Saturday, August 23, 2008

Conversations with "God?"

I recently became aware of two books - for adults and teens - that make up part of Neale D. Walsch's Conversations with God (CWG) series. The problem with these books starts with their author. Dr. Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, KY, wrote back in 2004 regarding Walsch the following:

"The publication of Conversations with God was one of the milestones of the New Age Movement of the 1990s. A former reporter, public relations officer, and radio talk show host, Walsch claimed that God had channeled revelation through him in the form of conversations he was then able to produce in written form. As he tells the story, these events began in 1992 when Walsch was experiencing personal failure and deep unhappiness. Intending to write a letter to God, Walsch claimed to have found his pen 'moving on its own.' The result was Conversations with God--and the rest is publishing history."

Source: http://www.albertmohler.com/commentary_read.php?cdate=2004-03-15

Now, I am a missionary in Brazil, and it is quite common to see books being sold in bookstores that have been written in this same manner: the author's pen "moving on its own." In other words, there is no doubt that spirit beings (or demons), masquerading as spirits of the dead, wrote those books. In fact, so prevalent is this kind of "contact with the dead" in Brazilian society that accused murderers have been cleared and previously innocent people accused of murder based on the testimony of the "victims" via a Spiritist medium (or New Age channeler). So, it is clear to me the source of Walsch's God, who gives anything but biblical answers in these books.  Walsch's "god" is nothing more than a demonic manifestation, intending to lead people astray by giving answers that they always wanted to hear from God.  

I have been unable to verify Mohler's claim that Walsch's pen was "moving on its own" from other descriptions of how God supposedly spoke to him. However, he admits to hearing a soft voice, writing down - verbatim - what the voice was telling him (and comparing it to dictation) and publishing what was written down without any alterations in his first book, Conversations with God. A red flag went up when I read Mohler's account, but the BIG issue is the totally heretical content of his books.

Look at some of the totally unbiblical things Walsch either says or quotes "God" as saying:

"Conversations with God says very directly in a hundred places that faith in God and faith in your True Identity as One with the Divine is what will allow you to experience the Power of Creation that is yours, that always resides within you."

Source: http://blog.beliefnet.com/conversationswithgod/

That's funny! The last time I checked Jesus was one with God (John 10:30). And there's a lot more, I assure you. Take Walsch's answer to a guy who defended the biblically orthodox view of sin, man, the atonement, etc. on his blog:

"The idea that I just expressed runs quite counter to the thoughts shared with us by Don L., who said, in part...

"Most people like to think that 'most people' are generally good. Yet throughout recorded history the world has been a vile place. Why? Because of human behavior. The bible says all have sinned (Rom. 3:23). Jesus said 'No one is good except God alone.

"My own thoughts on the above are these: Jesus may have said that 'no one is good except God alone,' but that makes us ALL good -- since we are all part of 'God alone.'

"You see....God is All There Is. There is nothing else but God. And we are all part of that. The statement above from Don L. speaks from the standpoint of what I call Separation Theology. That theology holds that God is 'over there' and we are 'over here,' and never the twain shall meet -- except (if we are lucky) in heaven...if we do what we need to do to 'get there.' In other words, if we are 'saved.'

"Don L. also wrote...

"God made us and we turned away from Him to serve ourselves. With that sin came a curse on the earth (Gen 3:17) and death. Sin is like a cancer that kills the soul. The wages of sin is death. God Himself bore for us the price (Christ took our place on death row. Every inmate who wants to sign his name as 'belonging to Christ' can walk off of death row.). Not all will.

"I want to ask you, Don....Why did we do that? Why did we 'turn away from God' to serve ourselves? Were we made by God to be so inept, so unable to judge what is in our own best interests, that we saw our interests best served by turning away from our Maker? And why would turning away from God place a curse upon the earth? And upon people who were not even born yet, did not even exist yet? Why would that be so, Don? Explain to me why God would visit His curse upon even the unborn? What kind of a God is this, anyway?

"Good heavens, Don....Christ took our place ON DEATH ROW???? Why were we condemned to 'death' to begin with? Or, perhaps more to the point, why were we allowed to be BORN to begin with??? Did God give us birth, as imperfect beings, just to give us death???? Why not just leave us 'dead' to begin with, and get it over with?"

Source: http://blog.beliefnet.com/conversationswithgod/2008/08/who-and-what-is-god.html

Now I will quote Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family regarding Walsch's CWG for Teens, which uses questions for God from real teens:

"For instance (and I paraphrase), when a girl asks the question 'Why am I a lesbian?' His (God's) answer is that she was 'born that way' because of genetics (just as you were born right-handed, with brown eyes, etc.). Then he tells her to go out and 'celebrate' her differences. 

"Another girls poses the question 'I am living with my boyfriend. My parents say that I should marry him because I am living in sin. Should I marry him?'

"His (God's) reply is, 'Who are you sinning against? Not me, because you have done nothing wrong.'

"Another question asks about God's forgiveness of sin. His reply is: 'I do not forgive anyone because there is nothing to forgive. There is no such thing as right or wrong and that is what I have been trying to tell everyone, do not judge people. People have chosen to judge one another and this is wrong, because the rule is 'judge not lest ye be judged.'"

Now, I hope it is obvious how warped these answers are. Unfortunately, they must not seem that warped to a lot of people because millions of books have been sold around the world. People are so quick to jump on the bandwagon of error when that error agrees with their own erroneous views of God, man, sin, one's eternal destiny, etc. Sad.

On the other hand, what we are seeing is the outworking of Romans 1:18-32, which says:

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not [a]honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them."

Now is it not obvious that Neale D. Walsch is living out this passage? I mean, look at what he says "God" is supposedly saying.  According to Walsch, God and the Gay Rights Movement seem to be in agreement! But, the one, true God, the God of the Bible, predicted such foolishness nearly two thousand years ago in verse 32: "And although they know the ordinance of God (because God's Law is written on their heart, according to Rom. 2:15), that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them."

Give me a break, Neale! Your foolish heart has been darkened! You have become a fool, a demon's pawn in the New Spirituality board game! That's all you are, Neale: the devil's pawn! That "soft voice" you heard could have even been an angel's, but Paul says it is to be accursed (Gal. 1:8)! I feel sorry for you, Neale! You've been duped by the all-time master LIAR, Satan. Wake up and smell the brimstone, repenting of your rebellious folly before it's too late. Those 5 million + readers of your books will want to get a piece of you as they descend past you into the furthest depths of the hell you denied existed. But you probably won't give a rip, because the pain you'll be feeling then will be the only thing on your mind. Wake up, fool!

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