The Cult of Other Books

There is a cult in the church. This cult has people devoted to other books, classics of Christian thought, theology, and life. Christian brothers and sisters find themselves clinging to books throughout the centuries. There are the Orthodox who revere highly the Patristic Fathers: Athanasius, Anthony, St. Cyril, St. Basil, and more. Then there is the cult of St. Augustine of Hippo which has Catholics and Evangelicals citing and quoting him over the Book of Acts in the Bible.

The obsession with literature, classics, and new works by the latest scholars and revered sages is something of a concern. People swear by Phil Haggie, Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, Beth Moore, Dietrich Bonheoffer, Jonathan Edwards, John Calvin, John Fox, Jan Hus, St. Jerome, St. Benedict, St. Francis of Assisi, Mother Teresa, Hildegard Bingen, and of course St. Augustine of Hippo. There is nothing inherently wrong with reading these works, but holding them in high regard is folly. All of these saints throughout the ages have insights, but their theology, philosophy, ideology, soteriology, eschatology, and all the other focuses have errors and even at times contradict the Bible! The Holy Bible, both Old and New Testaments is the measure. It is the perfect canon of Scripture that helps us test all that we learn, experience, and feel in the Spirit. But there are cult members of the other books who come against the Bible.

Other groups tout that our Bible is flawed because it excludes The Apoycphyal, The Gnostic Gospels, The Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Barnabas, and the Gospel of Judas. The Apocyphal are extra-canonical books that are mostly historical and irrelevant to learning how to follow and connect with God. The Four Books of Maccabees are the wars between Rome and the Jews, which ended in failure. The Book of Wisdom reads like a watered down version of Proverbs, why invest time in it when you have Proverbs? The Book of Tobit is interesting, it has demon possession and some scholars like Pitre believe Jesus is quoting Tobit when taking to the Woman at the Well. The Apocryphal has ancient history , but it provides no connection with Christ, nor does really have many supernaturally significant moments like the Parting of the Red Sea and the Resurrection of the Son of God. The Gnostic Gospels have already been disproved as forgeries and false texts created by heretical sects of Christianity who wrote them sometime in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries. These gospels are full of warped and false views of Christ (see Matthew 24:24) and his Apostles. The Gospel of Barnabas is very mystical and gets into strange doctrines not found in Scripture. The Gospel of Thomas is another forgery, it even has at the end a false and horrible claim that women cannot enter heaven! The Gospel of Judas is frankly absurd! Judas had no time to write a gospel account before his death and he didn't even witness the Crucifixion or Resurrection to even have the gospel in full to make his account. Judas hanged himself before it all happened. (Matthew 27:1-10).

The cult of other books is defined as trusting in other books outside the Bible or  placing their importance and validity on same level as the Bible or above it. This is dangerous because there are so many inaccuracies in the thinking of men like Augustine and Athanasius. Augustine of Hippo in His "Confessions" makes two claims I agree with, "children are not innocent, they are sinners and selfish," and "you can deconstruct astrology like this. Two fathers had wives who were pregnant at the same time and are delivering their babies at the same time. One wife is noble woman and wealthy, the other is peasant and slave. The astrologer says because of the season, stars, and day of the year the two children will be prosperous princes. Well one automatically shall fulfill this because they are born of the noblewoman, but the other who is peasant will not. In this way astrology can be 50% right because about half of people or less will fulfill the prophecy, but because it cannot be 100% means it is false." These are great arguments, but later Augustine has an alleged visit from God, who Augustine says is Light. This God of Light becomes Augustine's devotion and my concern is that while yes Jesus said he was the light (John 9:5, John 8:12), Scripture also says, "Satan masquerades as an angel of light." (2 Corinthians 11:4). It could be Augustine did really see Jesus, but why doesn't Augustine call this god of light Christ? Augustine chooses to serve and devout himself to this god of light, but there is no reference to Jesus Christ or The Father, or the Holy Spirit. This concerns me and because it draws attention form the True Savior Jesus Christ, and the fact the spirit of light Augustine saw did not say, "I am Jesus Christ, Light of the World," makes me believe it was Satan that appeared to Augustine "masquerading as an angel of light."

The Reformers were right about the Solus or Solae's. We are to be Solus Gracia (By grace alone are we saved), Solus Fidel (through faith alone), Solus Christus (through Christ alone), Solus Scriptura (Scripture alone), and Solus de Gloria or Glorium (to God be the glory alone). The Reformers placed Scripture and devotion to Christ as paramount. In addition they realized salvation was by God's grace and through faith in Jesus Christ, not through works as the Apostle Paul confirms (Ephesians 2:8-9). The problem is that Dietrich Bonheoffer (when he wrote The Cost of Discipleship) and St. Dominic for example have ideologies in their churches, Luther and Catholic, that have salvation by works. As Christians we need to be careful of revering their works because they can harm our souls and lead us astray from the Truth: "God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son (Jesus) and whoever believes in Him (Jesus) shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16). There is nothing there or in other scripture in the Bible that indicates you must do works to be saved, works come as fruit and from a saved person, not to save a person.

Now some may claim that my argument is aimed at Roman Catholic sages and theologians and so it is not relevant to Orthodoxy or more modern Christian writers. Then let us visit some other scholars. Origen was a sage of the ancient church, and is one of Patristic Fathers. He was brilliant, but he had major heresies in his thinking. He believed and taught a renowned student named Eusebius, that the Trinity is hierarchy, The Father is greatest, The Son is second greatest, and the Holy Spirit third greatest. This is false because the Trinity is One, Jesus says so and even prays for his saints to be one as He and Father are One (John 10:30). Therefore there is no hierarchy as Origen suggests, in fact Scripture says the Father has exalted Christ to the highest place: "Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge (confess, proclaim) that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:9-11). The Deserts Fathers whom are highly revered in Orthodoxy teach about self denial, strict fasts, and living apart from the world to the point of hiding in caves in the desert, on Skyline (high mountain) and so forth. Interesting, these practices of the Desert fathers violates Jesus's own words. Jesus said, "the thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy, but I have come to give you life abundantly," (John 10:10) "Come to me all who have need of rest, for my burden is light and my yoke is easy," (Matthew 11:28-30), "Go forth to all the world and preach the gospel to all creation," (Mark 16:15), "Go and make disciples baptizing them in name of Father Son, and Holy Spirit," (Matthew 28:19), "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one." (John 17:15), and Lord said, "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?" (Isaiah 58:6). The Ascetic lifestyle of the Desert Fathers does not meet Christ's own commands and prayers. Yes Jesus said, "If anyone will be my disciple, they must deny themselves (sinful flesh desires, not natural needs of eating, sleep, and so forth), pick up their cross and follow me." (Matthew 16:24). The problem is that the Desert Fathers choose a lifestyle that is no in harmony with spreading the Gospel & the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) as Jesus commanded before his ascended. The Desert Fathers and many of the Catholic Monks like St. Benedict and St. Bernard of Clairvaux live this self-denial lifestyle that was made by man, not from God!

What of the latest scholars and beloved sages? Writers like Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, David Pratt, Francis Chan, Kyle Idleman, T.D. Jakes, and more all have interesting and challenging things we need to hear. But the problem is when you revere their wisdom and books over the Bible. It is fine to read their works, but do not raise to the same level as the Word of God. People are fallible and they get very bizarre ideas. You can be reading a book by any saint or believer over two thousand years and there will be parts that move you, but then there will be thoughts that bother you and contradict the Bible, these are bones. The Bible has no bones, but other books do. Eat too many other books without reading the Bible alongside, and you will end up having bones (spiritual disease, demonic philosophies, heresies) in your heart.

Soak and saturate your mind, heart, spirit and soul in the Holy Scriptures! Do not devout yourself to Thomas Kempis' The Imitation of Christ (great book, but still has errors), or to Dietrich Bonheoffer's The Cost of Discipleship (Bonheoffer later said it was dangerous book and it is, I do not recommend it). Instead shape your life through personal and close relationship with Christ Jesus and through The Bible (NIV, NASB, NKJV, and TLB). Reading other spiritual books like "Streams in Desert" or "His Upmost For His Highest" can be beneficial, but you must test them with Scripture to see if you are eating mostly meat or bones with hardly any meat. Some books are too boney to be useful and you must be discernful to recognize this, because books have power and can mess with your mind and emotions or for the intellectual they can become a place of pride and wisdom, but that wisdom is not wisdom at all, but man made religion.

We need to remember that The Bible is the authority upon which we test and check everything. We must be centered in Holy Scripture and The Holy Spirit. Our personal relationship with Jesus Christ, moving in Holy Spirit, and our knowing Holy Scripture is the path to balanced and safe Christian walk. We need a personal relationship with the Trinity, we need to be motivated and move in gifts of the Holy Spirit, and know God's Word (The Bible). Scripture is useful for spiritual growth, teaching and more:
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.." (2 Timothy 3:16). Make sure ot test these other books from the sages, scholars, scholastics, and theologians. Even C.S. Lewis and Beverly Lewis can be wrong, but God can never be wrong and His word stands forever (1 Peter 1:25).