Experiencing God or Knowing God: Examining Mysticism

Interest in mysticism – the connecting to or “experiencing” of God through various techniques and practices – has become rampant, especially among younger Christians in search of church alternatives.

Suggested practices are numerous – meditation (not on Scripture), silencing the mind, visualizations, rituals, imaginations, and dream analysis. Others, like the deceased Catholic priest, Henry Nouwen, have promoted the mindless repetition of words:

• The quiet repetition of a single word can help us to descend with the mind into the heart…This way of simple prayer…opens us to God’s active presence.

Is the expectation that we can connect to “Gods active presence” biblical? For one thing, the Bible never promotes mindless, understanding-less repetitions. The Apostle Paul had warned that even the supernatural speaking of foreign languages – tongues - was useless unless accompanied by understanding:

• Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? (1 Cor. 14:6)

This principle does not just apply to the experience of speaking in tongues but also to mystical experience. Whatever we do, we must proceed in the light of understanding.

This certainly shouldn’t be an argument against experience, but against the pursuit of experience for its own sake. Of course, the Spirit is always working in our lives, providing learning experiences even when we are not aware of them. It has become a great joy for me to meditate on what God has done for me – forgiving my sins and promising that I will be with Him, in a place of bliss, for all eternity.

Similarly, the Bible emphasizes seeking understanding, not experience. Moses had arguably the greatest mountaintop experience. His appearance was even transformed. However, when he returned to the Israelites, he told them nothing about the experience and everything about the words God had given him (Exodus 34:29-34).

Jesus’ disciples also had a great mountaintop experience on the Mount of Transfiguration. However, God’s heavenly voice had nothing to do with learning techniques about experiencing Him but everything to do with a doctrinal revelation of the Person of Jesus:

• “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)

There is absolutely no Scriptural evidence that we can experience God by repeating a set of words. In fact, there is evidence against such a hope and practice:

• “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” (Matthew 6:7)

In addition to this, God regards mindless rituals as an abomination:

• The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable— how much more so when brought with evil intent! (Proverbs 21:27; 15:8; 28:9)

Even when prescribed rituals are performed without “evil intent,” they are “detestable,” because the offerer is not right relationship with the Lord. This raises a great concern about mysticism, which presents an unbiblical God – a God who cares more about technique and mystical methodology than about what God values – faith, confession, repentance, sin and obedience. Mysticism implicitly communicates that having a relationship with God and experiencing “God’s active presence” are about practicing techniques and not about what the Bible teaches.

Meanwhile, the Bible claims that it is totally adequate in itself, through the Spirit, to produce in us what God desires:

• All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

However, the teachings of the mystics implicitly deny this truth, claiming that we need their techniques in order to achieve the blessings of God.

What do mystics experience when they claim that they are experiencing God or union with God? Although the Spirit works within us, producing His fruit in our lives, Scripture mentions nothing about experiencing God in a mystical manner. In fact, those Israelites who did experience the Presence of God were terrified and not enraptured by joy!

The Israelites were gathered around Mt. Sinai to experience the Presence of God. However, they found that this Presence was the last thing in the world that they ever wanted to experience again. Instead, they cried to Moses:

• “Speak to us yourself [Moses] and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” (Exodus 20:19)

Their experience was typical, even for prophets, like Isaiah, who actually saw the Lord Jesus:

• “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5)

In fact, Israel’s temple communicated that only the High Priest could approach the Lord without being struck dead. Even in the NT, contact with the Divine was a frightening thing. The three disciples were terrified on the Mt. of Transfiguration (Mat. 17:6). John was even terrified by the presence of a mere angel (Rev. 1:17).

So what is it that the mystics are experiencing? Do they know? Is it possible to coerce God into intimate contact through a set of extra-biblical practices? They claim that if we imagine that we are in contact with God, then we will be. In Celebration of Disciple, mystic Richard Foster insists that:

• As with meditation, the imagination is a powerful tool in the work of prayer. We may be reticent to pray with the imagination, feeling that it is slightly beneath us. Children have no such reticence. (172)

• Since we know that Jesus is always with us, let’s imagine that he is sitting over in the chair across from us. He is waiting patiently for us to centre our attention on him. When we see him, we start thinking more about His love than how sick Julie is. He smiles, gets up, and comes over to us. Then, let’s put both our hands on Julie and when we do, Jesus will put His hands on top of ours. We’ll watch the light from Jesus flow into your little sister and make her well. (173)

However, Scripture does not give us the freedom to use imagination in worship, as Jeremiah warned:

• This is what the Lord Almighty says: "Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They keep saying to those who despise me, 'The Lord says: You will have peace.' And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts [“walketh after the imagination of his own heart;” KJV] they say, 'No harm will come to you.'” (Jeremiah 23:16-17; Ezek 13:2; Luke 1:51)

Instead, God requires us to worship Him according to who He is, in spirit and in truth (John 4:22-24), contrary to the assertion of the mystics, who want to bypass considerations of truth and doctrine.

So what are the mystics experiencing? Their own imaginations, but perhaps something even worse! Paul warned that demons can disguise themselves as entities of the light (2 Cor. 11:14) and that when we worship in an unbiblical manner, we might be opening ourselves to demonic fellowship:

• The sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. (1 Cor. 10:20)

How can the mystics be sure that they are not participating with demons? Even Foster admits this possibility, according to writer Roger Oakland:

• Richard Foster claims that practitioners must use caution. He admits that in contemplative prayer “we are entering deeply into the spiritual realm” and that sometimes it is not the realm of God even though it is “supernatural.” He admits there are spiritual beings and that a prayer of protection should be said beforehand – something to the effect of “All dark and evil spirits must now leave.” (Faith Undone, 99)

Will the demons obey Foster? How can Foster know that these evil spirits have left and that he now communes with God? By departing from the teachings of Scripture, he cannot know!

Why are vast numbers of young educated people embracing mysticism? I think that there are many possible reasons for this:

1. They have never known the Savior.
2. They have rejected God’s Word.
3. Experiencing spirituality has become far more socially acceptable than believing in a set of truths.
4. Experiencing, instead of accepting a demanding set of doctrines, does not interfere with one’s lifestyle or politics.

In any event, mystical pursuit represents a costly rejection of God and His Word – an attempt to set up our own spiritual workshop and play-station.

Darwin, Yoga, Mysticism and the Power of Ideas

Ideas are powerful. Some ideas are so coercive that they can transform our entire worldview. The Galatians had been “running well” (Gal. 5:7). However, they fell under the influence of a powerful, coercive idea. Along with trusting Christ, the Galatians succumbed to the belief that they had to also become Jews and follow the law in order to be saved.

Rather than contributing to salvation, Paul argued that this one belief would undermine salvation (Gal. 5:2-4). It had the power of undermining their entire standing before their Savior. So Paul termed the belief “leaven” or “yeast”:

• "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." (Galatians 5:9)

A pinch of yeast can transform the entire loaf. This pinch can even take us “captive”:

• See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. (Col. 2:8)

A thought or philosophy can potentially take us captive, away from Christ. Even though our salvation is a done-deal, we are continually warned to be vigilant against false ideas. Consequently, we have to remain in “warfare” mode:

• The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor. 10:4-5

The battle consists of taking “captive every thought” so that each will coincide with our faith and not oppose it. If we don’t take these aggressive thoughts captive, they will take us captive. There is no neutral ground.

If we surf the web, we need protection – an anti-virus program. This program scans every piece of information that attempts to enter our computers. Some bits of information are so lethal – that’s why they’re called “viruses” – that they can destroy our computer. If the incoming information represents a threat, the program will not grant it entry.

We have to be equally vigilant about what we believe. Some beliefs are so lethal, they will consume or transform all of the other beliefs. Karl Giberson had been the co-administrator of the Biologos Foundation, a blog devoted to promoting theistic evolution. Giberson had written Saving Darwin: How to be a Christian and Believe in Evolution, to encourage Christians to believe in evolution. However, he conceded that evolution was such a powerful idea - an acid - that it had corroded some of his Christian beliefs:

• Acid is an appropriate metaphor for the erosion of my fundamentalism, as I slowly lost confidence in the Genesis story of creation and the scientific creationism that placed this ancient story within the framework of modern science….[Darwin’s] acid dissolved Adam and Eve; it ate through the Garden of Eden; it destroyed the historicity of the events of creation week. It etched holes in those parts of Christianity connected to the stories—the fall, “Christ as the second Adam,” the origins of sin, and nearly everything else that I counted sacred. (9-10)

However, he assured his readers that the acid would dissolve no more of his Christian beliefs. However, some years later, he wrote that the God of the Old Testament was a “genocidal” tyrant.

Once we open the door to certain viruses, they will not stop at the entrance. I think that he took his fatal step when he concluded that the modern theories of science were more authoritative than the Bible.

“Christian evolutionist,” Ron Choong, the founder of the Academy for Christian Thought, is even more explicit about this virus:

• Darwinism exposes Christianities weakness in keeping up with the growing scientific knowledge. We use the fruits of scientific technology and blissfully ignore its implications for a contemporary and comprehensive biblical worldview.

Instead of allowing the Bible to critique our lives and thoughts, he is convinced that the modern scientific consensus must stand in judgment over the Bible and dictate our theology. As a result of this idea, Choong recommends that the church:

• Construct a biblically faithful comprehensive worldview which accounts for the growth of scientific knowledge

This single step places every teaching of the Bible up-for-grabs. Unsurprisingly, he no longer believes in a historical Adam and Eve, and his understanding of the Fall, creation and all subsequent theology must be re-configured according to the dictates of the virus – evolution.

There are many other kinds of viruses invading the church. The late mystic and Catholic Priest, Henry Nouwen, has become very popular in many churches and seminaries. He wrote:

• The quiet repetition of a single word can help us to descend with the mind into the heart…This way of simple prayer…opens us to Gods active presence.

You might not think that this idea is a virus that can re-shape our faith. It seems very innocuous. If you know Scripture, you might even recognize that it is unbiblical. Against this kind of practice, Jesus had taught:

• And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. (Matthew 6:7)

Certainly, Nouwen’s mystical teaching involves repeating “many [meaningless] words” in the manner of pagans, but you might think, “big deal!”

Well, it is a big deal! Nouwen claimed that this ritual would open “us to God’s active presence.” This claim insists that we are missing something – something vitally important! Consequently, it is in violation of many other verses:

• All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

While Nouwen’s teaching claims that we are missing something, Scripture instead assures us that we are “thoroughly equipped.” We are also complete in Christ (Col. 2:9-10). These assurances give us the confidence that, in Christ, we have everything that we need. This is important to know, especially when we are going through trials and are tempted to think that we are missing something. If this doubt is not Scripturally addressed, we will become susceptible to every wind of doctrine and every promise to harness God’s grace by a new technique.

This teaching also causes us to doubt God’s omnipotence – perhaps He isn’t able to provide without Nouwen’s formula - and suspect that we are lacking “God’s active presence.”

Quaker mystic, Richard Foster, informs us that we are actually missing God’s boat if we don’t have our prayers met in a timely manner:

• Often we assume we are in contact when we are not…Often people will pray and pray with all the faith in the world, but nothing happens. Naturally, they are not contacting the channel. We begin praying for others by first centering down and listening to the quiet thunder of the Lord of hosts. Attuning ourselves to divine breathings is spiritual work, but without it our praying is vain repetition. Listening to the Lord is the first thing…(Celebration of Disciplines, 34)

In essence, Foster claims that our prayers and faith aren’t adequate without his particular prayer techniques. If we are not receiving, we are not “contacting the channel” of God. We’re missing the spiritual boat. How destructive of faith! According to Foster, it is no longer about believing through adversity; it’s about receiving! If we adopt this belief, our entire orientation towards faith and God will be radically corrupted.

Foster and Nouwen convey wrong ideas about God. They suggest that blessing is a matter of learning certain rituals or techniques rather than those truths that Scripture reaffirms – faith, repentance, and obedience.

If we are blessed as we grow in an understanding of God (Jer. 9:23-24; 2 Peter 1:2-3; Psalm 1), then this false teaching undermines this. Nouwen has taken us beyond the safety of Scripture against the counsel of Scripture (Isaiah 8:20; 1 Cor. 4:6-7). If his techniques are so essential to experiencing “God’s active presence,” why does not Scripture ever give us a hint of the “quiet repetition of a single word?”

Nouwen is certainly not alone in teaching non-Scriptural mystical techniques – rituals - in place of solid Scriptural nourishment. Yoga is also beating against the walls of the church. Yoga instructor Brooke Boon claims that, as yoga connects mind and body,

• “…we become more authentic people, able to hear God and experience Him in previously impossible ways.” (quoted by CRJ Vol.3, #4, 2008)

If yoga is so essential to the Christian life, why doesn’t Scripture at least mention it? No one seeking God was ever instructed to do some physical exercises in order to “hear” Him. This suggests that God cannot make His will know apart from yoga. Evidently, our God depends on us first learning certain stretches before He can truly reveal Himself to us.

Instead of placing trust in Christ and His teachings, Boon requires us to trust her techniques in order to “hear God and experience Him in previously impossible ways.” In short, fully following Christ is not truly possible apart from yoga. If we believe this, we are left questioning the various Scriptures assuring us that we are complete in Christ and the Word. We are also left wondering how many other spiritual practices we might need to be truly complete. Our faith thereby becomes self-centered and not God-centered.

I don’t think that there is anything wrong with doing yoga exercises. However, believing that yoga can make us “more authentic people, able to hear God and experience Him in previously impossible ways,” is entirely another matter. If we believe this, then we have to modify everything else that we believe. It reduces the Christian life to a set of non-Scriptural exercises, thereby demeaning the milk and meat of Scripture. However, Scripture doesn’t not equate doing exercises with honoring God:

• For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. (1 Tim. 4:8)

Physical training cannot accomplish what Boon claims it can. However, this is only a minor problem. Boon’s claim conveys wrong ideas about our Savior. It suggests that He cares more about bodily training than righteousness and holiness; that He is more pleased with stretches than with confession and repentance. It also suggests that He is pleased when we borrow ideas from other religions.

Some ideas are so powerful that they commandeer our lives. If I believe that my neighbor is trying to kill me, this belief will take control of my thoughts, feelings, and plans.

Although the relationship between thinking and acting (and experiencing) should be obvious, it has been denigrated by our postmodern society. Consequently, religious beliefs and doctrines are often disdained as dead and inconsequential. Therefore, in place of truth, we seek experiences, feelings and relationships, failing to see that these important commodities rest upon the foundation of our ideas and thinking.

In contrast to this thinking, Christian doctrine is utterly essential to our lives. For example, if we believe, as the Bible instructs us, that once we confess our sins, God forgives and cleanses us (1 John 1:9), this truth will alter our entire relationship with others, God and even with ourselves. We will consequently be charitable with ourselves and others, convinced that God fully accepts us. Convinced that God loves and accepts us, we can begin to love and accept others. We will also adore our Savior for releasing us from the bonds of sin and its guilt.

If we understand this, our first question should be, “What is the truth?” and not “How can I obtain this experience?” A little belief-leaven leavens the entire worldview-loaf. This pertains both to truths and lies. When we are nurtured by right thinking, we can expect it to lead into right doing and right feeling.

The Life of the Mind

Our post-modern culture has neglected the mind, apart from material matters like medicine and meteorology. I’ve been told by Washington Square Park/NYU mavens that 40 years ago all manner of political and philosophical opinion were being promoted from the Park by book tables, pamphlets, and preachers. Ideas mattered! One such atheistic observer encouraged me that I am the last Socrates of the Park.

Why the demise of ideas? Well, we’re told that they don’t matter, even worse, that they have no basis in reality. For example, multiculturalism assures us that there are no objective standards by which we can judge other cultures. Consequently, we can’t pass judgment.

This is tragic and prevents us from confronting the problems we find in other cultures. Muslim reformer and former Dutch Parliamentarian, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, laments this fact. In her book, The Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam, she points the accusing finger at multiculturalism and Western intellectuals who don’t apply this concept consistently:

• These same liberals in western politics have the strange habit of blaming themselves for the ills of the world, while seeing the rest of the world as victims. To them victims are to be pitied, and they lump together all the pitiable and suppressed people, such as Muslims, and consider them good people who should be cherished and supported so that they can overcome their disadvantages. The adherents of multiculturalism refuse to criticize people whom they see as victims…They are critical of the native white majority in Western countries but not of Islamic minorities. Criticism of the Islamic world, of Palestinians, and of Islamic minorities is regarded as Islamophobia and xenophobia. (xvii)

Ali argues that this unwillingness to judge according to moral universal standards is detrimental:

• Because multiculturalists will not classify cultural phenomena as “better’ or “worse” but only neutral or disparate, they actually encourage segregation and unintentionally perpetuate, for instance, the unsatisfactory position of Muslim women. State subsidies for nonstate schools allow Muslims to have their own schools…in which young girls are indoctrinated…with very conservative Islamic practices. (63

Western self-imposed moral blindness is ubiquitous and has resulted in neglect of the abused:

• But in the bigger countries, no NGO yet monitors the number of times an honor killing is committed in a [Western] member state, or the number of times a girl is circumcised, or the number of times a girl is removed form school and forced into a life of virtual slavery. (170

Meanwhile, many Islamic Study departments in Western universities are more committed to indoctrination than in the things that should characterize the university:

• Yet, in spite of having Arab and Islam faculties, most universities in Europe serve as activist centers to further the Palestinian cause, instead of research and teaching centers for Muslim students. (169)

However, having degraded the life of the mind in regards to moral questions, the West now lacks the heart and rationale to stand against intimidation:

• The present-day attitude of Western cultural relativists, who flinch from criticizing Muhammad for fear of offending Muslims, allow Western Muslims to hide from reviewing their own moral values. This attitude also betrays the tiny majority of Muslim reformers who desperately require support – and even the physical protection – of their natural allies in the West. (176)

Consequently, the pushiest prevail, undermining the West’s claim of being just. It should come as no surprise that the life of the mind is also disparaged within the church. Doctrine and the Biblical teachings of the church have been set aside, allegedly because “doctrine divides.”

Sadly, many churches have replaced the primacy of Scripture with goal of experiencing God – unmediated mysticism – claiming that the mind and our fixation upon Scripture is just an impediment. The deceased but now popular Henry Nouwen advised that we clear our minds by the simple repetition of a single word:

• “The quiet repetition of a single word can help us to descend with the mind into the heart…This way of simple prayer…opens us to God’s active presence.”

Never mind that Jesus taught against placing our faith in mindless repetitions:

• And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. (Matthew 6:7)

In The Signature of Jesus, Brennan Manning has given similar advice:

• “The first step in faith is to stop thinking about God in prayer…” “Contemplative spirituality tends to emphasize the need for a change in consciousness…we must come to see reality differently.” “Choosing a single, sacred word…repeat the sacred word inwardly, slowly, and often.” “Enter into the great silence of God. Alone in that silence, the noise within will subside and the Voice of Love will be heard.” (Quoted by Ray Yungen, A Time of Departing, 83)

Evidently, Manning is content to overlook the counsel of Scripture:

• Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly…But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. (Psalm 1:1-3; Joshua 1:8)

According to Scripture, blessedness is not a matter of clearing our minds of God, but rather, of contemplating both Him and His Word!

Spiritual Disciplines guru, Richard Foster, reinforces the errant idea that the mind is necessarily a hindrance to the Christian life:

• Imagine the light of Christ flowing through your hands and healing every emotional trauma and hurt feeling your child experienced that day. Fill him or her with the peace and joy of the Lord. In sleep the child is very receptive to prayer since the conscious mind, which tends to erect barriers to God’s gentle influence, is relaxed. (Celebration of Discipline, 39)

Instead of Jesus’ admonition to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul and mind, Foster would gladly have us dispense with the conscious mind, which “erect barriers to God’s gentle influence.”

In contrast to this, the early church understood that the life of the mind – what we understand and believe – is foundational for every other aspect of the Christian life. There had been a conflict between two groups of “believers.” One group insisted that circumcision to become a Jew and to follow the Law was necessary for salvation. Meanwhile, Paul and Peter argued that this requirement would cause Gentile believers to stumble. They recounted instances of God’s miraculous workings among the Gentiles, proving that God had accepted them without circumcision.

James then confirmed their testimony with Scripture (Acts 15:15-19). Although they might have been concerned that the conflict would cause division, they had a greater concern - the truths of God and the preservation of the Gospel. The Spirit had revealed to them that salvation was purely a matter of the grace of God, and this truth trumped everything else! Consequently, to resolve the confusion they formulated this letter to be sent throughout the Christian world:

•  “The apostles and elders, your brothers, to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings. We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said.” (Acts 15:23-24)

Among other things, this letter reflected the fact that their thought-life was important. As long as thinking was conflicted, they remained “disturbed.”

What we think determines everything else – our self-concept, attitudes and treatment of others, relationships, and even experiencing God! If I believe that He forgives and cleanses me of my sins when I confess them, I am going to feel grateful and intimate with my God. However, if I belief that I must first earn that forgiveness, then I will remain doubtful, depressed and resentful.

The life of the mind is paramount. What we believe is critical to everything we say and do. Consequently, because the Apostles had resolved this theological problem by the Holy Spirit, the church grew:

• As they [Paul, Timothy and Silas] traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.  So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers. (Acts 16:4-5)

Burying our confusion will no more “strengthen” us than a house built without a foundation. Without resolving this fundamental truth, our lives rest upon the shifting sands. Indeed, there are many truths upon which our house must find its support. This requires a steady diet of Scripture meditation – the very thing now regarded as counter-productive.