The Distorted Jesus
RESHAPING JESUS TO SUIT OUR PREJUDICES
The Distorted Jesus
There is something very clever about the way the New Spiritualists deal with the Bible. A look at the extensive reading list on spirituality in Elizabeth Lesser’s book betrays the prejudice. As I already noted, among the numerous books of Eastern authorship, C. S. Lewis is the only author listed who has a high view of the Bible. So when it comes to the Old and New Testaments, this amazing annotation comes from Lesser:
Any modern traveler in the Landscape of the Soul will find the holy books of Judaism and Christianity helpful in two distinct ways. First, they explain the Western psyche and worldview; and second, they offer some of the most inspiring teachings and parables ever written.1
“First, they explain the Western psyche and worldview.” What an incredible statement to make by one who supposedly displays scholarship. The Bible is an Eastern book about an Eastern people. Explaining Western psyche by reading the Bible, except as the Bible has influenced Western thought and culture, is to explain Eastern psyche by reading The Book of Mormon. This is the hermeneutical distortion that pervades so much of the New Spirituality. But there’s a clue here. These are really psychologists masquerading as linguists and theologians. There are strains of William James and Carl Gustav Jung and others as well in what they say. This is precisely what Sri Sri Ravi Shankar does to a greater degree and Vivekananda does to a lesser degree. In one sense it is not fair to Vivekananda to put him in with this group. Vivekananda was a real scholar, but his forays into the explanation of Jesus give impetus to those of lesser credentials.