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Yoga and
Christianity Don't Mix
This Pagan Influence Could
Be Affecting Your Faith
Gail Burton Purath
This
is one of Bible Love Note's resource articles not sent to subscribers. It may
take you 5-8 minutes to read. It's made available to confirm and expand truths
in the short, concise 1-minute devotions sent to subscribers each weekday.
Why
I Think Yoga and Christianity Don't Mix
My
goal is not to question anyone's faith or offend those doing yoga.
My
desire is to make Christians aware of concerns regarding the practice of yoga.
I
welcome comments and even disagreement, but please read the guidelines for
comments at the bottom. Thanks!
Demon
Possessed
In
the 1980’s I was the program chairman for a large Christian women’s group for
military wives.
One
of our speakers was a woman who had become demon possessed through practicing
yoga.
She
had no interest in pagan or occult practices. She was simply doing something
she thought was exercise.
She
ended up in a mental ward and only recovered because a nurse shared Christ with
her and prayed for her release from yoga demons.
This
speaker warned Christians not to get involved with yoga on any level. She said
it couldn’t be Christianized.
The
Growing Popularity of Yoga
No
one argued with her in the 1980’s, but today it’s a different story.
From
2012 to 2016, the number of Americans doing yoga doubled from approximately 20
million to 40 million.
Many
YMCAs, community centers, churches, and grade schools now offer yoga classes.
Syncretism
While
many of these classes claim to remove the Hindu elements, and some claim they
are Christian, even the most sterile versions incorporate aspects of yoga’s
meditation techniques.
This
syncretism - the combining of different religions - is not a healthy practice.
It's
Not the Same as Christmas Trees
Some
folks are troubled by the use of Christmas trees because people once worshiped
trees.
I
don’t share their concerns because tree worship is not a modern religion,
nothing about Christmas trees mimics rituals or ceremonies of past or current
tree worship, and I don’t know a single person who worships their Christmas
tree.
If
it bothers a Christian to have one, they shouldn't, but it's not syncretism.
On
the other hand, yoga bears a pagan name and yoga is still very much a part of
current Hindu and Buddhist worship.
Wherever
it’s taught, it mimics some of the rituals and ceremonies of pagan origin. And
many people still use yoga to worship pagan gods.
What's
in a Name?
“Christian
yoga” is an oxymoron. That’s like saying Christian Hinduism.
Does
it honor God to use an exercise program with a pagan name and pagan origins?
You
will have to answer that question for yourself, but I hope you will consider
the Scriptures below in the Bible study before making up your mind.
We
are Not Merely Physical Beings
Perhaps
yoga has physical benefits, but we are not merely physical beings. We are
spiritual beings as well, and things we do physically can affect our spirits.
Because
our bodies are temples of God's Holy Spirit everything we do with our bodies
should glorify God (1 Corinthians
6:19-20).
"For physical training is of some value, but
godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life
and the life to come." 1 Timothy 4:8
Let’s
exercise our spiritual discernment and choose activities that honor and bless
the God of the Bible, first, last, and forever.
Maybe
you can do yoga without harming your witness or your spiritual growth.
Then
again, you may not even be aware of the ways it has already affected your
spiritual growth.
Is
any exercise program worth that risk?
Why
is Yoga So Incredibly Popular?
Let's
be aware that Satan is still very much our enemy, dear Christians, and he is
called an angel of light because he makes evil attractive.
Yoga
is one of the most popular forms of exercise in the world (source). Many of its
followers believe it is the only exercise that keeps them healthy physically
and mentally.
I
believe the popularity of yoga is demonic. What toll is it taking on our
witness and effectiveness as Christians?
It's
so important that we stand firm (1
Corinthians 10:12; 2 Corinthians 11:3).
Whether
you are currently doing yoga or just curious about it, I encourage you to do
the Bible study below this devotion.
Don't
let your enjoyment of yoga keep you from exploring the concerns and prayerfully
examining the Scriptures that speak about pagan influences. Thanks!
Bible Study
Exploring Excuses for
Doing Yoga
1. Let's start with the most common Scriptural excuse.
It goes something like this: "Romans 14 says
we shouldn't tell other Christians something they are doing is wrong if it
isn't specifically mentioned in Scripture."
This excuse flips
Romans 14 upside down.
Romans 14 warns
against doing anything that might cause your brother or sister with weaker
faith to do something against their conscience. It doesn't prevent Christians
from raising concerns.
And, most
importantly, the burden in Romans 14 is put on the person who approves things,
not the person who disapproves them:
"It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do
anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall. So whatever you
believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one
who does not condemn himself by what he approves." (verses 21-22)
This article explains
how doing yoga can affect the faith of others even if it doesn't affect our
own: Questions Christians Should Ask Before Doing Yoga.
2. Another argument people use for practicing yoga is that
it's "just an exercise and no exercise in and of itself is pagan."
While we are no
longer under Old Testament laws, there are principles in some of these laws
that are pertinent to us today. For example:
Deuteronomy 12:1-3: “These are the decrees and laws
you must be careful to follow in the land that the Lord, the God of your
ancestors, has given you to possess—as long as you live in the land. 2 Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains,
on the hills and under every spreading tree, where the nations you are
dispossessing worship their gods. 3 Break down their altars, smash their
sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of
their gods and wipe out their names from those places.
These pagan gods were
made of wood and stone.
There is nothing
wrong with the wood and stone found in these altars, nor is there anything
wrong with altars.
But God didn't want
these stones, poles, and altars (designed for pagan worship) to be used to
worship Him.
In addition, God
wanted them destroyed. What they represented was offensive to God, even their
pagan names were offensive to God.
3. A third argument for practicing yoga is that Christians
can chant Scriptures instead of the traditional yoga chants.
Deuteronomy 12:4: “You must not worship the Lord your
God in their way.
If you follow yoga
meditation techniques and replace the Hindu words with Scripture verses, aren't
you still worshiping the Lord "in their way"?
This command is
repeated a few verses later:
Deuteronomy 12:29-32: “The Lord your God will cut off
before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you
have driven them out and settled in their land,
“30 and after they have been destroyed before
you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, ‘How
do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.’
“31 You must not worship the Lord your God in
their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable
things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as
sacrifices to their gods.
“32 See that you do all I command you; do not
add to it or take away from it.
I doubt any Israelite
began exploring pagan religions in order to sacrifice his son or daughter to a
pagan god.
But that exact thing
happened in Israel’s history.
And I doubt any
Christian begins practicing yoga in order to hinder their prayer life or
compromise their Christianity. But that doesn't assure that it won't happen.
For additional
warnings:
Deuteronomy 18:9-13
4. Another argument to do yoga is that we are not living in
Old Testament times so none of the above prohibitions pertain to us.
However, these
warnings are also found in the New Testament.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18: ”Do not be yoked together with
unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what
fellowship can light have with darkness?
“15 What harmony is there between Christ and
Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?
“16 What agreement is there between the
temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has
said:
“I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be
their God, and they will be my people.
“17 Therefore, ‘Come out from them and be
separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.’
“18 And, ‘I will be a Father to you, and you
will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.’
Read warnings from
well-known Christians:
Piper, Mohler,
MacArthur on Yoga
Some non-spiritual
cautions:
Certain yoga poses
can damage the eyes
4 Dangerous Yoga Poses
How Yoga Can Wreck
Your Body
Guidelines for
Comments:
When I raised
concerns about the book The Shack, many professing Christians responded with
angry comments and emails. If questioning a man-written book or an exercise
program like yoga leads you to write rude comments, it's very likely that
you’ve lost your discernment and objectivity.
Disagreement is
healthy when done according to Scriptural guidelines (Matthew 5:22; Luke 6:45; Ephesians 4:29;
Colossians 4:6).
Whichever side you
are on in this discussion (even if you agree with this post), I hope you will use
gracious speech when expressing your opinion. Stick to why you support your
view, especially in regard to Scripture, and don’t make personal attacks
against people who hold other views. Thanks!
Hi! I'm Gail Burton
Purath. I started Bible Love Notes to give people a minute of Scriptural
encouragement in their busy day.
I don't have all the answers,
but
since I asked Christ to be my
Lord and Savior in 1974, I've been learning from the One Who has all the
answers!
I'm still a sinner, a learner, a student who falls down and disappoints God at times. But it's my desire to grow closer to the Lord, day by day, minute by minute.
I'm still a sinner, a learner, a student who falls down and disappoints God at times. But it's my desire to grow closer to the Lord, day by day, minute by minute.
I need to be challenged,
encouraged, corrected and comforted, and I think you do as well...so let's
learn together about the love of God--a love that is so vast that we will
always be discovering new and wonderful things about it.
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