Faith On The Line - Stress, Stress Go Away Vol 18 | Page 13

not realizing that these books make us and our youth
vulnerable to occultic ideas.
It is so very important that we examine the roots of
books we read and movies we watch. If the author of a
book has New Age ties, be very wary of reading it. Satan
has taken over the entertainment and music world. He has
bewitched the minds of young
and old alike.
Have you heard of dowsing?
It’s an occult witchcraft practice
that began in Germany during
the Renaissance period and
has many different forms. Many
occultists use branches from
trees to detect what is under the ground they walk on.
When the twig they are holding moves or shakes in a
particular way, it it said to be giving information about
groundwater or mining opportunities.
When we study the history of these devices, it’s easy
to see that their roots are not Christian sources. The
dowsers themselves do not have a good
explanation as to how it all works. They
just know that it does. What does the Bible
say about this type of divining?
There shall not be found among you any
one that maketh his son or his daughter
to pass through the fire, or that useth
divination, or an observer of times, or an
enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a
consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard,
or a necromancer (Deuteronomy 18:10-11).

Compromise
It is interesting to note the part that the Roman
Catholic Church had to play in this shift towards New
Age thinking. In the fifth and sixth centuries, the
Catholic Church decided to
Christianize some heathen
practices in order to attract
new members. This is
where Sunday worship
came into play, as the those
around them were worshipping the “sun” on Sunday,
the first day of the week.
The worship of Mary
came from the worship of the pagan goddess Tammus
and her child. The Greeks worshiped Jupiter, and the
statue of him was Catholicized and renamed Peter.
Many occult practices entered the Church in this
way, making it easier for heathens to become part
of the Church.

Today we have become so accustomed to certain
practices, that we don’t question where they come
from and what they actually stand for.
Satan has done his best to invade every aspect of
our lives. Now he has invaded our space by entering
into our prayer lives.
Most people find it difficult
to spend a long time in prayer,
so labyrinth praying has become
popular. When you examine the
roots, you find that this practice
came from Greek mythology and
the god Zeus was at the very
center of this worship.
The Catholic Church took this
practice and introduced God as the center using the
“Stations of the Cross” as part of the pathway to God.
Some groups, even in the Church, have introduced
by Brian Neumann
the idea that you can find the god within you by
praying the labyrinth. This is New Age pantheism,
something that we have been warned against:
To substitute external forms of
religion for holiness of heart and
life is still as pleasing to unrenewed nature as it was in the days
of these Jewish teachers. Today,
as then, there are false spiritual
guides, to whose doctrines many
listen eagerly. It is Satan’s studied
effort to divert minds from the
hope of salvation through faith in
Christ and obedience to the law of
God (AA 387 ).
Pantheism undermines faith
in the Bible. Why would we want to have anything to
do with a pantheistic form of worship?

The Biblical Alternative
The Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy have given
us sufficient warning against occultic and pagan
practices.
“Can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit?” I
believe God’s counsel today would be the same as
His counsel to His people Israel: Examine the roots!
O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in
himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps
(Jeremiah 10:23).
I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which
thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye
(Psalms 32:8).
This is the counsel that we have been given. Let
us heed this counsel and ask the Lord to lead and
guide us in His paths of righteousness.

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