As the book progresses, it only becomes more troubling. Benner writes that we “are called to be human beings” and “to be fully human.” (87) But we are created as human beings; we really cannot be anything other than human. It is what Benner means by “human” that makes the difference.
Benner claims we are to
“recognize Christ as the deepest truth of our being. It is not just becoming like Christ but actualizing the Christ who is in us. It is a journey toward union with God.” (99)
“Actualizing the Christ” is a concept foreign to the Bible. But if one is a Panentheist and a Jungian, it makes sense because Christ is contained everywhere in creation according to Panentheism. This is a major teaching of Richard Rohr which Benner shares. “Actualizing” the Christ who is already part of our unconscious as an archetype is to awaken the true Self. This is what Benner means by being human.
Jim Ballard, an admirer of the Hindu guru Paramahansa Yogananda and other Eastern teachers, is the author of a small, illustrated book, Little Wave and Old Swell: A Fable Of Life […]
First published in Midwest Outreach Christian Journal, Fall 2008; title and article modified for CANA website On March 3rd, 2008, Oprah Winfrey and Eckhart Tolle began an online class with […]
From Oprah Winfrey’s Television Show, April 9, 2008: A woman in the audience says that even before she read Tolle, she had come to believe that Christianity is about […]
“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” The focus of this book is on following a dream, with the idea that this […]
Part 2 of “Ruth Haley Barton and Contemplative Corruption” is hosted on the Midwest Christian Outreach site. Short link for article: http://tinyurl.com/ye2a3y9z
Part 1 of “Ruth Haley Barton and Contemplative Corruption” is hosted on the Midwest Christian Outreach site. Short link for article: http://tinyurl.com/ydw2fzzy
What does the Age of Aquarius mean in the New Age? Are some of the predictions based on it coming true? If so, is there an explanation?