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haithabu wrote:It leads me to propose this:

That any Christian organization or movement which does not keep Christ at the centre sooner or later becomes an anti Christ.

I have a very similar opinion: that every generation that is not dedicated to reading, searching, understanding and following God's Word will experience inevitable drift. Every church in history has eventually drifted off course, assuming we define "church" here as a visible, organized entity. I think God has probably always had His people (His church), so I'm not sure that the church ever died out completely although Menno Simons and Dietrich Philips seem to have believed that it did but that's getting off topic.

CADude wrote:

haithabu wrote:It leads me to propose this:

That any Christian organization or movement which does not keep Christ at the centre sooner or later becomes an anti Christ.

I have a very similar opinion: that every generation that is not dedicated to reading, searching, understanding and following God's Word will experience inevitable drift. Every church in history has eventually drifted off course, assuming we define "church" here as a visible, organized entity. I think God has probably always had His people (His church), so I'm not sure that the church ever died out completely although Menno Simons and Dietrich Philips seem to have believed that it did but that's getting off topic.

I agree with you that it's a challenge that every generation faces.

haithabu wrote:

CADude wrote:

haithabu wrote:It leads me to propose this:

That any Christian organization or movement which does not keep Christ at the centre sooner or later becomes an anti Christ.

I have a very similar opinion: that every generation that is not dedicated to reading, searching, understanding and following God's Word will experience inevitable drift. Every church in history has eventually drifted off course, assuming we define "church" here as a visible, organized entity. I think God has probably always had His people (His church), so I'm not sure that the church ever died out completely although Menno Simons and Dietrich Philips seem to have believed that it did but that's getting off topic.

I agree with you that it's a challenge that every generation faces.

Agreed 100%. It's absurd for even one generation to think "we've got this" because of their ancestry, heritage, title, etc, etc... It only takes ONE for a Spirit-founded system to begin a spiraling decay into becoming a dead one.

Another one, perhaps bigger than all those mentioned, but somehow ignored until now: Transcendentalism.
Transcendentalism's effect can be seen in so much of the New Age, America's Christianity, and the society at-large..

A few things I can think of:
-the need to look to self/ experience, not the Bible, for ultimate purpose and solution
-inherent goodness of man, as opposed to a sinful nature
-resentment/ criticism of long-held tradition and establishment, both inside and outside of religion
-the "Green Apple Theory"... man is on the cusp or greatness and perfection; inching ever towards it.
-pushing homogeneity of God and gods (ex: Spirituality is what's important, whether one is Buddhist or Christian, it matters not.. they worship the same)
-confusion of Creator and created in the aspects of divinity

Transcendentalism permeates Americanism, whether it's noticed or not. It has rather blurred lines, and it's not incredibly concrete in most respects. Still, you'd be pressed to find a public school that doesn't mandate reading of Emerson... they're quite idealized; perhaps idolized.

KingdomBuilder wrote:Another one, perhaps bigger than all those mentioned, but somehow ignored until now: Transcendentalism.
Transcendentalism's effect can be seen in so much of the New Age, America's Christianity, and the society at-large..

A few things I can think of:
-the need to look to self/ experience, not the Bible, for ultimate purpose and solution
-inherent goodness of man, as opposed to a sinful nature
-resentment/ criticism of long-held tradition and establishment, both inside and outside of religion
-the "Green Apple Theory"... man is on the cusp or greatness and perfection; inching ever towards it.
-pushing homogeneity of God and gods (ex: Spirituality is what's important, whether one is Buddhist or Christian, it matters not.. they worship the same)
-confusion of Creator and created in the aspects of divinity

Transcendentalism permeates Americanism, whether it's noticed or not. It has rather blurred lines, and it's not incredibly concrete in most respects. Still, you'd be pressed to find a public school that doesn't mandate reading of Emerson... they're quite idealized; perhaps idolized.

Excellent post KB. At this point, at least in America (and in much of the rest of the West too), transcendentalism effectively is the belief system (or dare I say religion) that most people hold; other belief systems are effectively subordinate to it.

KingdomBuilder wrote:Another one, perhaps bigger than all those mentioned, but somehow ignored until now: Transcendentalism.
Transcendentalism's effect can be seen in so much of the New Age, America's Christianity, and the society at-large..

A few things I can think of:
-the need to look to self/ experience, not the Bible, for ultimate purpose and solution
-inherent goodness of man, as opposed to a sinful nature
-resentment/ criticism of long-held tradition and establishment, both inside and outside of religion
-the "Green Apple Theory"... man is on the cusp or greatness and perfection; inching ever towards it.
-pushing homogeneity of God and gods (ex: Spirituality is what's important, whether one is Buddhist or Christian, it matters not.. they worship the same)
-confusion of Creator and created in the aspects of divinity

Transcendentalism permeates Americanism, whether it's noticed or not. It has rather blurred lines, and it's not incredibly concrete in most respects. Still, you'd be pressed to find a public school that doesn't mandate reading of Emerson... they're quite idealized; perhaps idolized.

I've never studied transcendentalism much and I admit I think had an incorrect view of it. If you had asked me what it was about I probably would have said it was the worship of God by worshiping nature. Much of my impression of it comes from reading about Henry David Thoreau. I guess Ralph Waldo Emerson is sometimes considered to be the "father" or the "center" of the movement.