The assault rifles have begun to fire!
One particular attack (let’s call it A) was particularly troublesome. Let me quote:
Sorry I beg to differ here (wrt article 6 of the series). The flock Jesus is talking about are the gentiles. Jesus came first to the Jews and we the church are what He is referring to. I wouldn’t like to discuss this as I’m familiar with God’s word and I meditate on it. We are warned that in the last days. wolves would come to distort Gods word. We need to be very careful that in trying to be intelligent we don’t go back to saying all Gods are one, or that these Hindu Gods are actually pointing to Christ.
Sorry for being blunt.
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Another (B) was somewhat subtle; it seemed to be generally firing in the air, rather than at me.
Quote:
Language (Sanskrit) is not the problem at all. It is the concept of God and the meaning of the words in the original context that matters. The problem is, though many things ( beliefs/ principles) may seem very similar there are major differences that go absolutely contrary to the biblical truths or revelations. A few most important things we need to be absolutely clear about is the concept of God, salvation, Man and his predicament and the like. We need to be careful not to get mixed up with the pagan concepts. One of the main tactics of Satan is to create fake similarities ( like counterfeit money – which only experts can identify because it will look so much alike). That is why it is important for us to learn about other faiths so we will know where and how they differ and why only Christian faith is the True Faith and not any other other …
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It must be obvious both these salvos are from ardent followers of Christ.
I suspect what has rustled their feathers is the proposition I held up:
“Could these – Mahaavatar Babaji (Misc. 49), Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri and Paramahansa Yogananda and the like – be the sheep that are not of the traditional Christian believers’ fold?”
If you will recall this query was raised in the context of Jesus Christ’s averment that He had other sheep that are not of this fold.
According to A, this is a reference to Gentiles (Non-Jews).
Fair enough!
Since most of us are gentiles, it refers to us – gentile believers in Christ. By the same token yogis like Mahaavatar Babaji , Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri and Paramahansa Yogananda were also gentiles. And they did seem to believe in Christ and in fact it is said that they were in direct personal communion with Christ – a claim that cannot be made in all honesty about all of the (Christian) church.
So I would say that it is within the realm of possibility that Jesus’s cryptic statement refers to people like that. Please note I am talking of possibility and not probability. Nothing is said conclusively, so an open mind will not hurt.
In this context, it is instructive to see Mark 9:38: “John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group.””
No, these yogis are certainly not in our group. Do they, for that reason become “wolves in sheep’s clothing”? Check out Jesus’s response to John in the very next verse:
“Do not stop him,” Jesus replied. “For no one who performs a miracle in My name can turn around and speak evil of Me”.
Jesus once asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man (referring to himself) is?”
Matthew 16:16 ” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus commended him saying: ” “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.”
Revealed directly by the Father. Phew!
Now let us see the revelation to PY.
Quote (from the introduction to the Book):
There is a distinguishing difference of meaning between Jesus and Christ. His given name was Jesus; his honorific title was “Christ”. This consciousness is the “only begotten son of God”, so designated because it is the sole perfect reflection in creation of the Transcendental Absolute Spirit or God the Father.
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Is there a substantial difference between the revelation to Simon Peter and the revelation to Paramahansa Yogananda?
You decide.
I am not saying that the revelations to PY as recorded in his book are entirely problem free from the Christian point of view. They are not; God willing we shall study these in future. After all, we have not even scratched the surface of Krishna consciousness!
In the meanwhile, let us not be in a hurry to judge( Matthew 7:7).
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