{"id":7053,"date":"2016-05-01T00:53:22","date_gmt":"2016-05-01T00:53:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/?p=7053"},"modified":"2016-05-01T03:36:10","modified_gmt":"2016-05-01T03:36:10","slug":"yoga-forming-a-right-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/yoga-forming-a-right-response\/","title":{"rendered":"Yoga: Forming a Right Response"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In 1857 The Atlantic Monthly published \u201cBrahma\u201d by Ralph Waldo Emerson which included, \u201cThe strong gods pine for my abode, And pine in vain the sacred Seven; But thou, meek lover of the good! Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.\u201d<\/i>1<\/sup><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In 1893, at the World\u2019s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, Swami Vivekananda opened the Parliament of Religions saying that Hinduism \u201ctaught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. . . The whole world of religions is only traveling . . . through various conditions and circumstances, to the same goal.\u201d<\/i>2<\/sup><\/i><\/p>\n

In 1929, Margaret Woodrow Wilson, daughter of the President, turned from her Presbyterian heritage to Yoga and \u201ccraved only \u2018the Realization of God consciousness\u2019 and did \u2018not really care about anything else.\u2019\u201d<\/i>3<\/sup><\/i><\/p>\n

In 1948 the Hollywood ad about Yoga read, \u201cLook Pretty, feel good.\u00a0 Marilyn Monroe, who plays the ing\u00e9nue lead in Columbia\u2019s Ladies of the Chorus, exercises her way to beauty and health.\u201d<\/i>4<\/sup><\/i>\u00a0 <\/i><\/p>\n

In 1967 George Harrison of the Beatles proclaimed, \u201cLike, in the beginning was the word and I knew mantras were the words. . . We don\u2019t need drugs anymore.\u00a0 We think we\u2019re finding other ways of getting there.\u201d<\/i>5<\/sup><\/i><\/p>\n

In August, 1969, Swami Satchidananda gave the \u201cinvocation\u201d at Woodstock by saying, \u201cAmerica is helping everybody in the material field but the time has come for America to help the whole world with the spirituality also.\u201d<\/i>6<\/sup><\/i><\/p>\n

In 2009, at the annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn, First Lady Michelle Obama proclaimed, \u201cOur goal today is just to have fun.\u00a0 We want to focus on activity, healthy eating.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got Yoga, we\u2019ve got dancing, we\u2019ve got storytelling, we\u2019ve got Easter-egg decorating.<\/i>7<\/sup><\/i><\/p>\n

After taking the reader through 150 years in 300 pages, Yale literature author Stefanie Syman, with no religious or Christian perspective to this point, concludes her book, The Subtle Body<\/i>, by writing,<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve spent the last century and a half convincing us that this ancient, Indic, and half-tamed spiritual discipline doesn\u2019t contravene our most sacred beliefs.\u00a0 They may actually be wrong on this point.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to reconcile the subtle body and the possibility of experiencing divinity for yourself by methodically following a program of exercise, breathing, and meditation with Judeo-Christian notions of God and the afterlife, but we seem willing to ignore the discontinuities.8<\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Today, this ancient religion is more influential in America and American Christianity than ever.\u00a0 One article, about the yoga dieting craze, says, \u201cRight now there are all these yogi Instagram celebrities with millions of followers . . . And they\u2019re not drinking beer, they\u2019re drinking juice.\u00a0 Mindfulness, in a way, is the new church.\u201d9<\/sup>\u00a0 One blogger wrote,<\/p>\n

Can yoga be completely stripped of Hinduism and even \u2018Christianized\u2019? Many Christians believe it can.\u00a0 In fact, some churches and Christian colleges, like Wheaton College and Gordon College, even offer yoga classes.\u00a0 Christian yoga proponents admit that yoga originated as a form of Hindu worship.\u00a0 But, as an article posted to the Wheaton College website says, \u2018yoga today is often just an ancient system of postures and breathing\u2019 that\u2019s \u2018largely void of religious overtones\u2019. . . It\u2019s one of those things like Christmas and Easter, which was once pagan, but now has been co-opted for Christian worship.10<\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One author notes that a Google search for yoga on the internet jumped from 66,800,000 hits in 2007 to 220,000,000 in 2011 alone!10<\/sup><\/p>\n

Many still try to convince themselves that incorporating yoga into exercise and diet is in no way connected to the ancient religion itself.\u00a0 Yungen quotes a Jesuit priest, William Johnson, who argues this point,<\/p>\n

The twentieth century, which has seen so many revolutions, is now witnessing the rise of a new mysticism within Christianity . . . . For the new mysticism has learned much from the great religions of Asia.\u00a0 It has felt the impact of yoga and Zen and the monasticism of Tibet.\u00a0 It pays attention to posture and breathing; it knows about the music of the mantra and the silence of Samadhi.12<\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, Douglas Groothuis, well-respected apologetics professor at Denver Seminary has written,<\/p>\n

Overstressed Americans are increasingly turning to various forms of Eastern meditation, particularly yoga, in search of relaxation and spirituality.\u00a0 Underlying these meditative practices, however, is a worldview in conflict with biblical spirituality\u2014though many Christians are (unwisely) practicing yoga. . . . Yoga, deeply rooted in Hinduism, essentially means to be \u2018yoked\u2019 with the divine.\u00a0 Yogic postures, breathing, and chanting, were originally designed not to bring better physical health and well-being (Western marketing to the contrary), but a sense of oneness with Brahman\u2014the Hindu word for the absolute being that pervades all things.\u00a0 This is pantheism (all is divine), not Christianity.13<\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Albert Mohler, Jr., President of Southern Baptist Seminary took much grief (even from Christians) for this statement, \u201cWhen Christians practice yoga, they must either deny the reality of what yoga represents or fail to see the contradictions between their Christian commitments and their embrace of yoga.\u00a0 The contradictions are not few, nor are they peripheral.\u201d14<\/sup><\/p>\n

With the flood of yoga and other eastern religious practices coming into America in the last century, came also the commercialization.\u00a0 America was where the money was, and to make it big in America meant fame and fortune.\u00a0 Syman tells of television programs from the early 50s and 60s in Los Angeles. On one program called Yoga for Health<\/i> on KTTV, the star of the show, a man deeply committed to yoga and Zen, knew, \u201cAmericans didn\u2019t really relate to yoga.\u00a0 They related to \u2018exercise, sports, health.\u2019\u00a0 He felt he had to keep its esoteric elements\u2014pesky and possibly untoward details about the subtle body and Kundaline\u2014to a minimum if he was to reach Americans \u2018en masse.\u2019\u201d15<\/sup><\/p>\n

Author Ray Yungen tells of attending a New Age convention where the speaker said, \u201cIf you barge in with occult lingo it turns them off right away.\u00a0 You have to tell them how you can make their employees happier and get more productivity out of them\u2014then they will listen.\u00a0 You are really teaching metaphysics, but you present it as human development.\u201d16<\/sup>\u00a0 No doubt, yoga and other metaphysical religions have won millions of unknowing converts who are convinced that they are merely exercising and dieting their way to spirituality.<\/p>\n

German theologian Kurt E. Koch (1913-1987), Th.D from T\u00fcbingen University and author of many books on cults has written,<\/p>\n

The word yoga itself has a meaning corresponding to the unio mystica<\/i> of German mysticism, that is, the mystical union with the universal spirit.\u00a0 The difference between yoga and German mysticism is that yoga is atheistic in nature whereas the German mystics were engaged in a search for God.\u00a0 Their similarity lies in the fact that they share the idea of self-realization.\u00a0 Man must aim at attaining to his eternal self through the practice of many exercises in purification.\u00a0 This eternal self or real self is supposed to be part of the universal or ultimate reality.\u00a0 As we have said, yoga calls this process self-realization.\u00a0 We can see already that it will always be impossible to harmonize yoga and Christianity.17<\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Koch also, after defining yoga as mystical, magical, and occultish, shows how participants grow in this religion through four stages to finally mastering the cosmic forces.\u00a0 The first of these four stages \u201cembraces remedial gymnastics, breathing, exercises, relaxation exercises, exercises in concentration, contemplation and meditation.\u201d18<\/sup><\/p>\n

Much more could and should be said about the history and the beliefs of yoga.\u00a0 That would take a book not an article, and those books are out there for people to read who will.\u00a0 But this much is true: yoga is an ancient religion that is God denying and Christ denying.\u00a0 That is firmly fixed in the thoughts and convictions of millions of people alive on this planet right now.\u00a0 Any attempt to personally divorce it from that pantheism does not work for them, it only says \u201cGod speed, more power to you\u201d in their ears.<\/p>\n

What should a Christian do?<\/p>\n

Let me give some Scriptures that I think apply to the use of something like yoga, and then I will give a few practical reasons I think yoga should be avoided by believers.\u00a0 Finally, I will give a bottom line as to what a believer can do.<\/p>\n

First, do not say \u201cGod speed\u201d to yoga (or \u201clike\u201d) because when you do you are \u201cpartaker\u201d in all of its pantheistic deeds (2 John 11). This is not the same thing as Christians keeping Christmas or birthday cakes. No one in the world today is keeping the ancient rituals that these words come from.\u00a0 Besides, Christmas also has a unique Christian message which yoga does not.\u00a0 When Halloween again began to be practiced for real in America, many of us discontinued its use for testimony\u2019s sake.\u00a0 I think I can continue to say \u201cThursday\u201d without someone mistaking what I said for a worship of Thor.\u00a0 I can eat a birthday cake without someone thinking I am baking cakes to Tammuz.\u00a0 But you cannot practice yoga today without encouraging millions of people in this world in their false religion.<\/p>\n

Second, realize that Hinduism\u2019s yoga is pantheistic and unchristian. To them, God is everything, you are part of everything, therefore you are part of God. Even Jesus Christ was no more part of God than you are.\u00a0 Meditation and exercise are the primary forms of coming to the realization that you are God.\u00a0 They release the seven \u201cchakras\u201d within your spiritual body that allow the \u201ckundalini,\u201d or serpent energy,\u00a0 to flow from the lower parts to the highest parts and elevate you into God consciousness or the higher wisdom.\u00a0 This is also done with the help of \u201ccentering\u201d prayers and visualization.19<\/sup><\/p>\n

This all sounds much like the first century problem in the church over Gnosticism.\u00a0 Its fundamental denial of the divinity of Christ, and one\u2019s esoteric rise to full-knowledge is uncannily similar to yoga\u2019s doctrine and practice.\u00a0 John specifically warned that such doctrine is the spirit of antichrist (1 John 2:18-22, 2 John 7).\u00a0 His warning was to \u201ctry the spirits whether they are of God\u201d (1 John 4:1).\u00a0 He did not say to \u201ctry out\u201d the spirits and then decide whether they are beneficial.\u00a0 \u201cHe is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son\u201d (1 John 2:22).<\/p>\n

Third, the period of the Old Testament judges repeatedly shows that God commanded Israel to have no part in the gods of the new land they were entering. The saddest verses are those which show that a king did most things right but \u201cnevertheless\u201d the high places and the groves were not taken away. In 2 Kings 16 Ahaz, king of Judah, went to Damascus where he saw an altar of the religion of the Syrians.\u00a0 He then commanded that a replica of the altar be brought to Jerusalem and erected in the temple of Jehovah, setting aside the proper instruments of God\u2019s temple.\u00a0 It was not until his son Hezekiah came to the throne that these abominations were destroyed and the true worship again established.\u00a0 God is not pleased when we give honor to false gods by connecting them to the worship of the true God.<\/p>\n

Fourth, Paul specifically commanded the Corinthians, a church badly affected by the false religions around them, not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers (2 Cor. 6:14-18). He then asked five questions that showed why they must not do this. \u201cFor what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?\u201d Paul\u2019s inspired command to be separate from these entanglements (vs. 17) should be the desire of every believer today.\u00a0 When we do God says, He will be \u201ca Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition, here are a few practical applications.<\/p>\n

Fifth, there has been an inordinate emphasis in our day upon the physical body, and yoga plays perfectly into this scenario. True, our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and I believe we ought to take care of it, even diet and exercise when possible and necessary, but the exercise of it only profits minutely compared to godliness (1 Tim. 4:8). As a pastor over the years, I have seen many men and women drawn away into a world of lust because they play with fire in this emphasis on their (and other\u2019s) body.\u00a0 Many times this is at the gym or pool or track.\u00a0 Yoga\u2019s history in America is riddled with sexual scandal because of the nature of the exercises that men and women do together.\u00a0 One of the reasons older saints are more mature is because \u201cthough our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day\u201d (2 Cor. 4:16).\u00a0 \u201cTherefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh\u201d (Rom. 8:12).<\/p>\n

Sixth,your children will take your emphasis in life much further than you. Dabbling around the edges of yoga and other ancient mysteries will open a door for them that the world is already displaying. From Harry Potter\u2019s superconsciousness to Darth Vader\u2019s dark side, the dangers are enough as they are, without us adding to them.<\/p>\n

Seventh, surely believers see and understand the spiritual decline of our country and even of the church of Jesus Christ. We are to be salt and light, ambassadors of our Lord, people with a higher thought process than the vain things of this world. Why is it that believers need these worldly methods to live spiritual lives?\u00a0 Why isn\u2019t the Word of God, time in prayer, simple worship with God\u2019s people, verbal witness to our friends, satisfying and fulfilling?\u00a0 Paul\u2019s words in that ancient pagan world are appropriate, \u201cWhich things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh\u201d (Col. 2:23).<\/p>\n

And So . . .<\/b><\/p>\n

Joshua\u2019s words to Israel in the new land of spiritual challenges is good for us as well,<\/p>\n

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD\u201d (Josh. 24:15).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Every family or church has the right to practice by its own conscience.\u00a0 A church may set its own guidelines as to how it wants to handle these issues, even though that may differ from other churches.\u00a0 You should seek a local church which sets these boundaries in a way in which your family wants to practice.\u00a0 Where you worship, raise your kids, and fellowship with believers is important to you because that will affect you and your children (and grandchildren) for generations to come.\u00a0 Choose wisely.<\/p>\n

Notes:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Stefanie Syman, The Subtle Body<\/i><\/a> (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011) 12.<\/li>\n
  2. Ibid., 44.<\/li>\n
  3. Ibid., 145.<\/li>\n
  4. Ibid., 195.<\/li>\n
  5. Ibid., 200.<\/li>\n
  6. Ibid., 233<\/li>\n
  7. Ibid., 3.<\/li>\n
  8. 291.<\/li>\n
  9. \u201cSober is the New Drunk: Why Millennials are Ditching Bar Crawls for Juice Crawls,\u201d The Guardian.com.<\/i> April 21, 2016.<\/li>\n
  10. Julie Roys, \u201cThree Reasons Christians Should Think Twice About Yoga,\u201d http:\/\/julieroys.com\/three-reasons-christians-should-think-twice-about-yoga\/.<\/li>\n
  11. Ray Yungen, For Many Shall Come in My Name<\/i><\/a> (Eureka, MT: Lighthouse Trails Pub., 2015) 102.<\/li>\n
  12. Yungen, 120.<\/li>\n
  13. Douglas Groothuis, \u201cDangerous Meditations,\u201d ChristianityToday.com<\/i>, November 1, 2004.<\/li>\n
  14. Albert Mohler, Jr., \u201cThe Subtle Body\u2014Should Christians Practice Yoga?\u201d albertmohler.com, 9\/20\/2010.<\/li>\n
  15. Syman, 246-247.<\/li>\n
  16. Yungen, 59.<\/li>\n
  17. Kurt E. Koch, Occult Practices and Beliefs<\/i><\/a> (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1971) 123-124.<\/li>\n
  18. Ibid., 125.<\/li>\n
  19. These and many other descriptions can be found easily in any book on cults, Hinduism, and yoga. See Yungen, chapter 9, \u201cNew Age Religion;\u201d Syman, chapter 11, \u201cHow to be a Guru Without Really Trying;\u201d Koch, section 47, \u201cYoga.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.\u201d1 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In 1893, at the World\u2019s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, Swami Vivekananda […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[221],"class_list":["post-7053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-cults"],"yoast_head":"\nYoga: Forming a Right Response - Aletheia Baptist Ministries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/yoga-forming-a-right-response\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yoga: Forming a Right Response - Aletheia Baptist Ministries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In 1857 The Atlantic Monthly published \u201cBrahma\u201d by Ralph Waldo Emerson which included, \u201cThe strong gods pine for my abode, And pine in vain the sacred Seven; But thou, meek lover of the good! 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