ACCM: Proposed Intro

For those of you following the project, A Course in Christian Mysticism, I got inspired mostly in terms of a spiritual slap upside the head. That led me to consider perhaps passing it on to those who check out the project. While the exact wording will have to change some, what follows is pretty much the content I expect to use:

********

Everything you believe is wrong, so most of what you do is equally immoral.

That is, if you are a Western Christian, you do not understand morality as God revealed it. Christianity is an Eastern religion. Jesus was a Hebrew man and the Bible is a Hebrew book. Parts of it were written in Greek, but it is all Hebrew thought. Anyone with an education knows the Hebrew people of the Bible were part of the Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) cultures and languages, possessed of an intellectual background quite alien to anyone raised and educated in the West.

The critical element in understanding the difference is found in the word “mysticism.” For most Westerners, this term carries a lot of luggage in the form of broad negative connotations. Western rationalism arrogantly dismisses what it cannot understand and control. Sad news for all the Christians who insist their religion must be rational: God is in control and the rational West is not His creation.

It’s not that our Lord simply chose the Hebrew people with their intellectual culture, as if He needed an extra challenge to His redemption. God created the Hebrew culture, including it’s intellectual background. Ancient Hebrew Mysticism was God’s idea, His chosen means to revelation. You don’t have to read Hebrew; you have to think in Hebrew mystical terms or you cannot possibly understand His Word.

The perception that God somehow changed His habits and morals between the Old and New Testaments is the arrogance of Western rationalism sneaking into the picture. God is still the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They didn’t misunderstand Him; we do.

Western morals are not moral at all. They arise from two heathen sources, and Christianity was simply a word thrown in to give it legitimacy. Ancient Hebrew morals are those of God, chosen as the only proper understanding for mankind after the Fall. Our departure from it is a blasphemous rejection of God’s Word itself.

Strong words? Not strong enough. God is destroying Western Civilization, and it can’t come quick enough for those of us who understand His Word. “Come out her, My people,” Our Lord warns. This course is designed to make that departure possible.

Be saved from this evil generation.