16AR21-02

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AR 21:2 - The dubious Deepak Chopra

In this issue:

ATHEISM - is the solution to religious hypocrisy ... “Putting God Second?”

CHOPRA, DEEPAK - you may never think of the description "Completely Revised and Updated" the same way again

ISLAM - RZIM rejects Miroslav Volf's approach to dialog

Apologia Report 21:2 (1,275)

January 14, 2016

ATHEISM

Putting God Second: How to Save Religion from Itself, by Donniel Hartman [1], president of the Shalom Hartman Institute <hartman.org.il>, who asks: "Why do so many religious groups and individuals fail to live up to the standards of their faith traditions? Why do people who purport to follow an almighty and benevolent God so often resort to contention at best, violence at worst?"

Hartman's response is to point out what he calls the "built-in faults of religion itself. He identifies two such problems. First ... to place God ahead of all moral and ethical decisions. Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son without argument or hesitation is the prime biblical example. ... Second, 'God manipulation' is characterized by the belief that God is on the side of a particular faith tradition...."

Hartman "advocates putting God second while putting ethical considerations first." Kirkus, Dec '15 #1. [3]

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CHOPRA, DEEPAK

"Deepak Chopra's 'Physics'" by Sadri Hassani -- revisits "crackpot scientist" Chopra's 1989 book, Quantum Healing [2], as the basis for rejecting his professional integrity and accusing him of swindling his readers. "One of the early trivializers of fundamental physics is Deepak Chopra, whose indiscriminate use of words such as *quantum, energy, field,* and *non-locality* renders them as frivolous...." Hassani works to "unravel the egregious conceptual blunders he incessantly concocts, especially when these blunders serve as the foundation for the conclusions that he touts as scientific facts to his readers and followers."

Hassani reviews Chopra's debt to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the late founder of Transcendental Meditation, for his understanding of quantum healing as set forth in Quantum Healing. In the introduction to the 1990 paperback edition, Chopra describes the Maharishi as "one of the greatest living sages." In 1985, "right after his meetings with Maharishi, [Chopra] quit his job at the New England Memorial Hospital to establish the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center in Boston."

Hassani calls attention to substantial textual changes Chopra made in subsequent editions of Quantum Healing after the two spiritual celebrities had a falling out. For example: "all citations of Maharishi's name are erased; the meetings with him, which were the starting point of quantum healing, are not mentioned at all; the crucial 'primordial sound' techniques, which were 'the strongest healing therapies in Ayurveda' and were prescribed for incurable diseases such as cancer, are gone; there is no mention of the revelation of 'some great secret' that took place after meeting with Maharishi; no mention of how Maharishi taught Chopra 'how to pierce the mask of matter.' Therefore, the new preface is most likely a smokescreen of Chopra's deletion of the name of the person who implanted the idea of the book in his mind.

"This deletion is shamelessly manifest in the bibliographies.... In an act that should make both Chopra and his publisher ashamed of themselves, and in a frenzied rush that can be ascribed only to charlatans and fraudsters who want to hide the evidence, Chopra erased all traces of Maharishi's name and the guru's influence on Quantum Healing.... [T]here is no explanation for any of these changes in the book itself."

Hassani details "Chopra's tumultuous relationship with Maharishi" and how it climaxed with Chopra taking charge of the Maharishi's medical care and then being accused of attempting the takeover of the Maharishi's entire operation. Skeptical Inquirer, Jan/Feb '16, pp55-58. [4]

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ISLAM

"Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?" by Nabeel Qureshi, itinerant speaker with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries <www.goo.gl/z2LoMi> -- begins: "On December 15, 2015, Wheaton College, a flagship of evangelical educational institutions, placed one of its professors on administrative leave for 'theological statements that seemed inconsistent with [Wheaton's] doctrinal convictions.' Five days prior, donning a hijab and staking her position on a variety of controversial matters, Larycia Hawkins had stated on Facebook, 'I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book. And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God.'"

Qureshi's response (posted Dec 27) is succinct. He notes that 1) "Christians believe Jesus is God, but the Quran is so opposed to this belief that it condemns Jesus worshipers to Hell...."; 2) "According to Jesus, God is our Father, yet the Quran very specifically denies that Allah is a father"; and 3) "Islam roundly condemns worship of the Trinity."

Along the way, Qureshi also rejects the similar views of influential Yale professor Miroslav Volf, "a theologian greatly respected for his contributions to Christian-Muslim dialogue." First, "at the very least, no one should argue as Volf has that 'there isn’t any theological justification' for believing Christians and Muslims worship different Gods. ...

"Volf’s challenge ... is that Christians believe they worship the same God as the Jews though the Jews do not worship the Trinity. How can Christians accuse Muslims of worshiping a different God without also indicting the Jews of doing the same? ...

"The response should be obvious ... the Trinity is an elaboration of Jewish theology, not a rejection. ...

"Volf’s assumption that Jews did not worship something like the Trinity is unsubstantiated. Many Jews held their monotheism in tension with a belief in multiple divine persons. ...

"The question of whether Muslims and Christians worship the same God is complex. Wheaton made a respectable decision in giving Hawkins time off to consider the implications of her statement: she is allowing Islamic assertions to subvert the importance of essential doctrine. That said, one ought not fault her harshly for the mistake, as these issues are murky. What is dangerous is the path of Volf, accusing people of bigotry to shut down valid conversations." <www.goo.gl/KjI1Cj>

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SOURCES: Monographs

1 - Putting God Second: How to Save Religion from Itself, by Donniel Hartman (Beacon Press, February 2016, hardcover, 200 pages) <www.goo.gl/PRHYvn>

2 - Quantum Healing (Completely Revised and Updated): Exploring the Frontiers of Mind/Body Medicine, by Deepak Chopra (Bantam, 2015, paperback, 368 pages) <www.goo.gl/UcsqCi>

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