Lyceum 2008 -- Prophetic Ministry?

Walter Brueggemann’s central theme in his book The Prophetic Imagination (Fortress Press, 2001) is the identification of a struggle between prophetic consciousness and royal consciousness, the antiphonal struggle between the dominant political and economic institutions of society and the spiritual consciousness of a covenantal sub-community. Brueggemann defines this sub-community by four characteristics. 1) It would be a repository of deep memories which, through story and song, link the events of today with this long struggle for justice and fidelity to God. 2) It would share a sense of pain when interacting with the world, empathy grounded in Christ-like compassion. 3) It would be grounded in hope, a sense of the trustworthiness of God. 4) Finally, the prophetic sub-community would understand the need for generation-spanning discourse to reinforce its members in times to come.[1]

“The prophet must speak metaphorically about hope but concretely about the real newness that comes to us and redefines our situation.”[2]

The specific thrust of his argument, indeed the argument of many socially conscious Christian writers, seems to be a rather Marxist view of the gospel in which the prophet calls for progressive confrontation of the wealthy and powerful with the aim of socio-political liberation and the redistribution of wealth and resources to the poor and weak. However virtuous this economic plan may be, one could just as easily argue that what humanity actually needs is spiritual liberation, a universal rise in consciousness from a self-image of “weak and poor” to “powerful and wealthy”, which could unleash the potential of human creativity and transform this planet in a way that contributory, patronizing schemes of redistribution have never imagined. Brueggemann touches on this in his third characteristic, i.e., a prophetic sub-community maintains hope despite appearances to the contrary because God’s promises are trustworthy.

New Thought Christianity and the Prophetic Tradition
This hopeful vision coincides with the central goals of New Thought Christianity, i.e., to examine and demonstrate those categories of spirit which transcend apparent lack and limitations, to take seriously the power of God working in and through the Cosmos, and to develop specific, practical techniques for releasing such spiritual power into the real world to improve physical and mental health, increase personal and societal prosperity, and improve the quality of relationships among the people. New Thought takes with utter seriousness the idea that the God-power within each person can actually do something in the physical world. We find ourselves called to announce to the world the great possibilities for health, wealth and happiness, for better relationships and deeper awareness of God. The central principle which underlies such a practical Christian belief system is often expressed in the phrase: “There is only one Presence and one Power in the universe, God, the Good omnipotent.”[3]

The newcomer to such claims might find them grandiose, naïve, perhaps even a touch narcissistic. Dietrich Bonehoeffer’s journey from pacifism to Grenzfall (tyrannicide) in some ways represents a movement in the opposite direction, away from optimism toward dark despair which provokes violent intervention by an essentially non-violent man. Indeed, the earlier buoyancy of Transcendentalism and its European counterparts was already absent in the thought-world of twentieth century theology before Bonhoeffer made his move.[4] Nineteenth century idealism had died a generation earlier, summarized by the immortal words of a Canadian medical officer after the Battle of the Ypres salient in the spring of 1915:

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below. [5]

Despite wars and rumors of wars, Unity never relinquished the optimistic, monistic, idealistic vision of Transcendentalism. Our writers and theologians still affirm the divine nature of humanity, taking seriously the imago Dei regardless of appearances to the contrary. The prophetic tradition within our movement aims at calling people to the higher vision of their potential as sons and daughters of God. We see all sentient beings as fully divine and fully human, to include the main example of this indwelling divinity, Jesus of Nazareth. Such a prophetic word from our tradition, properly proclaimed, has the potential to transform the consciousness of humanity, one person at a time.

Not a Player
The outrageous possibilities of such a claim remain unexplored today because the potential apologists for Metaphysical Christianity are unequipped to play in the major leagues of theological dialogue. In fact, one could argue that Unity’s longstanding aversion for intellectual discourse indicates we have yet to show up for spring training. Prophetic ministry has a spiritual dimension, therefore the promulgation of spiritual principles, i.e., a call to righteousness, is an important component in any prophetic vision. However, to communicate a prophetic vision today requires an understanding of contemporary issues and their antecedents, plus the ability to translate one’s insights into the common language of Christian theology.

Means to the Goal: Lyceum and Journal
I hold that establishing an annual academic conference open to religious scholars from around the world (“The Lyceum at Unity Village”) and offering its proceedings in a new publication, the Unity Institute Journal of Theology (UIJT) will, over time, contribute to New Thought Christianity’s fuller participation in the ongoing theological dialogue and increase Unity’s involvement with the wider Christian community. Such involvement will allow the powerful insights of New Thought to flow outward from Unity while the circulating exchange of ideas will bring new possibilities to us from thinkers and spiritual leaders of other traditions. This is my thesis project for the doctoral program I am completing as part of my professional development as instructor of Historical and Theological Studies at Unity Institute; this is also the center of my life’s work.

Anti-Intellectual, Anti-traditionalist
Historically, Unity has been rather anti-intellectual and anti-traditionalist, so much that the insights, ideas and tools available to clergy and religious scholars from mainstream Protestant and Catholic traditions have seldom found their way into Metaphysical Christianity. The largest of the New Thought denominations, Unity could arguably be described as a movement with excellent insights into the nature of spirituality but little sense of its relationship to the complex family of religions commonly called Christianity. Even among the ordained Unity clergy, there is almost no tradition of theological reflection, no widespread understanding of modern biblical scholarship, little sense of church history, and an appalling lack of awareness about the very tools required to make our gifts available to a wider Christian world. The intellect has been described as inferior to, and often in conflict with, intuitive insights gleaned in personal meditation. For a classic example, Unity co-founder Charles Fillmore wrote:

Some persons confound the realm of knowledge about things formulated through the intellect with pure knowledge. Intellect and its plane of activity are not pure mind as the realm of matter is not Spirit. The same essences of being enter into both, but wisdom is sadly lacking in the intellectual realm. Intellect has formulated its conclusions from the sense side of existence instead of from the spiritual side, and these two sides are divergent.[6]


Again and again, Unity foundational writings take a swipe at the intellectual approach to religion, like this supposedly objective question in the study guide of Fillmore’s 1939 book, Jesus Christ Heals: “Is it better to seek understanding through intellectual reasoning or through divine inspiration?”[7] Since dialogue among biblical scholars and theologians provides a context of continuity for the Christian community, it is precisely this juxtaposition of intellectual reasoning over and against divine inspiration which has perpetuated Unity’s isolation. The New Thought archipelago lies somewhere over the horizon, far from the mainland of Christian thought.

Prophetic Possibilities: Mystical Consciousness
Nevertheless, the kind of prophetic ministry which Unity practices could be understood in the classical model of a call to righteousness, if such a call were expanded to include teaching and healing ministry aimed at introducing people to their inherent divine nature. Like Paul addressing the Athenians on Mars hill, Unity needs metaphors with which to translate the exciting, empowering insights of New Thought Christianity into the symbolic language of the twenty-first century Christian world. For example, Unity could be understood as a renewed, somewhat Easternized form of Christian mysticism. Some critics have claimed New Thought has more in common with Hinduism than Christianity, but this is an overstatement.[8] Historically, one could make the case for Unity’s monistic vision and sense of the indwelling Spirit by drawing parallels with Dionysius the Aeropagite, John Scotus Erigena, Meister Eckhart, and George Fox.

Since the denomination “grew up” as a laypersons movement, significant early thinkers in Unity had little awareness of the many points of contact with the intellectual and spiritual heritage available to them. This theological and historical illiteracy, coupled with the revivalist tendencies on nineteenth century American religious scene, produced twentieth century Unity writings which continued to display a sense of isolation from mainstream Christianity. Too often this primordial, developmental ignorance has persisted in Unity circles, sometimes outpicturing as anti-traditionalism which borders on religious xenophobia. Some Unity people have become suspicious of the word theology itself.

An established program of theological conferences and the publication of an academic New Thought Christian journal has the potential to mitigate some of the historic, anti-intellectual tendencies of the Unity movement, to inspire its scholars to explore and develop more fully Unity’s contribution to Christian thought, and to encourage ministers and laypeople to join the discussion about the role of the Church in service to humanity.

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[1] Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2001), xvi.
[2] Ibid., 67.
[3] Myrtle Fillmore, Myrtle Fillmore’s Healing Letters, Francis W. Foulkes, ed., (Unity Village, MO: Unity Books, 1954), 132.
[4]Larry Rasmussen, Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Reality and Resistance (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2005), 122.
[5] John McCrea, “In Flanders Fields” (Arlington National Cemetery Website: online source http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/flanders.htm), accessed 08-13-08.
[6] Charles Fillmore, Atom-Smashing Power of Mind (Unity Village, MO: Unity Books, 1949), 89.
[7] Fillmore, Jesus Christ Heals (Unity Village, MO: Unity Books, 1939), 202.
[8] Anderson, online lecture (http://www.websyte.com/alan/parl.htm).