Being tripped up

One the things L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the religion of Scientology, is known for instilling in his followers is their ability to redefine words through associating different emotions and symbols with the word than were intended.

The cult founder once advised, "The way to redefine a word is to get the new definition repeated as often as possible . . .  This, so far as words are concerned, is the public opinion battle for belief in your definitions, and not those of the opposition. A consistent, repeated effort is the key to any success with this technique of propaganda."

In his 2004 book, The Origin of the Races, author R. Dawson Barlow writes,

“After many years of studying the Holy Scriptures, I remain categorically convinced that the most effective tool of the ‘god of this age,’ the ‘prince of the power of the air’ (i.e. Satan), has had at his disposal, is the allegorical approach to the Bible. It does not reveal truth. Sometimes the ‘scholars’ seem to be more interested in impressing other ‘scholars’ than in revealing the truth of the Word of God.

“The American Heritage Dictionary defines allegory as follows:

Allegory. 1.a. A literary, dramatic, or pictorial device in which characters and events stand for abstract ideas, principles, or forces, so that the literal sense has or suggests a parallel, deeper symbolic sense. B. A story, a picture, or play in which this device is used. John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress and Herman Melville’s Moby Dick are allegories. 2. A symbolic representation.

“. . .  Saint Augustine is popularly known as the ‘Father of the Allegorical Method’ of interpreting the Bible. I hate to burst bubbles, but Augustine is not the ‘darling’ of the early evangelicals as is commonly assumed. (Charles) Spurgeon, at the dedication of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, was far too kind when he said (and I quote here from memory), ‘The gospel preached in this place was not new. It was preached by Calvin and by Augustine.’

“. . . My study of church history leads me to believe the deadliest of all the ‘cancers’ infecting the professing, apostate church of Christendom today, is this ‘Allegorical Method’ of interpretation of the scriptures.” 

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We know from the Apostle Paul’s writings that as “the course of this world” continues to spiral out under the reign of sin, man’s ungodliness will not only continue to evolve, but will progressively worsen.

Rather than acknowledge any of this being the reality, though, man will simply profess evolving freedom of expression, human sophistry and exploration of human satisfaction, contentment and potential.

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Bible teacher Keith Blades, now deceased, warned that “if we fail to become suitably unimpressed with such things, they can become ‘strongholds of resistance’ to us, and we may not even recognize that this has happened.

“Hence, if we fail to condemn what we ought to condemn, we can actually put ourselves in the most difficult position of all when it comes to being able to figure out what’s wrong.

“In other words, we can put ourselves in the position of being ones who ‘oppose ourselves.’ And indeed ‘self-opposition’ is the most difficult form of opposition to detect, acknowledge, and overcome. For deliverance from it requires a degree of honesty of heart, (and hence honesty with oneself), that the position itself is quite averse to producing.

“Therefore, when we fail to become suitably unimpressed with what God our Father tells us that He discounts, denounces, or condemns, we ourselves can then become our own stumbling block, even our own worst enemy.

“For by having improper regard for something that God condemns, we actually carry around in our own minds the very means by which we can be tripped up, or sidetracked, or misled, or seduced, and thereby have the progress of our ‘godly edifying’ impeded.

“And, unfortunately, we also carry around in our minds built-in resistance to being able to honestly perceive and admit that we ourselves are actually hindering our own ‘godly edifying.’

“Wherefore, when we fail to become suitably unimpressed with something that our Father condemns, we actually can give it ‘a second lease on life,’ so to speak.

 

"What’s more, we also foolishly provide the opportunity for us to be deceived into becoming more impressed with it. Whereupon we open ourselves up to the double danger, and double disaster, of being deceived and of deceiving ourselves.”