Ernie: The feeling I have, and this goes back a long way, is that Jesus-centeredness
to the extent that we get something like 'Jesus intoxication.' is of a piece with Bakhti Yoga (Bhakti Yoga). Extreme devotion, -in the Hindu case, to Krishna You also get this in one form of Sufism where Muhammad has been transformed -this is totally false to what the Koran says, BTW- into a Christ-like figure or a Krishna-like figure worthy of devotion. As for Christ-centeredness of this kind, been there, done that, and -after the fact- do not like it. Maybe it has its place at the time of conversion, maybe in times of life crisis, but otherwise? Seems debilitating to me. Yet there can be positive benefits. Like soul stirring Evangelical songs, or like the music of the Hare Krishnas, which is musical Bakhti Yoga. BTW, maybe you know this, Yoga does not translate into "sit cross legged on the floor and breathe deeply." That is one form, but the word is much broader in meaning. A big part of Aurobindo's "Integral Yoga" is Raja Yoga, which translates into "development of a philosophy of life." That is one kind of terminology for what I'm mostly all about, which is also part Socratic, namely, creating one's own life philosophy -but focused on Christian faith and the lessons of the Bible. OTOH, there is something from Buddhism that is indispensable, namely, learning what we might call the "psychology of religion" so that we are aware of all the psychological dynamics that go on in religious experience and are not misled by wishful thinking, or by unjustified fears, or by mistaken understanding. My view, anyway Billy ________________________________ From: Dr. Ernie Prabhakar <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, January 3, 2019 8:21 AM To: Centroids Discussions Cc: Billy Rojas Subject: Redemption Re: [RC] 2016 2017 2018 2019... Hi Billy, On Dec 31, 2018, at 11:47 AM, Billy Rojas <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Which says to me that the future must be very different than anything that 99% of Evangelicals think it should be. You are free to disagree. Fine with me. No problem with that. But if one's goal is the willing acceptance of the young in a religious faith, then what? Do you really think that a new reformation will be Azuza Mark II? I sure do not. I think it will be more like Martin Luther Mark II, complete with major political upheavals and a war against Islam. More to the point, I think it will be partly Buddhist in character and partly "other," even if the core will be Christian and Biblical. It is all about your -anyone’s- vision of the future. I’m more radical that. I think the old Reformation was well-intentioned, but ultimately a mistake. A New Reformation is the wrong model, just as much as a new Revival is. You can’t go back to that well, it’s already been poisoned. Maybe it always was. I’ve started playing with the term ‘The Redemption’ instead. Reconciling Protestant, Catholic and Protestants around Christ, in a way that honoring yet inviting to other faith traditions. I still consider myself part of the Evangelical camp, but I have no actual loyalty to most of the things Evangelicals care about. Give me Jesus, and the world. That’s all I ask. — Ernie P. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
