Beyond the Third Mansion: Don't blame Oprah

            When I heard a Christian speaker refer to the Oprah-brand of Christianity, I didn’t have to wait for the explanation. I already knew what he meant.  He was talking about the wave of eastern mysticism washing over our bookshelves. He was talking about Buddhism, Taoism and an it’s-all-good teaching that says, if you like Christianity, that’s fine, too.

            Don’t blame Oprah Winfrey for giving people what they’re craving. Her book club selection, “A New Earth,” by Eckart Tolle, sold nearly five million copies. Oprah XM (radio) carried Marianne Williamson teaching “A Course in Miracles,” by Dr. Helen Schucman, a book that has sold over a million copies. Books by her friend and guest, Wayne Dyer, have sold in the millions.

            These writers and speakers met people where their craving lies. We tell ourselves God meets us where we are, but when I turn to Christian media, I hear the same message over and over, writing and speaking geared at the most basic of Christian teachings.

            St. Teresa of Avila wrote of the mansions in God’s castle. In the first house is humility, the place where forgiveness first takes root. By the third house, the soul has glimpsed real communion with God. By the fourth house, or mansion, God begins to flow freely, and intense, spiritually-guided prayer becomes routine. In the center, the interior castle, resides a place of complete union with God.

            These eastern-bent authors and speakers are meeting people in the third and fourth mansion and beyond, while Christian communicators are often still in the first or second house. We might argue it’s foundational and people aren’t getting it, but the masses tell us different. Millions of people are telling us they’re looking for that deeper walk.

            This is a call to action to my fellow writers. If we believe God meets us where we are, then let’s do no less as writers. Let’s meet people where they are. Let’s take our writing into the third and fourth house and beyond.

            If you haven’t read “The Interior Castle,” I encourage you to. But be fairly warned. What you’ll find in our community of Christian teachers is there are some preaching from the first mansion, because that’s all they know.  We’re only capable of teaching at our own level and below. We might recognize a higher level, but can’t teach it until we’ve reached it.

            Christianity is alive and vibrant, a beautiful truth filled with hope, joy and a deeper path than many imagine, a path many now think exists only in other religions. As writers, let’s take the deeper walk to our friends and neighbors. Let’s answer the craving and fill the need for teachings on the deeper spiritual path they’re seeking, and let’s do it from the Christian viewpoint.

The Trinity Twist

A month before a tiny Kentucky church voted to ban interracial couples, Christian scholars warned that a growing twist on the holy trinity would lead to sexism and racism.

The pastor of the church reversed the voted-in policy when the news swept like wildfire across the national media. Not to be harsh, but that is what it took. If I read it right, it appears there was some bullying going on, some hard-headed church members who bullied the rest into submission and rammed a vote through. What’s disturbing is that they felt empowered to go public with their racism.

Before that, on November 7, 2011, bible scholars published “The Trinity Statement,” which sounded way too weighty for me. But I’m always intrigued by subtle twists on Christ’s real message for us, because we are loaded with them. The Trinity Statement was penned by Dr. William David Spencer, editor of Priscilla Papers, a journal focusing on biblical equality (the heck you say!). “The Trinity Statement” has this radical premise, that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one. Not so radical, you say? A growing trend distorts that basic building block of our faith. This trend says that God is the king and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are subordinate to God.

The first time I heard it a few years ago, I did a mental head wobble and dismissed it as not worth arguing over. But Dr. Spencer and a list of other bible scholars warned that the twist leads to sexism and racism.

I got notice of the statement from the Evangelical Press Association via email. What it comes down to is this:

A hierarchy in the Trinity leads to hierarchy among human beings. If the Trinity contains ranks, humans must also display a ranking as they reflect the image of God. As Spencer says, this teaching has been used to argue that "some gender (usually the female) is ranked below the other (usually the male) and some "races" may be ranked below other "races." This conclusion not only undermines monotheism but also the equality of humanity as created in God's image."

If you think this trend is dangerous, there’s a place to sign “The Trinity Statement” at www.trinitystatement.com. Think about it.

Blessings on you all,

Jennie