts were forgiven who would love the Forgiver the most? Who would be the most grateful? The person with the bigger debt or the smaller debt?
The Pharisee answered the larger debt and he was correct.
Our debts were paid by Jesus when we turn to him and believe, and when we are in Christian Science we think it is all we ourselves that control everything but really God is over all of us. We are all carrying a debt that we cannot pay without Christ's help!
God Bless all in this forum and thank you for posting this. It has helped me realize my own thought process from years ago. Hard to put what CS does to you in words but it is certainly a slanted view on life!
Andy
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Posted Wednesday, February 08, 2012 1:02 PM
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Amen, Andy!
Consider the outrageous heresy that "Heaven and Hell are just a state of mind," the ultimate health-and-wealth error. This lures sinners into the tragic fallacy that one can always change his mind at some later point, even in the afterlife, so why repent? If this were true, then Hell would be empty, as every soul cast there would instantly change his mind, repent, and enter Heaven by his own change in thinking. That hardly qualifies as "salvation by works," although technically, it is.
And a minor point of contention: the story of the Lord, the harlot, and the Pharisee is not a parable, but an actual event in His life. The story of the Prodigal Son is a parable. Then there's the matter of Lazarus and the Rich Man. Some people hold that that is an actual event that once occurred, but I take it as a parable illustrating that one's existential state in the afterlife is absolutely irrevocable. Something we Christians can disagree over without separating, I daresay.
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Posted Thursday, February 09, 2012 2:45 AM
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Hi
I agree that the event with the Pharisee is a actual. Any item in the Bible is true and is what God wants us to know. Nothing is in the 66 books just because. God wanted every word to be told to us, for us to live the Bible, why else would Gospel of John open with saying the Christ is the Word? Why is Jesus coming back in Revelation with a two edged sword out of his mouth? Word of God on our hearts protects us just like it protected Jesus in the Wilderness with Satan.
Good point it is a event versus a parable. Also, the Rich Man and Lazarus was one of the turning event sections of Scriptures for me to the reality of Heaven and Hell. We do not get anywhere on works or possessions. Only through the Lord to heaven.
God Bless
Andy
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Posted Friday, February 10, 2012 1:06 PM
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Hi FollowingHim and Andy,
Just happened to hear a short program last night on Christian Radio about the Simon/Jesus event and the parable Jesus used about the debtors. It was excellent and I believe you both (and many others as well) would enjoy it. I'm not sure if moderators allow posting this sort of website on here but I will try: The site is called www.haventoday.org and because it was yesterday, you will have to go to the Program Archives tab on the home page which is very clearly marked. The program is listed as being from February 9th and is called Anointed With Tears.
Since Andy is my husband (full disclosure) I couldn't help but smile when I heard the program while I was reading his and your posts on the topic. Andy was at a meeting during the radio program and I believe he missed it. Generally, he hears each one! :-)
Sorry to be off the original topic of the thread here, but couldn't resist posting this!
Grace
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Posted Friday, February 10, 2012 6:20 PM
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No, Your Graciousness, we're still on topic.
The core "cosmic view" of the health-and-wealth gospel is that one's spiritual state (in CS, it is spiritual understanding) attunes* oneself with God's goodness, and, thus, blessings will come upon the practitioner (pun intended). This cosmic view is subtle occultism, which teaches that as one understands and practices (again, pun intended) unseen forces, one can control them. Authentic witchcraft holds that these forces can be used for good or evil. MBE acknowledges this, as seen in her doctrine of "mental malpractice," especially when it was boldly articulated in the outrageous chapter, "Demonology," in the Third Edition of S&H.
Thus, CS is occultic** in its practice and esoteric in its teachings. Contrast this to the transparent teachings of Christ: ..."if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." "TNT"--Romans 10:9,10
*In metaphysics, one needs to be attuned; in Christ, one is atoned
*derivation of occult: "< Latin occultus (past participle of occulere to hide from view, cover up), equivalent to oc- oc- + -cul-, akin to cēlāre to conceal + -tus past participle suffix" (dictionary.com)
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Posted Sunday, February 12, 2012 5:55 PM
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Following Him,
I'm glad you brought out the occult connection. I was told by a pastor once that CS was connected with Gnostism as well. All these "isms" are startling when it was just the simple truth of Jesus Christ that was meant for us in the Gospel! How Satan has worked to weave such a tangled web around that Gospel so that we cannot get to it! In Christian Science the "cult" word was always thrown around by those outside the religion, but in my life I had always been led to believe that those people were just ignorant of Christian Science. "Surely, it is NOT a cult!" I would be taught.
When out of Christian Science and into my new church life, a Christian friend who I confided in regarding my Christian Science background and struggles I was going through with anxiety referred a book to me and it helped me a lot. While I don't agree with everything in the book, I do agree with some of it. It is called The Bondage Breaker by Neil T. Anderson. Perhaps you have heard of it. Anyways, he speaks of how Christians can break free of old habits and sins which keep them in bondage. A large portion of the book is actually called "Steps to Freedom in Christ" and Mr. Anderson asks the reader to go through a checklist of things which may have been a part of their past and tied to the occult. The list includes a variety of things like spirit guides, magic, witchcraft, yoga (which I was also heavily into a one point) and "religions", one of which is Christian Science. He says:
"The first step toward experiencing your freedom in Christ is to renounce (verbally reject) all past or present involvement with occult practices, cult teachings, and rituals, as well as all non-Christian religions.
You must renounce any activity or group which denies Jesus Christ or offers guidance through any source other than the absolute authority of the Bible. . . . . "
He also says:
"Begin this step by praying aloud "Dear heavenly Father, I ask You to bring to my mind anything and everything that I have done knowingly or unknowingly that involves occult, cult, or non-Christian teachings or practices. I want to experience Your freedom by renouncing these things right now. In Jesus name I pray, amen."
I remember when I got to this part of the book and saw Christian Science included in the list, I really felt the need to flat out repent for my involvement in it. Because I had been brought up in it, I tended to play the blame game towards the church and towards my family rather than take responsibility myself. I had felt a bit of conviction before and dappled in repentance, but always soothed my tears with my anger towards others (even Mary Baker Eddy) rather than fully coming to my knees. The book was the beginning of actually breaking my heart and bringing me to what I understand to be full repentance and prayer for forgiveness.
What a journey the Lord has put us on when he takes us out of CS! It's a journey that involves a lot of choices and while I know He is longing to guide each of us along that journey, it is up to us individually whether or not we let Him. I believe He knows how we struggle with trusting Him after the deception we have lived through. But only He can give us the courage to reach our hand forward and place it in His. This is done through tears, often, but He counts and dries each one.
Grace
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Posted Sunday, February 12, 2012 6:16 PM
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Whoops! Please see above post. Didn't mean to post again! Operator error. I posted twice and I couldn't figure out how to delete it. Help Linda or Do_Go! I tried to delete it but it didn't work. Sorry everyone. . . . . . I suddenly feel as if I have egg on my face. . . . . . .
G.
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