"And we pray
this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please
him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the
knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his
glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and
joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in
the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light." (Colossians
1:10-12)
There is a war going on that most
Christians don’t recognize. I call it a war of
Romanticism, and it's all well documented in
numerous books and articles.
How does this war affect the
everyday lives of Christians? It affects them a lot. For one thing, we have
friends who are caught up in this war and made captive by it without really
realizing it, to the point of even (unknowingly) naming their children after
witches in fantasy stories.
We’ve mentioned
before the tremendous shifts in
today's Christian thinking and worldview. One of these shifts is the enormous
influence of imaginative literature -- especially among young people.
We are seeing Christians who are increasingly focused upon fantasy
rather than Scripture. Why? Because of the progressive dominance of
Romanticism in Christian literature.
Connected with this shift is the
escalating use of street drugs both in the general culture and in the Church
(especially in its youth groups). I am convinced that there is a strong
connection between this love of imaginative literature and the escape into
drugs. I have personally seen children of fervent evangelical Christians,
raised within a close community, turn to drugs. Influenced by Christian
“culture heroes” like Donald Miller, whose book Blue Like Jazz,
promotes drugs and liberalism, they are simply swept away. (See my critique
of Miller
here.)
I have also met Christians who
have gotten tangled into drugs and ended up on the psychiatric unit where I
work. At that same unit I often see people tattooed with occult symbols,
including
runes (Celtic magical symbols used in The Lord of the Rings).
These same people are reading and deeply engaged in games involving
imaginative literature, especially mythology and fairy tales. The connection
can be very strong because many street drugs—especially LSD, Mescaline, and
marijuana—stimulate the imagination and can open the mind’s door to the
occult. (I speak from experience.)
Can fairytales really be
harmful?
The answer I have seen in my
studies of recent history is yes. I’ve been reading a book called
Metapolitics: From Wagner and the German Romantics to Hitler
by Peter Viereck. Fantastic as it may sound, this thick and
impressively documented book reveals the powerful influences arising from a
love of mythology and fairytales that influenced Germany (and especially
its youth) and led directly to Nazism.
Following is a list of some
relevant books and articles I’ve been reading lately that are giving me
deeper insight into the strong connections between Romanticism and the
resurgence of paganism:
Viereck explains conclusively how
Romanticism so changed the worldview of everyday Germans that it actually
shaped political history and led to the Third Reich—which was a political,
Romantic crusade. Viereck is a very interesting man uniquely suited to
tackle this subject. A Pulitzer Prize winning poet, he studied Nazi
propaganda as an Army intelligence analyst during World War II. At the same
time, his father, a Nazi propagandist, was in federal prison.
I’m just beginning to read this. Veith talks
about the influence of Romanticism. Veith is the Provost at Patrick Henry
College and the Director of the Cranach Institute at Concordia Theological
Seminary.
Heely compares J.R.R. Tolkien’s
The Lord of the Rings with the opera The Ring of the Nibelung by
Richard Wagner. This is a very disturbing article because the comparisons
between the two works are so clear. They are a strong confirmation of how
these streams and risings of Romanticism are really interconnected, whether
supposedly “dark” or “light.” (I’ve been trying to make the point for some
time that there is no “dark” vs. “light” magic, as is so often represented
in modern writing; it is only dark.) In The Ring of the
Nibelung, Richard Wagner retells an old German myth about the power of a
gold ring. And The Lord of the Rings also tells a story of a magical
golden ring. The article mentioned above reveals many other comparisons.
Baue reveals how much secular philosophy there
is in Romantic literature, and especially how strongly Platonism and
Neo-Platonism influenced C. S. Lewis’s worldview. This influence began early
in his life, after he left Christianity. It continued later when he returned
to Christianity and lasted up to his death. In fact, his final book, Till
We Have Faces, retells a pagan myth. Lewis also incorporates Platonic
philosophy into the Narnia stories. This is pretty sophisticated
stuff to give to children, and, as a matter of fact, the stories are
designed more for adults than for children. (Tolkien's fairy stories also
seem designed more for adults than for children.)
Lewis’s work
has become so accepted that there is a universal blindness to the
philosophy embedded in it. Normally evangelicals do not accept
Platonism/Neo-Platonism as their worldview, but through Lewis they have
embraced certain aspects of this unbiblical worldview. (Platonism is a
philosophy, and Neo-Platonism is more like a way of life.) This acceptance
is quite apparent in the ministry of John Piper, by the way. (Watch his
video,
“Lessons from an Inconsolable Soul” or an amazing demonstration.)
Conclusion
It is astonishing to see in all
of these writings how much Romanticism (that is, the love of mythology) has
to do with the rise of fascism.
Basically, my research reveals
that the same kind of mythology that became the religious and philosophical
foundation for pre-Nazism in Germany was also exalted in England and is now
wildly popular in the United States. This does not necessarily mean that
just because Romanticism is growing in epic proportions in the United States
that it’s going to dominate, but it does indicate that seemingly innocent
fairytales can have a problematical effect on the mind and imagination,
especially of young people.
Such powerful stories and films as
The Lord of the Rings and the
Narnia
series have greatly
altered the worldview of many people in the United States and, especially,
of pastors and seminary professors. They appear to have very little
awareness of the difference between Christianity and Romantic religion. Yet
Christians, of all people, should be discerning and aware of the possible
dangers of such a movement.
"Let no one deceive you
with empty words, for because of these things the
wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be
partakers with them.
For you were once darkness, but now you are light
in the Lord. Walk as children of light... finding out what is acceptable to the
Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but
rather expose them.
For it is shameful even to speak of those things
which are done by them in secret. ,
"See then that you walk
circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
redeeming the time, because the days
are evil.
Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the
Lord is." Ephesians 5:6-17
Helpful information:
The Great
Evangelical Meltdown:
Part 1,
Part
2,
Part 3
Warnings: How mysticism & the occult are changing the Church
© 2011 by
Richard Nathan
Richard Nathan holds a Master of
Arts in Religion in Church History and has been a Bible and
church history teacher for over twenty years. He wrote his
thesis on the debate over the inerrancy of Scripture in a
historical analysis. Linda Nathan is president of Logos Word
Designs, Inc., a Christian writing and editing service at
www.logosword.com.
See
Richard's blog at
www.gloriousriches.blogspot.com
for ongoing discussion about such trends in Christianity as
Romantic Christianity and the Emergent Church movement. Visit
their blog at
fictionplumbline.blogspot.com
for discussion about Christian fiction from a biblical
perspective." See the list of other
articles by the Nathans
here.
