In the Screwtape Letters, Letter 7, Screwtape writes to the younger demon Wormwood,
When humans disbelieve in our existence we lose all the pleasing results of direct terrorism and we make no magicians. On the other hand, only believe in us, we cannot make the materialists and ethics. At least, not yet. I have great hopes that we shall learn in due time how to emotional lies and mythologize their science to such an extent that what is, in effect, a belief in us (though not under that name) will creep in while the human mind remains closed to believe in the Enemy. The “Life Force,” the worship of sex, and other aspects of psychoanalysis, may here prove useful. If once we can produce are perfect work — the materialist magician, the man, not using, but veritably worshiping, what he vaguely calls “Forces” while denying the existence of “spirits” — the end of the war will be in sight. But in the meantime we must obey orders.
CS Lewis published his book Screwtape Letters in 1942. Since that time, Screwtape’s dream of a “Materialist Magican” has come to be. In January 12, 2012, article, Dr. Peter Jones wrote:
When I was studying the Death of God theology, I never thought that years later I would read an academic book entitled Postsecularism (Cambridge: 2009). Its British author, Dr. Mike King, describes how secular humanists are becoming spiritual, open to questions of the spirit while retaining, of course, the secular habit of critical thought. However, not all “spirits” can apply.
The “in” spirituality includes
Quantum Physics, which shows “the human being as joyously co-extensive with and co-creator of that cosmos”;
Transpersonal Psychology, since it is both scientific and spiritual (it is actually occult shamanism);
Nature worship, which gives us both morals and spirituality;
Goddess worship, practiced by cutting-edge modern feminism.
This intellectual openness allows only one spirituality—pagan spirituality, or One-ism. Two-ism is unthinkable. Postsecularists seek to be liberated from two opposing “extremist” forces: traditional religion and atheistic secularism. Post-secularism delivers us from both these dead ends. While atheism is no longer valid, neither is traditional theism. For the postmodern the way forward is pantheism.
http://truthxchange.com/articles/2012/01/27/io-86-your-spiritual-but-not-religious-neighbor/
Christianity at heart is not merely an option among many. It is a historical religion which makes truth claims which will not devolve into a generic spirituality. Aldous Huxley’s “perenial philosophy” sound s true and good in a world were “true” and “good” merely subjective evaluations and we all just want to get along. However, such a philosophy runs square into the claims of Jesus:
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” John 14:5–7 (ESV)
Now, Jesus’ claim to be the sole way does not prove his point. However, it does prove that he is not willing to share “truth” others. Pilate may ask, “What is truth?” Still Jesus will answer, “I am.”
In a gracious, though uncompromising way, Eric Metaxas made this point at the national prayer breakfast:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2012/02/03/eric-metaxas-at-the-national-prayer-breakfast/
And thus, the non-Christian positions which seek to reduce Christianity to merely a subjectively mediated recognition of the one universal truth, are not tolerant of other positions. Rather, they are totalitarian of a single position to which all forms of thinking must devolve. On the matter of tolerance and intolerance, see D.A. Caron’s recent book on tolerance:
http://andynaselli.com/tolerance
Adolphe Monod wrote in Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness, “The Battle”, “Today you are placed in teh presence of unbelieving and profane world that tolerates everything except what is holy and true.”
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