News Re: Four Divinations -- The Word Was God

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Date Posted: 19:51:15 07/30/02 Tue
Author: Sola
Author Host/IP: 66.141.17.101
Subject: News Re: Four Divinations

================================================================== FROM THE NEWS LETTER:

One Lady's Question:
Why Would the Church Be Involved in Such?

Note: After reading this article, please read the follow-up article called "One Lady's Question Addressed Further."
Recently I received an e-mail from a lady on an interesting subject. Her first message follows:

Subject: The Four Temperament Theory
Date: Fri, 06 Sep 1996

Hello:

Thank you for your excellent Web site! Are you familiar with a teaching called the Four Temperament Theory? It seems I've been watching Christian television and I hear a lot about this teaching. I recently read a book entitled, "Temperamysticism" which documents the foundations and origins of this teaching which comes from Astrology. Why would so many churches and Christian television programs have so many teachings like the Temperaments if it is connected to Astrology? Any comments?

Thanks!

Sarah

I replied to Sarah and asked her to tell me what this theory says and on what programs she saw it being discussed, as I had never heard of it before. I was interested because any teaching that has its roots in astrology or in any other occultic practice certainly has no place in Christianity. Also, I could think of nothing that I ever read in God's Word or heard taught from the Word that would be called by such a name. Sarah's response follows:

Subject: Re: The Four Temperament Theory
Date: Fri, 6 Sep 1996

The Four Temperament Theory is a teaching on personality types. There are four: the Sanguine, Choleric, Phlegmatic, and Melancholy. This is a teaching that is only in Christian churches. People like Florence Littauer and Tim LaHaye have written books on the Temperament teaching. I just saw TBN the other day and they had several programs on this teaching. One was with James Robison and Florence Littauer.

The book entitled, "Temperamysticism" was written by Shirley Ann Miller, who was a professional astrologer before knowing Jesus Christ as Savior. She documents in her book, without question, that the Four Temperament Theory originates from Astrology. I've heard this teaching even taught in some churches. If Ms. Miller has documented the truths of this teaching, then why aren't more Christians interested in finding out? Could it be that she was a former Professional Astrologer and Christians believe that to be "dirty" in some way?

It's difficult to quote all of the pertinent information in her book, but I am convinced that she has proven her point. It looks like the Four Temperament Theory started with the four "elements" of fire, air, earth, and water. They were worshipped by ancient civilizations.

Fire = Choleric
Air = Sanguine
Water = Melancholy
Earth = Phlegmatic

These were combined with the 12 signs of the zodiac:

Fire = Choleric = Aries, etc.
Air = Sanguine = Aquarius, etc.
and so on.

The four temperaments aren't even used by modern science any longer. They passed into the archives of ancient history and became obsolete. I would imagine because of their connection with astrology. If anyone would research at their local library the 12 signs of the zodiac and the elements, they could find vast information that reveals the connection. I have done it, and found this true!

What I'm concerned about, is that this teaching relies on the "flesh" experiences to inspire growth among Christians. I like the comparison with the "fruit of the Spirit." If you look at the descriptions of the four temperaments and then look at the "fruit of the Spirit," you can see that the temperament teaching lists only "flesh" characteristics, whereas the "fruit of the Spirit" lists by-products of spiritual growth.

Why are Christians swallowing this theory and not questioning its origins? What I find sad is if this teaching is connected to Astrology and we're learning it in our churches, what does this say about the future of Christianity? Are we going to subtley be taught a form of Astrology and not realize it until the church becomes indoctrinated and it's too late? I would love to hear more views on this subject!

Thank you so much for your Web site, it's much needed!

God Bless You,

Sarah

I want to thank Sarah for bringing up this subject; it's encouraging to know there are Christians who are willing to test the spirits and gauge everything by the Word of God, not by what is just a current fad.

After learning that the teaching is based on astrology, I bought a booklet that covers some basics on astrology from a Christian perspective, in hopes that this theory would be addressed therein. After looking through it, though, I didn't find anything about this specific teaching. Therefore, what I am going to say is based upon the information that Sarah has provided us. I encourage anyone interested in the subject to research it for himself/herself. And, as you'll see, what I feel led to say is not so much about this specific teaching but about the state of what we call modern Christianity in general.

First, in response to the idea of the four personality types based on those four elements, this sounds to me very akin to what would be taught in earth religions, New Age, witchcraft, etc. For anything of this nature to be taught from behind a so-called Christian pulpit is a shame. For someone to spend time preaching and teaching about personality types at all sounds very akin to psychology to me. And pyschology has been welcomed into the modern churches in a very disturbing way. This is basically saying that man has the answer to man's problems, and that the Bible doesn't fully address the needs of modern man. That's a lie of the devil. Man can't help anything including himself, and the Bible contains all we need.

The mentioning of the elements of earth, fire, air, and water reminds me of a program I heard by David Benoit a while back. Mr. Benoit is a Christian teacher on the occult, especially its presence in children's cartoons and movies. If I remember correctly, he mentioned these elements and the concepts relating to them being a part of witchcraft.

As far as this teaching being discussed on Christian programming, I would hope that a preacher of the Gospel would be speaking out against such a thing. I didn't see the James Robison program in question, but I'm aware of the format of his daily program. On one occasion when I did see the program, they were discussing something occultic (possibly fortune telling, or something similar...I don't recall for sure) and one lady in the audience stood up and claimed to be able to mix such with Christianity. So, I'm aware that conflicting views are presented, but I would trust in such a way as to lead people away from lies and deception and into the Truth of God's Word. This is the way the discussion was handled on the particular program that I saw.

That's about all I can say about this particular teaching at this time, but please allow me to mention what I feel is a similar situation of which I'm personally aware:

My family and I joined a church in our community several years back. We didn't know at the time that many of the members of the church were involved in Freemasonry. This rudely came to our attention one Sunday when several visitors came to church to present a proposal along with some of the members who were Masons. They wanted to "rent" a room in what was called the educational building next to the church. They said they would use it for one meeting a month. In my ignorance, I knew hardly anything at all about Freemasonry at the time. To make a long story short, they got their room and are still there at the time of this writing. Their cause was furthered when the preacher announced that the Masons are a fine Christian organization and that's why he's a Mason himself! After that, I noticed his Masonic ring that he wore faithfully along with the attire of robe and cross that, I suppose, is dictacted by his denomination. I also found out that many of the oldest members in the church are Masons, and there's even a Masonic Bible laying open on the pulpit. I acknowledge readily that my being involved in a church that condones such shows my lack of discernment at the time and my poor ability in choosing a New Testament church.

For those of you unfamiliar with Freemasonry, let me briefly tell you what I've learned from some research that I've done since that took place. To be a Mason, you must possess a belief in God. However, Jesus Christ doesn't enter the picture, at least not as the Son of God. Isn't this enough right here to tell us that Freemasonry is a religion in conflict with the beliefs of Christianity? I could go on about their ritualistic ceremonies, particulary when new members are being initiated, the fact that it's a secret organization, etc., but much literature is available in Christian bookstores so I'll leave it at that.

Finally, the Lord got it through to me that I had to leave this church, because of its association with another religion, and for other reasons as well, such as, the Gospel was not really being preached, no one was being won to the Lord, no one believed in the moving and operation of the Holy Spirit, etc. It shouldn't be any surprise that when a church is in effect endorsing another religion being practiced among its own members and in the church building next door, that God can't really move, simply because He's not welcome to move.

Let me add that this church was a part of one of the largest denominations in the U.S. In some of my reading on the subject, I found that many new preachers in the denomination are encouraged by other preachers, or whomever, to become Masons to advance their ministry! At their convention a few years ago, another of the largest denominations took a vote regarding church members also being Masons, and they voted that it is a matter of personal conscience! I guess folks don't want the Masons to get angry and quit dropping something in the offering plate. Both of these denominations are mainline, with at least one of them being considered fundamental. They, along with many others, would do well to quit denying the operation of the Holy Spirit in their churches, so He would be able to move upon their hearts and help them to, among other things, discern truth from a lie.

I said all that to say this. Here is another example of how modern so-called Christianity will embrace things that literally blaspheme Almighty God, in order to further their own un-Godly, man-made, man-serving agendas. Any preacher who gets behind a pulpit and says what he thinks the people want to hear rather than what is right and true by God's Word, is no one to be listening to. It doesn't matter if it's the Four Temperaments Theory, or psychology, or the power of positive thinking, or the prosperity message, or whatever else appeals to the flesh. People who really want to see God move and have revival have to, in my opinion, leave all the junk behind and go forward in Christ. Beware: there won't be a lot of people travelling down that road with you; it'll get lonely at times. But where and to Whom it leads will be worth it all.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
September 15, 1996

Since the time of the writing above, Sarah has sent me a copy of the book "Tempera Mysticism" by Shirley Ann Miller. I would recommend that anyone interested in finding out the truth about this teaching get a copy. It goes into much detail about the origins of the theory and how it has and is infiltrating the Church today.

At one point in the book, Ms. Miller writes generally about how deception abounds in the Church today:

"There are many encouraging, uplifting, and spiritually inspiring books available to help Christians cope with everyday life. Unfortunately, in some cases, secular psychological theories are being blended with Christian doctrine to teach people how to live their lives. These books contain worldly theories based upon human traditions and values rather than the Word of God. Rather than turning to the Word of God and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, Christians rely on these self-help, self-esteem, and self-confidence books appearing even on the shelves of Christian bookstores."

Satan has clearly weaved a web of deception into lives today. False teaching today may be traced back to witchcraft, astrology, or whatever. But Satan is the author of it all. He simply disguises it under different names so that it's available for everyone, no matter what their personal taste in religion might be. Ms. Miller's inclusion of the self-esteem teaching reminds me of a conversation I had just yesterday with parents of a child in elementary school. They were talking about Outcome Based Education being brought into their child's classroom. The school principal had stated that no child would ever fail a grade in the K-3rd grade years at his school, because it might hurt their self-esteem! He went on to say that he was held back himself in the first grade, and he's just now realizing how much it hurt his self-esteem. All I can say about self-esteem is, if there's so much to esteem in self, then explain Calvary!!!!!!!!!!! These parents also know of another couple who are sending their child to a so-called Christian school, but guess what, self-esteem is promoted there as well. The school is part of a church that's in one of the largest denominations in this nation. Can you see how Satan is working from every angle to get control of peoples' spirits, and if he can get the Church to swallow it, he's made major headway.

Here's a quote from a portion of Jimmy Swaggart's Bible Commentary Volume 3 on Isaiah 57:10:

"[Judah] was spiritually 'deaf,' and spiritually 'blind.' It was a willful 'deafness' and 'blindness.' There are only two directions in the spiritual sense for one to travel; God or Satan! There is no in-between. To religious man, Satan appeals, cloaking his lie with all types of religious phraseology, while all the time drawing men away from the Bible. The idea is this:

"Judah did not consider herself abandoning God or His Word, but rather incorporating these idols into their worship of the True God. They even set up these idols in the Temple, along with the 'Table of Shewbread,' the 'Golden Lampstand,' the 'Altar of Incense,' along with the 'Ark of the Covenant.' They did this, while all the time, claiming to abide by the Law of Moses, while in effect abandoning the Law of Moses. Even though there were no answers to their prayers, no blessings from God, and no moving of 'The Spirit,' still, they did not 'weary' in their fruitless efforts, but rather, increased their efforts.

"It has little changed today. Men claim to be worshiping God, and according to His Word, while calling the debauched music of the world, 'Christian rock,' or the determined lie of man's foolishness, 'Christian psychology.'

"Applying the name, 'Christian,' does not make it 'Christian,' nor does it elevate the practice, but only degenerates the name, 'Christian.'"

Some still are interested enough in hearing from God and following Him to state the Truth, whatever the cost. I thank God for these people, whether preachers or lay-people. God, please give us more, and point people back to the Cross.

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Replies:

I read this before -- Mondo, 23:28:42 07/30/02 Tue
- Re: Mondo -- Sola, 00:43:58 07/31/02 Wed
  - It's some kind of educational system -- Mondo, 09:31:35 07/31/02 Wed
Re: News Re: Four Divinations -- Sue da babe, 08:33:18 07/31/02 Wed
You're just jealous Sola -- WOG, 08:56:01 07/31/02 Wed