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Meditation - Eastern vs. Biblical

Have you ever wondered about the place of yoga or meditation in the life of a Christian?  In a Church?  How is Eastern meditation different from that which is referred to in the Bible?

Dr. Al Mohler provides an insightful and biblical response to the continuing and growing trend of such Eastern practices HERE.

Some helpful comments:
  • "The biblical concept of meditation is not without reference to thought and content.  To the contrary, it is about thinking that is directed by the Word of God -- scripturally saturated thought."
  • "The Eastern concept of emptying the mind is just not anything close to the biblical vision of filling the mind with the Word of God."
  • Referring to an article that quotes Donald Whitney, Professor of Biblical Spirituality at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary: "Referring to meditation's long association with Hinduism, Buddhism and other Eastern religions, Whitney says, 'Some of the yoga stuff, where you're given a mantra, that is rooted in false religions.' He sees no problem with stretching, but once you start chanting, you're treading on treacherous ground, he says."
  • "We live in a world so shaped by therapeutic concerns that most people never stop to wonder if God is dealing with them in their stress, their distress, their haunting thoughts, their cluttered minds.  An attempt to empty the mind might well be an effort to listen to the self when we should seek to hear from God."
Psalm 1:1-2 "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night."

Psalm 77:6 "I said, 'Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.' Then my spirit made a diligent search:"

Psalm 119:15-16 "I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.  I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word."

Psalm 145:5 "On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate."

Quote - Polycarp

"Could a mariner sit idle if he heard the drowning cry? Could a doctor sit in comfort and just let his patients die? Could a fireman sit idle, let men burn and give no hand? Can you sit at ease in Zion with the world around you damned?" - Polycarp

Quote - John Donne

"We are the Bibles the world is reading; We are the creeds the world is needing; We are the sermons the world is heeding." - John Donne

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