20AR25-31

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AR 25:31 - Astrology vs. common sense

In this issue:

ASTROLOGY - a great example of its predictive power

PENTECOSTALISM - and we thought prophecy was hard to explain!

GNOSTICISM - can you imagine what "a gnostic exegesis" of John 5 is like?

Apologia Report 25:31 (1,488)

August 4, 2020

ASTROLOGY

And now for the tragically humorous. In "Will Coronavirus Kill Astrology? The pandemic has affected all of us. Who saw it coming?", Hayley Phelan gets right to the point by selecting a "blue-chip astrologer" named Susan Miller <astrologyzone.com> who, back in January, predicted that 2020 would "be a great year" and "a prosperous year.'"

Phelan then notes what would seem to be a normal, healthy response by anyone with a well-adjusted flimflam detector: "Has everybody fired their astrologer?" Here is where a systemic disconnect first appears. "Science says: ... Most psychologists agree that astrology's appeal relies largely on 'confirmation bias' - the human tendency to seek out, recall and favor information that confirms what we already believe." (a.k.a. astrological determinism)

Next comes sage wisdom: "So you might expect people would be having their doubts." (That sure shows what we know!)

Instead, "horoscopes appear to be more popular than ever." Literally. One astrology site reports "a 22 percent increase in horoscope-related traffic this quarter versus last quarter." In fact, "traffic for major astrology sites ... increased in March when compared to February."

Phelan then leaves the rails and shifts the discussion to astrology-speak instead of the root issue behind the feature's title. "I think some people - particularly in this time of such uncertainty - are doubling down even more on horoscopes." No kidding?

Phelan tentatively concludes that "the medium may matter more than the message." New York Times, May 5 '20, <www.nyti.ms/3hoBULx>

Confession time. Even your intrepid editor was laid waste by this anti-logic, compassion failing him, resulting in working copy that would have shamed the ministry - had it been published. Just at the point of actually submitting the disgusting verbiage in rough-draft form for this edition, a valued resource came to mind with the phrase: "...like sheep without a shepherd...," restoring order and calm once again.

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PENTECOSTALISM

Is the following a case of "It just doesn't fit any more," or "That's not how it works"? Start by asking yourself what "Spirit-empowered Christianity" might be. In his report, "Have Pentecostals Outgrown Their Name?", Daniel Silliman leads by introducing the "new and debated label" of Spirit-empowered Christianity, thereby demonstrating how "Names can be tricky. What do you call a Pentecostal who isn't called a Pentecostal? The question sounds like a riddle, but it's a real challenge for scholars. They have struggled for years to settle on the best term for the broad and diverse movement of Christians who emphasize the individual believer's relationship to the Holy Spirit....

"Globally, the movement includes 644 million people, about 26 percent of all Christians, according to a new report <www.bit.ly/3ibKJbJ> from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity. The study was done in collaboration with Oral Roberts University.... to be shared at the Empowered21 conference" <www.bit.ly/33oY78j> which was held online May 31st - Pentecost Sunday.

"The report represents the first attempt at a comprehensive demographic analysis of this group of Christians in almost 20 years. ...

"Chinese Christians noted, 'Pentecostal' is associated with American churches....

"[T]here are lots of other groups that are independent of major denominations and disconnected from the American history of Azusa Street.

A map is provided which appears to show the seven countries "where Spirit-empowered Christianity is growing fastest" - four of them are in the Middle East. ...

"Not all scholars are convinced by this new term. Some don't even think a single name can work for a movement so diverse." Arlene Sánchez-Walsh, professor of religious studies at Azusa Pacific University, has a different take. She notes that "Pentecostalism didn't start in one place, whether it's Azusa Street or a revival in Wales or in India, and so it's always diverse."

Another map shows the "Countries with the largest percentage of Christians who are Spirit-empowered." Four of the seven are in Africa - and three of them share borders in southern Africa.

"Some of the breadth of the movement is reflected in the conference lineup alone: American evangelicals like megachurch pastor Chris Hodges and Hobby Lobby board chair Mart Green are sharing a virtual stage with Cindy Jacobs, part of the New Apostolic Reformation, and Todd White, a Word of Faith preacher, in addition to leaders from Asia and Africa. ...

"The new study, Introducing Spirit-Empowered Christianity, will be widely available in September. It predicts that by 2050, the numbers of Spirit-empowered Christians will grow to over 1 billion, which will be about 30 percent of all Christians. But when nearly one out of every three Christians practices Spirit baptism, scholars will likely still debate what to call them.

"'This argument is always going on,' said Nimi Wariboko, a Pentecostal theologian at Boston University. 'What they are trying to capture is the move of the Spirit. ... The essence is not history and the essence is not doctrine and the essence is not the numbers. It's the Spirit. And the Spirit moves.'" Christianity Today, May '20, <www.bit.ly/30FhUgO>

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GNOSTICISM

Dawn Hutchinson (Christopher Newport University) reviews The Gnostic New Age: How a Countercultural Spirituality Revolutionized Religion from Antiquity to Today, by April D. DeConick [1] for Nova Religio (21:4 - 2018, p123). "The project of The Gnostic New Age is to explore this subversive aspect of Gnostic spirituality, which DeConick considers to be a revolution in religion that 'shook the foundations of the ancient religious world.' ...

"DeConick's claim that Gnosticism is 'transgressive' is not controversial, since Gnostics were considered to be heretical by the early church. ... DeConick claims that Gnostics transgressed a number of cultural boundaries" including:

1) "that the story of the supreme God comes not from Judaism, nor from Zoroastrianism, but from Egypt. She says that Gnostics borrowed their understanding of ultimate deity from Heliopolis, the City of the Sun. Their story, she claims, is taken from Atum, though the names of the gods and details of the story have been shifted so that non-Egyptians will understand the story better. It is not clear whether this claim is because the stories are similar, or because she has textual evidence tying the two cultures together."

2) "that the Gnostics were transgressive in the way they interpreted the scriptures. She gives some of the letters of Paul and the Gospel of John as examples [of where] the evidence DeConick provides suggests that earlier biblical scholars may have been interpreting the scriptures incorrectly. She demonstrates this with an exegesis of the Gospel of John in chapter five.

"In their spiritual practice, the Gnostics also transgressed boundaries of ritual practice.... She describes initiation ceremonies that were unlike those undertaken by initiates into Christianity or Judaism. These were closer to rituals of members of ancient mystery cults. ...

"At the beginning of many of the chapters, DeConick <aprildeconick.com> gives pop culture references to illustrate various aspects of Gnosticism. ... Additionally, she traces Gnosticism from antiquity to contemporary religion." <www.bit.ly/2ZQYmXB>

All things gnostic are abundantly present in our past issues: <www.bit.ly/2WK4Ci8> (and try the additional search "gnosis" for unique results)

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SOURCES: Monographs

1 - The Gnostic New Age: How a Countercultural Spirituality Revolutionized Religion from Antiquity to Today, by April D. DeConic (Columbia Univ Prs, 2019, paperback, 392 pages) <www.amzn.to/39w9QTT>

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