Quote:
Originally Posted by Evangelical
LSM/LC cannot be blamed for Eastern Lightning just as the apostles cannot be blamed for Gnosticism which arose out of the teachings of Paul and John.
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I agree with the above. I don't see a "smoking gun" per se (i.e. direct causative effect), but thought there were interesting aspects in common. And your comparison is apt, as I've often felt John was creating a firewall against Gnosticism, not inviting it.
In retrospect, the LSM/lc would have done better with firewalls, themselves. They went into an isolated populace with slogans inviting subjectivism over objective truth. "The age of the Word is over; it is now the age of the Spirit". Just shout yourselves inti foment and you are "in S/spirit" and "in God". When people began to have completely heterodox dreams and visions there was no stopping them. Subjectivity uber alles.
And the recruiting methods are pretty much identical; the EL is less subtle, which makes it so informative. Deception: "We are just Christans." Hide affiliation, at first. Find commonalities and build relational bridges. Then, dependency and isolationism: "We alone have the truth. All others are in darkness." Secrecy. Paranoia. Tight operational control.
My message here is that we can see a warning in this. Mysticism can lead to manipulation and slavery worse than "dead letters" even.