Is Hicks really a Christian in disguise?

[Cantando]

I'm not sure who this post will irk more - fundamentalists or new age believers, but here I go again, wading in with my size 12 hobnail boots!

I believe God/Source/Higher Self communicates to us at all times. The messages we receive today may sound different to those of 2,000 years ago, but the essence is still the same.

Fundies will immediately say Abraham Hicks is the devil in disguise, using sweet talk and promises to attract the gullible to their self-destruction. But, what if the messages really are coming from Source and thus from the same Source which transmitted messages through the Bible 2,000 years ago?

The choice of name, Abraham, is interesting - the founding father of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
The title of the book, "Ask and it is Given", is obviously a direct reference to Matthew 7:7 :

"Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. Everyone who asks receives; everyone who searches find".

Hicks says there is only one Source and one flow which is good. Christianity says there is only one God and one Son, Christ, who is also good.

Hicks describes a scale of emotional vibrations, ranging from joy at the top to fear and depression at the bottom. He says that the more in line we are with Source energy, the happier and more joyful we are. The more resistance we create to the flow of Source Energy, the more we sink down the scale.

To me, that is a good description of heaven and hell. I see the scale as stretching out infinitely in both directions. There is no end to being more and more connected to Source and being more and more happy and fulfilled, i.e. in heaven.

Similarly, there is no end to the amount of resistance (or sin) we wish to create, which takes us further down the scale and away from Source: i.e. hell.

The meaning of devil is 'diabolos', the one who opposes, i.e. who puts up resistance. So if we offer restance to the flow we are, in fact, being the devil. Some beings have truly sunk to depths far beyond anything we can imagine in their attempts to totally disconnect themselves from Source.

The wording of the messages has changed to fit in with our current culture and beliefs, but, essentially, the teaching is the same.

[Acting Like Godot]

I think that instead of Abraham being Christian, a more accurate way to put it is that there is the universe, and then there are different descriptions of how it works - Abraham offers one description, Christianity offers another - but because it's the same universe being described, strong similarities will inevitably arise acrosss different descriptions.

[Cantando]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

I think that instead of Abraham being Christian, a more accurate way to put it is that there is the universe, and then there are different descriptions of how it works - Abraham offers one description, Christianity offers another - but because it's the same universe being described, strong similarities will inevitably arise acrosss different descriptions.

Yes, agreed. It's the same source giving the same message, but being translated in different ways, by virtue of differing cultural, linguistic and historical contexts.

[Angela]

When I received that book as a gift, I put it aside for a year because I was turned off by the biblical title reference. I was pretty surprised to find none of what I found so abhorent about christianity inside when I finally got around to reading it.

By the way, Cantando, I apologize to you -- I had my way of reading the book and made you wrong, and I'm very sorry about that. I can see that you and I have two extremely different ways of interpreting this book, and I was married to mine. You took the time to point out references that I had missed because of my marriage to my point of view. Thank you for that. I promise to watch myself for signs of doing that in the future.

thanks for your generous listening, Cantando.

[Cantando]

Originally Posted by Angela

When I received that book as a gift, I put it aside for a year because I was turned off by the biblical title reference. I was pretty surprised to find none of what I found so abhorent about christianity inside when I finally got around to reading it.

By the way, Cantando, I apologize to you -- I had my way of reading the book and made you wrong, and I'm very sorry about that. I can see that you and I have two extremely different ways of interpreting this book, and I was married to mine. You took the time to point out references that I had missed because of my marriage to my point of view. Thank you for that. I promise to watch myself for signs of doing that in the future.

thanks for your generous listening, Cantando.

And I thank you Angela, for reading my posts and giving me your 'gut feel' about them. It did generate some resistance within me, and I hope I have resolved that now. Yours and the responses of others have helped me conquer some of my own personal demons and I apologize for perhaps coming across heavy handed and oh so right.

[Rahzad]

Originally Posted by Cantando

Yes, agreed. It's the same source giving the same message, but being translated in different ways, by virtue of differing cultural, linguistic and historical contexts.

Bingo! The message is not new, it just arrives repackaged every few decades or so. The Hicks message is the same message, rehashed for a new audience in a very attractive and easy to read package. Their books will appeal to mainstream folks just learning of this stuff and seem well suited for that! But if we go back further...

In 1906 William Atkinson wrote "Thought Vibrations", which basically is the LOA in condensed form. Keeping in mind that was over 100 years ago.

In the 1960's, Jane Roberts wrote the "Seth" series of books, which actually are quite brilliant. Consider the Roberts stuff like Hicks on Steroids in the amount of detail Seth goes into.

In 200BC the Vedanta texts have the same message.

Tao Te Ching I believe dates from anywhere around 50BC-80BC depending on who you talk to.

Then of course we have the bible, which really shares a lot in common, but goes into some pretty great details about it in terms of new ways to live our lives and what not. In the old Testament, Psalms, Proverbs and Genesis are the most accurate. In the new, if you take out Revelations, it is accurate. The Lamsa bible is the most accurate interpretation as it is translated from Aramaic rather than Greek.

Regardless, all of these texts share the common message through all of history, centuries past. The same message just arrives a bit worded differently depending on the time and for the conditions, but the core fundamentals to the message don't change.

If you trace back, and seek more, you'll find essentially the same message, over and over through history.

[Jennihul]

Originally Posted by Cantando

I'm not sure who this post will irk more - fundamentalists or new age believers, but here I go again, wading in with my size 12 hobnail boots!

I believe God/Source/Higher Self communicates to us at all times. The messages we receive today may sound different to those of 2,000 years ago, but the essence is still the same.

Fundies will immediately say Abraham Hicks is the devil in disguise, using sweet talk and promises to attract the gullible to their self-destruction. But, what if the messages really are coming from Source and thus from the same Source which transmitted messages through the Bible 2,000 years ago?

The choice of name, Abraham, is interesting - the founding father of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
The title of the book, "Ask and it is Given", is obviously a direct reference to Matthew 7:7 :

"Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. Everyone who asks receives; everyone who searches find".

Hicks says there is only one Source and one flow which is good. Christianity says there is only one God and one Son, Christ, who is also good.

Hicks describes a scale of emotional vibrations, ranging from joy at the top to fear and depression at the bottom. He says that the more in line we are with Source energy, the happier and more joyful we are. The more resistance we create to the flow of Source Energy, the more we sink down the scale.

To me, that is a good description of heaven and hell. I see the scale as stretching out infinitely in both directions. There is no end to being more and more connected to Source and being more and more happy and fulfilled, i.e. in heaven.

Similarly, there is no end to the amount of resistance (or sin) we wish to create, which takes us further down the scale and away from Source: i.e. hell.

The meaning of devil is 'diabolos', the one who opposes, i.e. who puts up resistance. So if we offer restance to the flow we are, in fact, being the devil. Some beings have truly sunk to depths far beyond anything we can imagine in their attempts to totally disconnect themselves from Source.

The wording of the messages has changed to fit in with our current culture and beliefs, but, essentially, the teaching is the same.

I'm not sure I get your point. All religions are a rehash and picky choosy mish mash of basically the same tenets that existed long before Christianity. Different people have interpreted this info differently. That doesn't mean the basic messages are good/bad/neutral. It's only meaningful when it is distilled by an individual consciousness.

To me, it adds more cred to the messages that they have basically existed since written history has existed. Every generation needs their messages to match their experience. Made fresh, so to speak.

Jennifer

[robertanthony]

There are lots of authors out there who hook into your belief system. They refer to laws of attraction / god / brilliant minds / money / therapy etc. Then sell you stuff that fits with your beliefs. Knowing how to do it comes from NLP training. The secret movie was created using NLP and marketing principals. I sometimes wonder what will happen to these people who act as if they have a direct line phone number to god - the truth is that many of these people have narcisistic personality disorder with a need to control others.

[Cantando]

Originally Posted by Jennihul

I'm not sure I get your point. All religions are a rehash and picky choosy mish mash of basically the same tenets that existed long before Christianity. Different people have interpreted this info differently. That doesn't mean the basic messages are good/bad/neutral. It's only meaningful when it is distilled by an individual consciousness.

To me, it adds more cred to the messages that they have basically existed since written history has existed. Every generation needs their messages to match their experience. Made fresh, so to speak.

Jennifer

Eternal truths do not change (otherwise they would not be eternal!).
The labels don't really matter: God/Source/Higher Self; Energy/Christ/Flow, as long as they help direct us to their true meaning.

At the level of manifested energy (light, electricity, etc.), the universe is neutral. You can do what you want with electricity, light or fire. The energy here has no sense of good or bad. The universe doesn't care.
But below that level is the spiritual level of Source which is the source for love, goodness and truth. When you feel love and goodness within your heart, you are connecting with God/Source.

The vocab may have changed; the words of the tune may have been updated, but the song remains the same.

[Rahzad]

Speaking of this, wonder what David Hawkins calibrates the "Hicks" works to be at? I would be very interested to hear this. As "The Secret" calibrated at a pathetic 125 from what I heard.