Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.

• Romans 16:17-18

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;

• 2 Timothy 4:3

He who guards his mouth preserves his life,
But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.

• Proverbs 13:3

Fervent lips with a wicked heart
Are like earthenware covered with silver dross.

• Proverbs 26:23

By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.

• 2 Peter 2:3

The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore.

• Revelation 20:6-8

“Little is known about the early life of German philosopher Meister Eckhart, other than he studied in Paris, joined the Dominican order, and held various administrative and teaching posts around Europe. A follower of Thomas Aquinas, he is best known for his vivid sermons, which dwelt on the presence of God within the human soul, and for the mystical imagery of his prose. He was accused of heresy, and during his trial he acknowledged that the florid and emotive language he used to inspire his listeners might have led him to stray from the path of orthodoxy. It is thought that he died before a verdict was delivered.”

• Sam Atkinson (senior editor), The Philosophy Book, Big Ideas Simply Explained

Johannes Eckhart, Eckhart of Hochheim, or Meister Eckhart, (1260-1328), was a theologian, philosopher, and priest.  He was of the Franciscan order before joining the Dominican order.  When he was charged with heresy, he faced those charges against the inquisition that was backed by the Franciscan order.

The interesting thing here is that Meister Eckhart himself admits that he went too far.  If he only stuck to a message of God within us, that might have sounded heretical in his day, but in going too far, he might have talked about things that popped into his head.  If those were “new revelations,” he might be on the edge of heresy or purely heretical rhetoric.  But if what he said was within the framework of the Scriptures, was it even heresy?  He died before his case was heard.  How he died might be in question, but his death became convenient for the inquisition.

Eckhart was not being accused of being a heretic, but some of his views were considered heretical by some and suspected of possibly being heretical by others.  But Eckhart recanting many of his statements as being under the influence of his own florid and emotive speech, gives the idea of being a heretic as going too far.

But what of florid and emotive language?  Charismatic speaking separates the men from the boys in some cases.  There might be ten evangelists touring the world, and all speak the same message.  The people will flock to the pretty face and the fancy words being used.  Of course, if you are promising puppies and lollipops, they might come to your message instead of the one that only speaks of avoiding Hell.  But that means that the message changed.

We have a lot of puppy and lollipop peddlers out there today.  Everyone wants prosperity.  If you are seriously ill or handicapped, you want to be healed.  It is scary when people will do anything to get what they want.  A local lawyer advertises that he will do anything and everything to get a positive verdict for his client.  Sorry, breaking the law is not a proper way to overcome the law, and what did he really mean regarding anything and everything?

But when you are possibly doing mystical rites in order to get “closer to God” could you dream up heretical ideas in the process?  If it is not biblical, then is it against what the Bible says or something that fills in a gap here or there?  Prefacing your remarks with “this is one way to fill in this gap” is okay in my book, but to state it as new revelation is heresy before you take the next step.

For example, saying that Jesus was born in a barn with oxen, cattle, llamas, and water buffalo in the barn is not biblical, but is it heresy?  Yet, saying that the oxen prophesied about the mission work of the little baby is crossing a line.  And in the beloved Christmas carol when it says the little baby, no crying he makes…  Would you prefer the child say, in a deep baritone, “Mother, I require sustenance.”?

The one thing that is unavoidable in the New Testament is that the followers of Jesus would suffer.  Preaching a non-suffering gospel is simply wrong and dangerously misleading.  As soon as the followers begin to suffer, they would reject Jesus, at least the Jesus they had been taught.

But if you look at much of the research, adjudication of sorts, of Eckhart’s “heresy” much seems to be made of his words, but little has been eliminated as heresy.  But then, has the church watered down the gospel enough to think his ideas to be in a broader view of biblical interpretation, what may have never happened a hundred years ago?

If you like these Tuesday morning essays about philosophy and other “heavy topics,” but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Tuesday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.