RUTH
PAXSON-- Fluff Headed Bible Mutilator
Christian
Polyfiber Fill
Why deal with this lady long after her (assumed) death? Ruth Paxson has staying power. Her book is being reprinted right now and in great demand.
Ruth Paxson's book: "Life on the Highest Plane" Published 1928
Paxson's book has been distributed in ALL circles, and this article is here due to word we received from Pennsylvania of a Fundamental Baptist King James Bible only pastor who distributes her book.
Paxson- Bible Mutilator Early On
Editor: After reviewing Paxson's book, I find her quoting the Revised Version over and over. She also quoted Weymouth a number of times. In 1928, virtually ALL Bible believers were raging against the Revised Version. Westcott and Hort were the enemy, and the King James Bible was considered the only Bible in English. So, at this early date, anyone who used the RV was considered a heretic. I rest my case.
Paxson- "life on the Highest Plane" is NOT a Bible based notion.
Editor: But it IS a notion with a history and distinct mystic spiritual roots. Thus........
To understand the system, we must define the terms. In the Norse Edda, Odin occurs on every level of life. On the highest plane of cosmic ideation it is the essence of creative universal consciousness, the Allfather. The name is a form of o�r, universal intelligence (Greek nous), whereof the spiritual soul of man is an intrinsic part. (O�roerir, "container of o�r," which held the mead of wisdom from which Odin himself drank in a far past aeon, is one of the holy vessels which contain the "blood of Kvasir" -- a "hostage" sent by the unmanifest superior divinities (Vanir) to the lesser, creative deities (Aesir). This suggests the continuity of divine inspiration: a transmission or avatar from inconceivably sublime cosmic powers descending to a god world still far superior to our own. It also suggests the continuous evolutionary growth of Odin, now Allfather of our worlds and divine root of every living being in our sphere, from a formerly lesser condition.) While in a general sense Allfather is implicit in all forms of manifestation, Odin also has his specific domain: a "shelf" or plane of substance superior to our physical matter, named "Gladhome" (Gladsheim), where is located Val-hall, the "hall of the elect." Val means "choice"; it also has the meaning "death" when it applies to Odin's warriors, the "One-victors" (einherjar). As the word implies, each has achieved victory over one -- himself. Each has elected to die as a personal, limited egoity and gained a transcendency of consciousness into the realm of the gods or, to put it another way, has overcome the lesser, human propensities and united with the cosmic purpose of life. This is a continuous process of growth, hence of change, each daily "death" being a transformation from a less to a more perfect condition. The heroes are brought to Odin's sacred hall by the "crowners of the elect" (Valkyries) who are closely related to man's hamingja, his "guardian angel" or spiritual soul. They are therefore our protectors and tutors.
The above was taken from a pagan mystic page of Nordic and Scandinavian mysticism.
Paxson- Ecumenist and Unity Junky
Editor: From Chapter 32 in her book, note this case for unrestrained unity and ecumenism:
The spiritual man is big enough to recognize that it takes all the millions upon millions of believers in the past, present and future, until the coming of Christ completes it, to make up that wondrous Body. He grasps the truth of that incomparable passage, Ephesians 3:17-19, where words fail even the apostle Paul as he tries to show that it will take all the saints of all the ages to know the love of God that passeth knowledge. In the apprehension of this transcendent truth the spiritual man sees the terrible sin of jealousy, envy, strife, enmity, hatred, intolerance, selfishness, quarreling between members of the Body of Christ. He gladly acknowledges that in the Church of God there are both room and need for the mystical, the practical, the philosophical, the scientific, the meditative, the active temperament. He acknowledges the greatness of truth and the absolute inability of any one person or sect to comprehend all truth or to embody its teachings perfectly. He joyfully acquiesces in God's plan of sharing His ministry gifts with all His children, dividing to each according to His divine will that His purpose for the world may be accomplished. There is a clearly defined attitude which every Christian must take toward his fellow Christians if he means to live his life on the highest plane. It is an attitude of forbearance, humility, unselfishness, sympathy, frankness, helpfulness, peace and cooperation.
Dear fellow member of the Body of Christ, are you living in harmonious and peaceful adjustment to every other member of that Body? Is there something between you and a fellow Christian for which you are responsible? If so, are you satisfied to have such a condition continue or are you ready to let the great Physician heal the breach? He is able to do it if you will cooperate with Him. Your part is threefold. First, will you lay aside by confession all sin of your heart toward another?
Second, will you live by 1 Corinthians 13 every day of your life? Will you let the love-truth of that chapter become your code of conduct? Will you take your spiritual pulse by this infallible thermometer? Will you judge yourself, rather than your fellows, by this divine standard of love? Will you let the Holy Spirit clothe you with love?
Third, will you unite your prayer with that of your Lord that you may be "made perfect in one" with every other member of His Body? And will you allow nothing to remain in your mind or in your heart that separates you even a hair's breadth from any other child of God?
Christ came into the world as the Father's Ambassador. Into a world alienated from God He brought "the good tidings of great joy" that a way was opened through Himself back to the Father's heart and home.
Editor: This is an open ended lust for unity at all costs. This was well under way in the early part of this century, and Paxson pushed for unity and against holy discrimination. Also, note the idea that Jesus was an Ambassador. This is a non-biblical concept. We saints are ambassadors of Christ, but the term is never used of Jesus Christ. The lady was just making up the cute things on her own time, just like Benny Hinn makes new things and new terms for soft headed saints to grab.
In Chapter 22 Paxson calls loud and long for a separated life:
When there is complete separateness the Christian will bear the same relationship to the world as Christ bore to it and the world will bear the same relationship to him as it bore to Christ. The Christian will regard the pleasures, the pursuits, the principles and the plans of the world exactly as Jesus Christ did. He is not of the world, therefore the world hated, persecuted and crucified Him. Such an experience the spiritual Christian will likewise have.
Editor: This lady totally failed to apply this call for separation to the religious establishment in which Jesus lived His whole life. Jesus did not have to worry about separating from the evil world of the Philistines or the Egyptians. Rather; He was separated from the leaven of the Pharisees and Saducees. He boldly rebuked them in public and warned His followers to avoid them. Even so today, separation is the toughest in the church house, whereas the pagans down the road actually give us very little to distract us.
Paxson was simply applying the standard newly set in place by the World Conference on Missions in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1901. They agreed to set aside all differences in order to win souls to Christ. Paxson was building on the sands of compromise, so love, love, love, WITHOUT separation or discrimination within Christendom, was the order of the day. This is precisely why Paxson's book is now being reprinted. A bunch of wimps are trying to justify their Unitarian Fundamentalism.
Paxson- Botched Eschatology
Editor: From Chapter 33 in Paxson's book:
Through prophecies added to those already given through the Old Testament, Jesus Christ gave birth to this hope in the hearts of those first believers. According to His prophecy His second advent was to be of a totally different nature and for a totally different purpose than His first advent had been. In the first He had come in weakness and humiliation; in the second He would come in regal power and glorious splendor. In the first He had come as a Saviour, to be despised of men and to be crucified upon a cross set up by wicked men for Him, but in the second He would come as a Sovereign to set up a Kingdom for Himself in which all nations and all men would bow down and serve Him.
Paxson quotes: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of Cod: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."
So the steadfast confidence of their faith and the intense longing of their love crystallized into an undimmed patience of hope which dominated the everyday life. How fully this blessed hope permeated and possessed the thought and the testimony of the apostles is revealed in a study of the New Testament. In the closing chapters of the gospels, throughout the book of the Acts and in every epistle except three Christ's second advent is taught and it is the major theme of Revelation. Three hundred and eighteen times it is mentioned; one verse out of every twenty-five is devoted to it. It was the hope of Paul, Peter, John, James, Jude and the writer of Hebrews.
Editor: This lady is a classic ignorant twit as regards the Rapture of the Lord's Church. She gives the text describing the Rapture, then she applies it to the Second Advent of Christ at the beginning of the Kingdom Reign. Now, consider this next strange trick.
The return of the Lord Jesus Christ will effect the consummation of the reconciliation of all things unto Himself. A time is coming when Jesus Christ will be the center of everything in heaven and upon earth; when everything will be directly related to Him and will head up in Him.
That time will usher in the last of the divinely ordered ages which condition human life upon the earth; it will register the answer to the prayer "Thy kingdom come," and it will mark the fulfillment of the prophecy that Jesus Christ, as the seed of David, should be King over His own Kingdom upon this earth.
Editor: Her proof texts for the Church Age ending and the Kingdom beginning are nearly ALL from the Old Testament prophecies or the teachings of Jesus to the Jews. She is ignorant or too rebellious to consider the Rapture of the Church. This is clearly a dead beat Reformed lady.
The God-man is now in heaven. The Father is on the throne and the Son is at His Father's right hand. But some day when He shall have conquered every enemy the Son is to have His own throne. This throne He promises to share with everyone who, while here on earth, has lived the life of an overcomer.
Ephesians 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Hebrews 8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
Hebrews 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Editor: The blasphemy here is that Jesus has to EARN the right to sit down, according to Paxson. What supreme mongrel drivel! Also, she simply is not willing to search the Scriptures, or else she would have found the texts I just put up. Lazy ninny, I say.
Perhaps no sign is more significant than this one. In World War I a prophetic prediction became an historical fact. Christ had said that the liberation of Jerusalem from Gentile overlordship would not take place "until" a certain time and then stated what that time would be. "The times of the Gentiles" refers to the period from the captivity of Judah under Nebuchadnezzar and the dispersion of Israel from her land until the setting up of the Kingdom by the return of the King and His reestablishment of His chosen people in the land He gave them. Jerusalem has been emancipated and is today virtually in the control of the Jews. Then may we not confidently believe that "the times of the Gentiles" are at least nearing fulfillment and the coming of the Lord draweth nigh?
Editor: Well, not so fast lady. Make room for World War II please, a lot more wars, and the effects of your heresy on the Laodicean church. The obsession to be able to call the date of prophetic events already lingers in this lady, as it did with Harold Camping and a lot of other Bible teachers.
Oh! my friend, perhaps He delays His coming for your sake. He may be waiting for you to accept Him. You may be the last one needed to complete the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Cod may be holding the door of grace open a little longer for you to enter. Will you do so today?
Editor: Nonsense! God will not delay any of His divine plans for anyone. The time of Christ's return will not "tarry" nor "wait" for men. There will be a last sinner saved somewhere, but all of heaven will not be wringing their hands over that person. The angels watch the face of God, and Jesus Christ waits for the word to take His Bride, and that is all there is to it. This lady has a feely feely religion.
The outstanding appeal of the blessed hope is to purily of life. It challenges us to be both holy and righteous, to be void of offense both to God and to men. It calls us to so live that we would be unashamed to meet Him face to face at any moment.
Editor: The "deeper life" people get the thing half right. We are also told in Luke 19:13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. John 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. That is when He comes "as a thief in the night." Devotional obsessions result in very little soul winning.
Paxson- Motivator of Wimpy Male Balaams
Editor: I have never met a Christian lady who was all turned on by Paxson's teaching, but I HAVE met several men who were nuts to be dominated by this stuff. One Fundamental Baptist pastor is now handing out her book. Why? Answer: These are men who are looking for "something more." They want the deeper life, they want to feel the Holy Spirit fly around the room, they want to blow and puff and breath on people with mystic gestures. But, they want to stop short of the Benny Hinn and Brownsville Renewal hocus pocus. Paxson offers a middle ground of the deeper life and a little mystic activity without the crazy activities.
Note the Testimony of one man who was mesmerized by Paxson so much that he started having "Paxson Meetings." He was attending Wheaton Bible Church, which has for many years been a dry hole. He had the class at the church house, and the feeling in the Paxson gatherings. This is guruism. Check out the guy's "testimony" on the link. He has the "deeper life" condescending look I have seen in many British and Gringo mystics who are dumbed down by too much devotional editorial.
I also note that Paxson, along with Frau Dr. Gertrud Wasserzug, was the principle motivator of Billy Graham and Billy James Hargis. Graham has now got Buddhists saved by sincerity and he blubbers about not knowing what to expect after death, and Hargis was dumped off the air after his little sexual games with boys. Wasserzug was a Seminary theologian who dominated men even more powerfully than Paxson, but you can see the club Paxson ran in. Mean mamas and pabulum sucking wimpy men.
Here is a testimony of David Brandon, whoever he is. Note the questions and answers:
10. Are there any Books That Have Inspired your Walk With Christ?
The Bible; Life On The Highest Plane, Ruth Paxson; My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers; The Normal Christian Life and others by Watchman Nee; Andrew Murray's; Morning and Evening, Charles Spurgeon; Streams in The Desert, Mrs. Charles Cowpen; books by and about Billy Graham; A Christian's Secret of a Happy Life, Hannah Whitall Smith; Intercessory Prayer, Norman Grubbs
11. Are there any Scriptures that God has used in your life?
Mt. 6:33; Phil. 1:6; Deut. 1:8; Mt 22:37-39; Mt. 28:19-20; Jeremiah 29:11; the book of John
Editor: The above books are devotional feely feely reading for the shallow saint, and they always were. I also notice that he has a very short list of Bible passages that move him. What a washed out mess. This is the result of a man allowing a lady to take authority over him. Ellen G. White and Mary Baker Eddy Glover Patterson Fry did the same thing. The above list is almost the same reading selections as the Fundamental Baptist preacher in Pennsylvania who hands out Paxson's books.
Check out another man who is mesmerized by Paxson.
In all my surfing of Ruth Paxson's fans on the Web, I found NOT ONE who was a woman. I did find a bunch of slow bellied theologians, DDs, and PhDs. Hmmmmmmmm. Would you say there are a number of very smart ladies who have avoided this mystic Butch? You see, this lady took charge of great brimming male intellects, yet she never married.
Paxson- Boxology
Editor: Boxes were a bit of a novelty in the 1920s. They of course are the rage now, and the overhead projector has practically canonized graphs and boxes as sacred icons. But, look at some of this lady's silly boxes:
Boxology and Sin and Sins-- In this box of nonsense you can see that Paxson was clever, but she missed all sorts of matters in the old nature and gave the sinning saint only one option in each catagory. If the sinning saint was not guilty of Paxson's presuppositional sin system, the sinning saint could get off Scott fee. This is cheap sanctification.
Now, look at the boxes below. They are a mess, and they teach little or nothing. I have seen several reworks of the one on the right, "The Spiritual Man." It clearly hints at sinless perfection, as does the lower one. I use charts myself, but I have a fear of them, for many people grab hold of charts like this and pitch their Bible in the trash. Campus Crusade and Bill Gothard are chart crazy also.
Conclusion:
There are two basic traps in this highest plane theology:
1. This teaching lends itself to monasticism. This is the same obsession found in Hindu mystics, catholic monks, and guruistic Christian groups. The whole process is 100% selfish. The object is ME and MY holiness. I crave the perfect life, not for service to Christ and His Church, but I crave knowing I have arrived at the pinnacle of holiness. The life of Jesus was NOT marked by a craving for the heights. Note the following:
John 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
To Christ, the work He was sent to do was foremost on His mind. Holiness contemplative mystical Christians are nearly worthless to the Lord and His Church. They are so heavenly that they are of no earthly use.
2. This obsession with the "highest plane" leads to the doctrine of sinless perfection, and this is clearly part of Ruth Paxson's teaching, for the above graphical box clearly makes perfection the ultimate goal. The words of the Apostle Paul, to whose life Paxson could not even approach, tells us of the personal battle which is never finally won, in the sense of perfection, until we are with Christ:
Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.So, in conclusion, we see that Ruth Paxson's teachings were and are sub-christian paganism and resemble Hinduism, with its Kharma and Dharma, more than the Word of God. Watch out for this heretic doctrine, and beware of pastors and church leaders who hand out "Life on the Highest Plane," for they are plain silly.
LINKS:
Read a critique of the Higher Life Movement. In this discussion, the author uses the title of Paxson's book in a very obvious way, thus associating here with the Higher Life and Oxford Movement. The author is Covenant, but he handles this discussion well.
Typical lovey dovey devotional fare from a Dr. at lunch. The phrase "life on the highest plane" is used by him, showing how the thing is catching on.
"Fullness" this time, and a fetish rapport with Paxson.
Another mystic of Christendom uses the phrase, "life on the highest plane."
Hit me again dealer (guru) "life on the highest plane" again.
Editor: Letter to a devotional Webmaster. Note the gang being called together.
For many years I've been a Christian bookseller and part-time writer. Currently I'm working on a book for Zondervan (publisher of "The Green Letters") which will be devotional based in part on the identification truths of Scripture. It will consist of short excerpts from the writings of such people as Wm. Newell, Darby, Ruth Paxson, Jessie Penn-Lewis, Watchman Nee, Hudson Taylor and as many others as I can include (and of course Miles Stanford). I have many of the books by these authors already, but if you know of an extensive library that might include some of the older writers (Keswick for instance--L.L. Legters, Gordon Watt) where I could research for the book, I'd sure appreciate knowing about it.
Thanks,
Nick H
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