As an
answer to the question of the possibility of a "dialogue" of Orthodox
Christianity with the various non-Christian religions, the reader has been
presented the testimony of three Orthodox Christians who confirm, on the basis
of Orthodox doctrine and their own experience, what the Orthodox Church has
always taught: that Orthodox Christians do not at all have the "same
God" as the so-called "monotheists" who deny the Holy Trinity;
that the gods of the pagans are in fact demons; and that the experiences and
powers which the pagan "gods" can and do provide are satanic in
nature. All this in no way contradicts the words of St. Peter, that God is no
respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh
righteousness is acceptable to Him (Acts 10:34-5); or the words of St. Paul,
that God in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.
Nevertheless He left not Himself without witness, in that He did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons,
filling our hearts with food and gladness (Acts 14:17). Those who live in the bondage of satan,
the prince of this world (John 12:31), in
darkness which is unenlightened by the Christian Gospel — are judged in the
light of that natural testimony of God which every man may have, despite this
bondage.
For the Christian, however, who has been given
God's Revelation, no "dialogue" is possible with those outside the
Faith. Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers: for
what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and
what communion hath light with darkness? and what
concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he
that believeth with an infidel?... Wherefore come out from among them, and be
ye separate, saith the Lord (2 Cor. 6:14-17). The
Christian calling is rather to bring the light of Orthodox Christianity to
them, even as St. Peter did to the God-fearing household of Cornelius the
Centurian (Acts 10:34-48), in order to enlighten their darkness and join them
to the chosen flock of Christ's Church.
All of this is obvious enough to Orthodox
Christians who are aware of and faithful to the Truth of God's Revelation in
the Church of Christ. But many who consider themselves Christians have very
little awareness of the radical difference between Christianity and all other
religions; and some who may have this awareness have very little discernment in
the area of "spiritual experiences" — a discernment that has been
practiced and handed down in Orthodox Patristic writings and Lives of Saints
for nearly 2000 years.
In the absence of such awareness and discernment,
the increasing presence of Eastern religious movements in the West, especially
in the past decade or two, has caused great confusion in the minds of many
would-be Christians. The case of Thomas Merton comes immediately to mind: a
sincere convert to Roman Catholicism and Catholic monasticism some forty years
ago (long before the radical reforms of Vatican II), he ended his days
proclaiming the equality of Christian religious experiences and the experience
of Zen Buddhism and other pagan religions. Something has "entered the
air" in these past two decades or so that has eroded whatever remained of
a sound Christian outlook in Protestantism and Roman Catholicism and now is
attacking the Church itself, Holy Orthodoxy. The "dialogue with
non-Christian religions" is a result rather than a cause of this new
"spirit."
In this chapter we shall examine some of the
Eastern religious movements which have been influential in the 1970's, with
special emphasis on the attempts to develop a syncretism of Christianity and
Eastern religions, particularly in the realm of "spiritual
practices." Such attempts more often than not cite the Philokalia and the
Eastern Orthodox tradition of contemplative prayer as being more kin to Eastern
spiritual practices than anything that exists in the West; it is time enough,
then, to point out clearly the great abyss that exists between Christian and
non-Christian "spiritual experience," and why the religious philosophy
that underlies this new syncretism is false and dangerous.
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