We live in a very neo-Romantic age, in which feelings are
considered more significant than facts. This is why a man can claim to be
a woman just because he feels like one and be taken seriously, even held up as
a hero, despite the obvious biological evidence to the contrary. The
Achilles heel of this mindset is that feelings often lie, especially
self-centered ones. Unfortunately,
this mentality has also spilled over into the religious world, where it has
given rise to self-absorbed spirituality that can best be called religious
narcissism.
In Altar to an Unknown Love, Beasley
remarks that this trend "has
been a longstanding development of subjective religion here in America: a kind
of modernized emotion-based-existentialism which subjugates everything beneath
the thoughts, feelings, intentions, and imaginations of the
worshipper." The foundation for this was probably laid by the
pietistic brand of Christianity that became increasingly popular in the
nineteenth century in the U.S., the U.K., and Europe…..
Subsequently, this therapeutic New Age outlook has given rise to a
self-centered, highly emotional brand of religion, even among Christians.
Contemporary religious writers such as John Eldredge and Sarah Young are
cases in point, since both come from psychological, counseling
backgrounds. Unsurprisingly, the Jesus who mystically speaks to them sometimes
sounds a lot more like a pop psychologist or a New Age guru than the Jesus of
the New Testament……….
Long ago, the American theologian Jonathan Edwards discoursed at length on the problem of religious narcissism, which he considered the essence of hypocrisy. Many others have also been convinced that the Bible prophetically warns about this type of religion in passages such as 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NASB): "... difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy... lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness[.]" The Apostle Paul is speaking here of the religious world, not the secular world.
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/01/the_rise_of_religious_narcissism.html#ixzz3yHcczJe4
Long ago, the American theologian Jonathan Edwards discoursed at length on the problem of religious narcissism, which he considered the essence of hypocrisy. Many others have also been convinced that the Bible prophetically warns about this type of religion in passages such as 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NASB): "... difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy... lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness[.]" The Apostle Paul is speaking here of the religious world, not the secular world.
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/01/the_rise_of_religious_narcissism.html#ixzz3yHcczJe4