08AR13-38

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Apologia Report 13:38

October 29, 2008

Subject: The New Age Movement, no signs of fading

In this issue:

FEMINISM - the influence of hermeneutics

MORMONISM - is it Christian? First Things magazine fields pros and cons from significant spokesmen

NEW AGE MOVEMENT - leading trade journal describes its current influence within the book publishing industry

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FEMINISM

"What's at Stake: 'It's Hermeneutics!'" by Margaret Kostenberger, wife of Andreas Kostenberger, editor of JETS and prof at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary [1] -- due to the context, this is an interesting discussion of interpretive basics as they apply in one area, but can also be used more broadly across the apologetic spectrum. Kostenberger explains that "people's understanding of individual passages of Scripture largely depends on their overall view of the nature of Scripture and on the interpretive methodology they bring to the table in the first place.

"As we will see, in the case of radical feminists, their approach to Scripture is, in a word, rejection, owing to what they perceive to be the Bible's irredeemably 'patriarchal' nature; i.e., it springs from and provides for a disproportionate amount of male power.

"The same is true to a lesser extent with reformist feminists, except that they do not reject Scripture in its totality but selectively use or discard presuppositions."

Kostenberger discusses "several special hermeneutical issues" that apply, namely: "(1) the challenge of reconstructing history; (2) the question of how we know (epistemology); (3) the role of the reader versus authorial intent; (4) issues related to canonicity; (5) the alleged patriarchal nature of Scripture; and (6) the distinction between evangelicalism and fundamentalism. ...

"As for evangelical feminists or egalitarians, they accept Scripture as inerrant and authoritative, while supporting a hermeneutic aimed at discerning authorial intent. For egalitarians, Scripture is treated with more respect than it is with radical or reformist feminists. Unlike the latter, who already start out with the presupposition that feminism is right and the Bible wrong where it stands in conflict with feminism, evangelical feminists claim to show inductively that the Bible, rightly interpreted, teaches male-female equality, including women's eligibility to all church offices and roles of leadership in the church."

The confidence behind this conclusion and Kostenberger's qualifying phrase, "rightly interpreted," is ironic. While her writing shows the superiority of her argument over non-evangelical views, there remains plenty of discord among evangelicals on the subject of feminism internally. The very existence of the journal which carries her essay suggests that applying hermeneutics closer to home is a much more complicated undertaking. Perhaps she addresses this in her new book, Jesus and the Feminists: Who Do They Say That He Is? [3]. The above article constitutes the book's second chapter. Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, Fall '08, pp36-42.

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MORMONISM

"Is Mormonism Christian?" -- the oft-repeated question is debated by a pair of significant representatives. Bruce D. Porter is a member of the LDS First Quorum of the Seventy. Gerald R. McDermott is Jordan-Trexler Professor of Religion at Roanoke College and author, with Robert Millet, of Claiming Christ: A Mormon-Evangelical Debate [4].

Porter leads. He acknowledges that "One can find innumerable assertions that Mormons do not believe Jesus was the messiah, that they do not believe he atoned for the sins of the fallen human race, and that they believe salvation comes by works.

"All of these statements are false, and they reflect incomprehension of Mormon beliefs and doctrine." His examples include: "Latter-day Saints revere the Bible as the word of God and the scriptural foundation of Christianity." Ah, but he neglects to add the disclaimer in the official LDS Articles of Faith [2]: "as far as it is translated correctly" - a proviso that has been curiously left unqualified since the day it was penned.

Porter dubiously asserts that Mormonism's "most obvious difference from traditional Christianity" is that "Mormons do not accept the phrase in the Nicene Creed that describes the Father and Son as being 'of one substance'..." and explains further.

In support of the LDS position, Porter ends by saying that "We believe that he suffered in Gethsemane and at Golgotha, that he died for the sins of mankind on the cross, and that he was resurrected on the third day." Here, too, Porter neglects to explain the LDS emphasis on Gethsemane over Golgotha.

Overall, Porter seems to convey the increasingly typical stance that, "we're so similar, the difference is really inconsequential."

McDermott does a better job, but initially he rejects some typical objections to Mormonism. He opens by saying that "Most Christians say Mormonism is not Christian - though their reasons are sometimes awkward." For example, they allegedly err by thinking that "Mormons teach salvation by good works." McDermott surprisingly says that one "problem is that the Book of Mormon and important Mormon writers actually teach salvation by Christ's work of grace: 'For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do' (2 Nephi 25:23). Robert Millet, a prolific Brigham Young University theologian, explains that 'after all we can do' means that 'no matter how much we do, it simply will not be enough to guarantee salvation without Christ's intervention.'" (Would that McDermott had known how anomalous Millet's claim is when compared to statements by Mormon general authorities throughout LDS history. - RP)

"A second charge sometimes made by Nicene Christians is that Mormons are modern-day Arians who reject the deity of Christ. This is untrue in an important sense. Mormons do not believe Jesus was always God but that he was fully divine in the incarnation and continues to be God the Son today. ...

"A third accusation sometimes made is that Mormonism is more about Joseph Smith than Jesus Christ." Strangely, McDermott doesn't think so.

Then he gets down to business. "The question of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon is the first of two principal distinctions between the Latter-day Saint faith and orthodox Christian theology." First, he summarizes the Book of Mormon's "three visits" by Jesus to America after His ascension in A.D. 34. He follows this with "four reasons this [history of Jesus] is unlikely. First, there are many voices testifying to what I will call the Palestinian Jesus. ...

"In contrast, there is only one voice testifying to the authenticity of the American Jesus....

"Second, the testimonies we have to the Palestinian Jesus date from the same century as that Jesus, but the single testimony to the American Jesus comes eighteen centuries later. ...

"Third, there are inconsistencies between the Palestinian Jesus and the American Jesus. ...

"A fourth reason that keeps us from identifying the Jesus of the Book of Mormon with the Jesus of the New Testament is that there are intratextual inconsistencies, if you will, between the Jesus of the Book of Mormon and the Jesus of later Joseph Smith prophecies. The greatest concerns the Trinity. ...

"Another major difference between Mormonism and Christian orthodoxy involves their views of Jesus. While the Book of Mormon is fairly orthodox in its view of Jesus and the Godhead, later Mormon teaching is not. ...

"The basic difference lies in the relation between Jesus and the Father. Mormons say Jesus is a different being from the Father, and in fact a different God. Mormons therefore say Jesus is one of several Gods. ...

"Because, for Mormons, Jesus was once as we are now, he is no different in kind from what we are. He shares our species. ...

"Finally, the Mormon Jesus is limited in significant ways. For one thing, Mormons believe matter always existed, coeternally with both the Father and the Son. So they are within but not outside the cosmos. To put it crudely, Jesus and the Father are not bigger than the universe. ... [Note: This point brings up criticisms of the Mormon God as craftsman rather than creator and the implications in the realm of cosmology. See, for instance, "Craftsman or Creator?" by Paul Copan and William Lane Craig in The New Mormon Challenge [5]. - RV]

"Jesus is also limited by 'eternal law,' which according to the Encyclopedia [of Mormonism [6] (produced principally by Brigham Young University)] is independent and co-eternal with God, just as matter is. In fact, not only is law independent of God, but God is governed by it."

He concludes that "the distinguished scholar of Mormonism Jan Shipps was only partly right when she wrote that Mormonism is a departure from the existing Christian tradition as much as early Christianity was a departure from Judaism. For if Christianity is a shoot grafted onto the olive tree of Judaism, Mormonism as it stands cannot be successfully grafted onto either." First Things, Oct '08, pp35-41. <www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=6332>

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NEW AGE MOVEMENT

"New Age Pragmatism" by Juan Martinez -- while some social scientists argue that the label "New Age" is losing its significance, Martinez gives us more evidence that the New Age shows no sign of fading. "Traditionally, the New Age category has catered to aficionados of the esoteric and the occult. Today the genre gratifies a more mainstream consumer. Fading is the era of crystals and tarots. Nowadays, readers seek science-based titles that will help them become healthier and more spiritually aware. As New Age is continuing to expand into other categories, many titles that were once the provinces of health, psychology, self-help and spirituality (to name a few) have now assumed the New Age mantle. According to Jo Ann Deck, publisher of Celestial Arts and Crossing Press, the new New Age reader is 'more practical and less interested in nebulous philosophical and spiritual exploration.' As a result, the genre reads more like Dr. Phil and [early excercizse guru] Jack LaLanne than Carlos Castaneda and Ram Dass." Many new books that exemplify this observation are then described.

Gina Clark, editor at the New Age publisher Alight, "thinks the [New Age] category's biggest challenge is determining a proper definition for itself, 'since [the category] can include everything from numerology to astrology to the beliefs and ritualistic practices of ancient cultures.'"

Martinez reports that "One of the newest topics explored in this season's releases is the use of scientific analysis to examine New Age philosophies." After a preview of related new titles, Martinez continues: "Even more popular than scientific analysis is the amalgam of the New Age genre with mind/body/self-help." Two Trees senior editor Sheila Moody "believes that the category should be split into two distinct subcategories: the aforementioned 'scientific context' titles and the 'self-help or motivational' works." Martinez adds: "Whereas in the past, 'New Age was considered by many to be silly, synonymous with witchcraft and promoting sorcery,' Clark says that the category has evolved and isn't perceived as adversely as in the past, thanks in large part to genre hybridization." Martinez refers to this as "New Age fusion."

To confirm what many believe as to the forces behind the trend, Martinez tells us that "Diana Baroni, editorial director at Grand Central's Wellness Central imprint, contends that Oprah [Winfrey] has been the key to the genre's recent accomplishments." This observation is discussed in detail as well.

A sidebar on the final page of the feature notes that "The year 2012 is expected to be monumental. Depending upon whom you talk to, one of two things will occur: (a) the birth of an expanded human consciousness or (b) we all die horrible flaming deaths. Regardless of which outcome is correct, publishers agree that New Age readers can't get enough prophetic 2012 literature. Perhaps, for believers, it is the ultimate pragmatism." Martinez includes examples of new and forthcoming books by authors like Stephen Hawley Martin, Christine Page, and Marie D. Jones.

In his conclusion, Martinez remarks that "The unanimous opinion is that the New Age category is thriving, regardless of which types of books sell better. Whether authors are trying to teach readers to live better on this planet or to learn from beings on other planets, readers appear open to new suggestions." (How's that for understatement? - RP) Cover story. Publishers Weekly, Sep 22 '08, pp27-34. <www.tinyurl.com/6zpljk>

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Sources, Digital:

1 - <www.tinyurl.com/64f86m> (See response to question #7.)

2 - <www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,106-1-2-1,00.html>

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Sources, Monographs:

3 - Jesus and the Feminists: Who Do They Say That He Is? by Margaret Elizabeth Kostenberger (Crossway, 2008, paperback, 256 pages)

<www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1581349599/apologiareport>

4 - Claiming Christ: A Mormon-Evangelical Debate, by Gerald R. McDermott and Robert L. Millet (Brazos, November 2007, paperback, 224 pages) <www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1587432099/apologiareport>

5 - The New Mormon Challenge: Responding to the Latest Defenses of a Fast-Growing Movement, Francis Beckwith, Carl Mosser and Paul Owen, eds. (Zondervan, 2002, hardcover, 256 pages)

<www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0310231949/apologiareport>

6 - The Encyclopedia of Mormonism (MacMillan, 1992, hardcover, four volumes)

<www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001CCZTG0/apologiareport>

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