In Reply to: Re: thots on TF and the gnostic heresy posted by Alan on January 15, 2004 at 03:58:25:
If I had the time and energy, I could make the argument that as a religion, Christianity blends Greco-Roman, Egyptian, and Hebrew spiritual traditions--maybe not alphabet soup, but something of a first century vegetable stew. Actually, this was my senior thesis in high school. Did I ever mention the formative influence of my religion teachers at Hawaii Baptist Academy?
The Gospel of John is clearly influenced by Aristotlian philosophical concepts about the Logos or Divine Word in a way that the synoptic gospels are not. Or the infancy narratives--the idea of God incarnating as a human child--THAT was a common and widespread belief among the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians--but NEVER something Hebrews accepted and taught. Point is, Christianity itself (as a religious tradition) provides evidence that the revelation of spiritual truth came through a variety of cultural traditions that knew very little about the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob.
I would suggest the same holds true today. The ongoing revelation of spiritual truth comes through a variety of cultural traditions that have very little formal knowledge about the God of Jesus Christ. Which might explain why people turn out in droves to witness a demonstration of Tibetan Buddhist nuns doing a mandala sand painting. Not because they're "lost" or have no faith in Christ, but perhaps because they seek a spiritual lesson about imperminance that is best taught by another religious tradition.
So how do we discern spiritual truth if the vehicle of transmission lacks an orthodox seal of approval? As you said, "Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them." If you "get" the lesson of imperminance from a mandala sand painting, the fruit of this spiritual "knowing" (there is something bigger than yourself at the center of creation) is to live out your faith in a way that is less impatient and materialistic and more strongly oriented toward compassion.
Maybe we can find this same kind of deep teaching about the transitory nature of existence in the Christian churches, but what I see as more typical is a certain cultural bankruptcy among christians--exemplified by the uniquely American "gospel of abundance and prosperity" as it is popularly preached on television. Now there's another religious idea that has little to do with the spiritual traditions of first century Christianity (when the New Testament scriptures were written) and everything to do with the 17th century Enlightment ideals of individualism, capitalism, and Calvinistic notions of righteousness.