If you had any doubt that the Torah Clubs (FFOZ) following Daniel Lancaster's teachings are purposefully subverting, more than that, outright jettisoning, the sole authority of God's Word, the proof is there to be seen in the actual Torah Club materials. Now, you could also look at Rethinking the Five Solae - by Jacob Fronczak, First Fruits of Zion's failed attempt to label Protestantism as inherently anti-Semitic, a book that FFOZ is publishing and selling to see just how antagonistic this organization is to scriptural authority.
Here in The Beginning of Wisdom lesson 7, the Jewish mystical teaching of a pre-existent soul, a concept not found anywhere in scripture, is fully embraced to the extent that this idea becomes the very rationale for our time here on earth, "That's why we came to this place." (p. 6) We came here, according to FFOZ, to learn things that our souls in heaven couldn't because they were already in God's presence. In other words, God needed us to disconnect from him so we'd learn to want to come back though life's "innumerable difficulties, trials, and temptations." (p. 6) Thus FFOZ is not only imagining our purpose, but God's intention as well, both dependent upon the notion that we don't remember our time spent with God before birth.
Once you have this extra-biblical idea firmly in place, FFOZ will teach you that Jacob's journey out of the Promised Land and back (necessary because of how thoroughly he had cheated his brother) is an analogy for our journey from heaven, to earth, and back again. Why on earth (no pun intended) would Bible believing Christians sit under this teaching? Are you going to strain this filth out of the food they're serving?
Lancaster isn't finished, he's cheeky enough to invent God's dialogue with your pre-existent soul, of course we can't remember that warning because our memory was wiped clean when we slipped on our bodies "like clothing." {see: Torah Club lesson #6 takes a bizarre turn toward Gnostic Dualism in support of an anti-Trinitarian view of Jesus}
The Group Discussion question in section 3 of lesson 7 is this, "What do you think of the Jewish idea of the preexistent soul?"
*FYI, it isn't a Jewish idea, it is one form of Jewish mysticism. FFOZ wants you to view Judaism and Jewish thinkers as some sort of monolith that they can represent to you and teach you about, it is as pathetic as saying, "What do you think of the Christian idea of Calvinism?" or "What do you think of the Church's idea of priestly celibacy?" Anyone with an ounce of knowledge of Christianity and the Church knows that some Christians adhere to Calvinism but many do not, and a portion of the Church has embraced priestly celibacy, for a portion of that segment's history, but most do not and never have. Note: Torah Club/FFOZ materials rarely, if ever, cite sources for what they define as "Jewish thought" or when they say, "Judaism teaches."*
What do I think about the idea? (1) It is extra biblical, (2) more akin to the ideas of Eastern religions about reincarnation than to anything Jesus taught, and (3) a dangerous wedge to begin teaching people to embrace an authority beyond, and ultimately against, the Word of God.
And somehow Lancaster was the only one to remember this conversation God “probably” had with you.
ReplyDeleteThat is a definite hole in his thesis. If we've all forgotten everything we knew when we existed with God before our birth, how does he know about it? The only possible answers are some sort of mystical knowledge (that's the one he's pulling from) or direct divine revelation, but the scriptures are not cooperating on backing up this notion as it is foreign to them.
DeleteA bold claim, Mr. Powell. There you go again, telling people that the only reason they could possibly think that is just because the scriptures are "foreign" to them.
DeleteWithout subscribing wholeheartedly to the pre-existent soul theory myself, I think there are actually some biblical arguments that could be used to support it. And, since the Bible doesn't tell us explicitly that we were NOT existing before entering into our bodies, it's a secondary issue.
Here are some supporting scriptures/ideas:
1) A straightforward reading of Genesis 2:1-3 -- "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them." You can read the rest of the passage for more "all" kind of language, but logically it actually makes sense: is there anything besides the heavens and the earth and all the host of them? If God finished working on all those things on day 6, then His creating is done. Could be too rigid of a reading, or it could mean that God isn't creating new souls every time someone is born.
2) Jeremiah 1:5 -- "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." Again, there are other ways to take that (although, I can't think of many other ways to understand how something could be known before being physically formed, but I'm sure Randy does!), but that's a very strong verse for a position that sounds like Jeremiah's soul existing before his body was formed.
3) Ecclesiastes 12:7 -- "...and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it." Hmm, again, we could interpret this different ways, but I don't know how you can return to something/somewhere you've never been. Again, not a slam dunk, nor is it explicit, but it could mean some scripture "cooperation."
4) John the Baptist leaping and acknowledging that he was in the presence of the Christ even while in the womb is either some kind of odd miracle totally unrelated to John the Baptist and meant seemingly only for Mary and Elizabeth, or it could reveal some kind of awareness that John had of the mission given to him before entering his body.
5) This is certainly not Scripture, but it's definitely Christian! The early church didn't believe that the soul was formed at birth. Look at their language: “You form all these members from a little drop in the womb; and after the formation You bestow on it an immortal soul, and produce it into the light as a rational
creature, even man” (Apostolic Constitutions 7.2.38).
6) Origen also believed in the pre-existence of the soul -- "Or is it not more in conformity with reason, that every soul, for certain mysterious reasons . . . is introduced into a body…” (Origen, Against Celsus, Book 1, Chapter 32).
Anyways, just wanted to be a voice coming in here from outside of ya’ll’s bubble, hopefully so as to avoid such unnecessary pithy caricatures of believers who are trying to read and understand their Bibles just like the rest of us.