Radio Recent Past Shows Are You Trying To Manipulate Me?
Are You Trying To Manipulate Me?
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08 June 2010
Posted in
Radio -
Recent Past Shows
Subtext: When Persuasion Goes Too Far!
Manipulation is first defined as the dexterity to manually or mechanically influence objects. However, manipulation is mostly associated with the notion of taking unfair advantage of someone for insidious purposes.
The New Testament states, “But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.” (2 Cor. 4:2)
With such a clear declaration for how Christianity should be presented, why would some groups who claim to be Christian resort to psychological and emotional techniques in order to bring about a “spiritual experience?” Have some of our very own Christian churches resorted to such tactics in order to influence people toward a predictable belief and behavior?
Join the conversation with host Kent Moorlach (Pastor, Communion Presbyterian Church), Lindsay Brooks (Staff Apologist of Apologetics.com), Arthur Andrews (Pastor of Hephetha Lutheran Church), Joe Young (Apologetics.com Facebook “monitor”), and author Brian V. Janssen, as we discuss the implication of Janssen’s latest text, “Cursillo: Little Courses in Catharsis.”
Find out more about Brian V. Janssen’s research at:http://questioningcursillo.com/index.html
Comments
Some people do not follow this advice, but that is their own fault.
They have strict guidelines as far as how each retreat is run. Usually for a particular community, they only have maybe 2-4 weekends per year. I think that most of the participants realize that the weekend experience is not normative for the Christian life.
I understand the concerns expressed, but I presonally think they are a bit overblown. Why didn't you have an official representative from Walk to Emmaus or Cursillo to provide a counter-point to the discussion? I think that it was kind of one-sided.
The other point I wanted to say was that if God gave us our emotions, isn't it okay to appeal to the emotions? Some people for example have become Christians by just experiencing the love shown them in a Christian community. Then they may have begun to read the Bible after their hearts were opened to the Spirit.
I would also like to point out that John Frame in "Doctrine of the Knowledge of God" describes epistemology as a perspectival relationship.
Quoting from a review of the book on amazon.com's web site by J.F. Foster (he stated this much more succinctly than I could):
"Frame presents his theory of knowledge in the context of 3 perspectives - the normative (rationalism), situational (empiricism), and existential (experiential). The normative perspective is the perspective dealing with laws or standards that essentially define a person's ultimate and final authority. For Frame, the normative perspective comes in the form of God as revealed in Scripture. Thus, as a Reformed theologian, Frame considers Scripture to be the final authority on matters of faith and practice. The situational perspective is that perspective which addresses our interaction with the world around us, including our interaction with tradition and history. The existential perspective is the perspective that addresses the self, our experiences, and how we process those experiences."
"For Frame, each act of knowing involves all 3 perspectives. Each perspective informs the other. When Scripture asks us to consider the lilies of the field, it is impossible to know what this normative perspective is really telling us without knowing what a lily is, which is something derived from both the situational and existential perspectives. Similarly, one cannot truly know whether the taking of innocent life is wrong without having a normative authority that informs our thoughts and actions."
OK so with respect to emotion and how this plays out in ministry I think that it is okay to appeal to all three perspectives. We should appeal to the mind, the emotion and the experience of the individual. When one is out of balance with respect to the other three, then I agree there is a problem.
On an emmaus/chrysalis weekend, you have the appeal to the mind (15 talks), the appeal to the emotion (worship experiences such as singing, silence, prayer, etc.) and you have the appeal to experience (the unconditional love, agape gifts, being served).
Anyway, I appreciate the ministry of apologetics.com and am a regular listener.
Thank you and God bless you.
My suggestion to you is to start at the website questioningcursillo.com . There I have included the book's introduction, an excerpt, the endorsements by various professors and pastors, and a series of three magazine articles I did on the Cursillo movement. Also the amazon.com website page for the book offers more excerpts from the book including the two appendicies and the the bibliography so you can see which sources I consulted. If you still have questions, just get the book.
I appreciate your feedback, and welcome your comments!
Thanks again,
Brian Janssen"
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