Fantasy or Reality

Fantasy or Reality? Where is your faith? By Sarah Leslie ~ Herescope		December 10, 2012 See The Lord of the Rings The Discarded Imaged (referring to traditional values) How mysticism & the occult are changing the Church Lewis, Tolkien…Explore Reincarnation and Theosophy Home
“They… walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart….” Jeremiah 7:24 “…they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart…” Jeremiah 11:8 ‘No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart.'” Nehemiah 6:8

“Spiritual transformation…is mediated through a person’s
religious imagination.”[1]
Really?
What kind of transformation?

“The invasion of monsters began
decades ago, and it quickly transformed the world of entertainment. With
little resistance, an army of cute-ugly creatures swept into toy stores,
television and movies. They now adorn children’s clothes, bedding,
wallpaper, lunchboxes and books. And many have pushed their way into
children’s hearts on the backs of seductive myths that mold their thoughts
and manipulate their imagination. 



Some of
these monsters are crude and cool like Stitch, Shrek and the serpentine
aliens of Men in Black. Others appear wise and honorable like Yoda in Star
Wars. But the creatures that win the prize for thrills and chills are the
dark and deadly ones like Darth Maul,
Tolkien‘s Orcs and the ominous aliens
in Signs. 

They all
serve a set of strategic social and spiritual goals: They entertain. They
shift a person’s attention from the real world to a more titillating
realm created by those who write the myths and steer the imagination.
They tempt Christian fans to re-imagine both God and themselves in the new
context – thus bending the old realities to fit the new myths. They
desensitize their fans to mystical images and symbols of evil. And they stir
a craving for more intense excitement of the same kind. 

Eventually the real world of nature, families, work and Biblical truth
becomes too boring to be enjoyed. Who cares about truth and facts when myths
and fantasies seem far more exiting?

“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; and they will turn their
ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful
in all things….’ (2 Timothy 4:3-5)“[3]

The
Emerging Fantasy-Driven Worldview

With
the rise of interest in the Mayan calendar date of
Dec. 21, 2012 among Evangelicals, there is a concurrent noticeable shift
in perceptions of reality. What is reality? What is fantasy? Are church
people mixing the two together in strange new ways? Here are classic
definitions:

Fantasy: Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly
uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot,
theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary
worlds where magic is common…. Fantasy has also included wizards, sorcerers,
witchcraft, etc…. In its broadest sense, however, fantasy comprises works
by many writers, artists, filmmakers, and musicians, from ancient myths and
legends to many recent works….[3]

Reality: In philosophy, reality is the state of things
as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be
imagined…. Reality is often contrasted with what is imaginary, delusional,
(only) in the mind, dreams, what is abstract, what is false, or what is
fictional. The truth refers to what is real, while falsity refers to what is
not. Fictions are considered not real.[4]

We first noticed this perplexing mixture of fantasy and reality in the works
of Tom Horn, one of the chief purveyors of the
12-21-12 scenario(s). To bolster his case about the return of the
ancient Mayan god Quetzalcoatl, Horn actually relied upon a previous work of fiction that he authored, quoting it as though it were a
reliable source of fact. We explained the circumstance:

In his book, Nephilim Stargates, Tom
Horn seemed fascinated by this particular pagan god Quetzalcoatl. Excerpting
an 8-page passage from his “fictional” book, The Ahriman
Gate, Horn envisioned the entity’s return in 2012. Horn derived
the name “Ahriman” from the Persian/Zoroastrian mythology that identifies
him as the dark “prince over Iraq/Babylon.”[5] [emphasis added]

Horn, along with the many evangelical leaders who are associated with him,
has put great stock in the 2012 date. But in order to bolster his case, he
and his
2012 prophecy advocates have
deviated far from Scripture alone (reality, truth),
and have borrowed heavily from fantasy,
legends, fables, myths, apocrypha and occult sources.
Elsewhere we have documented this point extensively. Here is a current
partial list, excerpted from Tom Horn’s website
http://apollyonrising2012.com/, of what he calls “a short sample of the
HUNDREDS of new revelations in [his book] Apollyon Rising 2012.”

• Nearly 500 years ago the Maya prophesied about the
  Colonial date 1776 as the beginning of the last 13 katuns leading to
  apocalypse in 2012.
• Over 700 years ago Orthodox Jewish priests prophesied in the Zohar
  that their Messiah would arrive in the year 2012.
• The first degree Masonic Tracing Board contains the same prophecy
  toward the year 2012.
• This secret is also openly hidden in the most spectacular way in
  the US Capitol Dome, directly tying the US and Vatican to the
  Mesoamerican 2012 date.
• A 200 Year Old cipher encoded on the Great Seal of the
  United States points to the same prophecy concerning the return of the
  gods in the year 2012.
• A couple modern “Mayan elders” – who have been getting themselves
  in the news lately by claiming the year 2012 will not lead to the
  end of the world – are covering up how their prophecies diametrically
  contradict the prophecies of their forefathers including the Maya,
  Aztec, and numerous other ancient peoples who foresaw this
  time as portending destruction and “judgment from the gods.”
• 200 Years ago Cherokee Indians prophesied
  likewise and set their calendar, like the Maya and Aztec, to end in the
  year 2012.[emphases added]

It is NOT about the Nephilim!  Arguments about Nephilim
serve as a convenient straw
man to deflect criticism away from the real issues at hand. The real
issue is mixing Scripture with pagan sources.

Because the Scripture is vague on this point about Nephilim, there are
plenty of interpretations. Believers have speculated for millennia about the
meanings of these words, and many have written their diverse opinions on the
subject.[6] A healthy debate about
the meaning of this passage is fine. But when believers go beyond the plain
truth of Scripture, and start to imagine “new revelations,” they veer
off into dangerous realms of fantasy. Traditionally, the church
taught that where Scripture is silent or not clear believers should “leave
well enough alone.” For example, the early Reformers cautioned believers to
avoid too much speculating because it would distract from the Gospel
message:

Meditating on God’s Word, thinking about what a passage might mean,
comparing one verse to other Scripture, studying good old commentaries – all
of this used to be the method of Christian Bible study. Note: The classic
use of plain imagination in a literary sense is also a valid way of reading
Scripture, especially when listening to its wonderful stories. Here is what
traditional imagination means:

Imagination:
“…the ability of forming new images and sensations
when they are not perceived through sight, hearing, or other senses.
Imagination helps provide meaning to experience and understanding to
knowledge; it is a fundamental faculty through which people make sense of
the world, and it also plays a key role in the learning process…”[8]

There is a caveat about imagination, though. Unrestrained imagination can
have a fatal flaw when it goes too far astray from reality, truth and fact:

In various spheres, however, even imagination is in practice limited: thus a
person whose imaginations do violence to the elementary laws of thought, or
to the necessary principles of practical possibility, or to the reasonable
probabilities of a given case is regarded as insane. 

“The same limitations beset imagination in the field of scientific
hypothesis. Progress in scientific research is due largely to provisional
explanations which are developed by imagination, but such hypotheses must be
framed in relation to previously ascertained facts and in accordance with
the principles of the particular science.”[9]

A
“Sub-Created Cosmos”

To postmodernists, the Bible is
viewed as a myth, a narrative. It is no longer seen as Absolute Truth, God’s
spoken Word, reality or fact. Instead it is viewed as one of many myths and
narratives from cultures past and present. In the postmodernist wordview one
can add to Scripture with other stories and myths that seem to complement
it. Scripture as myth, plus other myths, equals more revelation, according
to this worldview.

Tom Horn and his cohorts are postmodernists in the sense that they view the
Scripture as just one of many stories that foretell endtime prophecy. In
fact, they must view the Canon of Scripture as incomplete because they
add to Scriptures with their fantastical ideas of secret hidden codes
and mythological prophecies from ancient cultures. As such, they create a
new reality.
Their new reality is a dialectic
synthesis of the Scripture plus fantasy. This then
is no longer Biblical Truth, but a mixture. It creates an entirely new
worldview, a fantasy world that becomes completely believable to those who
are indoctrinated into its “new revelation” tenets. In sum, they create a
new cosmic world with a new endtime scenario.

One literary writer has explained how authors create a
fantasy world:

“Fantasy
stands upon a different theory of reality, but one demanding with equal
rigor that the fantasist keep always in mind his aesthetic principles: that
what happens in his world accord not with his daydreams nor with our own
world’s laws of common sense, but with the peculiar laws of the
sub-created cosmos.”[10][
emphasis added] 

This same writer has also observed that in classic fantasy stories there are
two necessary ingredients: a hero and an evil reptilian monster.[11]
In the fantasy world synthesized by Tom Horn and his associates, the evil
reptilian monsters are Nephilim and other scary hybrid creatures gleaned
from a huge variety of occult sources. In fact, their unique fantasy world,
their own “sub-created cosmos,” includes a great battle with the forces of
evil unfolding imminently on Dec. 21, 2012. No wonder their narrative is so
enticing to so many evangelicals! It has all the elements of a great fantasy
adventure! But it is based on fiction and myth, not biblical Truth.

Bible prophecy plus mythology does not equal better Bible prophecy. It
equals heresy.

Restrained
Imagination

The Christian, more so than
other individual, is called upon by Scripture to have a restrained
imagination. The Bible calls this being “sober minded.” (Titus 2:6)
In fact, being “sober” is directly connected to being on “watch”
in the last days, the end times as described in the Bible alone without any
fantasy or mythology added to it:

• “
  Therefore let us not sleep, as do
  others; but let us watch and be sober.” (1 Thess
  5:6) 

• 
  “But the end of all things is at hand: be
  ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.” (1
  Peter 4:7)

• 
  “Wherefore gird up the loins of your
  mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that
  is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;”
  (1 Peter 1:13) 

• 
  “Be sober, be vigilant; because
  your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom
  he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) 

Given these verses, it seems even more important for Christians who have an
interest in the last days to be well-grounded in reality, in the truth of
Scripture, and to be “sober minded,” and not to live in a fantasy
world made up of a mixture of myths.  Yet we live in an era when mystical
imageries, imaginations and fantasies are coming into the church like a
flood.[12]
Scripture warns
believers:

“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;”
(2 Cor. 10:5) 

Restrained imagination does not stray from Scripture.
 

“Knowing this
first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation.” (1 Peter 1:20)

But what about Nephilim? UFOs? Hybrid creatures and other space aliens? What
if someone has an “experience” with these things? Well, the answer is quite
factual. Stick to Scripture. If you don’t receive answers from plain
Scripture, then stop. Stop in your tracks and don’t go off into speculations
that lead to fantasy, mythology, fiction, or worse. The Scripture is
sufficient. What Jesus told us about HIS return is sufficient. Anything else
leads straight into the occult. If an experience happens to you that you
can’t find a basis for in Scripture, set it aside. If it is REAL, and based
on the Truth of the Gospel of Salvation message, you will read it in His
Word. Sola Scriptura! 

“I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I
have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in My
Counsel, and had caused my people to hear My Words, then they should have
turned them from their evil way…”(Jeremiah 23:21-22)

The FRAUD of Fantasy

 A few months ago we observed
the rise of a new evangelical eschatology that is heavily dependent upon
powerful fantastical imagery:

In our modern age, with its Hollywoodized
process of desensitization, man has become fascinated with the paranormal.
What was once off limits, is now outer limits. The border between fact
(biblical Truth) and fiction (pagan stories, myths, legends, etc.)
has been breached. The result is spiritual fraud (heresy).
Furthermore, pan-spiritual and pseudo-scientific teachings are now being
concocted into an End-Time Alchemy—a dangerous doctrinal stew.[13]

Berit Kjos, writing about “Aliens, Monsters & Creepy
Creatures” affecting children with excessive imagination, observed:

“Today’s postmodern world has little tolerance for Biblical watchfulness.
Instead, it embraces its mythical heroes with a driving passion that often
eclipses both family and reality. The more shocking, crude and ugly, the
more cool and captivating the product. Hollywood and toy makers know that
well.”
[14]

She also warned about the New Age “future scenarios” for these occult
imaginations:

“…many UFO enthusiasts and New Age leaders… began to circulate a far-out
notion decades ago: A group of benevolent aliens or ascended masters would
suddenly appear on the earth and cleanse it from all who resist its
spiritual evolution toward global oneness. At the same time, they would
prepare humanity to receive the prophesied New Age ‘Christ.'”[15]

Why are evangelicals so susceptible to confusing fantasy and reality? Why
would we go beyond mere speculation on God’s Word to the point where we feel
we must add to Scripture by mixing it with Mayan lore, apocryphal writings,
UFO science fiction, mythologies and astrology? Have we all become so
desensitized by Hollywood that we can no longer distinguish fantasy from
reality? Are we so seduced by fanciful images?

When Christians add myths and
fables to Scripture they create a potent esoteric concoction, a mixture of
theology and the occult. Isn’t this mixture precisely the


sin of ancient Israel?

“This evil people, which refuse to hear My
Words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk
after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as
this girdle, which is good for nothing.” (Jer. 13:10)

Mixing Scripture with pagan writings should be a BIG RED FLAG that immediately stops a believer in his tracks
so that he doesn’t continue down that evil path. It is the first big clue
that something is terribly amiss. Yes, the story might be fascinating, the
adventure stimulating, and the pictures  conjured up in the mind might be
pleasant. But beware of pagan-derived images (also called idols)! The Bible
warns,

“Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be
not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; (Deut. 11:16)

Imagination is intoxicating. It is
seductive. It can easily become
addictive. It can easily be tied to idolatry. This is one reason why
God’s Word warns that there is such a thing as
“the imagination of his
evil heart” that can lead one astray. (See
Jer. 3:17; 7:24; 9:14; 11:8; 16:12; 18:12; 23:17; Luke 1:51.)[16]

“If thy brother, the son
of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy
friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go
and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee,
or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end
of the earth; Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither
shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou
conceal him:” (Deut. 13:6-8)

Imagination is a way to
gain access into the occult world. Once one leaves reality, fact and truth…
then anything goes. Here is one such example she provided to us:

“By age ten, Jacqui K. was fascinated with anything supernatural. Since her
parents set no limits, she read every fiction and fantasy book she could
find on the magical world she craved. In her imagination, she met wizards
and witches, power and excitement. “

“‘I continued reading Harry Potter-type books through grade school, high
school and into college,” she says. “Three to five a week! The older I got,
the easier they were to find. The whole time I considered myself a
Christian! If someone had pointed out to me what I was doing, I would have
laughed. I was a normal teenager and a leader in my church group.” 

“The mystical characters in her fantasy world filled her thoughts during the
day and her dreams at night. But when some of them began talking to her, she
recognized the power she had pursued: 

“I cried out to God to help me, and He did. The voices stopped. I was no
Bible scholar, but I recognized that they were from Satan. Some people said
that I became delusional because I couldn’t separate fantasy from reality.
They were wrong. The problem was that I COULD, and had no idea that
reading fiction could put me in contact with REAL evil.”[16]

[emphasis added]

The Truth:

 

In the Hollywoodized
high-tech days in which we live how will people on earth know if
something is real or a sophisticated technological invention? What
if something terrible does show up in the skies to instill panic and
fear? The Horn enthusiasts love conspiracy theories, but what if
they become a victim of their own fantasies? The point for believers
is still the same regardless of what happens in the days to come:
Stay grounded on Scripture:  

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore will not we fear,
though the earth be removed,
and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.”

(Psalm 46:1-2)

 “…the Word is very near
unto thee,
in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.”
(Deut. 30:14)

 

Pastor Martin Niemoller (a friend of Dietrich Bonhoeffer) who was imprisoned for his fearless stand and enduring faith under Hitler, wrote this reminder for us today: “We have all of us – the whole church and the whole community… been thrown into the Tempter’s sieve, and he is shaking and the wind is blowing, and it must now become manifest whether we are wheat or chaff! Verily a time of sifting has come upon us, and even the most indolent and peaceful person among us must see that the calm of an easy…Christianity is at an end. …        “Satan swings his sieve and Christianity is thrown back and forth; and he who is not ready to suffer, he who has called himself a Christian only because he hoped to gain something thereby for himself… is blown away like chaff by the wind of this time of testing.” [18] That quote expresses reality, not fantasy!  Those who don’t like God Word, and have never sensed the joy of His presence, may disagree.  I pray that God will change your heart and fill you with His peace! God’s Word is a real and true as ever. And here is His call and commission: “I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.'” Acts 26:17-18

 

Endnotes: 

1.
Lancaster Theological Seminary, USA, UMI Order number: AAM9822985
Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities & Social
Sciences. 1998 Jul. 59 (1-A): p.0201, cited by Berit Kjos, “Marketing
the occult: Harry [Potter’s] impact on ‘Christian’ values,”

http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/05/harry-movie-goblet.htm#2 

2. Berit
Kjos, “Aliens, Monsters & Creepy Creatures: What do they teach our
children?”
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/2002/aliens.htm. This 2002 article has
much to say about the current UFO phenomena. 

3.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy 

4.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality 

5.

http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/06/doomsday-datesetters-2012.html
citing Horn’s books Apollyon Rising 2012, pp. 66-67; Forbidden
Gates, pp. 22-23, and Nephilim Stargates, pp. 108-115. 

6. One
such biblical discussion about the various theological viewpoints on the
Nephilim was published 6/22/11 by Pastor Larry DeBruyn on Herescope titlted
“Demons, Daughters and DNA: The Sons of God, the Daughters of Men, and the
Nephilim in Genesis 6.”
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/06/demons-daughters-and-dna.html. 
Also see


http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/06/doomsday-datesetters-2012.html



7.
Matthew Poole, Commentary on the Bible, Vol. 1 (Hendrickson), p. 5.
Circa 1600 A.D.


8.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagination



9.
Ibid. 

10.
Randel Helms, Tolkien’s World (Houghton Mifflin, 1974), p. 77,
describing “Tolkien’s World: The Structure and Aesthetic of The Lord
of the Rings.”

11.
Ibid, p. 81.

12. Some
of us researching the rise of end-time speculations and fantasies about
Nephilim were once engaged in mysticism before we were saved. We know
firsthand the treacherous path of wandering off into mystical imageries,
imaginations, and perusing occult literature for “truth.” But for the saving
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ whose blood was shed for us on the cross,
redeeming us from our sins, we would be lost in that vast morass of pagan
spirituality. See: “Altered States: A Different Gate,”

http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/04/altered-states-different-gate.html

13.

http://herescope.blogspot.com/2012/06/quantum-mysticism-goes-to-market.html 

14.
Ibid.,
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/2002/aliens.htm 

15.
Ibid. This section of her article links to “Star Wars & Theosophy” here:

http://www.crossroad.to/text/articles/starwar6-99.html#shirley 

16. See
a list of verses:

http://www.blueletterbible.org/search/translationResults.cfm?Criteria=imagination&t=KJV 

17.
Berit Kjos, “The Power of Suggestion,”
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/suggestion.htm. See also:
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/2002/victory.htm,
http://www.crossroad.to/text/responses/d%26d.htm,

http://www.crossroad.to/text/responses/ComputerGames.html,

http://www.crossroad.to/text/responses/General%20comments-1.html,

http://www.crossroad.to/text/responses/archive/General%20comments-1.html,

http://www.crossroad.to/text/responses/archive/Harry8.htm,


http://www.crossroad.to/Books/BraveNewSchools/3-NewThinking.htm

18.
Conway, J. S.
The Nazi
Persecution of the Churches 1933-1945. New York: Basic Books Inc.
1968,  p1.

---

The
Discarded Image  ~ 


The
Occult Side of C.S. Lewis

Warnings:
How mysticism & the occult are changing the Church

 

Angel Wars – A “Christian” animation or a deceptive imitation?

The Lord of the
Rings  ~

The
Rising World Religion

Lewis,
Tolkien…Explore
Reincarnation and Theosophy

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