In Reply to: Re: the bible.. posted by MG on July 07, 2003 at 00:57:11:
i certainly can relate to your appreciation for a spirituality that is often condemned in some circles of christendom as "new age." there is a sonwiter whose stuff i love , wayne kirkpatrick, that has a song about that. the chorus:
"that's not new age
that's the old ways
found in sacred pages
you disown me and you stone me
with the Rock of Ages
self made sages
narrow mazes
self righteous rages
i may not see the way you do
but that's not new age.."
c.s.lewis touches on these issues, as well as madeleine l'engle (who wrote "a wrinkle in time".. i've just read 3 excellent books of hers on genesis. ) but if you get a chance to read cs lewis' space trilogy, ("out of the silent planet" "perelandra" and "that hideous strength" i think you'd enjoy them immensely. and they give a fascinating and liberating veiw of the story of scripture as well!
the issue you bring up about "self" and personality etc. i find a little complicated. i would certainly agree the personality detroying false teaching of mo , and most cult leaders in fact, is not only a demonic manipulative tactic, but a horrible distortion of what God, who says he "calls us by name" and formed us "wonderfully" in our mothers womb, intended! yet, i still find in scripture and in life experience, a limitation on what can be done with this "clay" w/o connecting on a regular basis w/ the potter. we were built for relationship, in his image, and as augustine observed, we find no rest till we find it "in thee".we are not gods, but rather (pardon the expression) "children of God."
anyway, that's what i've been walking around in...