Still Running Off at the Keyboard

WHEN DID THE CLEVELAND DIOCESE BECOME METHODIST ?

The Methodist Logo

On the website of the Community United Methodist Church

On the Boise State University United Methodist Students website

On the Virginia Conference United Methodist Church website

On the Los Altos United Methodist Church website

On the Cleveland Diocesan Social Action Office website

From THE CENTURY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT by Vinson Synan:

John Wesley, an Anglican priest, experienced his evangelical conversion in a meeting at Aldersgate Street in 1738 where, as he said, "my heart was strangely warmed." This he called his "new birth."

From Wesley, Pentecostals also inherited the idea of a crisis "second blessing" subsequent to salvation. This experience he variously called "entire sanctification," "perfect love," "Christian perfection," or "heart purity." Wesley's colleague John Fletcher was the first to call this a "baptism of the Holy Spirit," an experience that brought spiritual power to the recipient as well as inner cleansing.

In the 19th century, Edward Irving and his friends in London suggested the possibility of a restoration of the gifts of the Spirit in the modern church. (p. 2)

Irvingite priests were part of the Vintrasian Carmelite (Eglise Gnostique Apostolique) Church of Eugene Vintras, as I reported in a blog on Sept. 5 - a church that is described on the Neoluciferian Church website. From my blog:

Returning again to Vintras and the Church of Carmel, the history of the church is contained in Part II of Milko Bogaard's History of the Ecclesia Gnostica. Here you get not only the spiritual aspect of the Vintrasian Church but also the political side.

Here Bogaard claims that Vintras "traveled through the French countryside proclaiming his 'revelation' acquiring many followers, including Roman- and Irvingite Catholic Priests." The Irvingites are precursors of Pentecostalism.

The "heart doctrine" is a Martinist principle as Guy Patton describes in "Sauniere and the Occult":

From [1886] on Papus [Gerard Encausse, a student of the Kabbalah and the Tarot, alchemy and magic, and the writings of Eliphas Levi] becomes the propagator of Christian Mysticism and "the Way of the Heart", which Saint-Martin called the "Inner Way"....with the importance of simplicity and the purification of body, soul and mind in one's spiritual quest. Another text of Papus which reflects the philosophy of the 'Inner Way' is appropriately called 'the Way of the Heart.'

The cross and flame represent Gnostic concepts in Christianity, reflected in Pentecostalism.

Does anyone know whether the Methodist symbol has appeared on a Diocesan organization website prior to the coming of Bishop Lennon?

Are the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church approving a merger of Martinism with Roman Catholicism? Evidence that would seem to contribute to the idea that they are includes:

1. Von Balthasar's foreword to MEDITATIONS ON THE TAROT, a book originally written under the pseudonym of the "Unknown Philosopher", and later credited to Tomberg. Saint-Martin wrote under the same pseudonym.

2. The acceptance of the Charismatic Renewal and its union with Pentecostalism.

3. This Methodist symbol used in a Catholic Diocesan website.

There may be more. In "Sauniere and the Occult" Guy Patton talks about the Sacred Heart movement being "interwoven with the Monarchist movement, [which] had strong links to, and received support from, Occult and Esoteric Societies." According to Patton, the Martinist Order was looking for "the one, undivided Church, faithful to the Tradition of the Apostles and the Fathers of the Church, and possessor and dispenser of the gnosis spoken of by Clement of Alexandria."

These Martinists were centered in both Paris and Lyon. It is out of Lyon, and in the same historical time frame that the Sillon of Marc Sangnier was conceived. Are they related?

Today the Catholic monks of Monastic Interreligious Dialogue are promoting a heart doctrine of their own, with the help of Joan Chittister. That website also advertises a book by Rembert G. Weakland, O.S.B. Weakland represented the most liberal side of Roman Catholicism.

Is the "other gospel" in the Church, the other half of the schism mentioned by Cardinal Gagnon, the Martinist philosophy?

Martinism encompasses spirit contact, an activity specifically forbidden by Catholicism. Patton mentions Spiritualism in the linked essay:

Spiritualism, popular in America, had taken hold in Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century and had become a key feature of Martinist ritual. We know that Papus himself held seances for contacting spirits. One can easily see how attractive such activity would have been in a questioning priest. Despite being outlawed by Rome, direct contact with the dead would have held a fascination to those whose lives were dedicated to preparation for the afterlife.

Papus and his involvement in esoteric movements became widely known amongst those with an interest in occultism. In 1905, Papus was summoned to the court of Tsar Nicolas II to hold a "spiritual Seance" at which the spirit of his son Alexander III was raised.

Where have you taken us John Paul II? Where are you taking us Benedict XVI?

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!