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The Unauthorized Homily By Bill Dunn A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary |
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(Scripture readings for Sunday, May 24th: Acts 1:15-17, 20-26; 1 John 4:11-16; John 17:11-19) BATTLEFIELD UPDATE: SATAN IS WINNING, CHRISTIANS ARE SNOOZING Have you ever heard of a guy named Neale Donald Walsch? He’s the author of the “Conversations with God” book series, which have a question-and-answer format. Walsch, speaking on behalf of God, provides all the answers. Responding to a question about God’s forgiveness of sins, these are the words that Walsch puts in God’s mouth: “I do not forgive anyone because there is nothing to forgive. There is no such thing as right and wrong and that is what I have been trying to tell everyone, do not judge people. People have chosen to judge one another and this is wrong, because the rule is ‘judge not lest ye be judged.’” Now, let’s take a look at this so-called divine pronouncement from a logical and rational perspective. (No need for college-level logic, by the way, as Walsch’s statement can be shattered using, say, a 6th grade level of logic.) According to Walsch’s god, “There is no such thing as right and wrong.” But in the very next sentence, this god says, “People have chosen to judge…and this is wrong.” Hmm, let me see if I understand. There is no such thing as wrong, therefore people have done wrong. Okaaaay. Walsch’s god cannot be a very intelligent god, since he applies a particular concept a moment after declaring that particular concept does not exist. Do you see how silly this is? Walsch is saying: there is no such thing as right and wrong, and if you don’t agree, you’re wrong! From a logical and rational perspective, this makes about as much sense as going into a hardware store and ordering a pizza. When the clerk says, “We don’t have pizza. This is a hardware store,” you reply, “Well, in that case, make mine extra pepperoni.” When he insists, “But sir, we don’t sell pizza—ANY kind of pizza!” you say, “Oh, I see. Then I’d better order two pizzas instead.” It is really nothing more than Alice in Wonderland-type nonsense. Walsch’s views of God and human spirituality are very similar to the pantheistic, Eastern mysticism proclaimed by Shirley MacLaine, Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, and other New Age gurus: God is everything and everything is God, including us; there is no absolute truth; there is no sin; the Ten Commandments are not from God but were really written by intolerant men who wished to control others; God does not judge; our spiritual journeys must be based on feelings and personal experience rather than religious doctrines (hey, that one sounds suspiciously like a religious doctrine); etc. Why am I spending time talking about the views of Mr. Neale Walsch? Well, for one thing, his books have sold over 5 million copies, and have been on the best-seller lists for years. For another thing, the “Conversations with God” books have been endorsed by Oprah Winfrey, which means millions more people are being exposed to these illogical spiritual beliefs. Additionally, the huge school textbook supply company, Scholastic Inc., is selling Walsch’s “Conversations with God for Teens” to many schools, including unsuspecting Christian schools. One of Walsch’s most fundamental beliefs is that there is no such thing as absolute truth. Everything is relative. Apparently his view is something like this: It is absolutely true that there is no absolute truth! Again, he offers an illogical, self-contradicting statement. The idea that there really is absolute truth is called by Walsch merely an “illusion of man.” Well, if that idea is an illusion, then Jesus Christ was very misguided. In this week’s gospel reading, Jesus prayed to the Father for his followers. He said, “Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth….I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.” Jesus is a firm believer in the idea of absolute truth. In fact, He described Himself as being absolute Truth itself. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). The reason it is important to be aware of the New Age teachings of Neale Walsch, and to understand how his views differ so starkly from Jesus’ teachings, is because far too many self-described Christians, including many born-again Evangelicals and devout Catholics, have become very fuzzy about the concept of truth. A recent survey by the Barna Group asked a simple question: “Do you believe in absolute truth?” Here is the breakdown by various groups, with the percentage that answered “yes.”
Wow, Catholics scored worse than the population at large, which includes atheists, agnostics, secular humanists, and followers of Walsch’s and Oprah’s New Age nuttiness. How pathetic is that?! (Oh, and tell me again how our CCD programs are doing such a marvelous job. Bull-loney! Need more proof about the pathetic state of Catholic religious education these days? When President Obama, the most pro-abortion president in history, spoke at the Notre Dame commencement the other day, a few protesters shouted, “Stop killing our children!” The predominantly Catholic crowd drowned out the protesters by chanting, “Yes we can! Yes we can!” Yes, we can…we can continue to kill children and still call ourselves Catholic, and our underdeveloped consciences don’t even sense how hypocritical those positions are.) What this tells us, unfortunately, is that in our modern culture, despite the fact four out of five citizens describe themselves as Christians, only a very small minority of these people actually believe the doctrines that Jesus Himself clearly taught. The majority of those who claim the title “Christian” are actually more in tune with the far-out views of Neale Walsch. This means only one thing: at the present moment, Satan is winning the battle. Whoa, wait a minute, you say. That’s a pretty harsh accusation, isn’t it? Well, you tell me, who called into question the truth of God’s word? Who claimed that mankind was equal to God and could become just like God? Who claimed there is no absolute truth nor any final judgment? Who taught that it is perfectly right for us to do whatever it is that “feels” best? Yes, you’re right, Neale Walsch teaches all these things. But I meant, who was the first one ever to offer these teachings? Just look in Genesis, chapter 3. It was none other than Satan, the father of lies, who taught those damnable ideas. I don’t know about you, but I’d say it’s high time we broke free from this muddled, illogical, relativistic mindset. It’s time we once again taught the truth, the true Truth, as personified by Jesus Christ and described in the inspired, infallible Scriptures. The eternal fate of millions of souls is at stake. I’d say that’s worth fighting for. How about you? ©2009 |
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