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| Note the terms: World of Concealment and World of Truth |
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| Note Lancaster's description of demons and angels contending over the souls of the dead |
One of the things that jumps out if you read The Beginning of Wisdom Torah Club series one after another (as I've done in order to point out the concrete examples of extra-biblical and unorthodox teachings they contain) is how much Daniel Lancaster relies upon the Wisdom of Solomon. The Wisdom of Solomon was likely written by someone in the Alexandrian Jewish community in the generations leading up to the birth of Jesus, and it was subsequently included in the Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures known as the Septuagint (or LXX). As a text, it contains ideas derived both from Jewish thought and Greek Platonic philosophy, which isn't surprising given that Alexandria was a renowned center of Greek philosophical thought for centuries. In addition to this influence, which is something the Early Church would have been very familiar with, for it both embraced Greek philosophy on some matters, and contended against it in others {Gnostic Dualism being the most famous antagonist}, Lancaster also weaves into the Torah Club materials medieval Jewish mysticism in the form of Kabbalah.
Now, I'll be the first to tell you that Jewish medieval mysticism is not a topic that has ever been on my list of things that I need to study as a disciple of Jesus, then again, neither has Islamic Sufism or the various forms of mysticism that have operated under the guise of Christianity. The idea that the path to divine knowledge is through mystical experience is foreign to those of us who embrace the Reformation's proclamation of Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone). Why? Because it cannot be replicated, it cannot be evaluated, and it cannot be questioned. If someone tells you they had a mystical experience where God told them that the human soul is protected from demons trying to take it to hell after death by an angelic force {as Lancaster does in this Torah Club lesson}, what is the rebuttal? Mystical knowledge is, by definition, only available to those who experience it, and at the same time due to its dream-like nature, open to broad interpretation.
In this case Daniel Lancaster is teaching that the "insights" of Jewish mysticism are in fact true, more than that, that these ideas can be used as the rubric that explains holy scripture. Therein lies the growing danger, "because the Jewish mystics say so" is not any safer a path to follow for a disciple of Jesus than, "because the Christian mystics say so." In the end, God's Word has never required mystical experience to be understood. Whenever people, well meaning or otherwise, have tried to impose upon it allegorical interpretation or mystical knowledge, the results have been to take those who listen to them away from the plain meaning of the text. If the plain meaning of the text, that available to the educated and uneducated alike, to the novice as well as to the veteran, were what this path desired, there would be no need for arbitrary allegorical or mystical insights. Where does it stop? If the "sages" that Lancaster likes to cite (but never seems to actually quote) deny the resurrection of Jesus, is that out-of-bounds? Is that a bride-too-far, or are these supposed wise men to be followed wherever they lead? We've already seen a willingness from Lancaster and FFOZ to abandon the Trinity because it doesn't fit their new "gospel," is there reason to believe that any of the truths that our ancestors in the faith were willing to die for aren't also up for grabs?
In case you are wondering, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, someone who has been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and given the new birth of the Holy Spirit, NOTHING can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8), so there is a zero percent chance that demonic forces would need to be thwarted by angels to allow your soul to ascend to heaven. That's utter nonsense because Jesus has already conquered sin and death, therefore the spiritual forces of evil do not contend with Jesus, they flee from him.
Note: This entire premise of Lancaster is once again built upon the assumption of a pre-existent human soul, an idea repeated as if it were fact in this Torah Club lesson as well, and an idea that was condemned as heresy at the Second Council of Constantinople AD 553.
