DIALECTIC,
PRAXIS
and
the ALPHA COURSE.
by Wendy Howard...Editor of Despatch Magazine.
Data on important issues.
The Alpha Course, which
originated
in Brompton UK, has spread around the world, involving hundreds of
thousands of churchgoers.
Alpha is ecumenical in nature, the majority of churches in Australia
are
becoming
part of Alpha, which was
started by a man called Nicky Gumble. A critique has already been
written
by myself
on this devious, dangerous
"evangelical" training system, since then further information has come
to hand which
makes Alpha appear even
more sinister than I at first suspected! Could I then add to the first
book the
comments which follow?
[Quotes from the Alpha
organisation
appear at the END of this data. The original expose book on Alpha can be
sent to the reader for the
cost of $5 including postage. Address is given herein.]
A document from the
Institute
for Authority Research [IAR] by Dean Gotcher was sent to our
organisation,
from
Tulsa, USA. It contains
data on the New Age New World Order techniques of Dialectic and Praxis,
which are
being used world-wide to
bring about consensus for the purposes of UNITY in a ONE WORLD, ONE
MIND.
In
our education
establishments
various shades of these techniques are seen in such learning systems as
Outcome Based Education,
[OBE}.
As I perused the
material
by Gotcher, the training and planning of the Alpha Course leaders came
before my
mind, the similarity to
the Dialectic and Praxis techniques was startling! This has made me
believe
that the
Alpha Course is a method
of programming the Church people of Christendom, not so much a way of
bringing
in
unbelievers to the
churches.
This could well be a huge softening up process, as the reader will see
as I explain
more fully. Alpha, I
believe,
is a behavioural modification program instigated by the facilitators of
the NWO.
Outlandish statement? Yes,
indeed, we live in perilous times!
Could this unimaginable
thing
be happening? Hidden behind the Alpha Course training is a program
designed
to teach and process
Christendom
into the agenda of a One World, International One-Mind? Could the Alpha
Course be a component of
the larger plan of the New World Order, New Age? This writer believes
this
is the
case, and the agenda here
being presented, hidden behind Alphaÿs training, is SYNTHESIS i.e.
ÿhelpingÿ
others to be rational, to
accept a compromising stand as an actual way of life, and to
ÿhelpÿ
Christians to be
more adaptable for the
next
millennium with its rapidly changing world. The New Age International
globalists
want MEDIATION to occur
on every level of society, world-wide. To ÿhelpÿ global-units
[citizens] to be willing to
seek common ground, so
that
the world can have global-group cohesion.
WHAT IS DIALECTIC AND PRAXIS ABOUT?
DIALECTIC = Using
dialogue
as a means to resolve conflicting positions.
PRAXIS = To practice the
experience of speculation, conjecturing, theorising.
The New World Order
wants
the peoples of the globe to "dialogue", to agree, to merge their
beliefs
into One,
Unity in Diversity. The
concept of there being absolutes, as revealed by the Lord in the
Biblical
Scriptures, is a
malediction to these
internationalists.
Therefore the aim has become for the Brave New World to bring about
harmony and accord by
breaking
down the absolutes which they see as standing in the way of One Mind -
to do
this, they believe, will
bring peace in the coming New Age Millennium. Dialectic and Praxis are
psychological
methods used to achieve
this aim.
The environment of what
Dean
Gotcher calls "Diaprax" [a co-joining of the two words] is described on
p. 25 of
his book:
"1. The group
environment
must be 'open-ended', where established norms or preset standards are
set
aside
by the person of group so
all participating can more easily explore and discover new experiences
together.
2. It must be
'non-directive,'
where rules and preset standards are not presented by the leader or
encouraged
by
the group that might stand
in the way of the person or group exploring and discovering new
experiences
together.
3. It must be 'adverse to
any closed philosophical viewpoints,' where rules and pre-set standards
are not
respected by all
participating
when they prevent the person or group environment exploring and
discovering
new experiences together.
4. The group environment
must be social in nature.
5. It must use a social
issue that the group has differing opinions or viewpoints about.
6. It must use a social
issue that all participants can come to consensus, or group-feeling
about
regarding a
possible solution."
THE ALPHA COURSE.
The Alpha course is set
up in exactly the way a Diaprax session is convened. At the Alpha
training
seminar I
attended in Brisbane
[described
in depth in my book,"Alpha, Friend or Foe?"] the instructions were
almost
identical. In Alpha:
1. Non-believers are
invited
to an Alpha dinner by the church people. Christianity is virtually set
aside for the
night, no meaningful
prayers,
no hymns or songs which really spell-out Christianity. The unbelievers
are given an
"open-ended" opportunity
to give their own views and beliefs, the churchgoers are introduced to
a new
experience of unfettered
interaction with people [or a person] who are not believers or
followers
of Christ Jesus.
This is done, Alpha claims
to justify such strange tactics, so that the non-Christians can feel
loved,
appreciated
and listened to. NO ONE
is allowed to "confront" the unbelievers in any way.
2. Alpha is
"non-directive"
in that very, very little Biblical instruction is given in the dinners
and the
weekends-away meetings.
The laying on of hands, experience with the "holy spirit", making
friends
and having
fun are encouraged. But
there is a "non-directive" system going on throughout the Alpha Course.
3.There are really no
closed
philosophical viewpoints allowed! Alpha is supposed to be Christian,
but
the
mouths of the preachers
of the Gospel, and the witnesses to the Gospel message are effectively
gagged, in
reality. The Bible is
almost
a closed book in Alpha. GOD's Word is gagged as well!
4. Alpha is a social
group,
it is not a meeting or a church service, it is a social gathering. It
is
not a Bible study
or a prayer meeting, it
is a social dinner.
5. It uses a social issue
where there are differences of opinion. The non-Christians believe and
"feel" differently
to the churchgoers, yet
they are all mixed.
6. Alpha leads shrewdly
into a consensus, because the church people are "not allowed" to preach
or teach
effectively most of the
time, and the unbelievers can hold forth with their "feelings" and
"thoughts"
almost
unhindered. The unbeliever
may well want to participate in the "holy spirit" experiences which
cannot
bring
him/her to salvation, but
may bring ALL into a shared experience in the "spiritÿ [a
counterfeit
of the Divine].
PROCEDURAL CONSENSUS.
Dean Gotcher explains
about
procedural consensus in this fashion [we will compare the Alpha course
afterwards]:
"What I call 'First Cause'
[God, parents, established rules and standards, norms, sovereignty,
etc],
must
temporarily be set aside
if the process of diaprax is to successfully develop [abdication to the
procedure]....process of
diaprax facilitates the establishment of a 'non-hostile' or 'risk-free'
environment. This
gives each individual the
feeling of security and acceptance needed so they might feel free
enough
to 'take the
risk' of confessing their
personal feelings toward their own beliefs and values within the group
setting." [p.26].
ALPHA COURSE.
In the training program
for potential Alpha leaders, we were taught that a non-hostile or
risk-free
environment
was essential for a Alpha
dinner meeting or weekend. No "confrontation" of the unbelievers is
allowed,
they
must have full freedom to
express their own beliefs, feelings and values about God, the Bible,
and
Jesus Christ.
The only trouble is that
in Alpha the 'first cause' is then set aside, in this case GOD is the
"first
cause" and so
too is the preaching of
the Biblical Word! The whole church group thus abdicates to the
procedure.
Both the
churched persons and the
unbelievers are then in a procedure which can lead successfully to
consensus.
The
preaching of the Word of
God does not really exist in Alpha, and the mild teaching of the Word
which
is
superimposed on the
"spirit"
and "experience" orientated meetings is hardly worth counting in the
scheme
of
things.
DIAPRAX BY GOTCHER.
"In other words, the fear
of reprisal one might normally expect when expressing what one really
thinks
and how
one really feels
concerning
the beliefs and values set by a higher authority must be alleviated.
Therefore,
any
higher authority that has
previously set standards that hinder participation in group-think must
either be absent
from the environment or
have succumbed - abdicated - to the process and become willing to
participate
in it
themselves, taking part
in consensus building."
ALPHA AND DIAPRAX.
In Alpha group-think the
"higher authority," or God and the Word of God, has succumbed to the
process
thus
allowing the group-think
to go ahead unhindered. Who is "participating in it themselves?" The
CHURCH
PEOPLE, who sit and listen
intently to non-church people holding forth. This cannot help but to
build
consensus
between the opposing
groups!
Remember as well that many Alpha groups are run by the lay church
members,
most of them are not
competent
in such things as doctrine, apologetics, and contending for the faith.
Their
hands also are tied in
that
they are "not allowed" by Alpha to contend or confront, or to preach or
teach sound
Scripture. Who is being
processed in this? Both the unbelievers and the church folk. The
deliberations
of the
unsaved can be very
convincing
and intelligent, many of the churched will be unable to stand firm
under
the
pressure.
FACILITATION IN DIAPRAX.
"For the diaprax process
to become a part of the individual's and the group's life, it is
equally
important that the
leader of the discussion
facilitate instead of teach. The environment must be dialogue or
dialectic
in structure if
everyone is to freely
experience
group life [communism] and group think [socialism]. Facilitating in a
diaprax
setting requires the
questioning
of preset standards established by a higher authority, preferably with
that
authority figure
participating
in the questioning process themselves." [p.26].
ALPHA FACILITATES.
In the Alpha Course no
actual
teaching goes on, it is rather that the leaders give way to
experiencing
the
group-think and group
life.
The unbelievers are free to question preset standards [the Bible and
God's
instructions and commands]
and the "authority figure" or the CHRISTIAN CHURCH is participating in
the
questioning process
themselves.
There are no ABSOLUTES being soundly preached, no "thus saith the Lord"
being presented with a
sound
"no dialogue" platform. The environment is dialectic in nature in Alpha
groups. No
instructions or
revelations
which are set in concrete by a Divine Person, and are thus beyond human
control, are
tolerated in this New
World
of change agents for a One Mind.
ALL POSITIONS ARE
SUBJECT
TO CHANGE?
Look at this following
description
of Diaprax [Gotcher's own term]:
"Diaprax survives today
because of its ability to stay hidden behind the activities of the
moment.
The facilitator's
ability to control group
feelings gives him the ability to shape the definition each person in
the
group gives for
his or her position. What
is lost in the whole scheme of things is that someone is always
influencing
the
definitions we give for
our position and that apart from God and His Word, all positions are
subject
to change.
There is only a
[redefining]
of positions, shaped by our desire to gain or retain relationship with
others." [p.27].
ALPHA'S CHANGING WORLD.
Alpha insists that the
world
is changing, that we are all in the Age of Aquarius, and that this new
era is the age
of the "spirit." The Age
of Pisces is over, says Alpha, and the cognitive age of reason has been
overtaken by
the age of the "spirit."
No longer the WORD of GOD but the SPIRIT is paramount now [Alpha
insists].
The
Christian Church's
definitions
that make up their position have been altered! Diaprax lies hidden in
the
"activities of the moment"
in Alpha, these activities are seemingly "evangelism", whilst the real
reasons for the
group is actually
group-life,
group-think, consensus and change. To successfully create a
"relationship"
with
unbelievers Alpha
compromises
and dialogues!
DIE-A-LOG?
Writes Gotcher:
"In dialogue all one can
do is deviate from an original position. This is why Jesus did not
dialogue
with Satan
when tempted by him in the
wilderness. Instead He held to His position by quoting 'First Cause,'
the
scriptures
[position sub-phrase],
with
'It is written...' and did not respond with 'I think...' or 'I feel...'
[definition sub-phrase],
Matthew 4:1-11.
Therefore, if we
believe
that God's Word is true, all we can do is give His definition. We
thereby
give Him
control over our life. If
we deviate from it, we give the process of compromise [diaprax -
Satan's
scheme] control
over us. I speak in regard
to values, beliefs, and morals, which is what this process concerns
itself
with." [p.27].
ALPHA WANTS THE
CHURCHES
TO LISTEN TO OTHERS!
In our training program
for forming Alpha groups we were taught that there should be no prayers
that were more
than a mere sentence
prayer,
that the only songs should be simple ones that expressed that God was
the
Creator, not many Bible
verses or explanations to be given - but there should be listening to
the
unbelievers!
Lots of this! They should
be allowed to express themselves on "what do you feel about God? What
do
you think
about life? and so on."
Why would Christians be expected to opt out in this way?
With-holding
proper teaching
and preaching, prayer and
hymns from the unsaved in their midst? The reasons given by the
advisers
of the
Alpha team [trained people
who have been programmed from Brompton UK] were pathetically inept!
They
said
this strange way of acting
was to give the unsaved a listening ear for once, because they never
had
anyone to
listen to them
respectfully,
out there in the world. But the real reason I would suggest is a hidden
one, the reason
is to teach Christians the
"art" of dialogue, to teach them to respect other people's views, to
make
them shift
their own positions, to
lead them into "tolerance" with other's belief systems, to bring the
churches
into a less
"absolute" way of
presenting
their "religious" beliefs.
LAWS IN THE FUTURE?
On p.28 of Gotcher's book
we read:
"It is evident that
Christians
with positions of influence in education, business, and politics are
having
a hard
time deciding whose
definitions
to use. Diaprax is making it easier for them to use definitions most
conducive
to human relationship
building
and most likely, they believe, to help them gain or retain respect in
the
eyes of the
community. They believe
this will put them in a better position to influence laws in the
future.
If they have any
doubts about where the
Word
of God stands on the issue, they should read Matthew 10:32-3. He does
not
approve of this type of
reasoning." [p.28].
ALPHA AGAIN?
The reader might reason
that surely the church folk who see Alpha as a pleasant tool to reach
the
unsaved in
the community, surely they
do not have any thoughts about "influencing laws in the future." No,
these
might not
have such thoughts, but
Alpha is not just a local endeavour of happy little people who want to
run dinners for the
unchurched community
members.
Alpha has heavy connections to the global Anglican Church, which is
united
very strongly with the
political
might of the United Nations; and Alpha is heavily involved with the
Vatican's
political might as well!
Alpha has reinvented the Gospel outreach, and the reasons can easily be
seen to be
"respect in the eyes of
the community" and "a better position to influence laws in the future."
The Anglican and
Roman Catholic hierarchy
want to be "tolerant" and "understanding" of all religious views, and
they
want the
churches to learn proper
respect for other group-views.
A PANDORA'S BOX?
Alpha encourages the use
of questions asked of the unsaved, expecting from them their own
answers.
But, the
unsaved cannot give
reasonable
answers at all, not one has any answers which we should be listening
to.
Here
Gotcher shows the hidden
agenda in this complex process of Diaprax:
"Whoever controls the
agenda
for deciding the questions that will be asked controls the answers as
well.
In
short 'whoever controls
the questions, controls the answers.' This is true whether one is
participating
in
education, business, or
government. Socrates was said to have shown a slave owner that his
slave
had the truth
of Pethagorem's theorem
already within him, and though a series of questions was able to
convince
the owner
that he did. What Socrates
was really doing was controlling the environment of thought, whereby
the
slave was
able to be guided to the
only logical conclusion to a presented question. He simply supplied the
correct
answers to the skilfully
laid-out sequence of questions. The answers were in the questions, not
in the slave. This
questioning is not dealing
with 'science according to facts,' but instead is 'science according to
Socrates' [Phil
Ring]. This is not 'hard'
science but 'soft' science where 'hypothesis equals fact' [Tim Clem].
This
is 'so called
science' [Apostle Paul].
We cannot apply the
same
principle to answer the questions 'Who am I?' 'Why am I here?' 'Where
did
I come
from?' or 'Where am I
going?'
without accepting either God's Word as the source for the questions to
be asked
- or human-reasoning. God,
in His Word, only occasionally asks questions to be answered and often
those
questions provide their
own answers. He instead gives us facts [answers] up front to be obeyed.
When we
come to God and His Word
with questions to be answered, it is up to us to search scriptures, not
to question
them."
ALPHA'S QUESTIONS TO
THE
UNSAVED PERSONS.
Alpha wants to lead the
churches into listening to the answers that the unsaved have worked out
for themselves,
in regard to the very
questions
dealt with above - "Why am I here? Where did I come from? Where am I
going?
What do I think and feel
about there being a God or not?" This should never be done! For the
Christian
Church
has been given the mandate
to proclaim what GOD has given, FACTS, ANSWERS, TRUTH. Our message is
not dialectic in nature,
it is solid as a rock and divine in power. God does not ask questions
of
humans which
can only be answered by
human-reasoning, God gives answers and facts "up front." Alpha wants as
well for the
unsaved to seek "feelings"
and "experiences", not encounter the preaching of solid, unmovable
facts
and
commandments from Almighty
God!
THE BATTLE LINES DRAWN.
The battle for men's souls
goes on in our world, stronger than ever in this "New" world of
"change"
and
"feelings" versus facts.
Dialectic processes are sweeping the world with Lucifer's lies. It is a
form of
brainwashing, which is
promoting
an ideology of "let's all respect one another, and listen to one
another,
and
come to peace together."
We cannot follow the God of the Bible if we use methods which are
designed
to use
the Scriptures to
facilitate
delving into the feelings of the unsaved. Alpha begins on the wrong
premise
immediately, because it
gets the group discussion onto the track of "how do you feel about what
the Bible
says?" Instead, a Bible
study group should be based not on feelings, but on the omnipotent Word
of God.
Here are some examples of what this is about:
FACTS LEVEL TEACHING ABOUT THE WORD
OF GOD, and questioning.
Reading John 3:16. "What
is God telling us here about the Son of God?" "What does the verse
state
God did
because He so loved the
world?" "Who can have everlasting life, and not perish, according to
John
3:16?"
FEELINGS AND HUMANISTIC EVALUATION
LEVEL
QUESTIONING.
"How do you feel about the
Bible saying God loves us?" "What do you think about Jesus Christ being
the Son of
God?" "Do you feel that
God would really send the rebellious to hell, so that they will perish?"
VALUES LEVEL QUESTIONING.
"Would you have been able
to give your son to die for the world?"
"Wasn't that an act which
showed unloving, even cruel behaviour on the part of God towards Jesus
Christ?"
ÿCould such an act
be just?ÿ
The NEW AGE declares in
our
day that FACT teaching, in any area, church or secular education, is a
low level
concept. Feeling and value
level teaching are supposed to be much higher concepts. THIS IS NOT SO,
however. GOD has declared
FACTS which we must present to a dying world, if we deny this, we also
deny the
very Gospel of Jesus
Christ,
our Saviour.
People in general tend
toward
subjective questions which lead to answers which satisfy his/her own
feelings
of
guilt, selfishness, wonder
or fear. God has pre-established answers which are designed to question
US, so that
we can find the salvation
and righteousness which alone will give eternal light, satisfaction and
Life. We
Christians have an
enormous
job to do, we are to give those questions and answers to the world -
with
no
dialogue or smart
techniques
of brainwashing compromising the Scriptural message! DIALECTIC and
PRAXIS
are political in outcome
expectations, let us look at the synthesis of the New Age, as described
by Dean
Gotcher:
"Instead of accepting a
black
and white world, with its absolute right and wrong answers, they now
pursue
a
grey world where change
becomes absolute, truth becomes relative, and deviancy becomes the norm.
According to the process,
if mankind is to get along, then it will be necessary that everyone
develop
this same
attitude or way of
thinking....That
is by higher-order thinking skills, experienced in diaprax, that the
quest
for
world harmony and peace
is realised. The higher-order thinker should then be able to
acknowledge
his purpose
for being: that of saving
man from his divisive, 'hateful,' preset, lower order way of thinking.
He will know how to
do this through the
process
of facilitation and diaprax, being able to lead others to their
self-actualisation
- their
freedom. At this final
phase
the once obedient, facts-based, traditional-structured individual
becomes
a
facilitator or change
agent
determined to 'help' others come to the realisation that 'the
experience
of life is
compromise,' that only
through
cosmic unity can peace eventually be established." [p.31}.
DOES THIS DIALECTIC SUCCEED, AND IF
SO WHY?
Alpha succeeds as a tool
because it is a dialectic tool! It works because the unbelievers feel
in
control, the
church people feel in
control,
but they do not realise that the process is really in control. Alpha
works
BECAUSE
there are no
confrontations
with sinners as such, because there are no unsettling Bible convictions
involved with
the presentation, because
the sinners who go to Alpha are honoured and given self-esteem - plus a
pretty good
meal as well! Alpha
works like dialectic works because a unity is achieved without
argument,
because the
Word of God is NOT
preached
as it should be. Alpha works on an emotional level, a feeling level and
an
experience level - we all
have those, and we humans can relate to one another on that level, so
Alpha
is a good
relationships process. It
is a "feel good," self-esteem program. It makes everyone feel good, but
if one thinks
about it enough, you can
see it gives you hardly anything else.
"Let the wicked forsake
his
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the
Lord, and he
will have mercy upon him;
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
For as the heavens are
higher
than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts
than
your
thoughts.
For as the rain cometh
down,
and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the
earth,
and
maketh it bring forth and
bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
So shall MY WORD be
that
goeth forth out of my mouth; and it shall not return to me void, but it
shall accomplish
that which I please, and
it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."
[Isaiah 55:7-11].
QUOTES FROM THE ALPHA COURSE SEMINAR,
HELD IN BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA.
All quotes are from "The
Alpha Conference, Speaker Notes".
Section from page
13-17,
titled "Leading Small Groups."
p.13. The speakers made
it clear that the non-believers who attended were "guests" not
"learners."
The notes
say, "with some groups you
may never get beyond discussion to Bible Study. This applies especially
to groups
of non-churchgoers or
non-Christians."
Here we see a classic dialectic environment - i.e. social gathering,
not
a
ordinary Christian
meeting;
discussion -orientated, not Scripturally-orientated.
p.14. Alpha says that
GROUPS
are ruined by leadership doing the talking, "instead of giving people
the
freedom to speak and to
say what is on THEIR minds." Non-directive, non-preaching group-mind.
p.14. "If you FEEL that
the
group is NOT READY for BIBLE STUDY but DISCUSSION is not flowing easily,
possible QUESTIONS to
start
discussion can be found in Appendix 1. Two basic questions: What do you
THINK? What do you FEEL?"
[emphasis added]. Here we
see the subjective, humanistic questioning of the diaprax set-up.
p.14. Speakerÿs
instruction
was, "don't go to the Bible until everyone is 'ready.ÿ'" Since
there
are only fifteen
sessions in Alpha courses,
when can anyone decide when the unbelievers are 'ready?' GOD has given
we
Christians a mandate to
preach the Gospel, not wait for some undefined signal that everyone is
"ready." [II
Timothy 4:2-4; Romans
10:13,14].
We were instructed to aim at the weakest person in the group, and to not
proceed beyond their
ability
to assimilate. The notes say, "To learn to study the Bible together..."
In other words,
don't yet study the Bible,
just "learn" to do it soon. "Hear God speak. Therefore, DON'T GIVE A
TALK.
Get
OTHERS to do the MAJORITY
of the talking." Here again the preaching of the Word of God is gagged,
that
would be "giving a talk"
to the Alpha advisers! How God can "speak" if there is no preaching and
Bible
teaching is not defined,
they possibly mean by the spurious movement of the "Holy Spirit" or
through
things
brought out by the
unbelievers
"feelings" and "thinking."
p.14. "Even if a Bible
study
is planned [amazing possibility], give everyone an opportunity to ask
questions
arising out of the talk
or other questions on their minds." Here the speaker, Australian
national
leader, Mona
Carter, who is
well-trained
from many visits to the Brompton headquarters of Alpha, came out with
amazing
dialectic, "concepts
level"
questioning and programming. Is she aware of the hidden agenda? Who can
tell?
From my own notes on her
lecture:
"SOMETIMES, she says, if
all people in the group are Christians, they do the Bible studies in
the
BACK of the
manual. 'There are no
right
answers' she says. 'Even if people speak up real heresy, 'try to
encourage
them,
anyway' she says. 'Don't
squash people.' Here is the dialectic pattern again, there are no
absolutes
presented.
The absolute Word of God
is confined, it succumbs in the midst of the diaprax session.
p.15. Notes give the
"fact
level" questions a firm by-pass! The "concepts level" and "values
level"
questions are
used to get everyone to
DISCUSS, not to LISTEN to what God has shown in His revelation to man!
On p.15.
Alpha even uses direct
dialectic
and praxis terms:
"Ask OPEN-ENDED question,
e.g. 'What?', 'How?', 'Who?' and 'Why?' Not CLOSED QUESTIONS [yes/no
answers]." Notice that
this
by-passes effectively ABSOLUTES of God's Word. The same page makes sure
that
all real prayer, by
leaders
or "guests" is cut out, this would give GOD, as First Cause, a
top-billing,
but in
dialectic environments the
"first cause" must have its authority broken, and be set aside. The
speaker
said
here, "don't say grace
before
meals, it might embarrass people." She also taught, "No long prayers,
they
are a
put-off. Just pray, Lord,
thank you for the weather, or something simple like that. Just let
people
pray, don't you
pray."
APPENDIX ONE. p.47.
On asking questions at the
group dinners. Note that the majority of the questions are NOT fact
level
questions,
they are concepts/feeling
level and values level questions. Compare back to the chart on these in
this critique:
"1. Who is Jesus?
a. What are people's
FEELINGS about Jesus?
b. If you had a chance to
meet Him, how would you FEEL?
c. Before you heard the
talk [?] tonight, what was your CONCEPT of Jesus?
2. Why did Jesus die?
a. What is YOUR REACTION
to the crucifixion?
b. Do you FEEL that sin
is an outdated CONCEPT or is it something you THINK about?
c. How do you RESPOND to
the word sin and the word forgiveness?
3. How can I be sure of
MY
faith?
a. What would you write
on a form where it asked your religion?
b. Do YOU ASSOCIATE love
or fear with God?
c. When it is said that
Christ will make a change in YOUR character, how do YOU FEEL?
The suggested questions
go
on over a few pages, all are based on the concepts/feelings level,
values
level,
NOT on the FACTS LEVEL of
God's Absolutes as presented in the Word of God.
OUTCOME BASED INDOCTRINATION.
These sort of questions
that Alpha leads people to ask are really only the old temptation of
the
Serpent in the
Garden of Eden, "hath God
said?" The OUTCOME which is being programmed for both unbeliever and
churchgoer is to
substitute
one's own feelings, values and reasoning for God's proclaimed and
revealed
Truth.
For instance, instead of
preaching or teaching the truth about God answering prayer, guiding His
Blood-bought
children, having a plan
for individuals who respond to Him and accept Christ as Saviour, Alpha
presents
questions which make it
seem all right for people to DOUBT and QUESTION GOD! Read these horror
questions for yourself,
think about the implications, and see beneath the surface the devious,
clever mind of the
Serpent. One can only
imagine
what answers the unsaved would give in an Alpha session to these
questions!
[p.48]:
"If you ever pray, do
you
think someone is listening?"
"How do you feel about
being
guided by God?"
"How do you respond to the
idea of God having a plan for individual people?"
Now look at the
questions
on the same page about the supernatural world of the Evil One. GOD has
shown us
what the fallen world and
the evil angels and Satan are really all about, He has shown us in the
Scriptures, yet
Alpha asks these
questions,
which are NOT fact level, of the unsaved person. Remember that Alpha
asks
'open
ended' questions, there
are supposed to be no right or wrong answers::
"Do YOU BELIEVE
in
the supernatural/ black magic/the occult?"
"Have YOU A CONCEPT of the
devil?"
"Have you ever THOUGHT
about
the existence of a power of evil?"
"Do YOU SEE the mess in
the world as a result of us, evil power...?
These questions are not
the
same as application questions, a Biblical application question leads on
to the
knowledge of what the
Bible
declares, they do not lead on to what humans think, feel, have concepts
of, doubt
about or disbelieve about.
IT IS WRITTEN.
The Christian Gospel is
about the Bible questioning man about his sin, rebellion and rejection
of the Saviour.
Man is never called by God
to question His precepts and Sovereign declarations. II Corinthians
10:3-5
puts it
like this:
"For though we walk in
the
flesh, we do not war after the flesh: [for the weapons of our warfare
are
not carnal, but
mighty through God to the
pulling down of strong holds;] casting down imaginations and every high
thing that
exalteth itself against
the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the
obedience of
Christ."
Dean Gotcher has these
words
to say, to alert and challenge the Christians in these awesomely
deceptive
days
of brain-washing, New Age
tactics:
"Higher-order thinking
in
morals is nothing more than man justifying sin.
When it comes to one's
position
on God's Word the Christian cannot go through the definition sub-phrase
of
diaprax using 'I think,'
or 'I feel,' without weakening or destroying their faith. The use of
'It
is written' during this
sub-phrase may well cost
the Christian the respect of those in the group, but it is the only way
the Christian can
stay loyal to his belief
and his position in God and His Word.
To move into the realm
of
'I think' or 'I feel' on matters of 'It is written' is folly.
Many
Christians have fallen prey.
While numerous Scriptures
come to mind, one in particular applies directly to diaprax - I Timothy
6:20-21. The
Apostle Paul warned
Timothy
not to participate in 'opposition' [actual Greek word used is
antithesis]
'of so
called science whereby
many
have lost their faith' [so called science is Paul's reference to the
dialectic
process]. It doesn't get
any clearer than that. One cannot participate in diaprax and keep their
faith in God.
If you reject God as
the
'First Cause' or the purpose for your life, you are doomed to the life
of diaprax. You have
based the cause for your
existence upon your own wisdom and are bound to the cosmos and its
impending
judgement. You are
worshipping
the created rather than the Creator and are bound to Life-Long Learning
without hope of coming to
a true understanding of what life is really all about."
["The Dialectic and Praxis: by Dean Gotcher, p. 46].
IS ALPHA CHRISTIAN?
Alpha is being used as a
weapon against Christianity, yet the people of Christendom, at the end
of this
millennium, are
overwhelmingly
deceived by this cunning program! Where will you stand reader, with
Godÿs
Word and its fearless
proclamation,
or with those who walk in darkness? [I John 1: 5-7].
"For my people
have
committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living
waters,
and hewed them
out cisterns, broken
cisterns, that can hold no water." [Jeremiah. 2: 13].
.
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